Instagram Scraper: extract posts, reels, profiles and comments

What are the Instagram Scraper specifications?

Apidojo Instagram Scraper runs on the Apify platform and accepts Instagram URLs as input: profile, hashtag, location, audio, reels and tagged-posts URLs. Each post returns 12 top-level fields plus nested owner, location, image and video objects, exported as JSON, CSV or Excel.

What does Instagram Scraper output look like?

Instagram Scraper output is one JSON object per post. Each object carries the post ID, shortcode, URL, creation date, caption, like and comment counts, a nested owner object, and location, image and video objects where the post has them.

{
  "startUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"],
  "until": "2026-01-01",
  "maxItems": 1000
}

"owner": {
  "id": "62815273217",
  "username": "nasa",
  "fullName": "NASA",
  "isPrivate": false,
  "isVerified": true,
  "followerCount": 98200000,
  "followingCount": 78,
  "postCount": 4211
}

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/streetphotography/"
  ],
  "maxItems": 2000
}

{
  "code": "C7xQm2NtLaK",
  "caption": "Late light on the crossing.",
  "likeCount": 4210,
  "commentCount": 88,
  "isCarousel": true,
  "createdAt": "2026-09-13T11:02:19.000Z"
}

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/213385402/new-york-new-york/"
  ],
  "maxItems": 1000
}

"location": {
  "id": "215927995",
  "name": "New York, New York",
  "slug": "new-york-new-york",
  "lat": 40.7128,
  "lng": -74.006
}

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/reels",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reels/audio/271328201351336/"
  ]
}

"video": {
  "id": "235268832770811v",
  "url": "https://...mp4",
  "width": 1078,
  "height": 1916,
  "duration": 28.281,
  "playCount": 3321
}

What the fields are

• Post content

  ID, shortcode, URL, caption, creation time, carousel and video flags, paid-partnership flag

• Engagement

  Likes, comments, video play count, pinned and hidden-count flags

• Owner profile

  Username, full name, user ID, followers, following, post count, verified and private flags, avatar

• Media and context

  Image and video URLs with dimensions and duration, co-owners, location with coordinates

Which Apidojo Instagram scraper fits your job?

Apidojo publishes 5 Instagram scrapers. Instagram Scraper collects posts and reels from any Instagram URL at $0.49 per 1,000, and the Hashtag, User, Comments and Location scrapers each handle one job, three of them billing a small fee per query with free items included.

Instagram scrapers for a single job

• Instagram Hashtag Scraperapidojo/instagram-hashtag-scraperPosts and reels published under a hashtag, built for campaign tracking across many tags at once.Top and recent posts per tag · Full post schema per item · 60 items free per hashtag$0.016 / hashtag + $0.40 / 1K3.3K users · 3.4 (16)
• Instagram Profile Scraperapidojo/instagram-user-scraperPeople rather than posts: profiles by handle, URL or keyword, plus follower and following lists and public business emails.Follower and following lists · Bio, counts, verification, category · 40 profiles free per keyword search$0.01 / profile + $0.50 / 1K2.4K users · 3.6 (13)
• Instagram Comments Scraper APIapidojo/instagram-comments-scraper-apiComments and replies with the commenter attached, billed per post so small jobs stay cheap.Comment text, likes and replies · Commenter profile per comment · 15 comments free per post$0.0075 / post + $0.50 / 1K2.2K users · 3.8 (11)
• Instagram Location Scraperapidojo/instagram-location-scraperGeo-tagged posts from any Instagram location page, with coordinates on every item. Built for local and venue research.Posts per location page · Coordinates, name and place ID · No query fee$0.50 / 1,000 posts1.9K users · 5.0 (10)

How much does Instagram Scraper cost?

Instagram Scraper costs $0.49 per 1,000 posts, billed per result with no per-run fee. That is 4.7 times cheaper than Apify’s own Instagram Scraper, which charges $0.0023 per result, or $2.30 per 1,000 posts.

Prices apply to Apify paid plans and step down by tier: $0.49 on Bronze, $0.48 on Silver, $0.47 on Gold and above. The free plan runs Instagram Scraper in demo mode, 5 runs a month, 10 items a run, with no API access.

How does Instagram Scraper compare with the official Instagram API?

The official Instagram Graph API returns data only for accounts that authorise your app. It cannot read another brand’s posts, a competitor’s followers or an open hashtag feed at scale. Instagram Scraper reads any public Instagram URL for $0.49 per 1,000 posts, with no Meta app, no review process and no Business account.

Graph API limits from Meta’s Instagram Platform documentation read on the snapshot date: 30 unique hashtags per 7-day period, and a general rate limit of 4,800 × impressions per 24 hours. Apify’s price is the public pricing on apify/instagram-scraper, $0.0023 per result.

How to scrape Instagram with Apidojo in 4 steps

Scraping Instagram with Apidojo takes 4 steps: open the scraper, paste Instagram URLs, set the date and item limits, then run and export. No code, proxy or Instagram account is required.

1. 01

   Open Instagram Scraper on Apify

   Sign in with a free Apify account. No credit card is needed to run it in demo mode.

2. 02

   Paste Instagram URLs

   Profile, hashtag, location, audio, reels or tagged-posts URLs, one per row, exactly as they appear in the address bar.

3. 03

   Set the date and item limits

   Use until as a date floor and maxItems to cap both the run and the cost. Keep each input above 10 posts.

4. 04

   Run and export the dataset

   Download JSON, CSV or Excel, or have the run write straight into Notion through an MCP connector.

How do you call the Instagram Scraper API?

Instagram Scraper runs through the Apify REST API and the official Python and JavaScript clients. One POST to the run-sync endpoint starts the scraper and returns the posts as JSON in the same response.

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("apidojo/instagram-scraper").call(run_input={
    "startUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"],
    "until": "2026-01-01",
    "maxItems": 1000,
})

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

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

const run = await client.actor('apidojo/instagram-scraper').call({
  startUrls: ['https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/streetphotography/'],
  maxItems: 1000,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items.length, items[0].caption);

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~instagram-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"startUrls":["https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"],"maxItems":500}'

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=apidojo/instagram-scraper",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

• MCP connectors

  Write results straight into Notion or Todoist, outputConnector and deliverTarget, no export step.

• n8n, Make and Zapier

  The Apify app connects the scraper to your tools.

• Webhooks

  POST to any URL on run success.

• Scheduling

  Apify schedules with until set to the last run date.

How fast is Instagram Scraper?

Instagram Scraper returns 199 posts per second from hashtags, 183 from locations and 147 from profiles in Apidojo’s published benchmark. At 147 posts per second a 10,000-post profile export finishes in about 70 seconds.

Benchmark published on the Instagram Scraper listing, run with identical inputs and resources per input type. Real speed varies with Instagram response times and input shape.

9K

users on Instagram Scraper

9.5M

Instagram Scraper runs, all time

4.7 / 5

from 36 Apify reviews

5

Instagram scrapers in the family

That rating is Instagram Scraper’s own, not an average across the five. Users and runs in the hero are the five combined; these four are the main scraper alone.

What can you build with Instagram Scraper data?

Instagram Scraper data powers 6 common workflows: influencer vetting, brand monitoring, campaign tracking, local and venue research, competitor benchmarking and AI training datasets. Each recipe below gives the input, the fields it uses and where the output lands.

• 01

  Influencer vetting

  instagram.com/{handle}/ · 50 recent posts

  Fields

  likeCount, commentCount, owner.followerCount, isPaidPartnership

  Lands in

  An engagement-rate sheet

• 02

  Brand monitoring

  explore/tags/{brand}/ + {brand}/tagged

  Fields

  caption, owner.username, createdAt

  Lands in

  Slack via n8n, daily

• 03

  Campaign tracking

  20 campaign hashtags, until = launch date

  Fields

  caption, likeCount, commentCount

  Lands in

  Notion, through the connector

• 04

  Local and venue research

  explore/locations/{id}/{slug}/

  Fields

  location.lat, location.lng, caption

  Lands in

  A map dashboard

• 05

  Competitor benchmarking

  10 competitor profiles, weekly schedule

  Fields

  createdAt, likeCount, isVideo

  Lands in

  A posting-cadence report

• 06

  AI training datasets

  Hashtags by niche, customMapFunction to flatten

  Fields

  caption, video.url, owner.username

  Lands in

  JSONL for fine-tuning or a RAG index

What are the limits of Instagram Scraper?

Instagram Scraper operates under 5 documented limits. Each one below states the workaround, and three of the five are answered by another scraper in the same family.

• Minimum 10 posts per input

  Inputs asking for fewer create overhead and can trip the rate limiter.

  Raise maxItems, or batch several URLs into one run rather than many tiny runs.

• Public content only

  Private accounts, their stories and direct messages are out of scope.

  Open the profile in a logged-out browser window first, if you cannot see it there, neither can the scraper.

• A tight until date wastes runs

  Setting the date close to now returns almost nothing and still consumes a run.

  Set until to the last run’s date for monitoring, and use wider windows for backfills.

• customMapFunction cannot filter

  Returning null to drop items is treated as abuse of pay-per-result pricing, and date logic is blocked outright.

  Reshape with the map function, filter by date with until, and cap volume with maxItems.

• The free plan runs in demo mode

  5 runs per month, 10 items per run, and no API access.

  Any paid Apify plan removes the cap and unlocks the API.

Is it legal to use an Instagram scraper?

Collecting publicly visible, logged-out Instagram data is generally lawful in the United States. US courts have held that scraping public pages does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn (9th Cir., 2022). Personal data inside posts and profiles remains subject to GDPR and CCPA.

• What the scraper collects

  Only content visible without logging in. No private accounts, no direct messages, nothing behind a follow request.

• What you are responsible for

  A lawful basis for processing personal data, a retention limit, and Meta’s terms, which restrict automated collection.

• Extra care with emails

  Public business emails returned by Instagram Profile Scraper are personal data under GDPR. Use them only with a lawful basis and a working opt-out.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Instagram Scraper frequently asked questions