# Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper (`automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Instagram posts and reels from any public profile: captions, likes, comment counts, hashtags, image and video URLs, carousels, tagged users, location, plus the profile's bio and followers. Date filters and a real-time API. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Automly](https://apify.com/automly) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 posts

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper

### What is Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper?

**Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper** is a tool that lets you **scrape posts and reels from any public Instagram profile**: caption, likes, comment count, hashtags, mentions, publish date, image and video links, carousel items, tagged users, collaborators and location, plus the profile's bio, followers and post count. Enter usernames, click **Start**, and download the posts as Excel, CSV or JSON.

- ⚡ **Speed:** about 2,900 posts per minute (1,200 posts from 3 profiles in 25 seconds in our test)
- 🎬 **Posts and reels:** get both, or only one of them
- 📅 **Date filters:** only posts from the dates you choose
- 🔓 **No login:** no Instagram account, cookies or API key needed

### What can Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper do?

- Scrape all posts from a public Instagram profile, newest first
- Scrape **Instagram reels** from a profile, or photos and carousels only
- Get **likes, comment counts, captions, hashtags and mentions** for every post
- Download links for **images, videos and every carousel item**
- Only get posts **published between two dates**
- See which posts are **pinned** and which are **collaborations** with other accounts
- Get each profile's **bio, followers, following and exact post count** in the same run
- Get results in seconds over the **real-time API**, without starting a run
- Export to Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML, or send them to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier and more

### What data can you extract from Instagram posts?

| | | |
|---|---|---|
| 📝 Caption | ❤️ Number of likes | 💬 Number of comments |
| #️⃣ Hashtags | @ Mentions | 📅 Publish date and time |
| 🖼️ Image link | 🎬 Video link | 🗂️ Carousel items |
| 🏷️ Tagged users | 🤝 Collaborators | 📍 Location |
| 📌 Pinned post | 💼 Paid partnership label | 👤 Owner username and name |
| 👥 Profile followers | ➕ Profile following | 🔢 Profile post count |

### How to scrape Instagram posts

1. [Create a free Apify account](https://console.apify.com/sign-up) (no credit card needed).
2. Open **Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper**.
3. Add one or more **Instagram usernames** or profile links.
4. Choose how many posts you want per profile, whether you want posts, reels or both, and an optional date range, then click **Start**.
5. When the run finishes, download your posts as Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML.

### ⬇️ Input

Profiles can be a username (`natgeo`), `@natgeo` or a profile link (`https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/`).

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Profiles | The Instagram profiles to scrape |
| Posts per profile | How many of each profile's latest posts to get (default 20). Set 0 to get the profile info only |
| Content | Posts and reels, posts only (photos, videos, carousels) or reels only |
| Posted after / Posted before | Only posts from this date range |
| Include profile info | Add one row per profile with its bio, followers, following and post count (on by default) |

Example: the latest 100 posts and reels from two profiles.

```json
{
  "profiles": ["natgeo", "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"],
  "resultsPerProfile": 100
}
```

Example: only the reels a profile posted in August 2026.

```json
{
  "profiles": ["natgeo"],
  "resultsPerProfile": 500,
  "contentType": "reels",
  "postedAfter": "2026-08-01",
  "postedBefore": "2026-09-01"
}
```

### ⬆️ Output

You get one row per post (`"type": "post"`) and one row per profile (`"type": "profile"`). You can view them as a table in Apify Console, with separate **Posts** and **Profiles** views, or download them as Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML.

```json
{
  "type": "post",
  "id": "3933942117089715692",
  "shortCode": "DaYK4M4FKXs",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DaYK4M4FKXs/",
  "mediaType": "Sidecar",
  "isReel": false,
  "caption": "Happy 250th Birthday to the United States of America, from all of us on the @iss and at...",
  "mentions": ["iss", "nasa"],
  "createdAt": "2026-07-04T16:27:46Z",
  "likes": 171475,
  "comments": 376,
  "ownerUsername": "astro_jessica",
  "ownerFullName": "Jessica Meir",
  "ownerVerified": true,
  "coauthors": ["nasaadmin", "nasa", "iss"],
  "taggedUsers": ["nasa", "iss", "nasaadmin"],
  "locationName": "International Space Station",
  "imageUrl": "https://scontent-ord5-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/732544653_...jpg",
  "carouselCount": 2,
  "isPinned": false,
  "source": "nasa",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-09-25T00:35:27Z"
}
```

A profile's list also includes **collaboration posts** that another account published with the profile as a collaborator, like the one above. `ownerUsername` tells you who published it.

Each run also saves a short report that lists how many profiles and rows it covered, and any profile it could not scrape with the reason (for example, a username that does not exist).

### How can I use Instagram posts data?

- **Competitor analysis:** see what your competitors post, how often, and which posts get the most likes and comments
- **Influencer research:** check a creator's real engagement before you work with them
- **Content planning:** find the formats, hashtags and topics that perform best in your niche
- **Brand monitoring:** track collaborations, tags and paid partnerships around your brand
- **Archiving and AI:** build datasets of captions, images and videos for analysis or model training

### Real-time Instagram posts API

Need posts right away inside your app? Call the actor's API and get the posts back in the response, without starting a run:

```
GET https://<your-actor-standby-url>/posts?username=natgeo&limit=50&contentType=reels
Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>
```

You can also run the actor from your own code with the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) or the Python and JavaScript clients:

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper").call(run_input={
    "profiles": ["natgeo"],
    "resultsPerProfile": 200,
})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    if row["type"] == "post":
        print(row["url"], row["likes"], row["comments"])
```

### ❓FAQ

#### How much does it cost to scrape Instagram posts?

You pay only for the results you get, per 1,000 results. See the **Pricing** tab for the current price. Every Apify account gets $5 of free usage each month, so you can try it at no cost.

#### How many posts can I scrape from one Instagram profile?

All of them. Profiles with thousands of posts work; in our tests we read about 2,000 posts from a single profile in one go. Set **Posts per profile** to the number you need.

#### Can I scrape only Instagram reels?

Yes. Set **Content** to **Reels only**. Set it to **Posts only** to skip reels.

#### Why is the view count of reels missing?

Instagram only shows reel play counts to logged-in users, so this scraper does not include them. Likes and comment counts are included for every post, unless the owner hides likes, in which case `likes` is empty and `likesHidden` is true.

#### Do I need an Instagram account?

No. You don't need an Instagram account, cookies or an API key.

#### Can I scrape private Instagram profiles?

No. For a private profile you get its profile row (name, bio, follower count) but no posts. Only public posts can be scraped.

#### How long do the image and video links work?

Instagram's media links expire after a few days. Download the files you need soon after the run.

#### Is it legal to scrape Instagram posts?

This scraper only collects posts that people chose to publish publicly. It does not collect private data such as email addresses or phone numbers. Posts can still contain personal data, which may be protected by laws such as GDPR, so only scrape it for a legitimate reason and ask a lawyer if you are unsure. You can read more in [Is web scraping legal?](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/)

Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.

#### Something isn't working. What should I do?

Open the **Issues** tab and tell us the profile and what you expected. We usually reply within a day.

### Scrape more Instagram data

| Actor | What you get |
|---|---|
| [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/automly/instagram-profile-data-scraper) | Bio, followers, following, post count and links for many profiles at once |
| [Instagram Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/automly/instagram-comments-scraper) | Every comment on a post or reel, newest first |
| [Instagram Post Scraper](https://apify.com/automly/instagram-post-details-scraper) | Full details of posts and reels from their links |

# Actor input Schema

## `profiles` (type: `array`):

Instagram usernames or profile URLs, e.g. natgeo, @natgeo or https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/.

## `resultsPerProfile` (type: `integer`):

How many of each profile's latest posts to scrape (after the filters below). Set 0 to get the profile info only.

## `contentType` (type: `string`):

Which kind of content to include.

## `postedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only posts published on or after this date, e.g. 2026-08-01 (UTC if no offset). Pinned posts outside the range are skipped.

## `postedBefore` (type: `string`):

Only posts published before this date, e.g. 2026-09-01 (UTC if no offset).

## `includeProfileInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Add one row per profile with its bio, followers, following, post count, links and verified badge.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. The default works for most runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "profiles": [
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "resultsPerProfile": 20,
  "contentType": "all",
  "includeProfileInfo": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `posts` (type: `string`):

No description

## `profiles` (type: `string`):

No description

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `report` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "profiles": [
        "natgeo"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "profiles": ["natgeo"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "profiles": [
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,automly/instagram-profile-posts-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/IwIhiPpVjfpZQ02Cy/builds/53jRdt3ODVBQHrlhd/openapi.json