# Podcast Scraper — $2/1k · Apple Podcasts, Charts, RSS (`tidydata/podcast-scraper`) Actor

Scrape podcasts and episodes: Apple Podcasts (iTunes) search, top charts by country and category, show details (owner email, website, frequency) and episodes from the RSS feed with audio URL, duration and transcript link. No API key. $2 per 1,000 podcasts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tidydata/podcast-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [tidydata](https://apify.com/tidydata) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.60 / 1,000 podcasts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 🎙️ Podcast Scraper — Apple Podcasts, Top Charts, RSS & Episodes

Scrape **podcasts and episodes** in bulk: **search Apple Podcasts** by keyword, get the **top charts of any country by category**, or paste **Apple Podcasts links or RSS feeds**. For every show you get its details from Apple **plus the RSS feed**: **owner email**, website, language, categories, episode count, first and latest episode and **how often it publishes**. Episodes come with **audio URL, duration, date, description, season/episode numbers and the transcript link** when the podcaster publishes one.

**$2 per 1,000 podcasts · $0.30 per 1,000 episodes.** Errors are free. No API key, no login.

- ✅ **Search Apple Podcasts** in any country (up to 200 shows per keyword, in Apple's ranking order)
- ✅ **Top charts** by country and category: All, Business, Comedy, Education, News, Technology, True Crime, Sports, Health & Fitness… (up to 200)
- ✅ **Any podcast**: Apple Podcasts link, Apple ID or RSS feed URL (shows that aren't on Apple work too)
- ✅ **Podcast details**: title, author, **owner name & email** (as published in the feed), website, description, language, categories, explicit flag, artwork, Apple URL, feed URL, **episode count**, **first/latest episode date**, **average days between episodes**
- ✅ **Episodes**: title, publish date, **duration in seconds**, **audio file URL**, type and size, season & episode numbers, description, link, GUID, image and **transcript URL** (Podcasting 2.0)
- ✅ Filters: **newest N episodes** or **only the last N days**

### Who uses it

- **Podcast guest booking & PR** — build lists of active shows in your niche with the owner's contact email and how often they publish.
- **Advertisers & sponsors** — find shows by category and country, check activity and episode length.
- **Market research** — track the top charts per country and category over time.
- **AI & content teams** — collect audio URLs and transcripts for summaries, clips, search and RAG.
- **Podcast tools & directories** — enrich your catalog with fresh episode data.

### How to use it

1. Add **search terms** (`marketing`, `true crime`), pick **top charts** (with a **country** like `us`, `gb`, `es`, `de`), and/or paste **podcast links or RSS feeds**.
2. Choose whether to **include episodes**, how many per show, and an optional **last N days** filter.
3. Run and export to **CSV, Excel or JSON**, or schedule it to collect new episodes every day.

#### Input example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["marketing"],
  "charts": ["technology", "business"],
  "country": "us",
  "chartSize": 50,
  "includeEpisodes": true,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 10
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "type": "podcast",
  "appleId": 1200361736,
  "title": "The Daily",
  "author": "The New York Times",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/Sl5CSM3S",
  "appleUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736",
  "genre": "Daily News",
  "episodeCount": 2755,
  "language": "en",
  "ownerEmail": "thedaily@nytimes.com",
  "firstEpisodeAt": "2021-10-24T10:00:00Z",
  "latestEpisodeAt": "2026-10-20T09:45:00Z",
  "avgDaysBetweenEpisodes": 4.3,
  "source": "podcast"
}
```

```json
{
  "type": "episode",
  "podcast": "Buzzcast",
  "title": "Buzzsprout Gets A Dark Side",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-16T12:00:00Z",
  "durationSeconds": 797,
  "audioUrl": "https://op3.dev/e/https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.buzzsprout.com/231452/episodes/19972692-buzzsprout-gets-a-dark-side.mp3",
  "audioType": "audio/mpeg",
  "episode": 250,
  "season": null,
  "transcriptUrl": "https://www.buzzsprout.com/231452/19972692/transcript.vtt",
  "description": "…"
}
```

### Pricing

- **$0.002 per podcast** ($2 per 1,000 shows)
- **$0.0003 per episode** ($0.30 per 1,000 episodes)

Higher Apify plans get an automatic discount, and you can set a **maximum cost per run**.

### Tips

- **Transcribe the episodes** that have no transcript: send the `audioUrl` list to [Audio & Video to Text — Whisper Speech to Text](https://apify.com/tidydata/audio-video-transcription) (it reads direct audio links, returns text, SRT and VTT).
- Combine several runs without duplicates using [Merge, Filter, Deduplicate & Transform Datasets](https://apify.com/tidydata/merge-dedupe-datasets).

### FAQ

**Where does the owner email come from?**
From the podcast's public RSS feed (`itunes:owner`), where podcasters publish it so directories can contact them. Some hosts hide it — then the field is empty.

**Does it include Apple ratings and reviews?**
No — Apple doesn't expose podcast ratings in its public APIs. You get the chart rank and Apple's search order.

**Why does `episodeCount` differ from the number of episodes in the feed?**
`episodeCount` is Apple's number; `feedEpisodes` is how many the RSS feed currently lists (some hosts only keep the latest ones).

**Spotify-only podcasts?**
If you have the show's RSS feed, paste it — most Spotify podcasts also publish one. Spotify itself isn't scraped.

**Is it legal?**
The Actor reads Apple's public search/chart data and the RSS feeds podcasters publish for distribution. Respect the creators' rights and privacy laws when you reuse the data.

Something doesn't work? Open an issue in the **Issues** tab with the show — we answer fast.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Keywords or show names (e.g. 'marketing', 'true crime spain'). Results in Apple's order (rank).

## `podcasts` (type: `array`):

e.g. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736, 1200361736 or https://feeds.simplecast.com/…

## `charts` (type: `array`):

Apple Podcasts top shows of the chosen country, by category.

## `chartSize` (type: `integer`):

Up to 200.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter country code for search and charts: us, gb, es, de, fr, mx, br, in…

## `maxPodcastsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Up to 200.

## `includeEpisodes` (type: `boolean`):

Episodes from each show's RSS feed: audio URL, duration, date, description and transcript link when published.

## `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

Newest first.

## `newerThanDays` (type: `integer`):

0 = no limit.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "marketing"
  ],
  "podcasts": [],
  "charts": [],
  "chartSize": 50,
  "country": "us",
  "maxPodcastsPerSearch": 20,
  "includeEpisodes": true,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 20,
  "newerThanDays": 0
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per podcast and per episode.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "marketing"
    ],
    "podcasts": [],
    "charts": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tidydata/podcast-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchTerms": ["marketing"],
    "podcasts": [],
    "charts": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tidydata/podcast-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "marketing"
  ],
  "podcasts": [],
  "charts": []
}' |
apify call tidydata/podcast-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tidydata/podcast-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5cwzSXScYfYwATwHh/builds/qG2ufCh6N8AQ4jV6C/openapi.json