# iTunes Podcast Scraper (`crawlerbros/itunes-podcast-scraper`) Actor

Search, browse trending, and look up podcasts using Apple's iTunes Search API and Apple Podcast Charts. No authentication required. Returns feed URLs, episode counts, genres, artwork, and more.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/itunes-podcast-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Integrations, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## iTunes Podcast Scraper

Search, browse trending charts, and look up podcast metadata using Apple's free iTunes Search API and Apple Podcast Charts. No authentication required.

### Data Source

This actor uses Apple's public iTunes Search API (`itunes.apple.com/search`) and Apple Charts API (`rss.applemarketingtools.com`).

**Note:** podcastindex.org is a JavaScript SPA requiring browser-based rendering and is not directly scrapable. This actor uses Apple's equivalent free public API which indexes all major podcasts globally.

### What Does This Actor Do?

- Search millions of podcasts by keyword, topic, or show name
- Get trending/top podcast charts for 20+ countries
- Look up a specific podcast by its iTunes ID to get full metadata including RSS feed URL

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `mode` | select | `search`, `trending`, or `byId` |
| `searchQuery` | string | Podcast name or topic (required for `search` mode) |
| `country` | select | Country for trending charts (us, gb, au, etc.) |
| `genre` | select | Genre filter for search (Technology, Comedy, True Crime, etc.) |
| `language` | string | 2-letter language code filter (en, de, fr, etc.) |
| `explicit` | select | Content filter: all, clean, explicit |
| `itunesId` | string | iTunes numeric ID for `byId` mode |
| `maxItems` | integer | Max records (default: 20, max: 200) |

#### Modes

- **search** — Search podcasts by keyword using the iTunes Search API. Supports filtering by country, genre, and explicit content.
- **trending** — Get the current top podcast chart for a specific country (US, UK, AU, etc.). Enriched with full metadata via iTunes Lookup.
- **byId** — Fetch complete metadata for a specific podcast using its iTunes numeric ID.

### Output

```json
{
  "recordType": "podcast",
  "sourceUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/search?media=podcast&term=technology",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "itunesId": "1235836821",
  "artistId": "1280771285",
  "title": "The Future of Everything",
  "author": "Stanford Engineering",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/Y8_HoeNW",
  "podcastUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1235836821",
  "imageUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/.../600x600bb.jpg",
  "episodeCount": 380,
  "primaryGenre": "Science",
  "categories": ["Science", "Technology"],
  "latestEpisodeDate": "2026-05-29T14:00:00Z",
  "country": "USA",
  "explicit": "clean",
  "contentRating": "Clean"
}
```

### Supported Countries (Trending)

United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, India, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Russia, China.

### Supported Genres

Arts, Business, Comedy, Education, Fiction, Government, Health & Fitness, History, Kids & Family, Leisure, Music, News, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Society & Culture, Sports, Technology, True Crime, TV & Film.

### FAQs

**Q: Does this require an Apple ID or API key?**
A: No. The iTunes Search API and Apple Charts API are completely free and public.

**Q: How do I find a podcast's iTunes ID?**
A: Look at the podcast URL on Apple Podcasts: `podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/name/id1235836821` — the number after `id` is the iTunes ID.

**Q: Can I get the RSS feed URL?**
A: Yes — the `feedUrl` field contains the podcast's RSS feed URL when available.

**Q: How many podcasts can I retrieve?**
A: Up to 200 per run. The iTunes Search API supports pagination.

**Q: Does this cover all podcasts?**
A: It covers all podcasts indexed in the Apple Podcasts directory, which is the world's largest podcast catalog.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to fetch.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Podcast name or topic to search for (e.g. 'true crime', 'tech news', 'comedy').

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

Two-letter country code for trending chart (e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'au', 'de', 'fr').

## `genre` (type: `string`):

Filter search results by genre.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Filter by language (2-letter ISO code, e.g. 'en', 'de', 'fr', 'es', 'ja', 'pt').

## `explicit` (type: `string`):

Whether to include explicit podcasts.

## `itunesId` (type: `string`):

iTunes collection/podcast ID (numeric, e.g. '1235836821').

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

Maximum number of podcast records to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "technology",
  "country": "us",
  "genre": "",
  "explicit": "all",
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `podcasts` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing all scraped podcast records.

# 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 = {
    "mode": "search",
    "searchQuery": "technology",
    "country": "us",
    "genre": "",
    "explicit": "all",
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/itunes-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 = {
    "mode": "search",
    "searchQuery": "technology",
    "country": "us",
    "genre": "",
    "explicit": "all",
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlerbros/itunes-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 '{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchQuery": "technology",
  "country": "us",
  "genre": "",
  "explicit": "all",
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call crawlerbros/itunes-podcast-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,crawlerbros/itunes-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/xqo3wQ0oUHvhluRkm/builds/s9YrmqDR5fki81Ix7/openapi.json