Apple Podcasts Scraper: Podcasts by Keyword and Country

iTunes Podcast Search: by Keyword and Country

Search the Apple Podcasts catalog via the public iTunes Search API. One row per (query × country × hit) with artist, genre, episode count, feed URL, and artwork. Same source that powers podcasts.apple.com search. No API key required.

Example output row

{
  "snapshotAt": "2026-06-04T18:00:00+00:00",
  "query": "startup",
  "country": "us",
  "collectionId": 1200361736,
  "trackId": 1200361736,
  "artistName": "Y Combinator",
  "collectionName": "Y Combinator Startup Podcast",
  "trackName": "Y Combinator Startup Podcast",
  "showUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/y-combinator-startup-podcast/id1200361736?uo=4",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TEh8_K6b",
  "artworkUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts/...600x600bb.jpg",
  "genre": "Technology",
  "episodeCount": 214,
  "latestEpisodeAt": "2024-03-15T02:00:00Z"
}

How to use

Input schema:

Field	Type	Default	Description
queries	array of strings	["crypto","startup","business"]	Search keywords: one API call per keyword × country pair
countries	array of strings	["us"]	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 storefront codes (e.g. "us", "gb", "de")
limit	integer	50	Results per (query × country), max 200

Minimal example:

{
  "queries": ["personal finance", "true crime"],
  "countries": ["us", "gb"],
  "limit": 50
}

This produces up to 200 rows (2 queries × 2 countries × 50 results).

Pricing

Pay per event. Price per 1,000 events:

Event	Base price	Bronze	Silver	Gold
iTunes podcast search result	$0.20	$0.18	$0.16	$0.14

Bronze, Silver and Gold are the discounts Apify gives users of its paid plans. The Pricing tab always shows the current prices.

Buyer

• Podcast researchers & journalists tracking show popularity and discovery rankings across markets.
• Podcast hosting platforms benchmarking catalog coverage versus Apple's index.
• Advertisers & agencies building target lists of shows by genre and episode volume.
• App developers powering podcast discovery features without a direct iTunes API integration.
• Market analysts monitoring which topics and genres dominate each country's charts.

Run it through the API

Python, with the apify-client package:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("v0iddo/itunes-podcast-search").call(run_input={"queries": ["crypto", "startup", "business"]})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript, with the apify-client package:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('v0iddo/itunes-podcast-search').call({"queries": ["crypto", "startup", "business"]});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

One HTTP call that waits for the run and returns the rows (for runs that finish within 5 minutes):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/v0iddo~itunes-podcast-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries": ["crypto", "startup", "business"]}'

Use it from an agent (MCP)

Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients can call this actor as a tool through the Apify MCP server. Add it to the client's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=v0iddo/itunes-podcast-search",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Do I need an account, cookies or an API key?

No. The actor reads public data without logging in. You only need an Apify account to start it.

How am I charged?

Pay per event, at the prices on the Pricing tab for your Apify plan (the Pricing section of this page lists them). The platform usage of the run is included in those prices, and your spending limit for a run is always respected.

Why did my run return no results?

The status message and the log of the run say why: usually nothing matched the input, or the source did not answer for a moment. Check the input against the example above and run it again.

Can I run it on a schedule?

Yes. Save your input as a task and add a schedule in the Apify Console (daily, hourly or with a cron expression). Each run gets its own dataset, so you keep a history.

Which formats can I export?

JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML table and RSS from the Output tab or the API. Integrations send the rows to Google Sheets, Slack, Make, Zapier, n8n or a webhook.

Is collecting this data allowed?

The actor collects data that the source publishes openly, without a login. Public data can still be personal data under laws such as the GDPR, and sources have their own terms: make sure your use of the data follows the rules that apply to you.

What happens when the source changes?

An automated test runs the actor every day on the example input and checks the rows, not only that the run finished. When a check fails, the actor is repaired and rebuilt; the build history on this page shows each update.

Something is missing or wrong. Where do I report it?

Open an issue on the Issues tab of this actor with the run link. Requests for a new field are welcome too.

Related actors

• Medium Scraper: Articles by User, Tag or Publication
• Substack Scraper: Newsletter Posts by Publication

Source

Endpoint: https://itunes.apple.com/search?term={query}&entity=podcast&country={country}&limit={limit}

• Public iTunes Search API: no authentication, no rate-limit headers published.
• Returns up to 200 results per request; no cursor pagination (single response per query).
• Documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/iTuneSearchAPI/