# Instagram Follower Growth - Real Or Bought Spikes? (`reapx/instagram-follower-growth-monitor`) Actor

Real growth, or bought overnight? Watch Instagram followers day by day and catch the jumps no real audience ever produces - dated, so you can put it in front of a client.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/reapx/instagram-follower-growth-monitor.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

$0.30 / 1,000 follower growth record trackeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 Follower Growth - Real Curve Or Spike?

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

You cannot see bought followers in a snapshot. You can only see them in the curve, and nobody keeps the curve. When an Instagram account experiences sudden spikes in follower count without matching organic activity, brand advertisers and talent agencies carry the financial risk.

This tool tracks Instagram follower growth day by day, maintaining an immutable ledger of follower counts over time to flag step-change spikes and measure true growth direction without user login.

***

### ⬇️ Input

Configure target handles, proxy options, and limits. Pre-filled defaults ensure immediate automated execution.

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `username` | `string` | `"nasa"` | Target Instagram handle without leading `@` symbol. |
| `profiles` | `array` | `["nasa", "zendaya", "nike"]` | Optional list of Instagram handles to track in bulk. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | `{"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}` | Residential proxy configuration with rotated sessions. |
| `maxItems` | `integer` | `100` | Maximum profiles to track per run. Hard cap 1,000. |

***

### ⬆️ Output

Outputs follower growth records to the default dataset.

#### Key Output Fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `username` | `string` | Instagram handle. Stable identifier. |
| `fullName` | `string` | Profile display name. |
| `followerCount` | `integer` | Current total count of followers. |
| `daysTracked` | `integer` | Total days this handle has been observed in our ledger (0 on 1st run). |
| `firstSeenAt` | `string` | ISO timestamp when first observed in ledger. |
| `lastSeenAt` | `string` | ISO timestamp when most recently observed. |
| `changedFields` | `array` | Profile fields that moved since previous observation. |
| `followerSpikeFlag` | `boolean` | Flag for unexplainable step-change follower jumps (null on 1st run). |
| `followerGrowth7d` | `number` | Observed 7-day follower growth total. |
| `followerGrowth30d` | `number` | Observed 30-day follower growth total. |
| `followerLoss30d` | `number` | Observed 30-day unfollower total. |
| `computedMetricsReason` | `string` | Explanation of observation window and ledger depth. |
| `scrapedAt` | `string` | ISO timestamp of record collection. |

***

### How it works

1. **Low-Bandwidth Document Access:** Requests profile document via iPhone Safari User-Agent + `Accept-Encoding: gzip` (~106.8 KB wire bytes per handle).
2. **Session Rotation:** Uses residential proxies with `Connection: close` socket teardown to ensure fresh exit IPs on every attempt.
3. **Ledger Accumulation:** Records follower counts per handle, accumulating history over time to measure growth rate and isolate non-organic jumps.

***

### ❓ FAQ

#### Why does daysTracked return 0 on the first run?

We never fabricate history. On the first run, `daysTracked: 0` is the honest value—your record starts today. Multi-run tracking populates growth curves and spike flags automatically over time.

***

### 💬 Your feedback

Questions or custom needs? Contact the maintenance team at `reapxdev@proton.me`.

***

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

# Actor input Schema

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

The Instagram handle you want tracked - no @ needed. Every run adds another day to its record, so the picture gets sharper the longer you watch.

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

Paste a list of handles to track them all together. Use this for a whole client list - it takes over from the single handle above.

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

How many handles from your list we work through in one run. Raise it when you are tracking a whole client list.

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

How the run reaches the platform. The default is already the route that works for this source, so leave it alone unless you have a reason to change it.

## Actor input object example

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

# 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-follower-growth-monitor").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-follower-growth-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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-follower-growth-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=reapx/instagram-follower-growth-monitor",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/OwLWgTj4L1Y3tbaHG/builds/nd15JjlG7O98gTBgP/openapi.json