# Yelp Scraper (`tri_angle/yelp-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Yelp businesses by search term and city, or from Yelp URLs. Get contact details, rating, opening hours, and photos for each business, then pass the URLs to Yelp Review Scraper for the full reviews.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tri_angle/yelp-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Tri⟁angle](https://apify.com/tri_angle) (Apify)
- **Categories:** Travel
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 7,315 total users, 216 monthly users, 78.7% runs succeeded, 87 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 2.70 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 businesses

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?

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

### What does Yelp Scraper do?

Yelp Scraper is an Apify actor that allows you to extract business data from Yelp quickly, without using the Yelp API.

Yelp Scraper can scrape:

- Business name, alternate names, and Yelp URL
- Full address, including city, region, postal code, and country
- Phone number and website
- Rating, review count, and price range
- Categories, business type, and cuisine
- Opening hours, plus any upcoming special hours
- Amenities and business highlights (delivery, takeout, accessibility, payment methods, and so on)
- Photos, with captions
- "From the business" details — specialties, history, and year established
- Health inspection score, where Yelp publishes one
- Whether the business is claimed, verified, or advertising on Yelp

> **Looking for individual reviews?** This actor gives you each business's overall rating and total review count, but not the review texts themselves. To extract those, use our [Yelp Review Scraper](https://apify.com/tri_angle/yelp-review-scraper) — it takes the business URLs this actor outputs and returns the full reviews, with filtering by date and language.

### Why scrape Yelp?

Yelp is a popular platform for finding local businesses, with millions of reviews and ratings. It is an excellent source of data for businesses looking to improve their online presence or conduct market research.

Here are some ways you could use Yelp data:

- Analyze customer sentiment and improve your product or service based on feedback
- Identify popular businesses in a specific area to inform business decisions
- Track competitors and monitor customer sentiment towards them

If you would like more inspiration on how scraping Yelp could help your business or organization, check out our [industry pages](https://apify.com/industries).

### How to scrape Yelp

It's easy to scrape Yelp with Yelp Scraper. Just follow these few steps, and you'll get your data in a few minutes.

1. Click on Try for free.
2. Enter the search terms **and** the locations you want to search them in — for example `Pizza` in `New York`. Alternatively, paste direct Yelp URLs instead.
3. Click on Run.
4. When Yelp Scraper has finished, preview or download your data from the Dataset tab.

### Input

| Field                                       | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Search terms**                            | What to search for, e.g. `Pizza`, `Plumbers`. Requires **Locations** to be filled in as well.                                                                                                                            |
| **Locations**                               | Where to search, e.g. `New York`, `Houston, TX`. Every search term is searched in every location.                                                                                                                        |
| **Search results limit**                    | How many businesses to scrape per search query.                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Direct Yelp page URLs instead of search** | Scrape specific business or search URLs directly. Works alongside search terms — if you provide both, both are scraped.                                                                                                  |
| **Max images**                              | Photos to extract per business. Defaults to `20`, which the business page always provides at no extra cost — higher values need an extra request per 30 photos, so runs take a little longer. Set to `0` to skip photos. |

Search terms and locations are used together, so `Pizza` + `Coffee` in `New York` + `Chicago` runs four searches. Search terms without any locations are skipped with a warning, because Yelp search needs both — if that leaves nothing at all to scrape, the run fails instead of finishing empty.

### How many results can you scrape with Yelp scraper?

Yelp scraper can return up to 240 results **on average**. However, you have to keep in mind that scraping yelp.com has many variables to it and may cause the results to fluctuate case by case. There’s no one-size-fits-all-use-cases number. **The maximum number of results may vary** depending on the complexity of the input, location, and other factors. Some of the most frequent cases are:

- website gives a different number of results depending on the type/value of the input
- website has an internal limit that no scraper can cross
- scraper has a limit that we are working on improving

Therefore, while we regularly run Actor tests to keep the benchmarks in check, the results may also fluctuate without our knowing. The best way to know for sure for your particular use case is to do a test run yourself.

### How much will scraping Yelp cost you?

When it comes to scraping, it can be challenging to estimate the resources needed to extract data as use cases may vary significantly. That's why the best course of action is to run a test scrape with a small sample of input data and limited output. You’ll get your price per scrape, which you’ll then multiply by the number of scrapes you intend to do.

[Watch this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wyz2iscZ30) for a few helpful tips. And don't forget that choosing a higher plan will save you money in the long run.

### What you are charged for

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing with three events:

| Event          | When it fires                                                                      |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **start**      | Once per run.                                                                      |
| **business**   | Once per business pushed to the dataset.                                           |
| **photo page** | Once per extra page of photos fetched, and only when **Max images** is above `20`. |

The first 20 photos come from the business page itself and cost nothing beyond the business
event. Above that, Yelp serves photos 30 at a time, so raising **Max images** to `50` adds one
photo-page event per business, `80` adds two, and so on.

### Output

Each business becomes one dataset item. Here's a real example, with the longer lists shortened:

```json
{
    "name": "Prince Street Pizza",
    "bizId": "zj8Lq1T8KIC5zwFief15jg",
    "directUrl": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/prince-street-pizza-new-york-2",
    "alternateNames": [],
    "address": {
        "addressLine1": "27 Prince St",
        "addressLine2": null,
        "addressLine3": "",
        "city": "New York",
        "regionCode": "NY",
        "postalCode": "10012",
        "country": "US"
    },
    "phone": "(212) 966-4100",
    "website": "https://locations.princestreetpizza.com/new-york",
    "aggregatedRating": 4.3,
    "reviewCount": 5705,
    "priceRange": "Under US$10",
    "type": "Restaurants",
    "cuisine": "Pizza",
    "categories": ["Restaurants", "Pizza"],
    "operationHours": [
        {
            "hours": ["10:00 AM - 3:00 AM (Next day)"],
            "regularHours": ["10:00 AM - 3:00 AM (Next day)"],
            "regularHoursRaw": [[600, 1620]],
            "hasSpecialHours": false,
            "dayOfWeekShort": "Mon"
        }
    ],
    "upcomingSpecialHours": [],
    "amenitiesAndMore": ["Offers delivery", "Offers take-out", "Takes reservations"],
    "businessHighlights": ["Casual dining", "Catering service", "Gluten-free friendly"],
    "aboutTheBusiness": {
        "specialties": "Prince St. Pizza opened its doors in 2012 in New York City…",
        "history": "Our family recipe stemmed from a simple idea…",
        "yearEstablished": "2012"
    },
    "healthScore": "0.0",
    "claimed": true,
    "verified": false,
    "advertiser": true,
    "primaryPhoto": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Jo9jBP5y6G_bG_g3H31fiw/l.jpg",
    "images": [
        {
            "link": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Jo9jBP5y6G_bG_g3H31fiw/o.jpg",
            "alt": "Naughty, spicy pepperoni"
        }
    ],
    "scrapeStartedAt": "2026-08-04T08:31:33.663Z",
    "scrapeFinishedAt": "2026-08-04T08:31:36.918Z"
}
```

Not every field is available for every business. Fields Yelp doesn't publish for a given
business come back as `null` or an empty list — `healthScore` only exists in regions with
published inspections, `cuisine` only for restaurants, `alternateNames` mostly for
businesses in markets that don't use the Latin alphabet, and `businessHighlights` and
`aboutTheBusiness` only where the owner has filled them in.

### Combining this with review data

The `directUrl` of every business is a normal `yelp.com` link, which means you can feed the
output of this actor straight into our [Yelp Review Scraper](https://apify.com/tri_angle/yelp-review-scraper):

1. Run Yelp Scraper to find businesses matching your search terms and locations.
2. Export the `directUrl` column from the dataset.
3. Paste those URLs into Yelp Review Scraper's **Start URLs** to collect the reviews for each one.

That way you get the business profiles and their reviews without scraping either twice.

### Tips for scraping Yelp

- Use relevant search terms to get the most accurate results.
- Searching a broad term across several locations returns more businesses than one narrow search — each term is run against each location.
- Leave **Max images** at the default unless you specifically need more photos; it's the cheapest setting, because the business page carries those photos already.
- Be mindful of Yelp's terms of service and follow them to avoid legal issues.

### Is it legal to scrape Yelp?

Note that personal data is protected by GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers. We also recommend that you read our blog post: [is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/)

### Not your cup of tea? Build your own scraper

Yelp scraper doesn’t exactly do what you need? You can always build your own! We have various [scraper templates](https://apify.com/templates) in Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript to get you started. Alternatively, you can write it from scratch using our [open-source library Crawlee](https://crawlee.dev/). You can keep the scraper to yourself or make it public by adding it to Apify Store (and [find users](https://blog.apify.com/make-regular-passive-income-developing-web-automation-actors-b0392278d085/) for it).

Or let us know if you need a [custom scraping solution](https://apify.com/custom-solutions).

### Your feedback

We’re always working on improving the performance of our Actors. So if you’ve got any technical feedback for Yelp Scraper or simply found a bug, please create an issue on the Actor’s [Issues tab](https://console.apify.com/actors/bf54TfrKoJrQZsrZm/issues) in Apify Console.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/tri_angle/yelp-scraper/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Here you can provide a search queries for Yelp businesses to scrape. Requires 'Locations' to be set as well.<br /><br /><strong>Use 'Search Terms', 'Direct URLs', or both — they are scraped together.</strong>

## `locations` (type: `array`):

Locations that will be searched for each search term.

## `searchLimit` (type: `integer`):

How many search results (eq. Yelp businesses) should be processed per search query

## `directUrls` (type: `array`):

If you already have URL(s) of page(s) you wish to scrape, you can set them here.<br /><br /><strong>Use 'Search Terms', 'Direct URLs', or both — they are scraped together.</strong>

## `maxImages` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of images per business. The first 20 come free with the business page. Every additional 30 images requires one extra request, charged as one photo page event.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "Pizza"
  ],
  "locations": [
    "New York"
  ],
  "searchLimit": 10,
  "directUrls": [],
  "maxImages": 20
}
```

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "Pizza"
    ],
    "locations": [
        "New York"
    ],
    "searchLimit": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tri_angle/yelp-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 = {
    "searchTerms": ["Pizza"],
    "locations": ["New York"],
    "searchLimit": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tri_angle/yelp-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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "Pizza"
  ],
  "locations": [
    "New York"
  ],
  "searchLimit": 10
}' |
apify call tri_angle/yelp-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tri_angle/yelp-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/bf54TfrKoJrQZsrZm/builds/Dbz7MsxFERy2n1qQd/openapi.json