How to Scrape Instagram Followers and Following Lists

To scrape an Instagram account’s followers, give apidojo’s Instagram User Scraper on Apify the account’s handle, set getFollowers to true, turn getFollowings off if you don’t need it, and cap the list with maxItems. Each follower comes back with their username, full name, profile picture, privacy status and verification. It costs $0.01 per profile plus $0.0005 per user returned. Every other collection task is mapped in how to scrape Instagram data.

Instagram’s official API returns follower counts, not follower lists, so this is the only practical route for audience research on public accounts. This guide covers inputs, outputs, limits and costs. The full overview is in how to scrape Instagram data in 2026. Each follower can be expanded with how to scrape Instagram profiles and posts, and long lists are paced by Instagram scraping limits.

How Do You Scrape Instagram Followers?

Add the account by handle, URL or user ID, choose which lists you want, and set a cap. Both list options are on by default, so switch off the one you don’t need to avoid paying for it (Apify).

{
  "handles": ["nike"],
  "getFollowers": true,
  "getFollowings": false,
  "maxItems": 5000
}

maxItems counts every user returned, including the profile itself, so the example returns the profile and up to 4,999 followers.

What Data Does Each Follower Contain?

Each follower or following record is a short profile. The fields below come from the User Scraper’s follower output example (Apify).

Field	Contains
id	The follower’s Instagram user ID
username, fullName	Handle and display name
profilePicUrl	Profile picture link
isPrivate, isVerified	Privacy and verification status
related	The profile URL of the account whose list it came from

For deeper data on interesting followers, such as follower counts, bios and business categories, run their handles back through the User Scraper with both list options off.

What Limits Apply to Instagram Follower Scraping?

The User Scraper has 3 limits. Listed below are the limits (Apify).

1. Verified accounts return at most their first 50 followers, an Instagram limit, even with a higher maxItems. Non-verified accounts aren’t affected.
2. Private accounts’ lists can’t be collected, because the actor doesn’t log in.
3. Free plan demo mode is 5 runs a month, 10 items each.

What Does Scraping Instagram Followers Cost?

Each profile costs $0.01, and each follower or following returned costs $0.0005. Worked examples are shown below (Apify).

Job	Cost
1 profile and 50 followers	$0.036
1 profile, 100 followers and 100 following	$0.111
1 profile and 9,999 followers	$5.01
50 profiles and 500 followers each	$13.00

What Can You Do With Follower Data?

Follower lists help with audience research, influencer vetting and growth tracking. Listed below are the 4 common uses.

• Spot fake followers: many private, empty or default-named accounts suggest a bought audience; see how to vet Instagram influencers with data.
• Map audience overlap between two creators or brands.
• Track who unfollows by comparing exports; see how to see who unfollowed you on Instagram.
• Find creators a respected account follows in your niche.

Follower lists are personal data about real people, so collect only what you need and follow Instagram’s terms and laws such as the GDPR. TikTok follower lists are covered in how to scrape TikTok followers and following lists.