Creator discovery API: options, prices and a build-your-own guide

November 9, 2026

A creator discovery API answers one question in code: which creators match this brief? Most return the same kinds of filters. They differ in whose data it is, who gets access, and how you pay. This post maps the options and shows how to build your own. If you want the human-facing tools (apps, marketplaces), see influencer discovery tools.

What a creator discovery API does

• Search by niche or keyword: bio, captions, topics or what is in the videos.
• Filter on follower range, creator country, language, engagement rate and growth.
• Filter on audience: country, age and gender of followers. This needs first-party or modeled data.
• Lookalikes: creators similar to a seed account.
• Enrich: contact email, other platforms, past brand deals.

Three ways to get a creator discovery API

Influencer database APIs, with prices

• Modash Discovery API: from $16,200 a year, yearly by bank transfer source. Search costs 0.01 credits per result and a report 1 credit. Lookalikes cost 0.025 credits per result, up to 50 a request, and match on content (visual themes, topics, style), not demographics source. The index holds 380M+ profiles with 1k+ followers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube source.
• Influencers Club: the Pro plan with API starts at $208 a month. Discovery is 0.01 credits per profile and a full enrichment by handle is 1 credit. New accounts get 10 free credits source.
• HypeAuditor: 227.2M+ profiles, an Audience Quality Score from 1 to 100, six platforms. Prices are not published; a test key comes through a demo form source.

Our Modash pricing post breaks down what those numbers mean per creator.

Official platform creator discovery APIs

• Meta Creator Discovery API (Facebook, with a unified endpoint for Instagram too): filters include keyword, follower count, creator country, main audience country, age bucket and gender, interests, categories, reach, views, interaction rate and past partnerships. It needs a Business app, the facebook_creator_marketplace_discovery permission with Advanced Access through App Review, and a Page access token. With Standard Access you get simulated data. Limits are 2,000 requests per user and 10,000 per app per rolling hour, and only creators who opted in appear source.
• YouTube creator insights in the Google Ads API: search by audience attributes, topics or channels in a required country; engagement and audience breakdowns appear only when the creator consented. It is a beta for allowlisted partners with a planning tool, after a pre-screen, at 5 queries a second source.
• Snap Creator Discovery: filters on country, category, follower range, audience gender and audience countries, capped at 5,000 creators per query; full snapshots need approval source.
• TikTok One: TikTok says partners can use Creator Marketplace APIs from their own tools source. It does not publish how to qualify.

The pattern: the best audience data, for opted-in creators only, after review.

Build your own creator discovery API

1. Keyword search for accounts (1 credit a page): TikTok user search, Instagram profile search, Threads user search. Use the words buyers use, such as "espresso at home", not your category.
2. Content search for creators who post about it (1 credit a page): TikTok hashtag, TikTok keyword search, Instagram reels search, Instagram hashtag. Keep the authors.
3. Lookalikes (1 credit): Instagram similar accounts on your 10 to 20 best seeds. It returns handles only, so enrich them next. Our lookalike creators post covers this step in depth.
4. Enrich and filter on size (1 credit): TikTok profile, Instagram profile, YouTube channel. Drop anything outside your follower range, private, or without a bio match.
5. Location (1 credit): TikTok profile region for TikTok accounts.
6. Score recent reach (1 credit a page): TikTok profile videos, Instagram user reels.
7. Audience and contact on finalists only: TikTok audience demographics (26 credits), creator emails (10), other social profiles (10).

Code: keyword to ranked shortlist

import requests, statistics
H = {"x-api-key": "YOUR_KEY"}
API = "https://scrapeio.com"

def get(path, **params):
    return requests.get(API + path, params=params, headers=H, timeout=60).json()["data"]

found = {}
for q in ["espresso at home", "latte art", "home barista"]:
    for u in get("/v1/tiktok/search/users", query=q)["items"]:
        found[u["handle"]] = u

shortlist = []
for handle, u in found.items():
    if not (10_000 <= (u["followers"] or 0) <= 250_000):
        continue
    vids = get("/v3/tiktok/profile/videos", handle=handle)["items"][:12]
    plays = [v["plays"] or 0 for v in vids]
    if len(plays) < 6:
        continue
    shortlist.append((statistics.median(plays) / u["followers"], handle))

for score, handle in sorted(shortlist, reverse=True)[:25]:
    print(f"{handle}: median plays = {score:.2f} x followers")

Worked example: one niche, two platforms

Private and not-found accounts are not charged, and a repeat of the same call within the cache window is free.

Which approach fits

Vetting checklist before you reach out

• Median plays on the last 12 posts, not the average, against followers.
• Posting in the last 14 days.
• Country and language match your market.
• Comments read like real people, not emoji strings.
• No competitor sponsorship in recent posts.
• Audience country and age checked on finalists.

The full pre-contract process is in creator vetting. To find customers already posting about you, see UGC discovery.

Doing it with ScrapeIO

Every step above runs on one key with the same field names on each platform: handle, followers, plays. New accounts get 100 free credits, enough for a first small list. To have an agent run the whole workflow, connect the TikTok MCP server or follow finding micro-influencers with AI.

FAQ

What is a creator discovery API?

An API that returns creators matching filters such as niche, location, follower range and audience, often with lookalike search and contact details.

How much does a creator discovery API cost?

Database APIs run from $208 a month (Influencers Club Pro) to $16,200 a year and up (Modash Discovery API). Platform partner APIs have no public price but need approval. Building your own costs a few dollars per list in API calls.

Is there a free creator discovery API?

Not a full one. Meta's Creator Discovery API returns simulated data until you get Advanced Access. Trials and free credits let you test small lists.

Can I filter creators by audience location?

Database and platform APIs can. Building your own, you can check a TikTok creator's audience demographics per creator and the account's region.

Sources

Checked on 9 November 2026 from each vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change; follow the links before you decide.

• https://www.modash.io/influencer-marketing-api/pricing
• https://www.modash.io/influencer-marketing-api/discovery
• https://www.modash.io/influencer-marketing-api/creator-lookalikes
• https://influencers.club/pricing/
• https://hypeauditor.com/api-integration/
• https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/fb-creator-discovery
• https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/insights/creator-insights
• https://developers.snap.com/api/marketing-api/Public-Profile-API/CreatorDiscovery
• https://ads.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/tiktok-one-creative-platform