How to Scrape LinkedIn and 7 Best LinkedIn Scrapers in 2023

LinkedIn scraping involves using automated tools or scripts to extract valuable data such as user profiles, job listings, and company information from the LinkedIn platform. The extracted data can be used for various purposes, including lead generation, talent sourcing, and competitor analysis.

LinkedIn scrapers are specialized tools designed to automate the data extraction process and enhance its efficiency. There are numerous LinkedIn scrapers available, catering to diverse needs and skill levels.

In this article, we explain the different techniques for scraping LinkedIn, the best practices for efficient data extraction, and the best LinkedIn scrapers. This information will help you make an informed decision in choosing the right LinkedIn scraping tool that aligns with your specific requirements.

What is a LinkedIn scraper?

A LinkedIn scraping tool is software or script that can directly access LinkedIn using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol or a web browser. LinkedIn scrapers are designed to crawl public LinkedIn profiles and extract data from the platform, including names, job titles, company names, industries, and skills.

Which LinkedIn data can you scrape?

Social media web scraping can pose privacy concerns, you should avoid collecting private or sensitive data, such as professional email addresses and phone numbers. Always adhere to ethical practices and examine the target site’s terms of service. That being said, the following are some examples of data that can be scraped from LinkedIn:

1. LinkedIn profile data: Using a specific account name or URL, you can extract public data from LinkedIn profile URLs, such as names, headlines, profile pictures, and location (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The output of a scraped LinkedIn profile account by a URL

2. LinkedIn job listings: LinkedIn job listings include information such as job description, required qualifications, responsibilities and title (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Sample output of a scraped LinkedIn job listings using a LinkedIn scraping tool

3. LinkedIn posts: LinkedIn scrapers allow users to extract text and image data from posts, including the owner’s URL, publication date, and comments (Figure 3). Scraped post data can be used for lead generation, brand sentiment, and market research.

Figure 3: The output of a scraped LinkedIn post by a LinkedIn scraping tool

4. LinkedIn search results: LinkedIn search results include information about companies or profiles (Figure 4). You can scrape LinkedIn search results using keywords or URLs, and the platform will return results based on the keywords or filters you apply.

Figure 4: Sample output of a scraped LinkedIn search result

5. LinkedIn group: Extract public LinkedIn group data such as the number of members, the content of a discussion or question posted in the group, and group members’ names and profile URLs.

How does a LinkedIn scraper work?

LinkedIn scraping mainly involves two steps: fetching the public profile web page and extracting data from it. However, it is important to note that using a LinkedIn scraper might violate LinkedIn’s terms of service. Consider the ethical and legal concerns before scraping data from LinkedIn. Here’s a general overview of how a LinkedIn scraper data from LinkedIn profiles:

1. The LinkedIn scraper requires a list of target LinkedIn profile URLs or specific search queries like job title to begin the scraping process.
2. The scraper sends HTTP requests to the target URLs.
3. The LinkedIn data scraper crawl web pages to fetch HTML content of the target pages for later processing. Fetching is the process of downloading of a page.
4. After retrieving the HTML content, the LinkedIn data extractor parses the content to identify relevant data points. To parse HTML and XML documents, you can use browser automation tools such as Beautiful Soup or lxml. They built a parse tree for parsed web pages, allowing users to extract data from HTML.
5. After locating the relevant elements, the scraper extracts the desired data.
6. The scraper data may require cleaning and structuring to remove irrelevant information.
7. The scraped data is then saved in a preferred format, such as Excel, JSON or CSV format.

Is it legal to scrape LinkedIn data?

Scraping public data from LinkedIn is legal as long as you do not collect personally identifiable information or expose the scraped data to the public. However, the legality of scraping LinkedIn data may vary depending on the the specific circumstances. To clarify any uncertainties, consult with legal counsel to understand the laws and regulations relevant to your jurisdiction.

hiQ Labs, a data analytics company, has used automated bots to scrape publicly available information from LinkedIn profiles in 2019. LinkedIn sued hiQ Labs, stating that the company’s scraping activities violated both the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and LinkedIn’s terms of service.¹ The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of hiQ Labs, stating that the company’s scraping activities did not violate the CFAA because the data was publicly available.

Here are some best practices for scraping data from LinkedIn in compliance with LinkedIn’s terms of service:

1. Review LinkedIn terms of service or any other legal documentation.
2. Adhere to the rules outlined in the robots.txt (Figure 5).

Figure 5: LinkedIn’s robots.txt file

3. Stick to data that is publicly available. Avoid scraping personal, sensitive, or private LinkedIn data.
4. Use extracted data responsibly and ethically.
5. Use LinkedIn APIs to access data legally.

With different LinkedIn scraping tools available in the market, selecting the right one can be a challenging task. Each tool offers a unique combination of features, and pricing to cater to different needs. We provide a comprehensive overview of the top 7 LinkedIn scraping tools, outlining their key features and advantages.

1. Bright Data

Bright Data is a data collection platform that provides businesses and individuals with various web scraping and proxy services. They have a dedicated web scraper for LinkedIn that extracts and parses LinkedIn public data.

Features:

• Pre-made web scraper templates: Pre-made web scraper templates enable users to adapt existing code to their specific requirements and applications. They eliminate the requirement to write web scraper code from scratch. You can tailor LinkedIn scraper to target specific data points.
• Built-in debug tools: Built-in debug tools help developers identify errors in a past crawl and fix them in their code.
• Browser scripting in JavaScript: Allow users to handle scripts and parsing codes that execute within a web browser with simple procedural JavaScript.
• Interactive preview: You can monitor your code as you build it, enabling users identify and debug errors early in the development process.
• Geo-location emulation: Emulate users in different geo-locations with built-in fingerprinting and CAPTCHA solving. It helps users minimize the risk of being blocked and overcome geo-restrictions.

Pricing:

2. Dripify

Dripify is a LinkedIn automation tool that helps sales professionals automate various tasks on LinkedIn. They provide a LinkedIn scraper that enables users to access lead data available on LinkedIn and export the collected data to a CSV file.

Features:

• Local IP-address: Provides unique IP address from users local region, enabling users to access websites as if they were located in different geographical regions.
• Human behavior simulation: Imitates the actions of a real user when interacting with LinkedIn (Figure 6). It adds random time delays between requests and simulates user clicks on links or buttons to help you appear more like a genuine user.  

Figure 6: Methods for simulating human behavior while navigating LinkedIn platform

Pricing:

• Starting price: $59/user/mo
• Trial: Available

3. Lyne.ai

Lyne’s LinkedIn scraping tool enables sales and marketing teams to extract prospect data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator search and scrape LinkedIn search results.

Features:

• Chrome Extension: Offers users to use the LinkedIn scraper as a Chrome extension. You can automatically scrape public data from LinkedIn profiles.
• CSV export: Export scraped data in CSV format.
• Email Validation: Validates whether an email address is valid and properly formatted.
• CRM Sync: Synchronizes data between a CRM platform and LinkedIn scraper.

Pricing:

• Starting price: $39/mo
• Trial: Available

4. PhantomBuster

PhantomBuster offers a LinkedIn profile scraper and a company scraper to scrape public data from the platform.

Features:

• Updated LinkedIn data: You can set up the LinkedIn scraping tool to launch repeatedly to extract data daily.
• Firefox and Chrome extension: The linkedIn data scraper is available as extension.
• Cloud-based: Runs on the remote servers, allowing users extract data LinkedIn without using local resources.

Pricing:

• Starting price: $59/mo
• Trial: Available for 14 days

5. Meet Alfred

Meet Alfred is a LinkedIn automation platform that provides a LinkedIn scraper to extract data from user and company profiles.

Features:

• CRM integration: Connecting your CRM platform with the LinkedIn scraper, allowing users to update data between connected systems automatically. 
• CSV format: Extract data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, people or company profiles and download it as a CSV file.

Pricing:

• Starting price: $59/mo
• Trial: Available

6. Linked Helper

Linked Helper is a LinkedIn automation tool that allows sales teams to scrape LinkedIn automatically to streamline lead generation and LinkedIn outreach.

Features:

Scrape data from the linkedIn and sales navigator accounts, including emails and message history, and export it to CSV or send it to a 3rd party service.

Pricing:

• Starting price: $15/mo
• Trial: 14-day free trial

7. Coresignal

Coresignal offers pre-built LinkedIn datasets, and dedicated scraping APIs for company scraping, employee scraping, and job scraping.

Features:

• Scraping APIs: Scrape data from LinkedIn using specific profile URLs. The extracted data is delivered in the form of structured JSON or HTML.

Pricing:

• Starting price: $1000/mo
• Trial: Book free consultation

Transparency statement:

AIMultiple works with many companies, including Bright Data mentioned in this article.

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External links

1. Wikipedia, HiQ Labs v. LinkedIn. Retrieved 7 May, 2023.
2. LinkedIn