Hubo Scraper -- Belgian Neighborhood DIY & Home Improvement

Scrape products, prices, specs, ratings, and availability from hubo.be -- Belgium's neighborhood DIY retailer with 150+ conveniently located stores. Supports search and category browsing with bilingual output (Dutch/French). Uses Hubo's Algolia-powered API for fast extraction.

What is Hubo Scraper?

Hubo fills a unique niche in the Belgian DIY market: the neighborhood hardware store. While Brico and GAMMA compete with large-format warehouse stores, Hubo operates 150+ smaller, conveniently located shops across Belgium and Luxembourg. This makes Hubo the retailer Belgian consumers visit for quick fixes, everyday tools, paint, and garden essentials -- the kind of store you pop into on a Saturday morning before tackling a weekend project.

Despite its smaller store format, Hubo's online catalog is substantial. This scraper uses Hubo's custom search API (powered by Algolia) for fast, structured data extraction. It also supports HTML scraping of category pages for broader catalog discovery, with automatic subcategory traversal.

• Belgian neighborhood retail pricing -- Track Hubo's pricing strategy in the convenience DIY segment, where prices may differ from large-format competitors due to the neighborhood store model
• Belgian DIY market triangulation -- Combine Hubo data with Brico and GAMMA for a complete view of the three major Belgian DIY chains, each with a different store format and pricing approach
• Private-label product analysis -- Hubo carries its own private-label products alongside branded items; compare private-label pricing against national brands
• Local market availability research -- Monitor which products Hubo stocks to understand the convenience DIY assortment that reaches Belgian neighborhoods
• Garden and seasonal product tracking -- Hubo's garden, barbecue, and seasonal departments are a significant part of its business; track seasonal pricing cycles and product availability

What data does Hubo Scraper extract?

• 🔨 Product name -- Full product title in Dutch or French
• 💰 Price & promotions -- Current price and strikethrough/original price when on sale
• 🏷️ Brand -- Manufacturer name
• 📦 Stock & delivery -- Availability based on delivery type options
• ⭐ Ratings & reviews -- Average customer rating and total review count
• 🖼️ Product images -- Primary image and full image gallery URLs
• 📐 Technical specifications -- Product features and attributes (dimensions, materials, performance data)
• 📋 Product description -- Full text description (HTML stripped)
• 🔗 Product URL -- Direct link on hubo.be
• 📂 Category path -- Category name and category page IDs
• 🏗️ Product identifiers -- EAN barcode, SKU, product ID
• 🌐 Language -- Data language (nl or fr)

How to scrape Hubo

Field	Type	Description
searchQuery	String	Search keyword -- e.g., "boormachine", "verf", "tuinslang", "bbq"
categoryUrl	String	Category page URL -- e.g., https://www.hubo.be/nl/a/gereedschap/elektrisch-gereedschap/
startUrls	Array	List of Hubo category URLs to scrape
maxResults	Integer	Maximum products (default: 100, set to 0 for unlimited)
language	String	"nl" (Dutch, default) or "fr" (French)
proxyConfiguration	Object	Proxy config (Apify proxy by default)

Tips:

• searchQuery uses Hubo's search API and is the fastest mode -- great for targeted product lookups
• Category URLs automatically discover and traverse subcategories, so you can start broad (e.g., /gereedschap/) and get all nested products
• If neither searchQuery nor categoryUrl is provided, the actor defaults to the search API with an empty query
• The search API key is fetched dynamically and refreshed automatically if it expires
• Dutch and French return the same products with localized names and categories

Output

{
    "name": "Black+Decker accu schroefboormachine 18V 2x1.5Ah BDCDD186K",
    "brand": "Black+Decker",
    "price": 89.95,
    "currency": "EUR",
    "url": "https://www.hubo.be/nl/p/black-decker-accu-schroefboormachine-18v-bdcdd186k/6789012",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-03T17:00:00.000Z",
    "originalPrice": 109.95,
    "ean": "5035048644973",
    "sku": "6789012",
    "productId": "6789012",
    "inStock": true,
    "rating": 4.3,
    "reviewCount": 45,
    "imageUrl": "https://www.hubo.be/media/catalog/product/bdcdd186k.jpg",
    "imageUrls": [
        "https://www.hubo.be/media/catalog/product/bdcdd186k.jpg",
        "https://www.hubo.be/media/catalog/product/bdcdd186k-2.jpg"
    ],
    "description": "De Black+Decker BDCDD186K is een veelzijdige accuboormachine voor dagelijks gebruik in en rond het huis.",
    "specs": {
        "Spanning": "18 V",
        "Accucapaciteit": "1.5 Ah",
        "Max. koppel": "30 Nm",
        "Gewicht": "1.28 kg"
    },
    "category": "Elektrisch gereedschap",
    "categories": ["gereedschap", "elektrisch-gereedschap"],
    "language": "nl"
}

A garden product example:

{
    "name": "Weber Spirit E-325S GBS gasbarbecue",
    "brand": "Weber",
    "price": 799.00,
    "currency": "EUR",
    "url": "https://www.hubo.be/nl/p/weber-spirit-e-325s-gbs-gasbarbecue/3456789",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-03T17:00:00.000Z",
    "ean": "0077924146985",
    "sku": "3456789",
    "productId": "3456789",
    "inStock": true,
    "rating": 4.8,
    "reviewCount": 72,
    "imageUrl": "https://www.hubo.be/media/catalog/product/weber-spirit-e325s.jpg",
    "description": "De Weber Spirit E-325S GBS is een driebranders gasbarbecue met GBS-grillrooster voor veelzijdig grillen.",
    "specs": {
        "Aantal branders": "3",
        "Vermogen": "11.1 kW",
        "Grilloppervlak": "2800 cm2",
        "Brandstof": "Gas"
    },
    "category": "Barbecue",
    "language": "nl"
}

How much does it cost?

Hubo Scraper uses API calls for search mode and lightweight HTTP requests for category scraping.

Scenario	Products	Est. cost
Quick keyword search	100	~$0.10
Category with subcategories	500	~$0.40
Full department	1,000	~$0.70
Broad catalog scan	5,000	~$2.50

Standard Apify proxy costs included. No residential proxy required.

Can I integrate?

• JSON, CSV, Excel -- Direct dataset download
• Google Sheets -- Auto-sync
• Webhooks -- Pipeline triggers on completion
• API -- Programmatic access (see below)
• Zapier / Make -- 5,000+ integrations
• Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage -- Cloud storage push

Can I use it as an API?

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("studio-amba/hubo-scraper").call(run_input={
    "searchQuery": "verf",
    "maxResults": 200,
    "language": "nl"
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"{item['name']} - EUR {item['price']}")

JavaScript:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('studio-amba/hubo-scraper').call({
    searchQuery: 'verf',
    maxResults: 200,
    language: 'nl',
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

FAQ

How does Hubo compare to Brico and GAMMA? Hubo operates smaller neighborhood stores (150+ locations) focused on convenience and everyday DIY needs. Brico has Belgium's largest stores (140+ locations, including Brico Plan-It megastores). GAMMA (80+ stores) is mid-size and Flemish-focused. All three have different pricing strategies reflecting their store formats and customer segments.

Does Hubo have its own brands? Hubo carries some own-brand products alongside major brands. The scraper extracts the brand field for each product, making it easy to filter between private-label and national brand items.

What happens if the search API key expires? The actor dynamically fetches a fresh API key at the start of each run. If the key expires during a long run, the scraper detects the 401/403 error and automatically refreshes the key before retrying.

Can I scrape Hubo Luxembourg? Hubo also operates in Luxembourg. The hubo.be website serves Belgian customers; Luxembourg products may overlap. The scraper does not specifically target the Luxembourg market.

Why does category scraping traverse subcategories? Hubo's category pages often contain subcategory links rather than products directly. The scraper automatically discovers and visits subcategories, collecting products from leaf-level category pages. This means you can start from a broad top-level category and get all products within it.

How large is Hubo's online catalog? Hubo's online assortment is smaller than Brico's or GAMMA's, reflecting its neighborhood store format -- roughly 10,000-15,000 products. But it covers all core DIY categories: tools, paint, garden, bathroom, electrical, and building materials.

Limitations

• Targets hubo.be (Belgium) -- not specifically tuned for Hubo Luxembourg
• The search API key needs to be fetched at the start of each run, adding a few seconds of startup time
• Category scraping via HTML is slower than API search and may miss products if the HTML structure changes
• Product specs depth varies -- some products have rich feature data, others have minimal attributes
• The API returns 24 products per page; large extractions require many paginated requests
• Subcategory discovery relies on link patterns matching /a/ paths

Other DIY & home improvement scrapers

Get the full picture of Belgian and European DIY:

• Brico Scraper -- Belgium's largest DIY chain (Colruyt group)
• GAMMA Scraper -- Belgium, Intergamma group
• Praxis Scraper -- Netherlands, Maxeda DIY Group
• Leroy Merlin Scraper -- France's #1 DIY retailer
• Castorama Scraper -- France, Kingfisher group
• OBI Scraper -- Germany's leading DIY chain
• Hornbach Scraper -- German/EU DIY megastore
• Bauhaus Scraper -- German/EU professional hardware
• Toom Scraper -- Germany, REWE group DIY

Your feedback

Questions, bugs, or feature requests? Open an issue on the actor's page or contact us through Apify. We maintain this scraper based on user feedback.