Cycling through all six. Tap any point to stop.

Measured on six things

Public social media data as clean JSON, in one request

Security

HTTPS not enforced, no HSTS, no Referrer-Policy, no Permissions-Policy; CSP, frame protection and X-Content-Type-Options present. SPF and DMARC set. No SOC 2, ISO or bug bounty claims found. 6/12 checklist.

Screenshots

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LurkAPI

About this app

LurkAPI gives your AI eyes on social media. It's an MCP server and REST API with live public data from 16 platforms, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Code can answer with today's posts, ads and comments instead of what they remember. Connect it with https://api.lurkapi.com/mcp and sign in in the browser; there's no key to paste. Developers can call the same 88 endpoints with one API key: one GET request, clean JSON back, with code in six languages and an OpenAPI 3.1 spec. Every endpoint is a tool, results leave out empty fields to save tokens, and max_credits caps what a call can cost. Most calls cost 1 credit and answer in about a second on average. New accounts get 100 free credits with no card, plus a daily top-up to 25. Packs start at $9 and never expire. LurkAPI reads public data only and can't post or message anyone.

Key features

1MCP server with one-URL setup (https://api.lurkapi.com/mcp) and browser sign-in — no key pasting for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Code.
288 REST endpoints across 16 platforms (Facebook, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Truth Social, Telegram, Snapchat, eBay, web) with OpenAPI 3.1 spec and code samples in six languages.
3Pay-per-call credit pricing from $9 (10k credits) to $225 (500k credits), credits never expire, 100 free credits on signup plus daily top-up to 25, and max_credits caps per call.

Target customer profile

Drawn from the product itself, not from a survey.

Demographic

AI developers and engineers

Pain points

Struggle to integrate real-time social data into AI models due to complex scraping and inconsistent data formats.

Primary needs

A reliable, fast API that delivers clean JSON from multiple social platforms with easy MCP integration.

Demographic

Digital marketers and social media analysts

Pain points

Manual monitoring of ads and posts across platforms is time-consuming and lacks real-time insights.

Primary needs

Automated access to ad library data, post engagement metrics, and competitor analysis from a single API.

Demographic

Data researchers and journalists

Pain points

Gathering public social media data for research is hampered by rate limits, scraping bans, and messy data.

Primary needs

A cost-effective, ethical API that provides structured social data for analysis and reporting.

Scout Review

Written by AI from measured evidence, scored out of 100.

LurkAPI is a developer-first social data API with an MCP server bolted on as a first-class citizen, and it mostly delivers. The site is fast (Lighthouse 100/100 both viewports), the onboarding is honest (5 free tries, no signup, one-URL MCP setup), and the pricing page does the rare thing of showing you the math instead of hiding it. The endpoint catalog is dense but scannable, and the ScrapeCreators migration path is a smart land-grab. Where it falls short: security hygiene is thin (no HSTS, no HTTPS enforcement, no compliance disclosures), accessibility stops at the automated pass, and the whole thing is three months old. It's a competent, well-positioned tool that hasn't yet earned the trust signals an API holding your key should have.

Measure by measure

Usability

Three clear onboarding paths (browser try, MCP add, code call), 5 free tries with no signup, one-URL MCP setup with browser sign-in, and a ScrapeCreators migration guide. Docs are structured and testable in-page.

Design

Dark, developer-native aesthetic with monospace accents, a live request widget on the homepage, and a pricing slider that recalculates cost in real time. Dense endpoint catalog reads as a tool, not a brochure. Polished and consistent.

Speed

Lighthouse 100/100 on both mobile and desktop, LCP 935ms, CLS 0, TBT 35ms. Site also self-reports 1.14s average API response vs ScrapeCreators' 3.12s. Genuinely fast on every measured axis.

Security

Accessibility

Lighthouse accessibility 100/100 on automated checks. Responsive layout, keyboard-accessible docs search (Ctrl K), readable contrast on dark theme. No WCAG statement or a11y page found; English-only.

Growth

MCP-native social data API for AI grounding — a real, expanding need. 16 platforms, 88 endpoints, and a published price wedge vs ScrapeCreators ($59 vs $188/100k). Early (domain 0.1y) but the idea has room.

Improvement areas

Security hygiene: enforce HTTPS with a redirect, add HSTS, Referrer-Policy and Permissions-Policy, and publish a security/disclosure page.
Accessibility depth: add a WCAG conformance statement, run a manual screen-reader pass, and consider multi-language docs beyond English.
Trust signals: publish a status page with uptime history and third-party verification of the 1.14s average response claim.

Design & Usability

LurkAPI's site is built for developers who've been burned by scraper APIs before. The dark, monospace-accented design leads with a live request widget showing real Facebook ad data, and the pricing page has a slider that recalculates cost from 750 to 2M calls in real time — a small thing that signals the team respects your time. Onboarding splits cleanly into three paths: try in the browser (5 free tries, no signup), add the MCP URL to Claude/ChatGPT/Cursor/VS Code with browser sign-in, or grab an API key and call it from code. The docs let you run real requests in-page before committing. The ScrapeCreators migration guide ('same paths, same header, change the base URL') is a genuinely thoughtful touch for switchers.

Speed & Security

Speed is the strongest measured dimension: Lighthouse 100/100 on mobile and desktop, LCP 935ms, CLS 0, TBT 35ms. The site self-reports a 1.14s average API answer over the last 7 days against ScrapeCreators' 3.12s — self-reported, but consistent with the lab numbers. Security is the weak spot. The HTTP probe found HTTPS not enforced, no HSTS, no Referrer-Policy, and no Permissions-Policy, landing at 6/12 checklist points. CSP, frame protection and X-Content-Type-Options are present, and SPF/DMARC are set, but there's no SOC 2, ISO, pen-test disclosure or bug bounty program visible. For an API that holds your key and returns third-party data, the missing HSTS redirect is a real gap, not just a checkbox.

Accessibility & Growth

Accessibility scores 100/100 on Lighthouse's automated axe-core checks, and the site is responsive with a working Ctrl K docs search and readable contrast on the dark theme. What's missing is anything beyond the automated pass: no WCAG conformance statement, no accessibility page, English-only. Growth is a judgment on the idea, not the traction. The problem — grounding LLMs in live social data — is real and expanding as MCP becomes the default integration layer. The wedge is concrete: 16 platforms in one API, 88 endpoints, MCP-native setup with no key pasting, and a published price advantage over ScrapeCreators ($59 vs $188 per 100k calls). The honest limit: the moat is integration breadth and price, both of which a well-funded competitor or a native platform connector could erode. Domain age (0.1 years) is context, not a score driver.

Conclusion

If you're building an AI agent that needs to answer 'what are people saying about X on Reddit today' without you writing a scraper, LurkAPI is a credible, cheap, fast option — and the MCP setup is genuinely the easiest part of the whole thing. Go in with eyes open: enforce HTTPS on your side, rotate keys, and don't expect a SOC 2 report to appear in the docs anytime soon. The price wedge against ScrapeCreators is real; the compliance story isn't there yet. For an indie-stage API, that's a fair trade — just know which side of it you're on.

Suggestions for improvement

Enforce HTTPS with a 301 redirect and add HSTS — the probe found neither, and it's a one-line fix that closes a real gap.
Add a security page: data handling, retention, key rotation, and a disclosure/contact path. Even 'we don't have SOC 2 yet' beats silence.
Publish a WCAG conformance statement and run a manual screen-reader pass — 100/100 on axe-core is a floor, not a ceiling.
Add a public status page and uptime history — the 1.14s average is self-reported; third-party verification would make the speed claim bulletproof.

How we score

Alternatives comparison

Named competitors, point by point. Nobody paid to appear here or to be left out.

	LurkAPI	ScrapeCreators	Apify
Pricing per 100,000 calls	$59 (Growth pack, $0.59/1k)	$188 (4 × $47 packs, $1.88/1k)	Usage-based per Actor; varies by platform and compute
MCP server / AI-native integration	Yes — one URL, browser sign-in, no key paste	REST API only; no native MCP server	MCP server available via Apify Actors
Number of social platforms covered	16 platforms, 88 endpoints	~10 platforms (TikTok, IG, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.)	Hundreds of community Actors across many sites
Published average response time	1.14s (self-reported, last 7 days)	3.12s (published on its site)	Varies by Actor; no single published average
Free tier / trial	100 free credits on signup, no card; 5 free browser tries/day; daily top-up to 25	Free trial credits on signup (limited)	$5 free monthly platform credits
Compliance / security disclosures	No SOC 2 / ISO / bug bounty published; HTTPS not enforced, no HSTS	No public SOC 2 / ISO found	SOC 2 Type II, GDPR docs, security page published

ScrapeCreators

Social media scraping API. It publishes a 3.12 s average; 100,000 calls cost $188 there and $59 on LurkAPI, and 69 of its endpoints answer at the same path on LurkAPI.

Apify

General web scraping platform with Actors for social media; LurkAPI is one REST API and MCP server for 16 social platforms, priced per call (it also publishes Actors there).

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