# Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator & Follower Check (`reapx/instagram-creator-check`) Actor

Know who you are dealing with before you sign. Real engagement measured against creators their own size, how the audience actually behaves, and what quietly changed on the account.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/reapx/instagram-creator-check.md
- **Developed by:** [Tarek Etman](https://apify.com/reapx) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, For creators
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $70.00 / 1,000 creator profile collecteds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

![reapX - the record of what changed](https://reapx.dev/reapx.gif)

## Instagram Creator & Audience Credibility Check

> *"This account gained 40,000 followers in three days. Do I say something, or do I just book them and hope?"*

When a creator handle is pitched to a brand or signed to a roster, the follower count on the profile page is only the starting line. Brands and talent agencies spend hours trying to answer the questions that determine whether a deal actually succeeds: Is the audience credibility real or inflated? Are followers active or ghost accounts? How does their engagement rate compare against size-band peers in the same niche?

This tool audits Instagram creator handles without requiring user logins or browser sessions. It extracts creator profile details, calculates engagement metrics, flags potential follower anomalies, and delivers an evidence-backed record ready for campaign decks and audit reviews.

***

### ⬇️ Input

Configure creator handles, proxy settings, and detail depth. All fields carry prefilled defaults so automated tests and manual runs start immediately.

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `username` | `string` | `"nasa"` | Single Instagram handle to audit, for example `"nasa"` or `"zendaya"`. Omit leading `@` symbols. |
| `profiles` | `array` | `["nasa", "zendaya", "nike"]` | Optional list of Instagram handles to audit in a single run. Overrides single handle when provided. |
| `includeRecentPosts` | `boolean` | `true` | When enabled, parses recent post cards riding along free to compute engagement metrics. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | `{"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}` | Residential proxy setup with session rotation. Required for Instagram profile routes. |
| `maxItems` | `integer` | `100` | Maximum number of creator profiles to process per run. Hard cap 1,000. |

#### Example Input JSON

```json
{
  "username": "nasa",
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  },
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

***

### ⬆️ Output

The actor writes structured records to the run's default dataset. Each row contains profile attributes, recent post performance arrays, and computed audience analytics.

#### Output Field Reference

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `username` | `string` | Target Instagram handle without `@` symbol. Stable identifier. |
| `fullName` | `string` | Display name shown on the profile. |
| `followerCount` | `integer` | Total follower count observed on the profile. |
| `followingCount` | `integer` | Total account following count. |
| `mediaCount` | `integer` | Total published post count. |
| `biography` | `string` | Profile bio text. |
| `categoryName` | `string` | Profile category or niche as listed on Instagram. |
| `externalUrl` | `string` | External website URL linked in bio. |
| `isVerified` | `boolean` | True if account holds a verified blue badge. |
| `isBusinessAccount` | `boolean` | True if account is classified as business or creator. |
| `isPrivate` | `boolean` | True if account is private. |
| `profilePicUrl` | `string` | Profile avatar URL. |
| `recentPosts` | `array` | Array of recent post cards (shortcode, likeCount, commentCount, caption, takenAt, isVideo, displayUrl). |
| `engagementRate` | `number` | Computed engagement rate (%) across recent posts relative to follower count. |
| `engagementRateVsPeers` | `number` | Ratio of creator's engagement rate relative to median of size-band peers. |
| `postPerformanceIndex` | `number` | Ratio of top post engagement relative to creator's own average. |
| `ghostFollowerShare` | `number` | Estimated percentage of non-engaging/ghost followers based on size-band benchmarks. |
| `followerGrowth30d` | `number` | 30-day follower growth. Null on 1st run; populated when multi-run history exists. |
| `computedMetricsReason` | `string` | Explanation of inputs and windows used for computed fields, or why history fields are null. |
| `scrapedAt` | `string` | ISO timestamp when the record was collected. |

#### Example Output JSON

```json
{
  "username": "nasa",
  "fullName": "NASA",
  "followerCount": 104254823,
  "followingCount": 74,
  "mediaCount": 4102,
  "biography": "Exploring the secrets of the universe.",
  "categoryName": "Science & Tech",
  "externalUrl": "https://www.nasa.gov",
  "isVerified": true,
  "isBusinessAccount": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://instagram.fcdn.net/...",
  "recentPosts": [
    {
      "shortcode": "C9hX6mRO58u",
      "likeCount": 245100,
      "commentCount": 1820,
      "caption": "A stunning view of the cosmos...",
      "takenAt": "2026-08-04T18:00:00.000Z",
      "isVideo": false,
      "displayUrl": "https://instagram.fcdn.net/..."
    }
  ],
  "engagementRate": 0.237,
  "engagementRateVsPeers": 1.48,
  "postPerformanceIndex": 2.15,
  "ghostFollowerShare": 0.0,
  "followerGrowth30d": null,
  "computedMetricsReason": "Computed from 12 recent posts. followerGrowth30d requires multi-run history (1st run: record starts today).",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-05T10:30:00.000Z"
}
```

***

### How it works

1. **Low-Bandwidth Mobile Route:** Requests the Mobile Web profile document using an iPhone Safari User-Agent combined with `Accept-Encoding: gzip`. This reduces wire data to ~106.8 KB per profile while keeping full profile attributes and recent post cards intact.
2. **Automated Session Rotation:** Rotates residential proxy sessions on every request (`session-<RANDOM>`). If Instagram responds with an unparsed shell, the client automatically backs off, rotates the proxy session, and retries until verified fields are extracted.
3. **Computed Audience Analytics:** Computes engagement rate against size-band peer medians, calculates post performance variance, and estimates ghost follower share based on engagement gaps.
4. **Data Integrity:** Dataset schema enforces nullability across all fields, avoiding schema validation failures. Charge events fire once per successfully collected profile.

***

### ❓ FAQ

#### Why does this actor require Residential Proxies?

Instagram's profile endpoints enforce strict IP filtering against datacenter IP ranges. Datacenter requests return HTTP 429 rate limit walls. Residential proxies with rotated sessions provide clean access while keeping bandwidth costs around $0.00085 per profile row.

#### What happens if followerGrowth30d is null?

Trend metrics requiring historical observation return `null` alongside an explicit explanation in `computedMetricsReason`. Asserting a growth trend from a single run would be unverified. On initial runs, the record starts today; historical growth populates as subsequent runs accrue in the dataset store.

#### How is engagement rate vs peers calculated?

The creator's average engagement rate across recent posts is divided by the median engagement rate of creators in the same follower size band (for example: <10k followers = 3.5% median, 10k-100k = 2.1% median, 100k-1M = 1.6% median, >1M = 1.2% median). A value of `1.50` indicates the creator engages 1.5x higher than their peer size band.

#### How are paid partnerships and sponsored posts handled?

Captions and post metrics are analyzed to separate organic baseline engagement from paid partnership drops, giving talent managers and agencies clear visibility into actual creator performance.

***

### 💬 Your feedback

Need additional computed analytics, custom export views, or scheduled tracking integration? Reach out to the maintenance team at `reapxdev@proton.me` or open an issue on the repository.

***

*Unofficial - not affiliated with Instagram or Meta. Collects data only. reapx. Contact reapxdev@proton.me.*

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `string`):

Single Instagram handle to audit, for example "nasa" or "zendaya". Omit leading @ symbols. The higher the number of handles audited in a single run, the longer the run takes and the more bandwidth it uses. Leave empty if specifying a list of handles in Bulk Profiles below.

## `profiles` (type: `array`):

List of Instagram handles to audit in a single run. For example \["nasa", "zendaya", "nike"]. When provided, this list takes priority over the single Target Instagram Handle field. Leave empty if auditing only a single handle.

## `includeRecentPosts` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, parses recent post cards riding along with the profile to compute engagement rate, engagement vs size-band peers, and post performance index. Disabling this skips post-level calculations.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Select proxy groups. Residential proxies with rotated sessions are REQUIRED for Instagram profile requests; datacenter IPs are walled by Instagram and will fail.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of creator profiles to fetch and process per run. The run stops automatically once this limit is reached. The higher the max items, the longer the run takes and the more proxy bandwidth is consumed.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": "nasa",
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  },
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (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 = {
    "username": "nasa",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("reapx/instagram-creator-check").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 = {
    "username": "nasa",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("reapx/instagram-creator-check").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 '{
  "username": "nasa",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call reapx/instagram-creator-check --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/IA2eCgn5Et7US7g0Y/builds/vs0gUU8H1f4KMZtcb/openapi.json