Instagram Profile Scraper

Turn supplied public Instagram usernames or profile URLs into clean, typed profile records. This Instagram profile scraper returns identity, biography, follower and following counts, post count, verification, account category, public external links, profile image URL, canonical URL, and an observation timestamp.

Use it to refresh creator research lists, enrich public business leads, qualify profiles, or feed recurring account-monitoring pipelines. No Instagram login is required. The Actor does not retrieve private posts, Stories, followers, or contact details that the profile owner has not made public.

What does Instagram Profile Scraper do?

For every unique username, the Actor requests Instagram's public structured profile surface, normalizes the result, and writes one record to the default Apify dataset.

It supports:

• usernames such as nasa or @nasa;
• canonical profile URLs such as https://www.instagram.com/nasa/;
• mixed username and URL batches;
• up to 1,000 supplied entries per run;
• duplicate removal by case-insensitive username;
• bounded retries with fresh datacenter proxy sessions;
• partial-batch preservation when one profile is unavailable.

Who is this Actor for?

• Creator researchers refreshing audience size, biography, verification, and category.
• Lead-enrichment teams adding public Instagram context to existing prospect lists.
• Influencer marketers qualifying a supplied shortlist before deeper campaign analysis.
• Data analysts collecting timestamped profile snapshots for their own comparison models.
• Automation builders sending typed records into a CRM, spreadsheet, warehouse, or webhook.

This is a supplied-profile enrichment Actor, not a search engine. It does not discover accounts from keywords or scrape follower lists.

Why use this public profile extractor?

The output is intentionally focused on the profile record rather than posts or private account activity. You receive consistent field names across username and URL inputs, one observation timestamp per record, all biography links exposed by Instagram, and a canonical URL suitable for joins.

Failed profiles are never charged as profile items. When at least one profile succeeds, useful results remain available even if another supplied username is missing or Instagram rejects that profile. If every profile fails, the run fails instead of returning a misleading successful empty dataset.

What Instagram profile data is extracted?

Field	Meaning
instagramUserId	Instagram's stable profile identifier
username	Current username
displayName	Public display name
biography	Public biography text
followersCount	Visible follower count at observation time
followingCount	Visible following count at observation time
postsCount	Visible post count at observation time
isVerified	Instagram verification flag
isPrivate	Whether the account is private
isBusinessAccount	Business-account flag
isProfessionalAccount	Professional-account flag
category	Public profile category, when exposed
businessCategory	Public business category, when exposed
externalUrl	Primary external URL, when exposed
externalLinks	All biography links exposed by Instagram
profileImageUrl	Current profile image URL
canonicalUrl	Canonical Instagram profile URL
observedAt	ISO 8601 observation timestamp

Instagram may omit category, biography, links, or business flags. Those values are returned as null, false, or an empty array rather than guessed.

How to scrape Instagram public profiles

1. Open the Actor input page.
2. Add one or more usernames or public profile URLs to Instagram usernames or profile URLs.
3. Optionally lower Maximum profiles to process only the first part of the list.
4. Keep three attempts per profile for normal recurring runs.
5. Click Start.
6. Open the Profile details dataset view or export it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS.

A working input:

{
  "profileInputs": [
    "nasa",
    "@natgeotravel",
    "https://www.instagram.com/instagram/"
  ],
  "maxProfiles": 3,
  "maxRetries": 3
}

Input parameters

profileInputs

Required array of 1–1,000 public Instagram usernames or profile URLs. Post, Reel, Story, Explore, login, and other non-profile URLs are rejected. Duplicate usernames are fetched once.

maxProfiles

Optional integer from 1 to 1,000. The Actor processes this many unique profiles from the supplied order. The default is 1,000.

maxRetries

Optional integer from 1 to 4. It controls bounded attempts for transient source or network failures. The default is 3. Retries use a fresh SHADER datacenter proxy session; users cannot trigger an unmeasured residential or browser fallback.

Output example

A current public profile produces a record shaped like this:

{
  "instagramUserId": "528817151",
  "username": "nasa",
  "displayName": "NASA",
  "biography": "Exploring the universe and our home planet.",
  "followersCount": 104427475,
  "followingCount": 92,
  "postsCount": 4891,
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "isBusinessAccount": false,
  "isProfessionalAccount": false,
  "category": null,
  "businessCategory": null,
  "externalUrl": "https://www.nasa.gov/",
  "externalLinks": [
    {
      "title": null,
      "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/",
      "linkType": null
    }
  ],
  "profileImageUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/profile-image.jpg",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-26T06:07:21.709Z"
}

Counts and profile metadata change over time. The example describes the schema; treat each run's dataset as the current observation.

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram profiles?

The Actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• a $0.00005 one-time start event per run;
• one public profile event for each useful record written to the dataset;
• no profile event for invalid, missing, rejected, or failed profiles.

The exact per-profile price depends on your Apify subscription tier. At the Bronze tier, the reviewed market target is $0.00184 per profile. Bronze-tier billing examples are straightforward:

Useful profiles	Charged events
1	1 start + 1 public profile
10	1 start + 10 public profiles
100	1 start + 100 public profiles
1,000	1 start + 1,000 public profiles

For each example, multiply useful profiles by the active per-profile price and add the one-time start event. Apify displays the active tier price before a run.

Schedule recurring creator research

Use an Apify schedule to run the same input daily, weekly, or monthly. Keep each dataset's observedAt value and compare it with your previous snapshot to identify changes in biography, category, links, verification, or public counts.

The Actor returns observations; it does not maintain history, calculate deltas, send alerts, or guarantee that a source field changed at a particular instant. Store snapshots in your own dataset, warehouse, or spreadsheet when historical comparison is required.

Export profile data to a spreadsheet or pipeline

Every successful record is written to the run's default dataset. From Apify Console you can export JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS. You can also:

• connect the dataset to Google Sheets through Make;
• trigger a webhook after the run finishes;
• import records into Airtable or a CRM;
• fetch dataset items from a data warehouse job;
• use canonicalUrl or instagramUserId as a join key.

Run through the Apify API

Replace YOUR_TOKEN with an Apify API token.

cURL

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~instagram-public-profile-details/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN&waitForFinish=300" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"profileInputs":["nasa","instagram"],"maxProfiles":2,"maxRetries":3}'

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/instagram-public-profile-details').call({
    profileInputs: ['nasa', 'https://www.instagram.com/instagram/'],
    maxProfiles: 2,
    maxRetries: 3,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('automation-lab/instagram-public-profile-details').call(run_input={
    'profileInputs': ['nasa', 'instagram'],
    'maxProfiles': 2,
    'maxRetries': 3,
})
items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

Use Instagram Profile Scraper with MCP

Add the Actor to Claude Code through Apify MCP:

claude mcp add --transport http apify \
  "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/instagram-public-profile-details"

Claude Desktop

Add this server in Claude Desktop's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/instagram-public-profile-details"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Use the same mcpServers.apify.url value in Cursor's MCP settings.

VS Code

Add the same HTTP MCP server URL through VS Code's MCP server configuration.

Example prompts:

• “Fetch the current public Instagram profile details for nasa and instagram.”
• “Enrich these supplied Instagram profile URLs, then summarize follower count and category.”
• “Run my saved creator list and export username, biography, links, and observation time.”

Limits and failure behavior

• Only public profile metadata exposed by Instagram is returned.
• Private-account post content is not accessed.
• Usernames are limited to Instagram's 30-character format.
• A profile-specific upstream error can occur even when other profiles work.
• Removed, renamed, restricted, or malformed profiles are omitted and not charged as items.
• A partial batch succeeds with warnings and preserves useful records.
• A batch with zero useful profiles fails with a diagnostic message.
• Instagram can change its public response fields or rate limits without notice.
• Profile image URLs may be temporary CDN URLs; download authorized images promptly if your workflow needs a durable copy.

Tips for reliable recurring runs

• Prefer current canonical profile URLs or exact usernames.
• Keep retries at 3 unless you are intentionally minimizing latency.
• Use maxProfiles to test a small prefix before running a large new list.
• Deduplicate your source list upstream when you also need to preserve source-row provenance.
• Join recurring snapshots on instagramUserId when available, because usernames can change.
• Read run warnings before assuming a partial dataset represents every requested profile.

Responsible and legal use

Use this Actor only for lawful purposes and public data you are permitted to process. Follow Instagram's terms, applicable privacy and data-protection laws, intellectual-property rules, and your organization's retention policy.

Do not use profile data for harassment, discrimination, deceptive outreach, unauthorized surveillance, or attempts to access private content. Minimize collected fields, retain data only as long as needed, and honor deletion or objection requests where applicable. You are responsible for your input list and downstream use.

FAQ

Does it require an Instagram login?

No. The selected route retrieves anonymous public profile metadata. The Actor does not accept or store Instagram credentials.

Can it scrape private profiles?

It can identify that an account is private when Instagram exposes the public profile shell, but it does not retrieve private posts, followers, Stories, or other restricted content.

Can I enter both usernames and URLs?

Yes. Mix usernames, @usernames, and canonical profile URLs in the same profileInputs list. Duplicate usernames are processed once.

Why is one requested profile missing?

The username may be removed, renamed, restricted, malformed, or affected by a profile-specific Instagram response error. Check warnings in the run log. Failed profiles do not emit profile item charges.

Why did the whole run fail?

The Actor fails when input validation fails or when every requested profile returns no usable public record. This prevents a misleading successful empty run.

Does it track follower changes automatically?

It returns the current count and observedAt. Schedule recurring runs and compare snapshots in your own workflow; this Actor does not calculate or alert on changes.

Related automation-lab Actors

• Instagram Profile Stats Scraper adds engagement-summary calculations for supplied profiles.
• Instagram Public Contact Scraper focuses on owner-published contact fields.
• Instagram Profile Posts Scraper collects public post records from supplied profiles.
• Instagram Post & Reel Details Scraper enriches supplied post and Reel URLs.

Choose this Actor when the unit you need is one lightweight, current public profile record.