Instagram Reel to Script

Turn Instagram Reels into structured scripts you can read, compare and reuse. Each reel comes back as a clean row with its transcript, on-screen text, hook, call to action and a beat-by-beat breakdown.

Built for marketers, creators and researchers studying what works on short-form video.

What you get for each reel

• Transcript with word timings, from a GPU speech model.
• On-screen text: titles, callouts, prices and labels, with times. Each entry is marked overlay, subtitle or scene, so you can keep only what the creator put on the video.
• Hook: the opening spoken line and on-screen text, plus the technique used.
• Call to action, quoted, with its type and time.
• Beats: the reel's structure, described from the video, in the reel's own language.

On-screen text is read in Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Greek, Hangul, Thai, Chinese and Japanese scripts. It's listed even when it's also spoken, so you see exactly what viewers read.

How to use it

Give it one of these:

• Reel URLs. The Actor fetches them with Apify's Instagram Scraper, which bills your account at its own rate.
• A dataset ID from apify/instagram-reel-scraper or apify/instagram-scraper. Run this soon after the scraper, because Instagram's media links expire.

Pricing

	Price per reel
Launch price, first 1,000 reels per account	$0.009
After that	$0.025

You pay only for delivered results. Reels with nothing to analyze, failed reels, reels over 3 minutes, and repeats of a reel you ran in the last 7 days are free.

Apify platform usage is included in these prices. If you use reel URLs, Instagram Scraper is a separate Actor and bills your account its own fee. With a dataset ID, you've already paid for that step.

Free-plan accounts get a demo of 5 reels a day.

Limits

• Reels up to 3 minutes, and up to 500 per run.
• Launch capacity is limited each day. When it's full, the run stops with a clear message, you aren't charged for the reels it didn't process, and capacity resets at 00:00 UTC.
• Hebrew and Vietnamese text is read from sampled frames, so it's less complete. Thai is the weakest supported script.
• Transcript accuracy is in line with leading tools on English speech. Mixed-language speech can come back in one language.
• Rows can include some text caught on camera. Filter on kind == "overlay" for a shorter list.

Output example

This is one complete, unedited row from a real 50-second reel. segments holds the transcript with a timing for every word.

{
  "reel_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DfKvzO5lGQN/",
  "reel_id": "DfKvzO5lGQN",
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "status": "ok",
  "billable": true,
  "error": null,
  "language": "en",
  "language_probability": 0.999,
  "duration_s": 50.09,
  "transcript": "The new film is about a central male friendship. What ideas were you interested in exploring this time around? My male friendships are, you know, quite deep and sad and open and everything that, you know, a female friendship can be but is acknowledged to be and is seen as being in the culture. I like the gentleness of my male friendships. And I guess to show a bit more of that, you know, not just to have like a buddy movie where that's sort of empty or surface is what I was trying to get at with this film. And that's not something you ever really see in a Hollywood movie necessarily.",
  "hook": {"on_screen": "Martin McDonagh: 'My Male Friendships Are Quite Deep and Sad and Open' / THE INTERVIEW", "spoken": "The new film is about a central male friendship.", "type": "bold_claim"},
  "cta": {"at_s": 46, "text": "The full episode is in our app. Your first month is free.", "type": "subscribe"},
  "beats": [
    {"end_s": 8, "label": "hook", "start_s": 0, "summary": "Martin McDonagh is shown on camera with a headline that says his male friendships are deep, sad and open."},
    {"end_s": 24, "label": "story", "start_s": 8, "summary": "McDonagh explains that his male friendships are as deep and open as female friendships, which culture does not usually acknowledge."},
    {"end_s": 40, "label": "value", "start_s": 24, "summary": "He says he wants to show more of this gentleness, rather than a surface-level buddy movie, in his new film."},
    {"end_s": 43, "label": "proof", "start_s": 40, "summary": "He notes that Hollywood movies rarely show this kind of male friendship."},
    {"end_s": 50, "label": "offer", "start_s": 43, "summary": "The New York Times logo appears, then a card says the full episode is in the app with a free first month."}
  ],
  "on_screen_text": [
    {"confidence": 0.97, "end_s": 5, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 0, "text": "Martin McDonagh: 'My Male Friendships Are Quite Deep and Sad and Open'"},
    {"confidence": 0.987, "end_s": 1, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 0, "text": "– The new film is about"},
    {"confidence": 0.999, "end_s": 5, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 0, "text": "THE INTERVIEW"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 5, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 1, "text": "a central male friendship."},
    {"confidence": 0.968, "end_s": 8, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 5, "text": "David Marchese HOST OF “THE INTERVIEW\" THE NEW YORK TIMES"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 6, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 5, "text": "What ideas were you"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 7, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 6, "text": "interested in exploring"},
    {"confidence": 0.999, "end_s": 8, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 7, "text": "this time around?"},
    {"confidence": 0.998, "end_s": 12, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 8, "text": "My male friendships are, you know, quite"},
    {"confidence": 0.997, "end_s": 13, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 9, "text": "Martin McDonagh WRITER AND DIRECTOR"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 15, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 12, "text": "deep and sad and open"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 16, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 15, "text": "and everything that,"},
    {"confidence": 0.996, "end_s": 20, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 16, "text": "you know, a female friendship can be,"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 21, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 20, "text": "but is acknowledged"},
    {"confidence": 0.992, "end_s": 22, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 21, "text": "to be and is seen"},
    {"confidence": 0.987, "end_s": 24, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 22, "text": "as being in the culture."},
    {"confidence": 0.999, "end_s": 27, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 24, "text": "I like the gentleness of my"},
    {"confidence": 0.997, "end_s": 30, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 27, "text": "and I guess to show a bit more of that,"},
    {"confidence": 0.998, "end_s": 31, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 30, "text": "you know, not just to have"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 32, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 31, "text": "like a buddy movie"},
    {"confidence": 0.995, "end_s": 35, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 32, "text": "where that's sort of empty or surface"},
    {"confidence": 0.994, "end_s": 37, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 35, "text": "is what I was trying to get"},
    {"confidence": 0.971, "end_s": 38, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 37, "text": "at with this film."},
    {"confidence": 0.999, "end_s": 39, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 38, "text": "And that's not something"},
    {"confidence": 1, "end_s": 41, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 39, "text": "you ever really see in a"},
    {"confidence": 0.997, "end_s": 43, "kind": "subtitle", "start_s": 41, "text": "Hollywood movie, necessarily."},
    {"confidence": 0.999, "end_s": 43, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 41, "text": "The Interview"},
    {"confidence": 0.997, "end_s": 50, "kind": "overlay", "start_s": 46, "text": "The full episode is in our app. Your first month is free."}
  ],
  "segments": [
    {"end_s": 3.6, "start_s": 0, "text": "The new film is about a central male friendship.", "words": [{"end_s": 0.12, "probability": 0.919, "start_s": 0, "text": "The"}, {"end_s": 0.28, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 0.12, "text": "new"}, {"end_s": 0.54, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 0.28, "text": "film"}, {"end_s": 0.66, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 0.54, "text": "is"}, {"end_s": 0.88, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 0.66, "text": "about"}, {"end_s": 1.04, "probability": 0.995, "start_s": 0.88, "text": "a"}, {"end_s": 1.44, "probability": 0.99, "start_s": 1.04, "text": "central"}, {"end_s": 2.44, "probability": 0.988, "start_s": 1.44, "text": "male"}, {"end_s": 3.6, "probability": 0.993, "start_s": 2.44, "text": "friendship."}]},
    {"end_s": 7.94, "start_s": 4.02, "text": "What ideas were you interested in exploring this time around?", "words": [{"end_s": 4.66, "probability": 0.992, "start_s": 4.02, "text": "What"}, {"end_s": 5.2, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 4.66, "text": "ideas"}, {"end_s": 5.38, "probability": 0.997, "start_s": 5.2, "text": "were"}, {"end_s": 5.56, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 5.38, "text": "you"}, {"end_s": 6.04, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 5.56, "text": "interested"}, {"end_s": 6.42, "probability": 1, "start_s": 6.04, "text": "in"}, {"end_s": 6.92, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 6.42, "text": "exploring"}, {"end_s": 7.56, "probability": 0.993, "start_s": 6.92, "text": "this"}, {"end_s": 7.74, "probability": 1, "start_s": 7.56, "text": "time"}, {"end_s": 7.94, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 7.74, "text": "around?"}]},
    {"end_s": 23.46, "start_s": 8.2, "text": "My male friendships are, you know, quite deep and sad and open and everything that, you know, a female friendship can be but is acknowledged to be and is seen as being in the culture.", "words": [{"end_s": 8.54, "probability": 0.938, "start_s": 8.2, "text": "My"}, {"end_s": 8.9, "probability": 0.995, "start_s": 8.54, "text": "male"}, {"end_s": 9.26, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 8.9, "text": "friendships"}, {"end_s": 9.58, "probability": 0.994, "start_s": 9.26, "text": "are,"}, {"end_s": 10.22, "probability": 0.997, "start_s": 9.58, "text": "you"}, {"end_s": 10.38, "probability": 1, "start_s": 10.22, "text": "know,"}, {"end_s": 10.74, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 10.38, "text": "quite"}, {"end_s": 12.68, "probability": 0.919, "start_s": 10.74, "text": "deep"}, {"end_s": 13.06, "probability": 0.96, "start_s": 12.68, "text": "and"}, {"end_s": 13.72, "probability": 1, "start_s": 13.06, "text": "sad"}, {"end_s": 14.02, "probability": 0.994, "start_s": 13.72, "text": "and"}, {"end_s": 14.42, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 14.02, "text": "open"}, {"end_s": 14.82, "probability": 0.898, "start_s": 14.42, "text": "and"}, {"end_s": 15.78, "probability": 0.977, "start_s": 14.82, "text": "everything"}, {"end_s": 16.18, "probability": 0.991, "start_s": 15.78, "text": "that,"}, {"end_s": 16.6, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 16.26, "text": "you"}, {"end_s": 16.84, "probability": 1, "start_s": 16.6, "text": "know,"}, {"end_s": 17.66, "probability": 0.995, "start_s": 16.84, "text": "a"}, {"end_s": 18.38, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 17.66, "text": "female"}, {"end_s": 18.82, "probability": 1, "start_s": 18.38, "text": "friendship"}, {"end_s": 19.82, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 18.82, "text": "can"}, {"end_s": 20.08, "probability": 1, "start_s": 19.82, "text": "be"}, {"end_s": 20.36, "probability": 0.435, "start_s": 20.08, "text": "but"}, {"end_s": 20.52, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 20.36, "text": "is"}, {"end_s": 20.82, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 20.52, "text": "acknowledged"}, {"end_s": 21.12, "probability": 1, "start_s": 20.82, "text": "to"}, {"end_s": 21.32, "probability": 1, "start_s": 21.12, "text": "be"}, {"end_s": 21.6, "probability": 0.957, "start_s": 21.32, "text": "and"}, {"end_s": 21.76, "probability": 0.995, "start_s": 21.6, "text": "is"}, {"end_s": 22.22, "probability": 1, "start_s": 21.76, "text": "seen"}, {"end_s": 22.44, "probability": 1, "start_s": 22.22, "text": "as"}, {"end_s": 22.66, "probability": 1, "start_s": 22.44, "text": "being"}, {"end_s": 22.9, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 22.66, "text": "in"}, {"end_s": 23.16, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 22.9, "text": "the"}, {"end_s": 23.46, "probability": 1, "start_s": 23.16, "text": "culture."}]},
    {"end_s": 27.26, "start_s": 23.68, "text": "I like the gentleness of my male friendships.", "words": [{"end_s": 24.14, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 23.68, "text": "I"}, {"end_s": 24.48, "probability": 1, "start_s": 24.14, "text": "like"}, {"end_s": 24.68, "probability": 1, "start_s": 24.48, "text": "the"}, {"end_s": 25.06, "probability": 1, "start_s": 24.68, "text": "gentleness"}, {"end_s": 25.28, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 25.06, "text": "of"}, {"end_s": 25.44, "probability": 1, "start_s": 25.28, "text": "my"}, {"end_s": 26.8, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 25.44, "text": "male"}, {"end_s": 27.26, "probability": 1, "start_s": 26.8, "text": "friendships."}]},
    {"end_s": 37.86, "start_s": 27.26, "text": "And I guess to show a bit more of that, you know, not just to have like a buddy movie where that's sort of empty or surface is what I was trying to get at with this film.", "words": [{"end_s": 27.5, "probability": 0.844, "start_s": 27.26, "text": "And"}, {"end_s": 27.56, "probability": 0.994, "start_s": 27.5, "text": "I"}, {"end_s": 27.92, "probability": 0.998, "start_s": 27.56, "text": "guess"}, {"end_s": 28.08, "probability": 0.971, "start_s": 27.92, "text": "to"}, {"end_s": 28.36, "probability": 1, "start_s": 28.08, "text": "show"}, {"end_s": 28.62, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 28.36, "text": "a"}, {"end_s": 28.86, "probability": 1, "start_s": 28.62, "text": "bit"}, {"end_s": 29.1, "probability": 1, "start_s": 28.86, "text": "more"}, {"end_s": 29.26, "probability": 0.997, "start_s": 29.1, "text": "of"}, {"end_s": 29.5, "probability": 1, "start_s": 29.26, "text": "that,"}, {"end_s": 30.14, "probability": 0.831, "start_s": 29.6, "text": "you"}, {"end_s": 30.32, "probability": 1, "start_s": 30.14, "text": "know,"}, {"end_s": 30.7, "probability": 1, "start_s": 30.32, "text": "not"}, {"end_s": 30.9, "probability": 0.993, "start_s": 30.7, "text": "just"}, {"end_s": 31.2, "probability": 0.987, "start_s": 30.9, "text": "to"}, {"end_s": 31.36, "probability": 1, "start_s": 31.2, "text": "have"}, {"end_s": 31.5, "probability": 0.98, "start_s": 31.36, "text": "like"}, {"end_s": 31.62, "probability": 1, "start_s": 31.5, "text": "a"}, {"end_s": 31.82, "probability": 0.994, "start_s": 31.62, "text": "buddy"}, {"end_s": 32.18, "probability": 1, "start_s": 31.82, "text": "movie"}, {"end_s": 32.54, "probability": 0.91, "start_s": 32.18, "text": "where"}, {"end_s": 33.22, "probability": 0.984, "start_s": 32.54, "text": "that's"}, {"end_s": 33.46, "probability": 1, "start_s": 33.22, "text": "sort"}, {"end_s": 33.62, "probability": 1, "start_s": 33.46, "text": "of"}, {"end_s": 33.86, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 33.62, "text": "empty"}, {"end_s": 34.12, "probability": 0.996, "start_s": 33.86, "text": "or"}, {"end_s": 34.48, "probability": 0.999, "start_s": 34.12, "text": "surface"}, {"end_s": 35.42, "probability": 0.928, "start_s": 34.48, "text": "is"}, {"end_s": 36.52, "probability": 1, "start_s": 35.42, "text": "what"}, {"end_s": 36.64, "probability": 1, "start_s": 36.52, "text": "I"}, {"end_s": 36.74, "probability": 1, "start_s": 36.64, "text": "was"}, {"end_s": 36.88, "probability": 1, "start_s": 36.74, "text": "trying"}, {"end_s": 37.02, "probability": 1, "start_s": 36.88, "text": "to"}, {"end_s": 37.14, "probability": 1, "start_s": 37.02, "text": "get"}, {"end_s": 37.3, "probability": 0.989, "start_s": 37.14, "text": "at"}, {"end_s": 37.44, "probability": 1, "start_s": 37.3, "text": "with"}, {"end_s": 37.56, "probability": 1, "start_s": 37.44, "text": "this"}, {"end_s": 37.86, "probability": 1, "start_s": 37.56, "text": "film."}]},
    {"end_s": 42.58, "start_s": 37.96, "text": "And that's not something you ever really see in a Hollywood movie necessarily.", "words": [{"end_s": 38.42, "probability": 1, "start_s": 37.96, "text": "And"}, {"end_s": 38.68, "probability": 1, "start_s": 38.42, "text": "that's"}, {"end_s": 38.78, "probability": 1, "start_s": 38.68, "text": "not"}, {"end_s": 39.2, "probability": 1, "start_s": 38.78, "text": "something"}, {"end_s": 39.36, "probability": 1, "start_s": 39.2, "text": "you"}, {"end_s": 39.5, "probability": 1, "start_s": 39.36, "text": "ever"}, {"end_s": 39.74, "probability": 1, "start_s": 39.5, "text": "really"}, {"end_s": 40.1, "probability": 1, "start_s": 39.74, "text": "see"}, {"end_s": 40.38, "probability": 1, "start_s": 40.1, "text": "in"}, {"end_s": 40.8, "probability": 0.989, "start_s": 40.38, "text": "a"}, {"end_s": 41.6, "probability": 1, "start_s": 40.8, "text": "Hollywood"}, {"end_s": 42.2, "probability": 1, "start_s": 41.6, "text": "movie"}, {"end_s": 42.58, "probability": 0.922, "start_s": 42.2, "text": "necessarily."}]}
  ]
}

status is one of:

Status	Meaning	Charged
ok	Full result	Yes
no_content	Music only, no speech, or too little text	No
partial	Transcript and text, but the analysis failed	No
failed	See error	No
skipped	Too long, or no video link	No
capacity, quota	Daily limit reached, try again after 00:00 UTC	No
busy, rate_limited, unavailable, paused	The run stopped early, try again later	No

Data

Videos are processed and deleted straight away. Result text is kept for 7 days, only for your account, so repeat reels are free. Frames and text are sent to Anthropic's Claude for analysis.

Only process content you have the right to use.