Yelp API
Business search in Yelp's own ranked order, full detail with the per-star histogram, and pages of complete review text with owner responses — each a single POST returning structured JSON. Not the three excerpts Fusion gives you.
50 free credits on signup, covering 25 Yelp calls. No card.
{ "data": { "term": "coffee", "location": "Austin, TX", "url": "https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=coffee&find_loc=Austin%2C+TX", "city": "Austin", "state": "TX", "country": "US", "latitude": 30.30515632, "longitude": -97.75772095, "bounds": { "north": 30.483000484352313, "south": 30.12731214760335, "east": -97.5531005859375, "west": -97.96234130859375 }, "categories": [ "coffeeroasteries", "coffee", "internetcafe", "food", "cafes" ] }, "response_time": 1980, "credits_used": 2, "credits_remaining": 4720}Live call against the real endpoint — 2 free runs, then it's your own key.
What is the Scavio Yelp API?
The Scavio Yelp API is a REST API that returns public Yelp data as structured JSON. You send a term and location, or a business id, to one of 3 POST endpoints with your API key, and get back ranked businesses with ratings and price bands, full business detail with the star histogram, or pages of complete review text.
- 3
- endpoints, all live in production
- 2
- credits per call, above the 1-credit norm
- FULL
- review text, not three excerpts
Three endpoints, the whole local picture
Search ranks them, detail scores them, reviews explain the score.
Search
POST /api/v1/yelp/searchBusinesses in Yelp's own ranked order, with rating, review count, price band, categories and hours — plus the resolved geo, so you know exactly what area was searched.
Business detail
POST /api/v1/yelp/businessOne business with the full per-star histogram rather than an average, which is where a 4.0 built on 500 fives and 200 ones stops looking like a 4.0.
Reviews
POST /api/v1/yelp/reviewsFull review text with detected language, author expertise counts, attached photos and any owner response — pages of them, not three excerpts.
All 3 Yelp endpoints
Every route is a POST, returns JSON, and takes the same API key. Yelp is priced at 2 credits per successful call.
| Endpoint | Returns | Credits |
|---|---|---|
Search/api/v1/yelp/search | Yelp's own ranked order — rating, review count, price band, categories, hours | 2 |
Business detail/api/v1/yelp/business | Rating with the per-star histogram, review count, price band, contact | 2 |
Reviews/api/v1/yelp/reviews | Full review text, language, author profile, photos, owner replies | 2 |
50 free credits on signup covers 25 Yelp calls. See plans
Search a metro, then read the reviews
The response echoes the resolved geo, so you know exactly which area was searched. This is a real capture, field names and all.
from scavio import ScavioClient
client = ScavioClient(api_key="sk_live_your_key")
res = client.yelp.search(term="coffee", location="Austin, TX")
for b in res["data"]["businesses"]:
print(b["name"], b["rating"], b["review_count"])
# Full review text, not excerpts - 2 credits
revs = client.yelp.reviews(business_id=res["data"]["businesses"][0]["id"]){
"data": {
"term": "coffee",
"location": "Austin, TX",
"url": "https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=coffee&find_loc=Austin%2C+TX",
"city": "Austin",
"state": "TX",
"country": "US",
"latitude": 30.30515632,
"longitude": -97.75772095,
"bounds": {
"north": 30.483000484352313,
"south": 30.12731214760335,
"east": -97.5531005859375,
"west": -97.96234130859375
},
"categories": ["coffeeroasteries", "coffee", "internetcafe", "food", "cafes"]
},
"response_time": 1980,
"credits_used": 2,
"credits_remaining": 4720
}Why not Yelp Fusion?
Fusion is first-party and free. It also truncates the one field most review work needs.
Yelp Fusion API
- Returns three review EXCERPTS per business, truncated rather than full text
- Requires a developer app and an API key with per-app rate limits
- Display and storage terms restrict what you can keep and show
- No per-star histogram in the standard business response
Scavio Yelp API
- Pages of complete review text, with language, author profile and photos
- Owner responses included, so handled complaints are distinguishable
- Per-star histogram alongside the average rating
- Same key and JSON envelope as 30 other Scavio platforms
Scavio returns publicly available business and review data only, and never authenticates as a Yelp user.
What developers build with it
Review monitoring at depth
Full review bodies with owner responses, paginated, so you can track sentiment over time rather than re-reading the same three excerpts Yelp's official API returns.
business + reviewsLocal lead lists
Search a category across a metro and capture name, rating, review count, price band, categories and contact rails. The resolved bounds tell you the exact area covered.
searchCompetitive local analysis
Compare your rating histogram against nearby rivals. The distribution shows whether a competitor's average is solid or propped up by a burst of five-star reviews.
search + businessReputation management for multi-location brands
Run every branch on a schedule and alert on new one and two-star reviews, with the owner-response field showing which have already been handled.
search + reviewsAgent tools for local questions
Point an agent at the MCP server and Yelp becomes a callable tool — is this place any good, what do recent reviewers complain about — with one key.
MCP + RESTHow to get Yelp data as JSON
- 1
Get an API key
Sign up for a Scavio account and copy your key from the dashboard. You get 50 credits free on signup, with no card required and no Yelp developer app.
- 2
POST a term and location
Send {"term": "coffee", "location": "Austin, TX"} to https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/yelp/search with an Authorization: Bearer header. Business detail and reviews key on the business id each row returns.
- 3
Budget 2 credits a call
Yelp costs 2 credits per call on all three endpoints. The response wraps the payload under data with credits_used and credits_remaining, and echoes the resolved city, coordinates and bounds so a stored result is self-describing.
Yelp API FAQ
What is the Scavio Yelp API?
+
It is a REST API that returns public Yelp data as structured JSON. Three POST endpoints cover business search in Yelp's own ranked order, full business detail with the per-star rating histogram, and pages of full review text with owner responses. You authenticate with a Scavio API key.
Who are these endpoints for?
+
Reputation and marketing teams at multi-location brands; developers building local search or review features; AI agent builders wiring Yelp in as an MCP or SDK tool; automation engineers running alerts inside n8n, Zapier or Make; agencies building local lead lists; and analysts studying local markets. Same API for all of them.
How is this different from the Yelp Fusion API?
+
Fusion returns three review excerpts per business — truncated text, not full reviews — and it is rate limited per app with terms restricting display and storage. This returns pages of complete review text with detected language, author profile, photos and any owner response.
How much does a Yelp request cost?
+
Every Yelp endpoint costs 2 credits, above the 1-credit norm on most Scavio platforms. New accounts get 50 free credits on signup, so 25 Yelp calls. Paid plans start at $30 per month for 7,000 credits.
Do I get the star distribution or just an average?
+
Both. Business detail returns the per-star histogram alongside the average and review count, which is what tells you whether a 4.0 is consistent or polarised.
What does the response look like?
+
The API wraps the payload under a data key and adds credits_used and credits_remaining. A search echoes term, location, the resolved city, state, country, latitude, longitude, a bounds box and the categories matched, alongside the ranked businesses.
Can I control the search area?
+
Pass a location string and the response tells you exactly how it resolved — city, coordinates and a north/south/east/west bounds box. That means a stored result records the area it actually covered rather than the string you typed.
Which languages and tools are supported?
+
Official Python (pip install scavio) and JavaScript/TypeScript (npm i scavio) SDKs, a remote MCP server at mcp.scavio.dev for AI agents, and an n8n community node. Any language can call the REST endpoints directly with an HTTP client.
Is scraping Yelp data legal?
+
Scavio returns publicly available business and review data and does not authenticate as a user. Reviews are written by individuals, so privacy and republication considerations apply. Talk to your own counsel for your specific use case.
Explore more of Scavio
Google Maps API
Local search, places and reviews.
Tripadvisor API
Places, hotels, attractions and reviews.
Booking.com API
Property search, rates and guest reviews.
Glassdoor API
Employers, reviews and salary bands.
MCP server
Every platform as a callable tool for agents.
Pricing
Credit packs and plans, no per-platform surcharge.
Start pulling Yelp data today
50 free credits on signup, no card. Your first request is a POST with a term and a city.