Freelancer.com Contests Scraper

Extract public Freelancer.com contests with prize amounts, entry counts, skills, deadlines, and buyer signals. Use it to monitor creative demand, find lead opportunities, and track contest trends without manually refreshing Freelancer.com.

What does Freelancer.com Contests Scraper do?

Freelancer.com Contests Scraper collects public contest listings from Freelancer.com and turns them into a structured dataset.

It captures contest URLs, IDs, titles, prizes, currencies, entry counts, skills, timing, status, public client metadata, description excerpts, and scrape timestamps.

The actor is built for repeat monitoring of open contests, especially design, video, branding, website, illustration, and creative-services opportunities.

Who is it for?

• 🎨 Design agencies tracking logo, packaging, web, and brand contest demand.
• 🧑‍💻 Freelancers looking for active contests that match their skills.
• 📈 Sales teams finding businesses willing to pay for creative work.
• 🧪 Market researchers measuring prize levels, categories, and contest volume.
• 🧰 Lead generation teams building alerts for high-value public contests.

Why use this scraper?

Manual contest monitoring is slow. Freelancer.com pages change frequently, and the best opportunities can disappear quickly.

This actor gives you clean records that can be exported, filtered, scheduled, or connected to downstream workflows.

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
contestId	Freelancer.com contest identifier
contestUrl	Public contest URL
title	Contest title
status	Contest status such as active
prize	Listed prize amount
currencyCode	Currency code such as USD or AUD
prizeUsdEstimate	Approximate USD value based on API exchange rate
entryCount	Number of submitted entries
timeEnded	Contest end time when available
timeRemainingSeconds	Remaining time for active contests
skills	Skill tags requested by the contest holder
clientDisplayName	Public client display name when available
clientCountry	Public client country when available
descriptionExcerpt	Short contest description
scrapedAt	Timestamp for the scrape

How much does it cost to scrape Freelancer.com contests?

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing.

• A small start charge is applied once per run.
• A per-item charge is applied for each contest record saved.
• You control cost with maxItems.

For a cheap first run, keep the default maxItems value. For monitoring, schedule runs with the smallest volume that supports your workflow.

How to use it

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Set maxItems to the number of contests you need.
3. Keep statuses as active unless you need another public status.
4. Optionally add a keyword such as logo, video, or website.
5. Click Start.
6. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or via API.

Input options

maxItems

Maximum contests to save. Use 100 or more for trend monitoring.

statuses

Contest statuses to request. The default is active.

keyword

Optional local keyword filter applied to titles, descriptions, and skills.

startUrls

Optional specific contest URLs to include before the general contest feed.

includeFullDescription

Enable this if you need the full contest brief in the dataset.

pageSize

Controls API page size. The default 100 is usually best.

proxy

Proxy support is available, but the actor normally works without proxy for public contest data.

Example input

{
  "maxItems": 100,
  "statuses": ["active"],
  "keyword": "logo",
  "includeFullDescription": false,
  "pageSize": 100,
  "proxy": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}

Example output

{
  "contestId": 2759569,
  "contestUrl": "https://www.freelancer.com/contest/Experienced-Video-Editor-for-BeautyTech-Content-2759569.html",
  "title": "Experienced Video Editor for Beauty-Tech Content",
  "status": "active",
  "prize": 10,
  "currencyCode": "USD",
  "entryCount": 12,
  "skills": ["Video Editing", "Animation"],
  "clientDisplayName": "ExampleClient",
  "clientCountry": "United States",
  "descriptionExcerpt": "Freelance Video Editor Needed...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Tips for better results

• Use no keyword for a broad contest market snapshot.
• Use keywords for focused alerts such as logo, packaging, video, or website.
• Keep includeFullDescription disabled unless you need complete briefs.
• Schedule frequent small runs instead of rare huge runs for monitoring.
• Export to CSV for spreadsheet-based lead review.

Integrations

You can connect the dataset to:

• Google Sheets for contest watchlists.
• Slack alerts for high-prize contests.
• Airtable or CRM systems for lead qualification.
• BI dashboards for skill and prize trend analysis.
• Email workflows for daily freelancer opportunity digests.

API usage

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/freelancer-com-contests-scraper').call({
  maxItems: 100,
  statuses: ['active'],
  keyword: 'logo'
});
console.log(run.defaultDatasetId);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('automation-lab/freelancer-com-contests-scraper').call(run_input={
    'maxItems': 100,
    'statuses': ['active'],
    'keyword': 'logo',
})
print(run['defaultDatasetId'])

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~freelancer-com-contests-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"maxItems":100,"statuses":["active"],"keyword":"logo"}'

MCP usage

Use this actor from MCP-compatible tools through Apify MCP.

MCP URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/freelancer-com-contests-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add apify-freelancer-contests https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/freelancer-com-contests-scraper

Claude Desktop JSON configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-freelancer-contests": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/freelancer-com-contests-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Find active Freelancer.com logo contests with prize and entry counts."
• "Monitor Freelancer.com contests for video editing opportunities."
• "Summarize the highest-prize active design contests this week."

Scheduling

Run the actor hourly, daily, or weekly depending on how quickly you need to respond.

For lead generation, a daily run with maxItems around 100 is a practical starting point.

Data quality notes

The actor extracts public data returned by Freelancer.com. Some fields depend on what the public API exposes for a contest or user.

If a client hides profile details, fields such as city or payment verification may be null.

FAQ

Why did I get fewer records than maxItems?

If you use a keyword filter, only matching contests are saved. Remove the keyword or use a broader term.

Do I need a proxy?

Usually no. Enable Apify Proxy only if your run is rate-limited or blocked.

Why is the full description empty?

The actor saves descriptionExcerpt by default. Enable includeFullDescription to store the full brief.

Legality

This actor is designed to collect publicly available Freelancer.com contest information. Review Freelancer.com's terms and applicable laws before using scraped data in your business workflows.

Do not use the data for spam, harassment, or prohibited automated contact.

Related scrapers

Explore related automation-lab actors:

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/upwork-jobs-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/freelancer-profile-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/website-contact-finder

Changelog

0.1

Initial version for public Freelancer.com contest extraction.

Support

If a run fails or data looks wrong, open an issue on the actor page and include your run ID and input.

Summary

Freelancer.com Contests Scraper helps you turn public contest activity into structured market intelligence and lead data.