Instagram Scraper

What does Instagram Scraper do?

Instagram Scraper allows you to scrape posts from a user's profile page, hashtag page, or place. When a link to an Instagram post is provided, it can scrape Instagram comments.

This unofficial Instagram API is designed to give you back the functionality to access public data that was removed from the Instagram API in 2020. It also enables anyone to extract public data from Instagram without imposing limits on whether you are an Instagram Business or Creator, or whether you are accessing public consumer account data.

The Instagram data scraper supports the following features:

• Scrape profiles - you can either scrape posts or get metadata from the profile.
• Scrape hashtags - query hashtags matched by search keyword - you can either scrape posts or scrape metadata from each hashtag.
• Scrape places/locations - query places matched by search keyword - you can either scrape posts or scrape metadata from each place.
• Scrape comments - you can scrape comments from any post.

Just want to scrape Instagram hashtags, profiles, posts or comments?

Use our fast dedicated scrapers if you want to scrape specific Instagram data. Fewer settings to change and faster results. Just enter one or more Instagram usernames or URLs and click to scrape.

➡️ Instagram Post Scraper
➡️ Instagram Profile Scraper
➡️ Quick Instagram Posts Checker
➡️ Instagram Tagged Scraper
➡️ Instagram Reel Scraper
➡️ Instagram Comment Scraper
➡️ Instagram Hashtag Scraper

Need something different but still customizable?

Try Instagram API Scraper if Instagram Scraper doesn't do everything you need.

Let us know if you need a custom Instagram scraping solution.

Why scrape Instagram?

Instagram has about 1 billion monthly active users and is especially popular with younger users, a demographic that can otherwise be difficult for brands to reach. With so many active users, you can imagine that there is a lot of useful data on the site.

So what can you do with that data? Here are some ideas:

• Scrape hashtags and likes to see what's becoming popular. Maybe you can get involved early or create a niche product to take advantage of short-term trends.
• Get data based on location to discover opportunities or risks that might affect your investment or business decisions.
• Scrape comments to understand how real customers see your brand or business.
• Find Instagram influencers who could help you promote your products, and track their engagement in real time.
• Collect a constantly updated dataset on your industry, city, or interests and gain insights into ongoing change.
• Carry out market or academic research that goes beyond surveys and polls.

If you want more ideas, check out our industries pages for ways web scraping is already being used in a wide range of companies.

How to use Instagram Scraper

If you want to know more about how Instagram Scraper works, here's a detailed explanation and step-by-step guide with screenshots and examples.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram?

Our Instagram scrapers are ethical and do not extract any private user data, such as email addresses, gender, or location. They only extract what the user has chosen to share publicly. We therefore believe that our scrapers, when used for ethical purposes by Apify users, are safe. However, you should be aware that your results could contain personal data. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers. You can also read our blog post on the legality of web scraping.

Cost of usage

There are two main factors to take into account if you want to run Instagram Scraper on the Apify platform:

• Compute units - used for running the scraper
• Residential proxy traffic - needed to access Instagram without login

The usage costs differ depending on what type of page you are scraping. Some pages, such as details, just need to be opened, while other pages, such as comments, require a lot of scrolling. You should roughly compare how long it takes to do these operations manually to get an idea about how to transfer usage costs from one use case to another.

Cost of usage for profile scraping

Scraping 1,000 profiles requires about:

• 10 compute units
• 0.24 GB of proxy traffic

Example pricing

Based on Apify's pricing at the time of writing, scraping 1,000 profiles would cost 10 CU * $0.25 + 0.24 GB * 12.5 GB, which is a total of $5.50. The Apify Personal plan ($49) would allow you to scrape about 9,000 Instagram profiles monthly.

Input parameters

The input of this scraper should be JSON containing the list of pages on Instagram that should be visited. Check the input tab for detailed list.

Instagram scraper input example

{
    "search": "Niagara Falls",
    "searchType": "place",
    "searchLimit": 10,
    "resultsType": "posts",
    "resultsLimit": 100,
    "proxy": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}

During the actor run

During the run, the actor will output messages letting you know what's going on. Each message always contains a short label specifying which page from the provided list is currently being scraped. When items are loaded from the page, you should see a message about this event with a loaded item count and total item count for each page, in most cases.

If you provide incorrect input to the actor, it will immediately stop with a failure state and output an explanation of what is wrong.

Instagram output format

The actor stores its results in a dataset. Each item is a separate item in the dataset.

You can manage the results in any language (Python, PHP, Node.js/NPM). See our API reference to learn more about getting results from the Instagram Scraper.

Scraped Instagram posts

The structure of each item in Instagram posts when scrolling looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "pageType": "user",
    "id": "teslamotors",
    "userId": "297604134",
    "userUsername": "teslamotors",
    "userFullName": "Tesla",
    "limit": 1000000,
    "scrollWaitSecs": 0,
    "shortcode": "B27C4aRBfet",
    "postLocationId": null,
    "postOwnerId": "297604134"
  },
  "queryUsername": "teslamotors",
  "position": 10,
  "type": "Image",
  "shortCode": "B27C4aRBfet",
  "caption": "@hub3rt picked up his Model 3 and brought our London team a cake. \nIf there is a purer thing in this world we would like to hear about it.",
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": [
    "hub3rt"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/B27C4aRBfet",
  "commentsCount": 926,
  "latestComments": [],
  "dimensionsHeight": 1080,
  "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
  "displayUrl": "https://instagram.fyyc3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/e35/70538312_1124483511275040_7970075346943975868_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.fyyc3-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=100&_nc_ohc=UBV8F4hhd_AAX_INMgA&oh=be328b96f1ad3fbb95b54a35b8b0eb79&oe=5F0D6E0E",
  "id": "2142318720331413421",
  "alt": "Photo by Tesla on September 27, 2019. Image may contain: one or more people, people standing and car",
  "likesCount": 181500,
  "timestamp": "2019-09-27T17:11:54.000Z",
  "locationName": null,
  "locationId": null,
  "ownerUsername": "teslamotors",
  "ownerId": "297604134"
}

Scraped Instagram comments

The structure of each item in Instagram comments looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "index": 1,
    "pageType": "post",
    "id": "BwrsO1Bho2N",
    "postCommentsDisabled": false,
    "postIsVideo": false,
    "postVideoViewCount": 0,
    "postVideoDurationSecs": 0
  },
  "id": "17900515570488496",
  "postId": "BwrsO1Bho2N",
  "text": "When is Tesla going to make boats? It was so nice to see clear water in Venice during the covid lockdown!",
  "position": 1,
  "timestamp": "2020-06-07T12:54:20.000Z",
  "ownerId": "5319127183",
  "ownerIsVerified": false,
  "ownerUsername": "mauricepaoletti",
  "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/s150x150/84630643_482577542360727_932647097444859904_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_ohc=B3lQcy6UHX4AX8RjJKN&oh=1df825b662e1f1412eb21fc581c5db75&oe=5F0A760B"
}

Scraped Instagram profile

The structure of each user profile looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/avengers/"
  },
  "id": "6622284809",
  "username": "avengers",
  "fullName": "Avengers: Endgame",
  "biography": "Marvel Studios’ \"Avengers​: Endgame” is now playing in theaters.",
  "externalUrl": "http://www.fandango.com/avengersendgame",
  "externalUrlShimmed": "https://l.instagram.com/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fandango.com%2Favengersendgame&e=ATNWJ4avEN0vwSx1YQCqQqFJst7aAFzINa-BzGZLoTVrdC6sTRTmjM9QNgWKR3URJHMxwg9x",
  "followersCount": 8212505,
  "followsCount": 4,
  "hasChannel": false,
  "highlightReelCount": 3,
  "isBusinessAccount": true,
  "joinedRecently": false,
  "businessCategoryName": "Content & Apps",
  "private": false,
  "verified": true,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/eaea4675dc1e937f3b449dba21ac3867/5D5DF0E0/t51.2885-19/s150x150/54446499_2222190077828037_3317168817985028096_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
  "profilePicUrlHD": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/38a36006532165263f0d82c32de1d0ce/5D767E98/t51.2885-19/s320x320/54446499_2222190077828037_3317168817985028096_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
  "facebookPage": null,
  "igtvVideoCount": 5,
  "latestIgtvVideos": [
    {
      "type": "Video",
      "shortCode": "Bwr3OkpnZZ5",
      "title": "Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame | “Don’t Do It”",
      "caption": "Don’t do it. #DontSpoilTheEndgame",
      "commentsCount": 115,
      "commentsDisabled": false,
      "dimensionsHeight": 1333,
      "dimensionsWidth": 750,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/1c063ea4ff0e4768a852411c74470bae/5CCD7FE3/t51.2885-15/e35/58684999_167806787545179_7836940807335402934_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 123,
      "videoDuration": 21.688,
      "videoViewCount": 77426
    },
    // ...
  ],
  "postsCount": 274,
  "latestPosts": [
    {
      "type": "Video",
      "shortCode": "Bw7jACTn3tC",
      "caption": "“We need to take a stand.” Marvel Studios’ #AvengersEndgame is in theaters now. Get tickets: [link in bio]",
      "commentsCount": 1045,
      "dimensionsHeight": 750,
      "dimensionsWidth": 750,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/c336cf708e62596cd46879656f86ad70/5CCD112C/t51.2885-15/e35/57649006_653609661751971_8438348841277997450_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 142707,
      "videoViewCount": 482810,
      "timestamp": "2019-05-01T18:44:12.000Z",
      "locationName": null
    },
    // ...
  ],
  "following": [],
  "followedBy": [],
}

Scraped Instagram hashtag

The structure of each hashtag detail looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/endgame/"
  },
  "id": "17843854051054595",
  "name": "endgame",
  "topPostsOnly": false,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/c3074c4492e7594fdd330ff8b81cf724/5D558BBC/t51.2885-15/e15/s150x150/58410922_577374706107933_1468173581283089454_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
  "postsCount": 1510549,
  "topPosts": [
    {
      "type": "Image",
      "shortCode": "Bw9UYRrhxfl",
      "caption": "Here is the second part😂😂 Find the first part on the page\nGuess the pictures😏\n-\n-\n-\n#marvel #mcu #dceu #worldofdc #endgame #superhero #superheros #infinitywar #batman #superman #wonderwoman #iroman #captainamerica #thor #thanos #memes #news #dc #dcuniverse #power #funny #fun" "@marvel",
      "hashtags": ["marvel", "mcu", "etc..."],
      "mentions": ["marvel"],
      "commentsCount": 9,
      "dimensionsHeight": 1326,
      "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/4d67498d0bc033cbfdf8b666d0fce6d1/5D629B3E/t51.2885-15/e35/57216878_2119889691397544_8022105877563047858_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 2342,
      "timestamp": "2019-05-02T11:14:55.000Z",
      "locationName": null
    },
    // ...
  ],
  "latestPosts": [
    {
      "type": "Sidecar",
      "shortCode": "Bw9flNKl56O",
      "caption": "Mínimo lo se mi tributo a semejante peli pero bue algo quería hacer me llore la vidaaaaa #endgame #avengersendgame #avengers #thanos #ironman #hulk #thor #makeupcomic #makeup #moviemakeup #makeupeyes #makeupfantasy #makeupavengers #makeuphero",
      "commentsCount": 0,
      "dimensionsHeight": 936,
      "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/d97b7e434dbbb4141552c9af9c8fb05b/5D5F34FD/t51.2885-15/e35/58087917_2268263940082789_7711745336102849043_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 12312,
      "timestamp": "2019-05-02T12:52:48.000Z",
      "locationName": null
    },
    // ...
  ]
}

Scraped Instagram place

The structure of each place detail looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/1017812091/namesti-miru/"
  },
  "id": "1017812091",
  "name": "Náměstí Míru",
  "public": true,
  "lat": 50.0753325,
  "lng": 14.43769,
  "slug": "namesti-miru",
  "description": "",
  "website": "",
  "phone": "",
  "aliasOnFacebook": "",
  "addressStreetAddress": "",
  "addressZipCode": "",
  "addressCityName": "Prague, Czech Republic",
  "addressRegionName": "",
  "addressCountryCode": "CZ",
  "addressExactCityMatch": false,
  "addressExactRegionMatch": false,
  "addressExactCountryMatch": false,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/aa8cc8c627cbddf3df270747223f5f23/5D68CDEA/t51.2885-15/e35/s150x150/57561454_2452560724777787_307886881124344332_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
  "postsCount": 5310,
  "topPosts": [
    {
      "type": "Image",
      "shortCode": "Bw6lVVZhXXB",
      "caption": "🦋🦋🦋",
      "commentsCount": 3,
      "dimensionsHeight": 750,
      "dimensionsWidth": 750,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/03de7e9343f98fdf47513a0a944c427f/5D6656A8/t51.2885-15/e35/57561454_2452560724777787_307886881124344332_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 345,
      "timestamp": "2019-05-01T09:45:20.000Z",
      "locationName": null
    },
    // ...
  ],
  "latestPosts": [
    {
      "type": "Image",
      "shortCode": "Bw9KSlIhAc-",
      "caption": "#vinohradskaprincezna #nekdotomusikontrolovat #jestezememaji #jmenujusebufinka 🐶",
      "commentsCount": 0,
      "dimensionsHeight": 1080,
      "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
      "displayUrl": "https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/0fa17a87dee94c0c63c8973c6c0677eb/5D59EE21/t51.2885-15/e35/57506136_399700847249384_6385808161520210872_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com",
      "likesCount": 4546,
      "timestamp": "2019-05-02T09:46:45.000Z",
      "locationName": null
    },
    // ...
  ]
}

Scraped Instagram post details

The structure of each post detail looks like this:

{
  "#debug": {
    "requestId": "YCyUc93vUGzK9eA",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/BwrsO1Bho2N",
    "loadedUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/BwrsO1Bho2N/",
    "method": "GET",
    "retryCount": 0,
    "errorMessages": null
  },
  "type": "Sidecar",
  "shortCode": "BwrsO1Bho2N",
  "caption": "Newly upgraded Model S and X drive units rolling down the production line at Gigafactory 1 #tesla #model3 @elonmusk",
  "hashtags": ["tesla", "model3"],
  "mentions": ["elonmusk"],
  "position": 1,
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/BwrsO1Bho2N",
  "commentsCount": 711,
  "latestComments": [
    {
      "ownerUsername": "mauricepaoletti",
      "text": "When is Tesla going to make boats? It was so nice to see clear water in Venice during the covid lockdown!"
    },
    // ...
  ],
  "dimensionsHeight": 1350,
  "dimensionsWidth": 1080,
  "displayUrl": "https://instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/e35/57840129_308705413159630_8358160330083042716_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=g7JIBg70oHMAX_QGayb&oh=1402875349a6d1cd8693f14f2b617fd6&oe=5F0DBA1F",
  "id": "2029910590113615245",
  "firstComment": "@miszdivastatuz",
  "likesCount": 153786,
  "timestamp": "2019-04-25T14:57:01.000Z",
  "locationName": "Tesla Gigafactory 1",
  "locationId": "2172837629656184",
  "ownerFullName": "Tesla",
  "ownerUsername": "teslamotors",
  "ownerId": "297604134",
  "captionIsEdited": false,
  "hasRankedComments": false,
  "commentsDisabled": false,
  "displayResourceUrls": [
    "https://instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/e35/57840129_308705413159630_8358160330083042716_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=g7JIBg70oHMAX_QGayb&oh=1402875349a6d1cd8693f14f2b617fd6&oe=5F0DBA1F",
    "https://instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.2885-15/e35/56744724_532173877312018_171181625703519178_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.fist4-1.fna.fbcdn.net&_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=_zTxcKu_hyYAX9KtDax&oh=175f7e2fceb3f6b20f84e148baf4d9f9&oe=5F0C7535"
  ],
  "childPosts": [
      // ...
  ],
  "locationSlug": "tesla-gigafactory-1",
  "isAdvertisement": false,
  "taggedUsers": [],
  "likedBy": []
}

Integrations and Instagram Scraper

Last but not least, Instagram Scraper can be connected with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to integrations on the Apify platform. You can integrate with Make, Zapier, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and more. Or you can use webhooks to carry out an action whenever an event occurs, e.g. get a notification whenever Instagram Scraper successfully finishes a run.

Using Instagram Scraper with the Apify API

The Apify API gives you programmatic access to the Apify platform. The API is organized around RESTful HTTP endpoints that enable you to manage, schedule, and run Apify actors. The API also lets you access any datasets, monitor actor performance, fetch results, create and update versions, and more.

To access the API using Node.js, use the apify-client NPM package. To access the API using Python, use the apify-client PyPI package.

Check out the Apify API reference docs for full details or click on the API tab for code examples.