Apple Podcasts Scraper FAQ

Factual answers from the published Apple Podcasts Scraper input schema and README. Public Apple and RSS endpoints only. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple. For storefront rank movement, see Apple Podcasts Chart Scraper. For public ratings on IDs you already have, see Apple Podcasts Reviews Scraper.

Open Apple Podcasts Scraper on Apify

Search versus charts and reviews

Use this FAQ when the job is Apple Podcasts Scraper: keyword search, chartRequests snapshots, watchlists, and optional recent episodes. It does not emit rank movement reports or review rows.

Apple Podcasts Scraper Chart Scraper Reviews Scraper
Intent Search, chart snapshot, watchlist lookup, optional episodes Top Podcasts chart rows and optional rank movement Public review rows, optional rating report, delta monitor
Primary input searchTerm, lookupIds, chartRequests countries, optional genreId, limit podcastIds, countries, maxPagesPerPair
Optional report None; chart path is a snapshot only One movement report when a monitorKey sees new, changed, or dropped ranks One podcast_review_report when generateReport is true

None of these Actors is affiliated with or endorsed by Apple. Rank and search results are public catalog metadata, not download counts, audience estimates, or advertising guarantees.

What does Apple Podcasts Scraper do?

It finds public Apple Podcasts shows and metadata through official Apple/iTunes endpoints. You can search by keyword, snapshot chart rankings, look up known collection IDs, and optionally include recent episode context. Output is source-linked dataset rows with fields such as collectionId, showName, publisher, country, rank, episodeTitle, sourceUrl, and fetchedAt.

Published first-run path: start with a small searchTerm, leave includeEpisodes false, review the default dataset, then raise limit or switch to lookupIds / chartRequests after the payload is useful.

Open Apple Podcasts Scraper on Apify

How is Apple Podcasts Scraper different from Chart Scraper and Reviews Scraper?

Apple Podcasts Scraper is the search, episode, and watchlist actor. Its chartRequests path is a rank snapshot and does not emit movement reports. Apple Podcasts Chart Scraper is storefront Top Podcasts ranks and optional movement reports. Apple Podcasts Reviews Scraper reads public Customer Reviews RSS for collection IDs you already have.

Do I need a proxy or an Apple account?

No. The Actor uses public Apple and RSS endpoints. It does not require account sessions, browser automation, or private podcast dashboards. No proxy is required. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.

Run without a proxy on Apify

How is Apple Podcasts Scraper priced?

Billing is pay-per-event: Actor start plus one result event per default-dataset item. The published Store price is $0.005 per Actor start and $10.00 per 1,000 dataset results ($0.01 per row). Empty no-change watchlist polls are described as avoiding payable default-dataset writes when nothing is saved. Dry runs do not save results or send webhooks.

From $10 per 1,000 results

See Apple Podcasts Scraper on Apify

What input is required to start a run?

At least one of searchTerm, chartRequests, or lookupIds is required. searchTerm uses the iTunes Search API. chartRequests snapshot Apple rankings (feedType podcasts or podcast-episodes). lookupIds resolve known collection IDs through the iTunes Lookup API. Keep the first run small, then raise limit after the output is useful.

{
  "searchTerm": "founder podcast",
  "country": "us",
  "limit": 10,
  "includeEpisodes": false
}

See search discovery, chart snapshots, and watchlist refresh.

Start a run on Apify

How do I export episode metadata?

Set includeEpisodes to true to fetch recent episodes for each resolved podcast. That path is slower. For official episode rankings, use chartRequests with feedType podcast-episodes. After a dataset run, export the default dataset (JSON or CSV from the dataset view). The published input does not expose a full-catalog dump; for a known show’s complete feed, read public RSS. See the episode metadata export workflow.

Export episode rows on Apify

Can I pull charts or search for more than one country?

Charts can. chartRequests is an array; each item can set its own country (ISO codes such as us, gb, jp). Search and lookup use a single default country per run. Rankings and search results differ by storefront, so compare rows by the country field instead of mixing ranks. See charts and search by country.

Run a country-specific request on Apify

How do dataset delivery, webhooks, and dry runs work?

delivery defaults to dataset for reviewable output. Set delivery to webhook and provide webhookUrl after the payload shape is approved (Slack, Discord, Zapier, or any HTTP endpoint). dryRun true runs without saving results or sending webhooks, which is useful before a live watch or webhook. See webhooks and dataset fields.

Configure delivery on Apify

When should I use RSS instead of this Actor?

If you already have a public feed URL and need that show’s published catalog (titles, descriptions, dates, enclosures), RSS is the direct source. RSS does not search Apple’s directory and does not include chart rank. Use this Actor for keyword search, country charts, and collection-ID watchlists. See RSS vs Apple Podcasts Scraper and RSS feed vs iTunes Search.

RSS & Atom Feed Extractor parses known publisher feeds into URL lists. Google News Scraper is query-based news discovery, not a podcast catalog.

Open Apple Podcasts Scraper on Apify

How to start a run

  1. Open Apple Podcasts Scraper, then the Actor on the Apify Store.
  2. Provide at least one of searchTerm, chartRequests, or lookupIds. Keep the first run small.
  3. Leave includeEpisodes false unless recent episode titles are required.
  4. Leave delivery on dataset. Switch to webhook only after the payload shape is approved. Use dryRun to test without saving results or sending webhooks.

From $10 per 1,000 results

Related pages