# Contra Freelancer Scraper - Profiles, Skills & Portfolio Data (`heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper`) Actor

Extract freelancer profiles from Contra.com including name, role, skills, hourly rate, location, portfolio projects, social links, and availability. Search by role and location to build targeted freelancer lead lists.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Helios](https://apify.com/heliostech) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Jobs, Social media
- **Stats:** 9 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

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

## Contra Freelancer Scraper

Extract freelancer profiles from [Contra.com](https://contra.com) — the commission-free freelance platform. Search by role and location to build targeted lead lists of independent designers, developers, marketers, and more.

### What it extracts

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `name` | Freelancer's full name |
| `username` | Contra username |
| `headline` | Professional headline / role |
| `location` | City and country |
| `hourlyRate` | Hourly rate (e.g. "$95/hr") |
| `isAvailable` | Whether they're open to new work |
| `skills` | List of skill tags |
| `bio` | Profile bio/description |
| `projectCount` | Number of portfolio projects |
| `testimonialCount` | Number of client testimonials |
| `followersCount` | Contra followers |
| `profileUrl` | Link to their Contra profile |
| `avatarUrl` | Profile photo URL |
| `websiteUrl` | Personal website |
| `twitterUrl` | Twitter/X profile |
| `linkedinUrl` | LinkedIn profile |
| `githubUrl` | GitHub profile |
| `scrapedAt` | Timestamp of extraction |

### Use cases

- **Freelancer sourcing** — Find and vet talent by role, skill, and location
- **Agency lead gen** — Build outreach lists of available independent professionals
- **Market research** — Analyze freelancer rates and skills in your niche
- **Competitor analysis** — See who else is offering services in your space
- **Portfolio benchmarking** — Understand how top freelancers position themselves

### Input

```json
{
  "searchRole": "react-developers",
  "location": "new-york-united-states",
  "maxResults": 200,
  "scrapeProfileDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}
```

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `searchRole` | String | `designers` | Role/skill slug (e.g. `ui-designers`, `react-developers`) |
| `location` | String | — | Location slug (e.g. `new-york-united-states`) |
| `startUrls` | Array | — | Custom Contra hire or profile URLs |
| `maxResults` | Integer | 100 | Max profiles to extract (up to 5,000) |
| `scrapeProfileDetails` | Boolean | true | Visit each profile for full data |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Object | Residential | Proxy settings |

### Sample output

```json
{
  "name": "Alex Kim",
  "username": "alexkim",
  "headline": "Senior React Developer & UI Engineer",
  "location": "New York, NY",
  "hourlyRate": "$120/hr",
  "isAvailable": true,
  "skills": ["React", "TypeScript", "Node.js", "Figma", "GraphQL"],
  "bio": "5+ years building scalable web apps for startups and Fortune 500 companies.",
  "projectCount": 24,
  "testimonialCount": 18,
  "followersCount": "340",
  "profileUrl": "https://contra.com/alexkim",
  "websiteUrl": "https://alexkim.dev/",
  "linkedinUrl": "https://linkedin.com/in/alexkim",
  "githubUrl": "https://github.com/alexkim",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-04-10T23:30:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pricing

**$3.00 per 1,000 results** (Pay-per-result).

# Actor input Schema

## `searchRole` (type: `string`):

The freelancer role or skill to search for (e.g. 'ui-designers', 'react-developers', 'brand-designers'). Use hyphenated format as it appears in Contra URLs.

## `location` (type: `string`):

Filter by city and country in URL slug format (e.g. 'new-york-united-states', 'london-united-kingdom'). Leave empty for all locations.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Custom Contra.com hire page or profile URLs to start from. Overrides searchRole if provided.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of freelancer profiles to extract.

## `scrapeProfileDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Visit each freelancer's profile page for additional data: bio, portfolio projects, testimonials, and social links. Slower but more complete.

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

Proxy settings. Apify Residential proxies recommended.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchRole": "ui-designers",
  "location": "new-york-united-states",
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://contra.com/hire/ui-designers"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://contra.com/hire/react-developers-in-new-york-united-states"
    }
  ],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "scrapeProfileDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper").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 = { "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    } }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper").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 '{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,heliostech/contra-freelancer-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/1Fpm8WnxoU8Ty7Wmt/builds/yhp2JpltyqpLJ6dBz/openapi.json