# Instagram Competitor Change Monitor (`woolly_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-monitor`) Actor

Track public Instagram profiles and detect follower, post, bio, link, engagement, and profile changes between runs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/woolly\_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [sakthi kumar](https://apify.com/woolly_kingcrab) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.20 / actor start

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#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

## Instagram Competitor Change Monitor

> **Unofficial tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Instagram or Meta.**

Track public Instagram profiles and detect meaningful changes between runs instead of repeatedly receiving the same profile snapshot.

### What it detects

- Follower gain or loss
- Following-count changes
- Post-count changes
- Newly observed recent posts
- Biography changes
- Website / external-link changes
- Verification changes
- Business-category changes
- Recent-post engagement-rate movement when the upstream profile data exposes post metrics
- Profile signal: `GROWING`, `ACTIVE`, `STABLE`, or `DECLINING`

The first run creates a **baseline**, so existing profile data is not incorrectly reported as a new change.

### How it works

1. Fetches public Instagram profile data
2. Normalizes the profile snapshot
3. Compares it with the previous successful snapshot
4. Returns only meaningful changes plus a concise summary
5. Saves the new snapshot for the next run

### Data source

This Actor uses Apify's maintained `apify/instagram-profile-scraper` Actor as its upstream public-profile data source.

The upstream Actor is billed separately according to its current Apify Store pricing. A per-run upstream cost safety cap is included in the input.

### Use cases

- Competitor social-media monitoring
- Influencer monitoring
- Brand-growth tracking
- Campaign monitoring
- Bio / link change alerts
- Posting-activity monitoring
- Social research

### Input

- Up to 25 public Instagram usernames or profile URLs
- Stable Monitor ID
- Optional baseline-detail output
- Upstream charge safety cap

### Output

Each profile receives a summary containing:

- Current followers
- Follower delta
- Follower growth percentage
- Following delta
- Post-count delta
- Newly observed recent posts
- Engagement-rate movement when available
- Bio / link / verification / category change flags
- Profile signal

Detailed `PROFILE_UPDATED` records are emitted when meaningful changes are detected.

### Scheduling

Daily or every 6–12 hours is usually enough for competitor monitoring.

### Pricing

Recommended Store pricing for this monitoring layer:

- **$0.20 per Actor start**
- No additional per-result charge from this Actor

The upstream Instagram Profile Scraper may have its own usage charge. Check its current Apify Store pricing before running large profile lists.

### Reliability

- Stateful comparison between runs
- Duplicate-change protection
- Fetch-all-before-state-mutation fail-closed behavior
- Missing upstream profiles abort the run instead of creating false removals
- Maximum 25 profiles per run
- Explicit upstream cost cap
- No Instagram login credentials collected by this Actor

### Why use this instead of a raw profile scraper?

A profile scraper answers:

**"What does this Instagram profile look like now?"**

Instagram Competitor Change Monitor answers:

**"What changed since the last check?"**

That is more useful for ongoing competitor and brand intelligence.

### Disclaimer

This tool works with publicly available profile information supplied by an upstream Apify Actor. Users are responsible for complying with applicable laws, Instagram/Meta terms, and Apify terms.

**This is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Instagram or Meta.**

# Actor input Schema

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Stable ID for this monitoring configuration. Reuse it for scheduled runs.

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

Up to 25 public Instagram usernames or profile URLs.

## `emitBaseline` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default. The first run establishes state without reporting existing data as changes.

## `upstreamMaxChargeUsd` (type: `number`):

Maximum allowed charge for the upstream Instagram profile data Actor per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "monitorId": "default",
  "profiles": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "emitBaseline": false,
  "upstreamMaxChargeUsd": 0.1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing SUMMARY, CHANGE, and optional BASELINE records.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Compact run summary.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("woolly_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("woolly_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-monitor").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 '{}' |
apify call woolly_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,woolly_kingcrab/instagram-competitor-change-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

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/AmUHnkk1kcPPBZqr6/builds/g1s3dQfQlGdpFki8v/openapi.json