# Instagram Rising Creators: Trending & Rising Influencers (`afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators`) Actor

Find rising and trending Instagram influencers in any niche: creators whose followers jumped in the last 3–30 days, fastest first, with measured follower growth and the post that caused it. Pick a niche and a period; no username list needed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrey Afanasenko](https://apify.com/afanasenko) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $120.00 / 1,000 rising creators

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Instagram Rising Creators: Trending & Rising Influencers

[![Apify Actor](https://apify.com/actor-badge?actor=afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators)](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators)

> **Find Instagram creators who just took off in your niche: fastest growth first, with the post that caused it.**
> Pick a niche and a period. The actor returns creators whose followers jumped in the last 3–30 days, how much they grew, and the reel or post that most likely did it. You don't need a username list.

> **🆓 Free to start:** up to 5 creators per run on the free Apify plan · measured growth with dates · the likely cause of each jump.

### 🎯 What it does

**You give** a niche, picked from the list (Fitness, Nutrition, Beauty, Parenting, Finance and more) or written in your own words in any language, and a period: the last 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.

**You get** one row per creator:

- followers today;
- how much they grew, as a percentage, with the dates measured and the average growth a day;
- the post that most likely caused the jump: link, views, and how many times it beat the creator's usual result.

The fastest growers come first. You choose only the niche and the period; the actor decides what counts as fast growth.

**Two kinds of results, always labelled:**

| `growthStatus` | What it means |
|---|---|
| `measured` | We recorded this account's follower count earlier in the period, and the run compared it with today's live count. The row shows both numbers and both dates. |
| `breakout_signal` | The account is new to us, so there is no earlier count to compare. It is returned because a fresh reel reached at least 3× its follower count and at least 3× its usual result, which is how an account takes off. It has no growth number. |

Measured results always come before signals. Turn signals off with `includeSignals: false`.

**What you won't get:**

- growth numbers that were guessed or drawn between two dates;
- private accounts;
- accounts outside your niche. Every creator is checked against the niche, and brands, repost pages and meme pages are dropped.

Instagram does not say which post brought a follower, so the "likely cause" is the post that beat the creator's usual result the most around the jump.

### 🔍 How it decides who took off

1. **Finds the niche's candidates** two ways: accounts of the niche whose follower count we recorded rising earlier in the period, and the authors of the niche's fresh reels that reached a large audience.
2. **Reads each account live**: today's follower count and its recent reels.
3. **Measures growth** against the earliest follower count recorded inside your period. Without one, the account is returned only if a fresh reel reached at least 3× its followers and at least 3× its usual result.
4. **Checks the niche**: brands, repost pages and accounts that post about something else are dropped, however fast they grew.
5. **Ranks** by average growth a day, so ×2 in two days comes before ×2 in a week, and names the post behind each jump.

### 📦 Output sample

A real row from a recent run (niche "Nutrition & healthy eating", last 14 days). Bio, link and email fields are left out here:

```json
{
  "rank": 2,
  "username": "thesugarresetmama",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/thesugarresetmama/",
  "followers": 81192,
  "growthStatus": "measured",
  "followersBefore": 48252,
  "measuredFrom": "2026-10-08",
  "measuredTo": "2026-10-22",
  "daysMeasured": 14,
  "followersGained": 32940,
  "growthPercent": 68.3,
  "growthMultiple": 1.68,
  "growthPerDayPercent": 3.79,
  "triggerPostUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeQk8zUtUE_/",
  "triggerPostFormat": "reel",
  "triggerPostedAt": "2026-10-21T13:47:20.000Z",
  "triggerPostViews": 936379,
  "triggerTimesUsual": 13.8,
  "triggerViewsToFollowers": 11.53,
  "topic": "Low-sugar meal prep and holistic nutrition",
  "isVerified": true,
  "niche": "nutritionist, healthy eating and recipes",
  "periodDays": 14
}
```

What each row holds:

- **Growth** — `followers`, `growthStatus`, `followersBefore`, `measuredFrom`, `measuredTo`, `daysMeasured`, `followersGained`, `growthPercent`, `growthMultiple`, `growthPerDayPercent`.
- **The likely cause** — `triggerPostUrl`, `triggerPostFormat`, `triggerPostedAt`, `triggerPostViews`, `triggerPostLikes`, `triggerPostComments`, `triggerTimesUsual`, `triggerViewsToFollowers`, `triggerPostCaption`. The same data is in `triggerPost` as one object, and up to 3 more of the creator's strong recent posts are in `standoutPosts`.
- **The creator** — `username`, `profileUrl`, `fullName`, `topic`, `biography`, `category`, `isVerified`, `posts`, `externalUrl`, `publicEmail` (the business email shown on the profile, when public).
- **The run** — `rank`, `niche`, `periodDays`, `checkedAt`.

**Views**, in the **Storage → Dataset** tab:

| View | What each row is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| **Rising creators** (default) | One creator: growth, the likely cause, topic and contact | An outreach list |

The full field list is in [`.actor/dataset_schema.json`](.actor/dataset_schema.json), which is also what AI agents see through Apify's MCP server.

### ⚡ Quick start

A minimal input that works on the **free plan**:

```json
{ "category": "nutrition", "period": "7", "maxCreators": 5 }
```

Run it, then open the **Rising Creators Report** from the run's Output tab. Each card shows the creator, how fast they grew and the post behind it.

### 🧭 When to use it

- **Influencer agencies** — reach creators while they are still affordable, in the week they take off.
- **Brands** — find new voices in your category before every competitor sends them a deal.
- **Talent scouts and managers** — a weekly list of breakout accounts in the niches you sign.
- **Creators** — see who in your niche is growing fast right now, and the post that did it.
- **Market research** — what kind of post makes accounts grow in a niche this month.

### 🛠 Input

The form has two sections.

| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 🎯 What to look for | The niche, the period and how many creators |
| ⚙️ More options | Creator size and breakout signals |

- **`category`** — the niche, from the list (default Nutrition & healthy eating in the form).
- **`niche`** — or your own words, any language, up to 300 characters. When filled, it is used instead of the list.
- **`period`** — took off in the last `3`, `7` (default), `14` or `30` days.
- **`maxCreators`** — how many creators to return, 1–100 (default 20). You pay per creator delivered.
- **`minFollowers`** — skip creators below this size today (default 1,000).
- **`maxFollowers`** — skip creators who were already bigger than this when they started growing (default 0 = no limit). Use it to find small accounts on the rise.
- **`includeSignals`** — also return breakout signals (default `true`).

### 💰 How much will finding rising Instagram creators cost?

You pay per creator delivered, not per account checked. The actor uses Apify's **Pay Per Event** model with one event:

| Event | Price | When it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| **Rising creator** | **$0.15** Free and Starter · $0.13 Scale · $0.12 Business and up | Once per creator delivered |

Checking accounts is included. An account that did not take off, or is outside your niche, is checked for free and not delivered.

| You set `maxCreators` | Plan | Approx cost |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Free | $0.75 |
| 20 | Starter | $3.00 |
| 50 | Scale | $6.50 |
| 100 | Business | $12.00 |

When fewer creators of the niche took off in the period than you asked for, you pay only for those delivered.

### 🆓 Free vs paid plan

| | Free plan | Paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Creators per run | Up to 5 | Up to 100 |
| Accounts checked per run | Up to 25 | Up to 150 |
| Measured growth and likely cause | ✓ | ✓ |
| Successful runs per month | 5 | Unlimited |

Upgrade to a paid plan to get up to 100 creators per run.

### 🧪 Recipes

Copy-paste inputs for the most common jobs:

**This week's breakout fitness creators**

```json
{ "category": "fitness", "period": "7", "maxCreators": 20 }
```

**Small accounts on the rise, for affordable deals**

```json
{ "category": "beauty", "period": "14", "maxFollowers": 50000, "maxCreators": 30 }
```

Only creators who had fewer than 50,000 followers when they started growing.

**Your own niche, in your language, measured growth only**

```json
{ "niche": "нутрициолог, правильное питание", "period": "30", "includeSignals": false }
```

### 📡 Live status & storage records

While the run works, the actor keeps these records:

| Storage key | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| `status.html` | HTML page | The Rising Creators Report: live progress, then one card per creator |
| `RUN_SUMMARY` | JSON | Creators, measured count, charges, accounts checked, stop reason, timings |
| `USER_MESSAGE` | JSON | What the run delivered and the next step, or why it delivered nothing |
| `FREE_LIMITS_APPLIED` | JSON | Free-plan limits applied to this run |

### 🤖 Programmatic / API use

**REST API:**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/afanasenko~instagram-rising-creators/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"category": "fitness", "period": "7", "maxCreators": 20}'
```

**MCP and AI agents:** the actor is available as a tool through Apify's [MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) at `mcp.apify.com`. An agent can pass a niche and a period and read the creators back as rows.

**Schedule it** weekly in Apify Console (Schedules) to get a fresh list of rising creators every Monday.

### 💡 Tips & Best Practices

#### Getting maximum results

- A longer period finds more creators: 14 or 30 days return more measured growth than 3 days.
- Write your own niche with the words creators put in their bios: "pilates instructor", "real estate agent", "dietitian".
- Use `maxFollowers` to find small accounts at the start of their growth.

#### Cost optimization

- Start with 5 creators to see the results, then ask for more.
- `maxCreators` is your ceiling: you never pay for more creators than you asked for.

#### Performance

- A 10-creator run usually takes about 1 minute; 50 creators take 3–5 minutes.

#### Data quality

- `measured` rows are the hard numbers: two real follower counts, two dates.
- Read `breakout_signal` rows as "taking off right now": the reel is proven, the growth is not measured yet. A later run measures it.
- `triggerTimesUsual` above 10 is a rare hit for any creator; `triggerViewsToFollowers` above 10 means the post reached far beyond the account's own audience.

### ❓ FAQ

**Q: How do I find fast-growing Instagram influencers in my niche?**
A: Pick the niche in `category` (or write it in `niche`), choose a period and run the actor. It returns creators whose followers jumped in that period, fastest first.

**Q: Where does the growth number come from?**
A: From follower counts we recorded earlier in the period, compared with the count the run reads live today. Nothing is estimated or drawn between dates. When there is no earlier count, the row is a `breakout_signal` and has no growth number.

**Q: How do you know which post caused the growth?**
A: Instagram doesn't say. The actor picks the post that beat the creator's usual result the most, published in the period or up to a week before it. Most jumps follow one reel that reached far beyond the account's followers.

**Q: Is there a free tool to find rising Instagram creators?**
A: Yes. On the free Apify plan the actor returns up to 5 creators per run, 5 successful runs a month. See [Free vs paid plan](#-free-vs-paid-plan).

**Q: What are the best alternatives to influencer databases for finding new creators?**
A: Influencer databases sell monthly subscriptions and usually measure growth over 30 days or more. This actor works in days, needs no subscription and charges only per creator delivered.

**Q: Why did I get fewer creators than I asked for?**
A: Only creators who clearly took off in the period are returned. A longer period, a wider niche or a lower `minFollowers` helps. You pay only for the creators delivered.

**Q: Does it read private accounts?**
A: No. Only public profiles and posts are read.

**Q: Can I track the same creators over time?**
A: Run the actor again: every creator it reads is recorded, so creators returned as signals today are measured next time. To follow a fixed list of your own accounts, use [Instagram Follower Tracker](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-follower-tracker).

**Q: What if the run finds nothing?**
A: Nothing is charged, and the User Message says why. Choose a longer period or a wider niche.

### 🔗 Other Instagram actors (same author)

| You start with… | You want… | Use this actor |
|---|---|---|
| A niche | Creators who just took off, and why | **This actor** |
| A niche description | Creators and influencers that match a brief | [Instagram Influencer Search](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-influencer-search) |
| A niche | Content ideas from posts that worked | [Instagram Content Ideas](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-content-ideas) |
| A reel link | The reel's script, hook and transcript | [Instagram Reel Script Extractor](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-reel-script-extractor) |
| Usernames | Full profile data and contacts | [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-profile-scraper) |

Found a creator here? Open their likely-cause reel in the Reel Script Extractor to see exactly what they said.

### 🛟 Support & feedback

1. **Open an issue** on the actor's Issues tab — the fastest way to get a fix.
2. **Request a feature** in the same tab; every request is read.
3. **Rate the actor** on its Apify Store page to help others find it.

### ⚖️ Is it legal to scrape Instagram profiles?

The actor reads only **publicly available** profiles and posts and does not log in, read private content or act on your behalf. Use the results in line with Instagram's Terms of Use and the laws of your country, including data-protection rules when you contact creators. For more, see Apify's guide on [whether web scraping is legal](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/).

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `category` (type: `string`):

The niche to search.

## `niche` (type: `string`):

Optional, any language. Example: plant-based nutritionist for runners. When filled, it is used instead of the list.

## `period` (type: `string`):

Creators whose followers jumped in this period. The fastest growth per day comes first.

## `maxCreators` (type: `integer`):

How many creators to return (1–100). You pay per creator delivered. The free plan returns up to 5 per run.

## `minFollowers` (type: `integer`):

Creators below this size today are skipped.

## `maxFollowers` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Skip creators who were already bigger than this when they started growing. 0 = no limit.

## `includeSignals` (type: `boolean`):

Also return accounts seen for the first time whose fresh reel reached at least 3× their follower count. They have no earlier count, so no growth number.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "category": "nutrition",
  "period": "7",
  "maxCreators": 20,
  "minFollowers": 1000,
  "maxFollowers": 0,
  "includeSignals": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `report` (type: `string`):

No description

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

## `message` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "category": "nutrition",
    "maxCreators": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "category": "nutrition",
    "maxCreators": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "category": "nutrition",
  "maxCreators": 20
}' |
apify call afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,afanasenko/instagram-rising-creators"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/NZCraZTm1aAk9w8Lt/builds/BltX178wEhf7MUBM5/openapi.json