How to Scrape Instagram Data in 2026

To scrape Instagram data in 2026, give a hosted scraper such as apidojo's Instagram Scraper on Apify profile, hashtag, location, audio, reels or search URLs, or plain keywords, and it returns public posts with captions, likes, comments, dates, locations and author profiles.

To scrape Instagram data in 2026, give a hosted scraper such as apidojo’s Instagram Scraper on Apify profile, hashtag, location, audio, reels or search URLs, or plain keywords, and it returns public posts with captions, likes, comments, dates, locations and author profiles. It costs $0.50 per 1,000 posts and needs no Instagram login or proxies.

The official route, the Instagram Graph API, only works for Business and Creator accounts and doesn’t cover general public data such as follower lists. This pillar compares the routes, maps each data type to an apidojo actor, and covers limits and the legal side. The official API is covered in Instagram API in 2026.

What Instagram Data Can You Scrape?

You can scrape public Instagram data: posts and reels, profiles, followers and following lists, comments, hashtags and locations. Private accounts’ content can’t be collected. The table maps each data type to its apidojo actor, with prices from each actor’s listing on Apify.

Data	apidojo actor	Price
Posts and reels by profile, hashtag, location, audio, tagged posts or keyword	Instagram Scraper	$0.50 per 1,000 posts
The same, with per-query pricing and single posts or stories	Instagram Scraper API	From $0.005 per query plus $0.0005 per post
Hashtag posts and reels	Instagram Hashtag Scraper	$0.016 per hashtag, first 60 posts included, then $0.0004 per post
Location posts	Instagram Location Scraper	$0.50 per 1,000 posts
Profiles, followers, following, public business emails	Instagram User Scraper	$0.01 per profile, or $0.02 per keyword search with 40 profiles included, then $0.0005 per user
Comments	Instagram Comments Scraper, Instagram Comments Scraper API	$0.50 per 1,000 comments; or $0.0075 per post with 15 comments included

What Are the Ways to Scrape Instagram?

There are 3 ways to collect Instagram data: the official Graph API, a scraper you build yourself, or a hosted scraper. The table compares them.

Route	Covers	Cost	Upkeep
Instagram Graph API	Your own Business or Creator account, plus limited lookups of other business accounts	No per-call fee; App Review and rate limits	Low, after approval
Build your own	Any public page	Servers, proxies, engineering time	High, as Instagram changes often
Hosted scraper (apidojo on Apify)	Any public profile, hashtag, location, audio and keyword	From $0.50 per 1,000 posts	None for you

How Do You Scrape Instagram With apidojo?

Choose the actor for your data, fill in its input, and run it from the Apify console or the API. Listed below are the 5 steps for posts.

Open Instagram Scraper on Apify.
Add profile, hashtag, location, audio, reels, tagged or search URLs to startUrls, or words to keywords.
Set maxItems, and until to keep only posts newer than a date.
Run the actor.
Download the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel.

The same run from Python, in the input format the actor takes (Apify):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("apidojo/instagram-scraper").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/marketing/"],
    "maxItems": 500,
})

for post in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(post["createdAt"], post["owner"]["username"], post.get("likeCount"), post["url"])

The full workflow is in how to collect Instagram data with Python.

What Limits Apply?

apidojo’s Instagram actors set minimums and usage rules. Listed below are the 5 that matter most (Apify, Apify).

At least 10 posts per query or profile on the Instagram Scraper, and at least 10 posts per location on the Location Scraper.
Don’t set a very near until date, which causes inefficient runs and can trigger the rate limiter.
Don’t use customMapFunction to filter results; it’s for reshaping items, and filtering risks a ban.
Verified accounts return only their first 50 followers on the User Scraper, an Instagram limit.
Free plan demo mode: 5 runs a month, each capped at 10 items.

More detail is in Instagram scraping limits.

Instagram Scraping Guides by Task

Each data type has its own guide. Listed below are the guides in this series.

Use cases start at how to monitor Instagram hashtags and brand mentions. The same approach for other networks is in how to scrape TikTok data in 2026 and how to scrape Twitter data in 2026.

Is Scraping Instagram Legal?

Collecting public Instagram data is a legal question that depends on where you are, what you collect and how you use it, so check Instagram’s terms and the data protection law that applies to you. Profiles, comments and follower lists contain personal data covered by laws such as the GDPR. Collect only what you need, never try to access private accounts, and don’t republish people’s photos or videos without permission.

Questions people ask

Do you need an Instagram account to scrape Instagram?

No, apidojo's Instagram actors read public data without a login; you need an Apify account.

How much does it cost to scrape 100,000 Instagram posts?

About $50 with the Instagram Scraper, at $0.50 per 1,000 posts.

Can you scrape private Instagram accounts?

No, private accounts' content isn't public and can't be collected.

Do you need proxies to scrape Instagram?

No. None of apidojo's Instagram actors needs a proxy.