# Techcrunch News Scraper (`xtracto/techcrunch-scraper`) Actor

Delivers fast and reliable structured data from TechCrunch. Perfect for automated technology news monitoring and analysis.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/xtracto/techcrunch-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Farhan Febrian Nauval](https://apify.com/xtracto) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Lead generation, Other
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 5 total users, 1 monthly users, 95.7% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 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.

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

## TechCrunch Article Scraper

Extract full article text, headline, author, publication date, and description from any **techcrunch.com** article URL. TechCrunch is the leading source for startup news, venture capital, and technology industry coverage, with no hard paywall on standard articles.

### Why Use This Actor?

- **Startup intelligence** - monitor funding rounds, product launches, and acquisitions as they break.
- **VC and investor research** - track which startups are getting attention and which investors are active.
- **Tech trend analysis** - aggregate TechCrunch coverage to identify emerging technology patterns.
- **Event coverage** - TechCrunch Disrupt and other major tech events are covered in depth.

### How It Works

This actor uses **only HTTP requests** - no browser, no Selenium, no Playwright. Articles are extracted in seconds with RAM usage well under 256 MB.

### Input

```json
{
  "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/12/example-article-slug/",
  "urls": [
    "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/12/article-one/",
    "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/11/article-two/"
  ]
,
  "mode": "article",
  "limit": 10
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/15/openai-launches-chatgpt-for-personal-finance-will-let-you-connect-bank-accounts/",
  "source": "TechCrunch",
  "title": "OpenAI launches ChatGPT for personal finance, will let you connect bank accounts",
  "description": "Once users connect their accounts, they will see a dashboard of their portfolio performance, spending, subscriptions, and upcoming payments.",
  "content": "On Friday, OpenAI launched a new set of personal finance tools in preview for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the U.S., letting them connect their accounts and ask questions ranging from spending analysis to future financial planning. OpenAI has partnered with the financial connection service Plaid to manage the account connections. Users can connect to over 12,000 financial institutions, including Schwab, Fidelity, Chase, Robinhood, American Express, and Capital One....",
  "image": "https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-2195918462.jpg",
  "language": "en-US",
  "word_count": 465,
  "published_date": "2026-05-15T09:00:00",
  "modified_date": "2026-05-15T09:36:15",
  "authors": [],
  "categories": "AI",
  "tags": "finance;OpenAI;ChatGPT"
}
```

### Fetch Latest News

Set `mode` to `"latest"` to fetch the newest article URLs and titles from TechCrunch instead of extracting a single article.

**Input:**

```json
{
  "mode": "latest",
  "limit": 10
}
```

**Output** - array of objects:

```json
[
  {
    "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/19/openais-existential-questions/",
    "title": "OpenAI’s existential questions",
    "published_date": "Sun, 19 Apr 2026 21:24:06 +0000",
    "source": "TechCrunch"
  }
  //...
]
```

Source: `https://techcrunch.com/feed/` (RSS feed)

### Cron Schedule: Auto-Fetch Newest Articles

Combine `mode: "latest"` and `mode: "article"` to keep a fresh feed running on autopilot:

1. **Schedule** a recurring run of this Actor with `{"mode": "latest", "limit": 20}` via Apify Schedules (UI ▸ Schedules ▸ Create new). A cron expression like `*/30 * * * *` runs it every 30 minutes.
2. **Webhook** the dataset of the latest run into another Actor run with `mode: "article"` and the new URLs as input — Apify integrations let you chain runs via the "Actor finished" webhook without any glue code.
3. The article-mode run extracts the full body, image, authors, and metadata for each URL and appends to your master dataset.

Common cron expressions:

| Frequency | Cron |
|---|---|
| Every 15 minutes | `*/15 * * * *` |
| Hourly | `0 * * * *` |
| Every 6 hours | `0 */6 * * *` |
| Daily at 06:00 UTC | `0 6 * * *` |

### Notes

- TechCrunch uses WordPress REST API, which provides cleaner data than HTML parsing
- Extra fields like `modified_date` are returned when available via the API

### Other News Actors

Need a different news source? All actors in this collection:

| Actor | Source |
|---|---|
| [`aljazeera-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/aljazeera-scraper) | Al Jazeera |
| [`apnews-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/apnews-scraper) | AP News |
| [`bbc-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/bbc-scraper) | BBC News |
| [`cnbc-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/cnbc-scraper) | CNBC |
| [`forbes-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/forbes-scraper) | Forbes |
| [`fortune-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/fortune-scraper) | Fortune |
| [`ft-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/ft-scraper) | Financial Times |
| [`guardian-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/guardian-scraper) | The Guardian |
| [`msn-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/msn-scraper) | MSN News |
| [`nytimes-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/nytimes-scraper) | New York Times |
| [`reuters-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/reuters-scraper) | Reuters |
| [`scmp-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/scmp-scraper) | South China Morning Post |
| [`techcrunch-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/techcrunch-scraper) | TechCrunch |
| [`upi-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/upi-scraper) | UPI |
| [`yahoo-finance-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/yahoo-finance-scraper) | Yahoo Finance |
| [`smart-news-loader`](https://apify.com/xtracto/smart-news-loader) | Any URL - adaptive HTTP loader |
| [`bloomberg-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/bloomberg-news-article-scraper) | Bloomberg |s

All actors support `mode: "latest"` for fetching newest article URLs from each source.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

Single article URL to extract.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

List of article URLs to extract.

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

Operation mode: 'article' to extract a single article (default), 'latest' to fetch newest headlines from the source's RSS feed.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Number of latest articles to return when mode is 'latest'. Default: 10.

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

Optional. Requests go through Apify Proxy when enabled; an article that does not load is retried up to 3 times, each through a new proxy session.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/justice-department-says-north-koreans-have-infiltrated-dozens-of-u-s-companies/",
  "mode": "article",
  "limit": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One row per scraped record, stored in the run's default dataset.

# 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 = {
    "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/justice-department-says-north-koreans-have-infiltrated-dozens-of-u-s-companies/"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("xtracto/techcrunch-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 = { "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/justice-department-says-north-koreans-have-infiltrated-dozens-of-u-s-companies/" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("xtracto/techcrunch-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 '{
  "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/justice-department-says-north-koreans-have-infiltrated-dozens-of-u-s-companies/"
}' |
apify call xtracto/techcrunch-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,xtracto/techcrunch-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/SDNKAH5bT9eg2jcQW/builds/p2ah0Z6aDftTOtfeO/openapi.json