# Instagram Comments Scraper - Posts & Reels (`benthepythondev/instagram-comments-scraper`) Actor

Scrape the comments under Instagram posts and reels without login: comment text, author, time and likes. Paste post links and export every comment Instagram shows to visitors.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-comments-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ben](https://apify.com/benthepythondev) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.85 / 1,000 comments

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Comments Scraper - Posts & Reels

Collect the comments under Instagram posts and reels: comment text, author, time, likes and whether the author is verified. Paste post links and get every comment Instagram shows to visitors. No login, no cookies, no API key. Export to JSON/CSV/Excel, run on a schedule, call via API, or connect to Make, Zapier or n8n.

### 🔎 What is the Instagram Comments Scraper?

It is an Apify Actor that asks Instagram for the comments the same way its own website does for a visitor who is not logged in, and keeps asking for the next page until the list ends.

Instagram sometimes ends a comment list early and continues it on the next try. The Actor therefore asks again before it accepts that a list is finished. Three runs on the same reel returned 593, 593 and 590 comments.

Visitors see top-level comments. Replies to comments are included in Instagram's comment count but are not listed, so a post with 1,108 comments returned 589 rows in our test. When the difference is large, the status message tells you both numbers.

#### What data does it extract?

- **Comment:** `id`, `text`, `posted_at`, `likes`
- **Author:** `username`, `user_id`, `is_verified`, `profile_pic_url`
- **Post:** `post_url`, `post_code`

### ⬇️ Input

| Field | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| `postUrls` | array | Links to posts or reels. A bare shortcode works too |
| `maxResults` | integer | Comments per link. 50 by default, up to 100,000 |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dd9Etk7R91I/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd4oFPuF27g/"
  ],
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

### ⬆️ Output

A real row (picture link shortened):

```json
{
  "record_type": "comment",
  "id": "18093284816661074",
  "post_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd9Etk7R91I/",
  "post_code": "Dd9Etk7R91I",
  "text": "The writers cooked with that script!",
  "posted_at": "2026-10-01T15:42:30+00:00",
  "likes": 33,
  "username": "yin.steez",
  "user_id": "186058129",
  "is_verified": false,
  "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-iad6-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/818491646_1862...",
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-02T21:50:19.672505+00:00"
}
```

### 💰 How much does it cost?

You pay per saved comment, plus a tiny start fee per run.

| Apify plan | Price per 1,000 comments |
|---|---|
| Free | $1.00 |
| Starter | $0.95 |
| Scale | $0.90 |
| Business and above | $0.85 |

The default run (50 comments) costs 5 cents. Set **Maximum cost per run** in the run options and the Actor stops saving at that amount.

### 💡 Use cases

- 🗣️ **Sentiment analysis:** read what people say under a launch, a campaign or a competitor's post.
- 🎁 **Giveaways and contests:** export the participants with their comment text and time.
- 🔎 **Customer research:** find the questions and complaints that repeat under posts in your niche.
- 🛡️ **Moderation:** review the conversation under your own posts in one table.

### ❓ FAQ

**Do I need an Instagram account or cookies?** No. The Actor never logs in.

**Why do I get fewer rows than the comment count on the post?** The count includes replies to comments. Visitors are shown top-level comments only, and those are what the Actor returns.

**How fast is it?** About ten comments per second: 698 comments from two posts in 66 seconds in our test.

**In which order do comments come?** In the order Instagram shows them to visitors. Sort by `posted_at` or `likes` after the export if you need another order.

**Does `maxResults` count per link or per run?** Per link. Two links with `maxResults: 500` can save up to 1,000 rows.

**What happens with deleted or private posts?** They are skipped and listed in the status message and the `SUMMARY` record. The run still succeeds with the other links.

**Where do I get the post links?** From the [Instagram Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-posts-scraper) or the [Instagram Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-reels-scraper): the `url` field of each row.

**Is it legal to scrape Instagram comments?** The Actor reads only what Instagram shows publicly to any visitor and does not log in. Comments are personal data, so GDPR, CCPA and similar rules apply to how you store and use them, and Meta's terms apply to you as well. If in doubt, ask a lawyer.

**Something is missing or broken?** Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab with the run ID. Issues are answered within one business day.

### 🔗 You might also like

- [Instagram Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-posts-scraper)
- [Instagram Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-reels-scraper)
- [Instagram Post Scraper by URL](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/instagram-post-details-scraper)
- [Threads Replies Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/threads-replies-scraper)
- [Reddit Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/reddit-comments-scraper)

**Keywords:** instagram comments scraper, instagram comment scraper, scrape instagram comments, instagram comments export, instagram comments to csv, instagram reel comments, instagram giveaway picker data, instagram sentiment analysis, instagram comments api, instagram without login, instagram comment downloader, instagram audience research, social listening, instagram comments dataset, instagram api alternative

# Actor input Schema

## `postUrls` (type: `array`):

Links such as https://www.instagram.com/p/DeAZ0uAgNuA/ or https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdG4RIxIPyf/. A bare shortcode works too.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Comments to save for each link.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdG4RIxIPyf/"
  ],
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "postUrls": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdG4RIxIPyf/"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("benthepythondev/instagram-comments-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 = { "postUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdG4RIxIPyf/"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("benthepythondev/instagram-comments-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 '{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdG4RIxIPyf/"
  ]
}' |
apify call benthepythondev/instagram-comments-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,benthepythondev/instagram-comments-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/RLUt7M6bkF7GYXS1P/builds/ux5EFvP4T2qsnPkf0/openapi.json