iTunes Search API
An iTunes Search API reading the same keyless endpoint Apple's own stores query, across six catalogs: apps, podcasts, music, movies, ebooks and audiobooks. One row per result carries the name, artist or seller, primary genre, the storefront's price and currency, average rating with its count, release date, artwork and the store link. The country parameter picks the storefront, and the storefront decides price and availability.
$0.0004 per delivered result · $2 free every month · Failed runs never billed
$ curl $QD/itunes_search/run \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $QD_API_KEY" \
-d '{}'
{ "status": "done", "count": 10,
"results": [
{
"kind": "…",
"name": "…",
"artist": "…",
"genre": "…" } ],
"cost": 0.004 }
# 10 results × $0.0004 · nothing delivered, nothing charged
What an iTunes Search API does
Pointed at apps it is an App Store search API with a property the store pages hide: results are per storefront, so the same query against us, de and jp returns different prices, currencies and sometimes different apps — exactly the comparison a pricing or ASO dataset is built on.
Pointed at podcasts it is a podcast search API over the directory most podcast apps resolve shows against, returning publisher, genre and artwork per row. The remaining catalogs — music, movies, ebooks, audiobooks — answer through the same parameter, with a kind column labelling what each row is.
What one result looks like
Every delivered result carries these fields. Nullable means the source did not publish it — the field stays empty instead of being guessed.
| Field | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
rank | integer | 1-based position. |
kind | string · nullable | Result kind (software, podcast…). |
name | string | Track/collection name. |
artist | string · nullable | Artist or seller. |
genre | string · nullable | Primary genre. |
price | number · nullable | Storefront price. |
currency | string · nullable | Price currency. |
rating | number · nullable | Average user rating. |
ratings_count | integer · nullable | Rating count. |
release_date | string · nullable | Release date. |
artwork | string · nullable | Artwork URL. |
url | string · nullable | Store link. |
Inputs
The whole request. Anything you leave out falls back to the default shown in the catalog.
| Input | Type | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | yes | Search terms. |
media | string | no | Which catalog to search. |
country | string | no | 2-letter country (default us). |
max_results | integer | no | How many results to deliver at most (1–50). You pay only for delivered results. |
Pricing
iTunes Search API pricing
$0.0004 per delivered result. A run that delivers nothing costs nothing: blocked pages, challenges and retries are on us, and the $2 monthly allowance covers about 5,000 results before you spend anything.
Pay as you go
- $2 free credit / month
- 60 requests / min
- List unit prices
Starter
- $15 free credit / month
- 300 requests / min
- 10% off unit prices
Growth
- $50 free credit / month
- 600 requests / min
- 20% off unit prices
Scale
- $250 free credit / month
- 1,200 requests / min
- 30% off unit prices
Same wallet, same key and same $2 monthly allowance as every other Data API. Prices are launch pricing read live from the billing config — GET /v1/scraper/collectors returns the price your key actually pays.
Integration
One POST, typed rows
Base URL https://api.quanticdata.io/v1, Bearer auth, the same key as every other Data API. Endpoint: POST /v1/.
curl -X POST https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/itunes_search/run \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $QD_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{}'
What people build with the iTunes Search API
Three shapes of work this endpoint was designed around.
Storefront price comparison
Run one query across country codes and line the rows up: price and currency follow the storefront, so regional pricing becomes a table.
Podcast directory datasets
A keyword with media set to podcast returns publisher, genre and artwork rows from the directory podcast apps actually use.
Cross-media brand audits
With media set to all, one query shows every catalog a name appears in — apps, music, films, books — separated by the kind column.
iTunes Search API versus rolling your own
The differences that actually cost time when you build this in-house.
| DIY scraper | This collector | |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog breadth | A separate scraper per media type | Six catalogs behind one media parameter |
| Pricing context | One store's price presented as global | Price and currency tied to the storefront you chose |
| Result identity | Guess what kind of item matched | A kind column labelling every row |
Is this the public iTunes API Apple provides?
Yes — it reads Apple's iTunes Search endpoint, which needs no key of its own. The collector adds the flat row shape, the storefront handling and billing on the one key you already use, so Apple catalog rows drop into the same pipeline as the rest of your sources.
Can I search the App Store for a specific country?
Yes — set media to app and country to a two-letter storefront code. Price, currency and availability all follow the storefront, which is what makes per-country rows worth collecting at all.
Are app reviews included?
No — rows carry the average rating and the rating count, not review text. Review bodies live behind a different endpoint with a collector of their own, so this one stays a fast catalog search.
Is there a free iTunes Search API?
Every account gets $2 of credit every month with no card, which is about 5,000 delivered results on this endpoint at $0.0004 each. It renews monthly, and a run that delivers nothing is never billed — so a failed or blocked attempt does not eat the allowance.
How much does one run cost?
Multiply the rows you actually receive by $0.0004. A run capped at 50 results — the maximum for this collector — costs $0.02 if every row comes back, and less when the source has fewer. Volume tiers take up to 30% off, and GET /v1/scraper/collectors returns the price your key actually pays.
Run the iTunes Search API now
$2 of free credit every month, no card. Your key returns its own prices from GET /v1/scraper/collectors.