How to use AliExpress Search Scraper

Step by step: in the Apify Store, over the API, from JavaScript or Python, in n8n, and from AI agents through MCP or LangChain.

$2.25 per 1,000 products on the Free plan, down to $1.50 on higher plans (live Apify price on 2026-11-02).

1. In the Apify Store (no code)

1. Open arcadium/aliexpress-search and sign in to Apify (a free account works).
2. Fill in the input form. The fields below are the ones the example uses.
3. Set a maximum cost per run in the run options if you want a hard cap.
4. Start the run. Rows appear in the Output tab as they arrive.
5. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or connect an integration.

Example input:

{
  "searchTerms": [
    "phone case"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerTerm": 30,
  "sort": "relevance",
  "freeShipping": false
}

2. Over the Apify API

The synchronous endpoint runs the actor and returns its rows in one call (for runs up to about five minutes; use the asynchronous run endpoint for longer ones).

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/arcadium~aliexpress-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchTerms":["phone case"],"maxResultsPerTerm":30,"sort":"relevance","freeShipping":false}'

3. From JavaScript

// npm install apify-client
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('arcadium/aliexpress-search').call({
  "searchTerms": [
    "phone case"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerTerm": 30,
  "sort": "relevance",
  "freeShipping": false
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

4. From Python

# pip install apify-client
import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("arcadium/aliexpress-search").call(run_input={
    "searchTerms": ["phone case"],
    "maxResultsPerTerm": 30,
    "sort": "relevance",
    "freeShipping": False,
})
items = client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).list_items().items  # apify-client 3.x returns a Run object
print(items)

5. In n8n

Paste this node into a workflow (it is a plain HTTP Request node). Create a Header Auth credential with name Authorization and value Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>; each returned row becomes one item for the next node.

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Run arcadium/aliexpress-search",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
      "typeVersion": 4,
      "position": [
        0,
        0
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "method": "POST",
        "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/arcadium~aliexpress-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items",
        "authentication": "genericCredentialType",
        "genericAuthType": "httpHeaderAuth",
        "sendBody": true,
        "specifyBody": "json",
        "jsonBody": "{\"searchTerms\":[\"phone case\"],\"maxResultsPerTerm\":30,\"sort\":\"relevance\",\"freeShipping\":false}",
        "options": {
          "timeout": 300000
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "connections": {}
}

Ready-made workflow to import:

• Amazon and AliExpress product search to Google Sheets The same keywords searched on both marketplaces, written to one sheet with shared columns.

6. From an AI assistant (MCP)

Add Apify’s MCP server to Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client, limited to this actor:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=arcadium/aliexpress-search",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

More on the MCP page.

7. From LangChain

# pip install langchain-apify   (reads APIFY_API_TOKEN from the environment)
from langchain_apify import ApifyActorsTool

tool = ApifyActorsTool("arcadium/aliexpress-search")
rows = tool.invoke({"run_input": {
    "searchTerms": ["phone case"],
    "maxResultsPerTerm": 30,
    "sort": "relevance",
    "freeShipping": False,
}})
# or give `tool` to an agent: create_react_agent(llm, [tool])

Sample output

One row, from the example in the actor’s README. Long text is shortened and lists are cut to two items.

{
  "rowType": "product",
  "platform": "aliexpress",
  "productId": "1005007097199333",
  "title": "Wireless LED Night Lights Motion Sensor Lights Closet Kitchen",
  "url": "https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007097199333.html",
  "price": 0.33,
  "currency": "USD",
  "originalPrice": 5.36,
  "discountPercent": 93,
  "soldText": "100K+ sold",
  "soldMin": 100000,
  "soldCount": 241114,
  "rating": 4.9,
  "shipFrom": "CN",
  "isAd": false,
  "searchTerm": "lamp",
  "searchRank": 1
}

Tutorials

• Check an AliExpress product idea: prices, sales and shipping in one run

Schedule it

In Apify Console, create a Task from your input and add a Schedule (for example daily). Each run writes a new dataset; integrations can push the rows to Google Sheets, Slack, a webhook or your database.