# Coursera Scraper - Courses, Specializations & Certificates (`thirdwatch/coursera-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Coursera course listings by keyword. Get title, partner/university, rating, difficulty level, skills, duration, course type (course/specialization/professional-cert), and more.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/coursera-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** AI
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.20 / 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.
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

## Coursera Scraper

> **Thirdwatch portfolio:** 5K users across 88 public Actors, 2M+ records delivered, and >99% run success. [Explore all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch).

Extract Coursera courses, specializations, and professional certificates by keyword. Get structured data on course titles, universities, ratings, difficulty levels, skills, duration, and more — no browser needed, pure HTTP.

### What does this scraper do?

This actor searches Coursera by keyword and returns detailed course listings. It is useful for:

- **EdTech market research** — survey what courses exist in any subject area
- **Learning path discovery** — find all specializations and professional certificates for a skill
- **Competitive benchmarking** — compare Coursera's catalog to your own content
- **Lead generation** — identify topics with high enrollment and learner ratings
- **Academic research** — analyze MOOCs by university, level, and skills taught

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `queries` | array | List of search keywords, e.g. `["machine learning", "python"]` |
| `maxResults` | integer | Max courses per query (default: 50, max: 500) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Optional Apify proxy config (not required for Coursera) |

### Output fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `title` | string | Course title |
| `slug` | string | URL slug, e.g. `machine-learning-introduction` |
| `url` | string | Full Coursera URL |
| `partner` | string or array | University or organization offering the course |
| `partners` | array | Full list of partners (for co-offered courses) |
| `course_type` | string | `course`, `specialization`, `professional-certificate`, `guided-project` |
| `level` | string | `Beginner`, `Intermediate`, `Advanced`, or `Mixed` |
| `rating` | number | Average learner rating (0–5), e.g. `4.87` |
| `num_ratings` | integer | Number of ratings |
| `duration` | string | Estimated time, e.g. `1-3 months` |
| `skills` | array | Skills covered (up to 10), e.g. `["Python", "Machine Learning"]` |
| `is_free` | boolean | Whether the course is free to audit |
| `is_coursera_plus` | boolean | Included in Coursera Plus subscription |
| `image_url` | string | Course thumbnail URL |
| `tagline` | string | Short marketing description |
| `languages` | array | Languages the course is fully translated into |
| `query` | string | The query that returned this course |

### Example output

```json
{
  "title": "Machine Learning",
  "slug": "machine-learning-introduction",
  "url": "https://www.coursera.org/specializations/machine-learning-introduction",
  "partner": ["DeepLearning.AI", "Stanford University"],
  "partners": ["DeepLearning.AI", "Stanford University"],
  "course_type": "specialization",
  "level": "Beginner",
  "rating": 4.89,
  "num_ratings": 38721,
  "duration": "1-3 months",
  "skills": ["Unsupervised Learning", "Supervised Learning", "Machine Learning Methods", "Model Training"],
  "is_free": false,
  "is_coursera_plus": false,
  "image_url": "https://d15cw65ipctsrr.cloudfront.net/...",
  "tagline": "#BreakIntoAI with Machine Learning Specialization\nOffered by DeepLearning.AI, and Stanford University",
  "languages": ["English"],
  "query": "machine learning"
}
```

### Technical details

- **Data source**: `window.__APOLLO_STATE__` embedded JSON in Coursera's SSR search pages
- **Pattern**: Pure HTTP (Pattern A) — 256 MB memory, no browser
- **Rate**: 12 courses/page, polite 1.5s delay between pages, 2s delay between queries
- **Deduplication**: by slug across all queries
- **Proxy**: not required; optional Apify proxy supported

### Pricing

Pay-per-result pricing with volume discounts:

| Tier | Price |
|------|-------|
| FREE (first 1K) | $0.002/result |
| BRONZE | $0.0016/result |
| SILVER | $0.0012/result |
| GOLD | $0.001/result |

### Use cases

#### Find all machine learning courses

```json
{ "queries": ["machine learning"], "maxResults": 100 }
```

#### Compare Python courses across levels

```json
{ "queries": ["python beginner", "python intermediate", "python advanced"], "maxResults": 50 }
```

#### Survey digital marketing certificates

```json
{ "queries": ["digital marketing", "social media marketing", "seo"], "maxResults": 60 }
```

### Notes

- Coursera search returns specializations, professional certificates, and individual courses in the same results
- Filter by `course_type` in your downstream processing to separate these
- The `num_ratings` field is the most reliable proxy for enrollment count (Coursera does not expose raw enrollment in search results)
- Results are sorted by Coursera's relevance ranking by default

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

List of keyword queries to search on Coursera. Each query returns up to maxResults courses. Examples: 'machine learning', 'python for beginners', 'digital marketing'.

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

Maximum number of courses to return per query. Each page returns 12 courses. Total results = queries × maxResults.

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

Optional Apify proxy configuration. Leave empty for direct connection (Coursera does not require a proxy).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "machine learning",
    "python",
    "marketing"
  ],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "machine learning",
        "python",
        "marketing"
    ],
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/coursera-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 = {
    "queries": [
        "machine learning",
        "python",
        "marketing",
    ],
    "maxResults": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/coursera-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 '{
  "queries": [
    "machine learning",
    "python",
    "marketing"
  ],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/coursera-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/coursera-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/aHRQSp46laygBm37D/builds/5zEzc8kSBT0QZYcdG/openapi.json