Instagram Post Monitor - Track New Posts & Engagement Alerts 2026

Monitor Instagram accounts for new posts and get instant notifications when they publish. Perfect for competitor tracking, influencer monitoring, and content inspiration.

No Login Required

Your Instagram account stays safe. This Actor:

• Does NOT require your Instagram login or cookies
• Uses our own infrastructure to fetch data
• Zero risk of account suspension for you
• Works with any public Instagram profile

Unlike browser extensions or tools that use your account, we handle all scraping server-side. Your credentials are never needed.

What This Actor Monitors

This Actor tracks new posts on Instagram accounts:

• New posts - Detect when monitored accounts publish new content
• Post details - Caption, likes, comments, media type
• Engagement metrics - Track performance of new posts
• Multiple accounts - Monitor several accounts in one run

Important: How Monitoring Works

This is a SCHEDULED monitoring Actor:

1. Run it on a schedule (hourly, daily, weekly)
2. It compares current posts to previously seen posts
3. Reports all new posts since last run
4. Optionally sends webhook notifications

First Run	Subsequent Runs
3-8 min (baseline)	1-3 min (new posts only)

First run takes longer because we need to fetch and store the current posts as baseline. After that, we only check for new content.

What You Get

On each run, you receive:

• List of all new posts since last check
• Post details (URL, caption, likes, comments)
• Media type (photo, video, carousel, reel)
• Posting timestamp
• Account summary with post counts

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
usernames	Array	Yes	Instagram usernames to monitor (without @)
webhookUrl	String	No	URL for instant notifications
includeEngagement	Boolean	No	Include likes/comments count (default: true)

Example Input

{
    "usernames": ["nike", "adidas", "puma"],
    "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/123456/abcdef/",
    "includeEngagement": true
}

Output

Full Output (Dataset)

{
    "accountsMonitored": 3,
    "totalNewPosts": 5,
    "newPosts": [
        {
            "owner": "nike",
            "postId": "3456789012345678901",
            "shortcode": "ABC123xyz",
            "url": "https://instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/",
            "caption": "Just Do It. New collection dropping tomorrow.",
            "likes": 125000,
            "comments": 3400,
            "mediaType": "carousel",
            "timestamp": "2026-01-15T14:30:00Z",
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/media/?size=t"
        },
        {
            "owner": "adidas",
            "postId": "3456789012345678902",
            "shortcode": "DEF456abc",
            "url": "https://instagram.com/p/DEF456abc/",
            "caption": "Impossible is Nothing",
            "likes": 89000,
            "comments": 1200,
            "mediaType": "video",
            "timestamp": "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z",
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://instagram.com/p/DEF456abc/media/?size=t"
        }
    ],
    "accountSummaries": [
        {
            "username": "nike",
            "newPostsCount": 2,
            "totalPosts": 4521
        },
        {
            "username": "adidas",
            "newPostsCount": 2,
            "totalPosts": 3890
        },
        {
            "username": "puma",
            "newPostsCount": 1,
            "totalPosts": 2100
        }
    ],
    "checkedAt": "2026-01-15T15:00:00Z"
}

Webhook Notifications

Get instant alerts via webhook when new posts are detected:

{
    "type": "new_posts",
    "accountsMonitored": 3,
    "totalNewPosts": 5,
    "newPosts": [
        {
            "owner": "nike",
            "url": "https://instagram.com/p/ABC123xyz/",
            "caption": "Just Do It. New collection dropping tomorrow.",
            "likes": 125000,
            "mediaType": "carousel"
        }
    ],
    "checkedAt": "2026-01-15T15:00:00Z"
}

Webhook integrations:

• Zapier - Auto-post to Slack when competitors publish
• Make (Integromat) - Build content curation workflows
• Discord - Alert your team in a channel
• Custom endpoint - Feed into your own dashboard

Example: Slack Notification via Zapier

1. Create Zap with "Webhooks by Zapier" trigger
2. Add "Slack" action - "Send Channel Message"
3. Map fields:
   • Channel: #competitor-watch
   • Message: New post from {{owner}}: {{url}}
4. Run Actor to test

Recommended Schedule

Use Case	Schedule	Why
Competitor monitoring	Every 2-4 hours	Catch posts same-day
Content inspiration	Daily	Review overnight posts each morning
Influencer tracking	Every 4-6 hours	Monitor deliverables
Brand monitoring	Hourly	Quick response to brand posts

Use Cases

• Competitor Intelligence - Know what competitors post before their content goes viral
• Influencer Campaign Tracking - Monitor if influencers delivered promised posts
• Content Curation - Discover trending content in your niche
• Brand Safety - Track what's posted about your brand
• News Monitoring - Follow official accounts for breaking news

How Data is Stored

This Actor uses Apify Key-Value Store to track seen posts:

1. First run: Fetches recent posts, stores post IDs as baseline
2. Subsequent runs: Compares new posts to stored IDs
3. Detects new content: Only reports posts not seen before
4. Updates state: Adds new post IDs to stored list

Each username is tracked independently - you can monitor accounts with different schedules.

Integrations

Export your data to:

• Google Sheets - Direct integration, auto-sync results
• Zapier / Make (Integromat) - Trigger workflows when scrape completes
• Webhooks - Get real-time notifications
• API - Programmatic access via Apify API
• Download - JSON / CSV / Excel files

FAQ

How many accounts can I monitor at once?

We recommend up to 20 accounts per run for optimal performance. For more accounts, create multiple scheduled runs.

How far back does it check for posts?

By default, we check the 20 most recent posts per account. If an account posts very frequently (>20 posts between your runs), you might miss some. Increase your schedule frequency for high-volume accounts.

Does it detect Stories?

No, this Actor monitors feed posts only (photos, videos, carousels, reels). Stories require different API access and expire after 24h.

Can I filter by media type?

Not directly in input, but the output includes mediaType field. Use Zapier/Make filters to only act on specific types (e.g., only reels).

What happens if an account is private?

Private accounts cannot be monitored. The Actor will skip them and report an error in the output.

How quickly will I know about a new post?

As fast as your schedule. If you run hourly, you'll know within 1 hour of posting. For real-time monitoring, consider running every 15-30 minutes (higher cost).

Cost Estimation

Accounts	Frequency	Est. Monthly Cost
5	Daily	~$3-8
5	Every 4 hours	~$15-25
20	Daily	~$10-20
20	Every 4 hours	~$40-60

Costs vary based on Apify pricing tier and total posts.

Support

• Telegram: @taskforceorange
• Issues: Report bugs on the Actor page
• Feature requests: Contact via Telegram

Need Custom Solutions?

Looking for custom scraping, higher limits, or dedicated infrastructure?

📩 Contact us:

• Telegram: @taskforceorange
• Website: socialswarm.com

We offer:

• Custom actor development
• Enterprise-grade scraping solutions
• Dedicated proxy infrastructure
• White-label integrations
• Priority support

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