# Weibo Hot Search Scraper - 微博热搜榜 Trending Topics (`zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Weibo hot search (微博热搜榜) without the Weibo API: the live top 50 trending topics plus entertainment, life, society and sports boards, with rank, heat value, category, labels and links. No account, no cookies, no start fee. CSV, Excel or JSON.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Zaver](https://apify.com/zaver.api) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.99 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## Weibo Hot Search Scraper — 微博热搜榜 Trending Topics in Real Time

**Scrape the Weibo hot search list without the Weibo API.** Get the live 微博热搜榜 (top 50 trending topics) plus the entertainment, life, society and sports boards, each with rank, heat value, category and label. No Weibo account, no cookies, no Chinese phone number. Pay per topic, no start fee.

> ⭐ 微博热搜 top 50 · 文娱榜 · 生活榜 · 社会榜 · 体育榜 · heat values · new, hot and exploding labels · links to each topic · built for hourly schedules · API and MCP ready

### What does Weibo Hot Search Scraper do?

Weibo (微博) is China's largest public social network, and its hot search list is the country's real-time agenda. This Actor exports that list, and four category boards, as clean rows.

| Board | Chinese name | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| `hot` | 微博热搜榜 | The main hot search list: top 50 plus the pinned topic |
| `entertainment` | 文娱榜 | Celebrities, films, music and shows |
| `life` | 生活榜 | Lifestyle, consumer and everyday topics |
| `social` | 社会榜 | News and social issues |
| `sports` | 体育榜 | Sport |

Every run is a snapshot. Schedule it hourly and you have a time series of what China is talking about.

### What data does it extract?

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `word` | The trending topic, as shown on Weibo |
| `hashtag` | The topic as a hashtag, such as `#topic#` |
| `rank` | Position on the board, 1 to 50. The pinned topic has rank 0 |
| `board`, `boardName` | Which board the row comes from, in English and Chinese |
| `hotValue` | Weibo's heat number for the topic |
| `category` | Weibo's topic category, such as 体育 or 影视 |
| `label`, `labelRaw` | `new` 新, `hot` 热, `exploding` 爆, `boiling` 沸, and the original character |
| `isNew`, `isAd`, `isPinned` | Flags for new entries, paid placements and the editorially pinned topic |
| `onBoardSince` | When the topic entered the board, ISO 8601 (UTC) |
| `url` | Link to the topic's search page on Weibo |

### A Weibo API alternative

Weibo's Open Platform API requires a registered application, real-name verification with a Chinese ID or business licence, and approval for each data scope. Browser-based tools need a logged-in cookie that expires.

This Actor is a **Weibo API alternative** for trend data. It works **without the Weibo API**: no developer account, no cookie, no login, no API pricing to negotiate.

| | Weibo Open Platform or cookie-based tools | This Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Chinese real-name or business verification | Anyone |
| Maintenance | Cookies expire and must be renewed | None |
| Boards | Varies | Five boards |
| Output | API objects | Flat rows: CSV, Excel, JSON |

### Why use this Weibo trends scraper

#### Five boards in one run

Main hot search, entertainment, life, society and sports: about 250 topics in a few seconds.

#### Built for scheduling

There is no start fee, so an hourly schedule costs the same per topic as a single run.

#### Ads filtered out

Weibo sells positions in the hot list. Paid placements are removed by default, so your trend data is organic.

#### No account, no cookies

Nothing to log in to and nothing that expires.

### How to scrape Weibo hot search

1. Open the Actor and choose the **Boards** you want. The main hot search list is selected by default.
2. Optionally lower **Max topics per board**.
3. Press **Start**. The run finishes in seconds.
4. Export as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML, or read the dataset through the API.
5. To track trends, add a schedule and keep appending to the same dataset.

### Input example

```json
{
  "boards": [
    "hot",
    "entertainment",
    "life",
    "social",
    "sports"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerBoard": 50,
  "excludeAds": true
}
```

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `boards` | array | Which trend boards to scrape. Each holds up to 50 topics. Default `["hot"]`. |
| `maxItemsPerBoard` | integer | Top N topics of each board. The pinned topic on the main board is returned in addition. Default `50`. |
| `excludeAds` | boolean | Drop topics marked as paid placements, so the list is organic. Default `true`. |
| `maxItems` | integer | Hard cap on topics for the whole run. 0 means no cap. |

### Output example

```json
{
  "type": "hot_topic",
  "board": "hot",
  "boardName": "微博热搜榜",
  "rank": 1,
  "word": "国庆假期第一天",
  "hashtag": "#国庆假期第一天#",
  "hotValue": 1144237,
  "category": "社会",
  "label": "new",
  "labelRaw": "新",
  "isNew": true,
  "isAd": false,
  "isPinned": false,
  "onBoardSince": "2026-10-01T07:58:19Z",
  "url": "https://s.weibo.com/weibo?q=%23%E5%9B%BD%E5%BA%86%E5%81%87%E6%9C%9F%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%A4%A9%23"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result. **No start fee, no monthly rental, no minimum.**

| Event | Charged for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| `hot-topic-scraped` | each trending topic delivered | **$4.99 / 1,000** |

| You export | You pay |
|---|---|
| The main hot search list (51 topics) | **$0.25** |
| All five boards (about 250 topics) | **$1.25** |
| The main list every hour for a month (about 36,700 topics) | **$183** |

You are charged right after each batch lands in your dataset, so a run you stop early costs only what it delivered. Proxies, when needed, are included.

### Use cases

#### China social listening and PR

See what the Chinese public is discussing today, and whether your brand, sector or spokesperson is on the list.

#### News and media monitoring

Log the main board every hour and measure how long each story stays in the top 50 and how hot it gets.

#### Entertainment and celebrity tracking

The entertainment board shows which films, shows and stars are trending, with heat values to compare them.

#### Market research and trend forecasting

Combine the life and society boards to follow consumer sentiment and emerging concerns.

#### Content planning

Find the topics with rising heat before they peak, and plan posts around them.

#### Datasets for research and AI

Build a dated dataset of Chinese trending topics for forecasting, academic study or LLM pipelines.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Weibo account, cookie or API key?**
No. It works without the Weibo API and without logging in.

**Is scraping Weibo legal?**
This is general information, not legal advice. The Actor collects only trending topics that Weibo shows publicly to every visitor, and never logs in. The boards contain topic names and aggregate numbers, not personal data. Whether your use is lawful depends on where you are and what you do with the data, and Weibo's terms restrict automated access. Use the data for research and monitoring, and ask a lawyer before building a commercial product on it.

**How often does the hot search list change?**
Weibo refreshes it about every minute.

**How many topics do I get?**
Up to 51 on the main board (50 ranked plus one pinned) and 50 on each other board: about 250 rows for all five.

**Are the topics in Chinese?**
Yes. Topics are returned exactly as Weibo shows them. Pass `word` to a translation step if you need English.

**Does it return the posts under each topic?**
No. Weibo shows posts and search results only to logged-in users. You get the topic, its numbers and a link.

**What is rank 0?**
The topic Weibo pins above the list. It has no heat value. Filter on `isPinned` to drop it.

**Can I run it on a schedule?**
Yes, and that is the intended use.

### Integrations

- **Apify API** - start runs and fetch datasets from Python, Node.js, cURL or any HTTP client.
- **MCP server** - call this Actor as a tool from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT agents and any MCP client.
- **No-code** - Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, webhooks.
- **Schedules** - run hourly or daily and append to the same dataset to build history.
- **Exports** - JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel (XLSX), XML, HTML table.

### Related actors

**China**

- [Weibo Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/weibo-profile-scraper) - followers, verification, bio and contact email of any account
- [Douyin Hot Search Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/douyin-hot-search-scraper) - 抖音热搜榜 trending topics
- [Douyin Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/douyin-profile-scraper) - followers, likes and bio of any Douyin account
- [Bilibili Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/bilibili-scraper) - video stats, comments and keyword search

**Social**

- [Telegram Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/telegram-channel-scraper) - posts, views, reactions and media
- [Reddit Scraper](https://apify.com/zaver.api/reddit-scraper) - posts, comments, search, users and communities
- [Website Contact Extractor](https://apify.com/zaver.api/website-contact-extractor) - emails, phones and social profiles from websites

***

*Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Weibo or Sina. This Actor reads only what Weibo shows publicly to a logged-out visitor and does not log in. You are responsible for using the data in line with applicable laws and Weibo's terms.*

# Actor input Schema

## `boards` (type: `array`):

Which trend boards to scrape. Each holds up to 50 topics.

## `maxItemsPerBoard` (type: `integer`):

Top N topics of each board. The pinned topic on the main board is returned in addition.

## `excludeAds` (type: `boolean`):

Drop topics marked as paid placements, so the list is organic.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on topics for the whole run. 0 means no cap.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "boards": [
    "hot"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerBoard": 50,
  "excludeAds": true,
  "maxItems": 0
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All dataset items.

## `resultsCsv` (type: `string`):

CSV download.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Counts for the run.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-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 '{}' |
apify call zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,zaver.api/weibo-hot-search-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/96q2geanDgeCDe1pJ/builds/2fH3ZQiujKsRo6QHb/openapi.json