# Rental Cars Scraper — Car Rental Prices & Availability (`studio-amba/rental-cars-scraper`) Actor

Compare car rental prices from Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Enterprise, and more. Scrape availability, prices, and vehicle details from RentalCars.com.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/studio-amba/rental-cars-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Studio Amba](https://apify.com/studio-amba) (community)
- **Categories:** Travel
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 80.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 result scrapeds

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?

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

## Rental Cars Scraper

Compare car rental prices from 900+ suppliers including Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Enterprise, Budget, Sixt, and more. Scrape real-time availability, prices, and vehicle details from RentalCars.com -- the world's largest car rental comparison platform with 60,000+ locations.

### Why use this actor?

**Travel agencies, price comparison tools, and market researchers** need car rental pricing data across multiple suppliers without manually checking each one. This actor automates the search on RentalCars.com and extracts all available offers with prices, vehicle specs, and supplier ratings in a single run. Perfect for building price alerts, comparing rates across dates, or feeding travel booking aggregators.

### Input

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `pickupLocation` | String | Yes | City, airport, or location name (e.g., "Brussels Airport", "Paris CDG") |
| `pickupDate` | String | No | Pick-up date in YYYY-MM-DD format (default: 7 days from now) |
| `dropoffDate` | String | No | Drop-off date in YYYY-MM-DD format (default: 14 days from now) |
| `pickupTime` | String | No | Pick-up time in HH:MM format (default: "10:00") |
| `dropoffTime` | String | No | Drop-off time in HH:MM format (default: "10:00") |
| `driverAge` | Integer | No | Driver age, affects pricing (default: 30) |
| `maxResults` | Integer | No | Maximum results to return (default: 50, max: 500) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Object | No | Proxy settings (residential proxies recommended) |

### Output

Each result contains:

| Field | Type | Example |
|-------|------|---------|
| `supplier` | String | `"Hertz"` |
| `carName` | String | `"Volkswagen Golf"` |
| `carType` | String | `"Compact"` |
| `transmission` | String | `"Automatic"` |
| `seats` | Number | `5` |
| `doors` | Number | `4` |
| `bags` | Number | `2` |
| `priceTotal` | Number | `342.50` |
| `pricePerDay` | Number | `48.93` |
| `currency` | String | `"EUR"` |
| `pickupLocation` | String | `"Brussels Airport"` |
| `dropoffLocation` | String | `"Brussels Airport"` |
| `pickupDate` | String | `"2026-04-10"` |
| `dropoffDate` | String | `"2026-04-17"` |
| `fuelPolicy` | String | `"Full to full"` |
| `mileagePolicy` | String | `"Unlimited"` |
| `rating` | Number | `8.2` |
| `reviewCount` | Number | `1542` |
| `imageUrl` | String | Car image URL |
| `url` | String | Direct link to the offer |
| `scrapedAt` | String | `"2026-04-03T14:30:00.000Z"` |

### Example output

```json
{
    "supplier": "Europcar",
    "carName": "Renault Clio",
    "carType": "Economy",
    "transmission": "Manual",
    "seats": 5,
    "doors": 4,
    "bags": 2,
    "priceTotal": 215.80,
    "pricePerDay": 30.83,
    "currency": "EUR",
    "pickupLocation": "Brussels Airport",
    "dropoffLocation": "Brussels Airport",
    "pickupDate": "2026-04-10",
    "dropoffDate": "2026-04-17",
    "fuelPolicy": "Full to full",
    "mileagePolicy": "Unlimited",
    "rating": 7.8,
    "reviewCount": 2341,
    "imageUrl": "https://cdn.rcstatic.com/images/car_images/web/renault/clio_lrg.jpg",
    "url": "https://www.rentalcars.com/...",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-03T14:30:00.000Z"
}
```

### Use cases

- **Price monitoring** -- Track car rental prices over time for specific routes
- **Travel aggregators** -- Feed rental car data into booking platforms
- **Market research** -- Compare supplier pricing strategies across locations
- **Price alerts** -- Get notified when rental prices drop below a threshold
- **Academic research** -- Study pricing dynamics in the car rental industry

### Cost estimate

This actor uses Playwright (headless browser). It costs $0.02 per run plus $0.002 per result — a search returning 50 results costs about $0.12, a search near the 500-result cap costs about $1.02. Usage cost only settles once a run reports SUCCEEDED.

### Tips for best results

- **Use residential proxies** -- RentalCars.com has AWS WAF anti-bot protection. Residential proxies significantly improve success rates.
- **Search dates in the future** -- Use dates at least 3-7 days in the future for the best availability.
- **Airport locations work best** -- Airport codes (e.g., "Brussels Airport BRU") tend to have the most consistent autocomplete results.

### Limitations

- Requires JavaScript rendering (Playwright-based) -- runs slower than simple HTTP scrapers, though the per-result price is the same
- AWS WAF may occasionally block requests -- residential proxies recommended
- Maximum ~500 results per search (platform limitation)
- Drop-off location is same as pick-up (one-way rentals not yet supported)
- Data is scraped from the public website and may change without notice

### How to scrape Rental Cars data

1. Go to this actor's page on the [Apify Store](https://apify.com/store).
2. Click **Try for free** to open it in Apify Console.
3. Configure your search query or URL, set the maximum number of results, and adjust proxy settings if needed.
4. Click **Start** and wait for the run to finish.
5. Download your data in JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect it to your workflow via API.

You can also schedule regular runs, set up webhooks for real-time notifications, or integrate the results directly into your application using the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api).

# Actor input Schema

## `pickupLocation` (type: `string`):

City, airport, or location name for pick-up. Examples: 'Brussels Airport', 'Paris Charles de Gaulle', 'Barcelona', 'London Heathrow'.

## `pickupDate` (type: `string`):

Pick-up date in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to 7 days from now.

## `dropoffDate` (type: `string`):

Drop-off date in ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD). Defaults to 14 days from now (7-day rental).

## `pickupTime` (type: `string`):

Pick-up time in HH:MM format (30-minute intervals). Default: 10:00.

## `dropoffTime` (type: `string`):

Drop-off time in HH:MM format (30-minute intervals). Default: 10:00.

## `driverAge` (type: `integer`):

Age of the driver. Affects pricing and availability. Default: 30.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of rental car offers to return.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. Residential proxies recommended — RentalCars.com uses AWS WAF anti-bot protection.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "pickupLocation": "Brussels Airport",
  "pickupTime": "10:00",
  "dropoffTime": "10:00",
  "driverAge": 30,
  "maxResults": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "GB"
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "pickupLocation": "Brussels Airport",
    "maxResults": 5,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "GB"
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("studio-amba/rental-cars-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 = {
    "pickupLocation": "Brussels Airport",
    "maxResults": 5,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
        "apifyProxyCountry": "GB",
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("studio-amba/rental-cars-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 '{
  "pickupLocation": "Brussels Airport",
  "maxResults": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ],
    "apifyProxyCountry": "GB"
  }
}' |
apify call studio-amba/rental-cars-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,studio-amba/rental-cars-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/JNfkbygFCUVfpNq3e/builds/FjvShL3SGkojPr5rw/openapi.json