Use Freelancer.com Project Budget & Bids Scraper with Python

Pull Freelancer.com projects from direct links, search keywords, category pages or a user's posted-project list, with budget or hourly rate, bid count, days left, skills and description.

1. Choose the data you need

Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.

2. Prepare a source-based input

This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.

{
  "budgetMax": 0,
  "budgetMin": 0,
  "categoryUrls": [],
  "includeBids": false,
  "includeClosed": false,
  "includeDetails": false,
  "languages": [],
  "maxBidCount": 0,
  "maxBidsPerProject": 1,
  "maxItems": 3,
  "maxPages": 1,
  "minBidCount": 0,
  "mode": "search",
  "postedAfter": "",
  "postedBefore": "",
  "projectType": "any",
  "projectUrls": [],
  "query": "python",
  "skills": [],
  "sortBy": "latest"
}

Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`mode`	string	required	How to find projects. `auto` detects the mode from the fields you fill in, `search` uses a keyword, `byProject` uses project URLs/ids, and `byCategory` browses a skill/category page.
`query`	string	optional	Keyword used in mode=search, e.g. `python`, `logo design`, `data entry`. Required for search mode.
`projectUrls`	array	optional	Full Freelancer project URLs, paths or numeric project ids used in mode=byProject, e.g. https://www.freelancer.com/projects/python/my-project or 40425363.
`categoryUrls`	array	optional	Freelancer /jobs/<skill>/ URLs or skill slugs used in mode=byCategory, e.g. https://www.freelancer.com/jobs/python/ or `website-design`.
`projectType`	string	optional	Keep fixed-price projects, hourly projects, or both.
`budgetMin`	integer	optional	Minimum fixed budget or hourly rate in USD. Use 0 for no minimum. When projectType=any, the range is applied to both types.
`budgetMax`	integer	optional	Maximum fixed budget or hourly rate in USD. Use 0 for no maximum. When projectType=any, the range is applied to both types.
`minBidCount`	integer	optional	Only keep projects with at least this many bids. Use 0 for no minimum.
`maxBidCount`	integer	optional	Only keep projects with at most this many bids. Use 0 for no maximum.
`skills`	array	optional	Skill names, slugs or numeric ids to narrow the search, e.g. `Python`, `website-design` or `13`.
`languages`	array	optional	ISO 639-1 language codes, e.g. `en`, `de`, `hi`, `es`.
`postedAfter`	string	optional	Only keep projects posted on or after this date. ISO date or datetime, e.g. `2026-01-01` or `2026-01-01T12:00:00Z`.
`postedBefore`	string	optional	Only keep projects posted on or before this date. ISO date or datetime, e.g. `2026-12-31` or `2026-12-31T23:59:59Z`.
`includeClosed`	boolean	optional	Also search closed projects in search/category modes. Direct project URLs and ids always work for closed projects.
`includeDetails`	boolean	optional	Fetch the public project page for employer country/rating/reviews, verification flags, page title and posting text. Adds one request per project.
`includeBids`	boolean	optional	Fetch individual bids with bidder identity, amount, delivery period and proposal text. Adds one request per project.
`maxBidsPerProject`	integer	optional	How many individual bids to return per project when `includeBids` is enabled.
`sortBy`	string	optional	Order of search/category results. Ending-soon and budget sorts are applied to the collected candidate pool.
`maxPages`	integer	optional	Maximum listing pages to request. Each page contains up to 99 projects.
`maxItems`	integer	optional	Hard cap on emitted project records.

3. Start an Actor run

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.

Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.

import json
import os
import urllib.request

# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
    actor_input = json.load(stream)

token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/rIifZrshkdx1QJHsI/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
    data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
    run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.

4. Inspect the actual results

Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.

One record per Freelancer.com project, with fixed or hourly budget, bid count and bid list, skills, employer rating and verification, dates and flags.

Questions before you run

Which inputs are required?

The published required fields are mode

What does this guide verify?

The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.

What if the run request times out?

Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.

Open on Apify Full Actor reference

Generated from source build bbzK5whhDLh1yi1Dc and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.