Instagram Username Checker — Available or Taken

What does Instagram Username Checker do?

Instagram Username Checker tells you whether an Instagram handle is available or already taken. Paste a list of usernames (or profile URLs), run the Actor, and download clean JSON / CSV / Excel from the dataset.

Built for bulk brand / handle research (up to 100,000 usernames per run). Large lists are auto-split into ~3,000-item child runs on Apify, with auto-heal under blocks. Default path uses RESIDENTIAL proxy (Meta blocks datacenter IPs).

This Actor is not affiliated with Meta or Instagram. Availability is inferred from public profile pages and can change if Instagram alters their HTML.

Key features

• Bulk checks - up to 100,000 usernames per run (invalid / duplicate inputs filtered before work starts)
• Auto-sharding - runs above ~3,000 usernames split into child runs; one parent dataset
• Auto-heal - on login walls / proxy failures: backoff, lower concurrency, rotate sticky session once per wave
• Available vs taken - boolean available plus public display name when taken
• URL-aware input - @user, user, or https://instagram.com/user
• No browser - HTTP + early-abort HTML (low compute, 256 MB)
• Success-only billing - only conclusive checks (available true/false) charge PPE result
• Export anywhere - JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML from the Apify dataset

Why Clovys

Clovys is a nonprofit organization driven by a single mission: to make the internet safer, faster, more reliable, and universally accessible.

We believe that data should not be locked behind exorbitant paywalls or complex technical barriers. By building lightweight, highly optimized Apify Actors, we help developers, researchers, and organizations access the information they need to innovate without friction.

As a nonprofit initiative, we do not optimize for margins. Our pricing is kept as low as possible and is strictly calculated to cover the raw infrastructure costs of data extraction - such as Apify compute units and proxy bandwidth.

For Instagram specifically, Clovys ships a residential-ready checker with sticky sessions, early-abort streaming, and auto-heal so bulk runs stay usable when Meta rate-limits or rotates walls.

Use cases

• Brand protection - see if your brand handle is free on Instagram
• Launch naming - screen shortlists of product / campaign usernames
• Agency workflows - bulk-check client name ideas before pitching
• Multi-platform suites - pair with other Clovys username checkers (TikTok, Facebook, ...)

How to use

1. Open Instagram Username Checker in Apify Console
2. Paste usernames in Usernames (prefill is a single handle for cheap Store health checks)
3. Keep defaults (256 MB, concurrency 2, RESIDENTIAL proxy)
4. Click Start
5. Download results from the Dataset tab (JSON, CSV, Excel, ...)

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
usernames	string[]	-	Usernames or profile URLs (required, up to 100,000)
maxConcurrency	integer	2	Parallel checks (1-10). Keep low with residential proxy
maxRetries	integer	1	Retries on network / login-wall / ambiguous responses
requestDelayMs	integer	200	Pause after each check (0 = off)
proxyConfiguration	object	RESIDENTIAL	Required on Apify - datacenter IPs get a login wall

Output example

You can download the dataset in JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

{
 "platform": "instagram",
 "username": "cristiano",
 "available": false,
 "displayName": "Cristiano Ronaldo",
 "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/cristiano/",
 "title": "Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) - Instagram photos and videos",
 "method": "public_profile_crawler_ua",
 "checkedAt": "2026-09-26T01:00:00.000Z",
 "error": null
}

Taken and available rows are successful results. Ambiguous / failed rows keep available: null and error set - they are not billed.

Data fields

Field	Description
platform	Always instagram
username	Normalized handle
available	true = free, false = taken, null = inconclusive
displayName	Public name when taken
profileUrl	Canonical profile URL
title	Page <title> when captured
method	Check method used
checkedAt	ISO timestamp
error	Error message if the check failed

Pricing

Pay-per-event pricing (platform usage is billed separately by Apify):

Event	When charged	Price
result	Each conclusive check (available true or false)	$0.004 ($4 / 1,000)
Actor Start	Once when the run starts (scaled by memory GB)	$0.001

Example: 1,000 conclusive checks ~ $4.00 in PPE result (+ Actor Start + Apify platform / proxy usage).

Only conclusive results are charged as result. Failed / ambiguous rows are free on the PPE event.

Recommended settings

Goal	Settings
Production / Store	256 MB, concurrency 2, RESIDENTIAL proxy, delay 200 ms
Gentler on blocks	concurrency 1, delay 300-500 ms, maxRetries: 2
Huge lists	up to 100,000 usernames - auto-shard handles the rest

FAQ

How many usernames per run? Up to 100,000. Lists above ~3,000 are auto-split into child runs; invalid / duplicate inputs are dropped before sharding.

Is "taken" billed? Yes. Both available: false (taken) and available: true (free) are conclusive result events. Only error / inconclusive rows are free.

Do I need expensive proxies? Yes on Apify - use RESIDENTIAL (default). Datacenter IPs get an Instagram login wall and cannot determine availability.

What if a check fails? It is stored with error and available: null. Other usernames continue. Failed items are not billed as result. Auto-heal may slow down and rotate the sticky proxy session.

Is this official Instagram data? No. This Actor is independent and unaffiliated. Meta can change page behavior at any time.

Support

Questions, bugs, or feature requests: use the Actor Issues tab on Apify, or contact Clovys through the Store profile.