Instagram Search Scraper

Search Instagram by keyword and discover matching profiles, hashtags, places and popular Reels. Export ranked search results with profile metrics, hashtag popularity, location details, engagement data and the source query as clean JSON, CSV or Excel.

What this actor does

Instagram Search Scraper takes one or more keywords (fitness coach, canberra cafe, nike, ai tools, travel) and returns one row per search result:

• 🔎 Four search types: PROFILES, HASHTAGS, PLACES and POPULAR_REELS, one or several per run
• 🧭 Query lineage on every row: the query, its queryIndex, the searchType and the result's rank
• 🏅 Instagram's own rank, preserved: rows are never re-ranked, and filtered-out results leave their rank gap in place
• 👤 Profiles: username, name, URL, picture, verified and private flags. Follower counts, bio and business contact come with full details on (see What each result contains)
• #️⃣ Hashtags: name, URL, post count and related hashtags from the same search
• 📍 Places: name, URL, address and coordinates. Place detail lookups (postcode, phone, website, opening hours) are temporarily unavailable
• 🎬 Popular Reels: URL, caption, creator, likes, comments, plays, duration, video, thumbnail and audio, hashtags, mentions, tagged users, collaborators and location
• 🎯 Profile filters: minimum/maximum followers and verified-only. Filtered-out profiles are never charged
• 🚫 No login, no cookies: you never provide an Instagram account, session ID or Meta token

It is a discovery actor: keyword in, ranked entities out. For the full data behind a result, pass it to a dedicated extractor (see Next steps).

What each result contains

Instagram's search returns identity fields for profiles and places. The rest needs one lookup per result, which you turn on with Full profile & place details (fetchFullDetails). Place lookups are temporarily unavailable (see Limitations); profile lookups work. It's off by default, so plain searches stay fast and cheap. Hashtags and Reels arrive complete from search and never need it.

Result type	Always returned (from search)	Only with full details on	Never available from search
Profile	id, username, fullName, profileUrl, profilePicUrl, isVerified, isPrivate	followersCount, followingCount, postsCount, bio, isBusinessAccount, businessCategory, externalUrl, businessEmail, businessPhone, city, address, latitude, longitude; recentPosts with Include recent posts (when available)	—
Place	id, name, url, address, latitude, longitude	Temporarily unavailable: city, postcode, category, phone, website, priceRange, openingHours, isOpen stay null until the upstream lookup is restored	subtitle, slug
Hashtag	id, name, url, postsCount, related hashtags	—	postsPerDay, difficulty
Reel	url, shortCode, caption, timestamp, creator, likesCount, commentsCount, sharesCount, videoPlayCount, durationSeconds, thumbnail, video and audio URLs, music, hashtags, mentions, taggedUsers, coauthors, location (when tagged)	—	videoViewCount (Reel search reports plays, not views)

Fields that aren't available for a row are null, never guessed. Every row keeps the same keys, so CSV and Excel columns stay stable. In the Console output, the Profiles tab shows the search fields and the Profile details tab shows the looked-up ones.

How it works

1. Plan. Queries are cleaned (whitespace, Unicode, case-insensitive duplicates) and every query is paired with every selected search type. Each query × type pair is one search operation.
2. Search. Each operation reads Instagram's search results in order, page by page where the search type supports pages, until it reaches your limit or the end of the results. Pages of one operation are fetched one after another; operations run in parallel.
3. Filter and deduplicate. Within an operation the same entity is returned once. Profile filters are applied before a row is saved. The same entity can appear under different queries or search types, because that's a separate search.
4. Optional details. With full details on, each profile or place result is looked up for its complete public profile or place page. A profile found by several queries is looked up once.
5. Export. One row per result. A search that returns nothing or fails gets one free status row, so every query × type can be matched to an output.

FAQ

What can I search? Any keyword or phrase: brands, niches, places, topics, product names. Searches run against Instagram's public search for profiles, hashtags, places and Reels.

Which search types are supported? PROFILES (creators, brands, businesses), HASHTAGS, PLACES (locations and venues) and POPULAR_REELS.

Do I need an Instagram login or cookies? No. You don't provide any login, password, cookies, session IDs or Meta token. The actor only reads public search results.

Can I search several keywords at once? Yes. Up to 100 queries per run. Duplicates are removed case-insensitively (Nike and nike are one search).

Can I select several search types? Yes. Each query is searched once per selected type, and every row says which searchType it came from.

What does the result limit apply to? maxResultsPerQuery is the maximum number of results per query and per search type. Two queries × three types × 100 = up to 600 rows. Instagram's search can return fewer than you ask for: places typically stop at a few dozen per query, and profile and hashtag searches thin out after the first few hundred.

Are result ranks preserved? Yes. rank starts at 1 and is the result's position in Instagram's own result list for that query and type. The actor never re-sorts results. If a filter removes rank 2, the next row is still rank 3.

What profile data is returned? By default: id, username, fullName, profileUrl, profilePicUrl, isVerified and isPrivate. That's everything Instagram's search returns for a profile. With Full profile & place details on, you also get exact followersCount, followingCount, postsCount, bio, isBusinessAccount, businessCategory, externalUrl and the public business email, phone, city and address. With Include recent posts on, up to 3 recent posts are added when the lookup returns them. Not every lookup does; an empty recentPosts list means none came back.

What hashtag data is returned? name, url, id and postsCount, plus related hashtags: the other hashtags Instagram returned for the same keyword, grouped as relatedFrequent (1M+ posts), relatedAverage (50K–1M) and relatedRare (under 50K). postsPerDay and difficulty are always null, because Instagram's search doesn't expose them. For hashtag scoring, see Instagram Hashtag Opportunity Analyzer.

What place data is returned? id, name, url, address, latitude and longitude from search. The detail lookup that adds city, postcode, category, phone, website, priceRange, openingHours and isOpen is temporarily unavailable: those fields stay null, and you are not charged for place details while it is down. Turning Include place details off returns only ID, name and URL.

What popular Reel data is returned? url, shortCode, caption, timestamp, creator, likesCount (null with likesHidden: true when the creator hides likes — never a fake zero), commentsCount, sharesCount, videoPlayCount (plays), durationSeconds, hashtags, mentions, taggedUsers, coauthors, music, location and the thumbnail, video and audio URLs. videoViewCount is usually null, because Reel search reports plays rather than views. location is set only when the creator tagged one.

Can I filter profiles by followers? Yes. Set minFollowers and/or maxFollowers, and verifiedOnly if needed. Instagram's profile search carries no follower counts, so while a follower filter is set each profile is looked up to check it. A kept profile is charged the details event and returns its full details (see Pricing). A profile the filter drops is not charged. A profile whose count can't be determined is left out while a follower filter is set.

Why can results differ from what I see in the Instagram app? Instagram personalizes search for logged-in users and varies results by time, region and language. This actor searches anonymously, so results show what Instagram returns to a logged-out visitor at the time of the run. Treat rank as a snapshot, not a permanent position.

Does it return private profiles? A private account can appear in profile search results with isPrivate: true and its public header fields. The actor never accesses private content.

Are media URLs permanent? No. Instagram CDN links are signed and expire. Download thumbnails, videos or audio soon after the run, or set includePopularReelMedia: false if you don't need them.

How is pricing calculated? Per delivered result, plus an optional details charge. See Pricing.

Can I use the API, MCP or schedules? Yes. Call the actor with the Apify API or any Apify client library, give AI agents access through Apify's MCP server, or schedule it in Apify Console to track the same searches over time. The API tab has ready-made snippets.

Next steps: full details for a result

Search finds entities. Dedicated Coregent actors extract them in depth:

Search result	Feed …Url into	For
profile.profileUrl	Instagram Profile Scraper	Full profile metadata and business contact
profile.profileUrl	Instagram Posts Scraper	The profile's posts and Reels
hashtag.name	Instagram Hashtag Scraper	Posts under the hashtag
reel.url	Instagram Reels Scraper	Full Reel details
reel.url	Instagram Comments Scraper	The Reel's comments

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
queries	string[]	["nike"]	Keywords to search, up to 100 per run
searchTypes	string[]	["PROFILES"]	Any of PROFILES, HASHTAGS, PLACES, POPULAR_REELS
maxResultsPerQuery	int	50	Max results per query and search type (1–250)
minFollowers	int	0	Profiles: minimum followers (0 = no minimum)
maxFollowers	int	—	Profiles: maximum followers (empty = no maximum)
verifiedOnly	bool	false	Profiles: verified accounts only
includeProfileBusinessDetails	bool	true	Business fields on looked-up profiles (full details, recent posts or a follower filter)
fetchFullDetails	bool	false	Look up each profile and place for the fields search doesn't return (see What each result contains). Charged per result, see Pricing
includeRecentPosts	bool	false	Up to 3 recent posts per profile when available (needs a profile lookup)
includeRelatedHashtags	bool	true	Related hashtags from the same search
includePlaceDetails	bool	true	Category, address and coordinates for places (plus phone, website, hours with full details)
includePopularReelMedia	bool	true	Thumbnail, video and audio URLs on Reel results
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify Proxy on	Proxy settings, see Proxy policy
maxConcurrency	int	5	Search operations run in parallel
maxRetries	int	3	Retries per search on rate limits, blocks or temporary errors
debugMode	bool	false	Verbose logging

Invalid input is reported, not guessed at: empty or punctuation-only queries become free INVALID_QUERY rows, and unknown search types become free UNSUPPORTED_SEARCH_TYPE rows. A result limit outside 1–250, a negative follower filter or minFollowers above maxFollowers stops the run at startup with a clear message. A # is never required for hashtag search: #travel and travel are the same search.

Example 1: Profile search

{
  "queries": ["fitness coach"],
  "searchTypes": ["PROFILES"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50
}

Example 2: Hashtag discovery

{
  "queries": ["travel"],
  "searchTypes": ["HASHTAGS"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
  "includeRelatedHashtags": true
}

Example 3: Place search

{
  "queries": ["canberra cafe"],
  "searchTypes": ["PLACES"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 25,
  "includePlaceDetails": true
}

Returns each place's name, URL, address and coordinates. Place detail lookups are temporarily unavailable, so fetchFullDetails adds nothing for places right now.

Example 4: Popular Reels

{
  "queries": ["AI tools"],
  "searchTypes": ["POPULAR_REELS"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "includePopularReelMedia": true
}

Example 5: Several keywords and types

{
  "queries": ["fitness", "travel"],
  "searchTypes": ["PROFILES", "HASHTAGS", "POPULAR_REELS"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100
}

Maximum potential rows: 2 queries × 3 types × 100 = 600.

Example 6: Qualified creators only

{
  "queries": ["fitness coach"],
  "searchTypes": ["PROFILES"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 250,
  "minFollowers": 10000,
  "maxFollowers": 250000,
  "verifiedOnly": false
}

Example 7: Everything for one keyword (used for the screenshot and samples below)

{
  "queries": ["canberra cafe"],
  "searchTypes": ["PROFILES", "HASHTAGS", "PLACES", "POPULAR_REELS"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
  "fetchFullDetails": true,
  "includeRecentPosts": true
}

Up to 4 types × 10 = 40 rows, plus a details charge for each of the 10 profiles.

Output

One row per search result. Every row, result or status, has the same keys, so CSV and Excel exports keep stable columns. Exactly one of profile, hashtag, place or reel is filled; the others are null.

The dataset has seven tabs: All results, Profiles, Profile details, Hashtags, Places, Popular Reels and Status & errors.

Field	Description
rowType	search_result, or error for a status row
status	SUCCESS on results; the outcome code on status rows
errorMessage	Why a status row was written
entityType	PROFILE, HASHTAG, PLACE or REEL
query / queryIndex	The query as searched, and its position in your (deduplicated) query list
searchType	The search type this row came from
rank	Instagram's rank for this result, starting at 1
profile / hashtag / place / reel	The result's data (see the FAQ above for each type's fields)
input	The query as you entered it
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp

The records below come from a real run with Example 7 (40 rows: 10 per search type). Long Instagram CDN URLs are shortened with ….

Full record: a profile with full details

{
  "rowType": "search_result",
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "errorMessage": null,
  "entityType": "PROFILE",
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "queryIndex": 0,
  "searchType": "PROFILES",
  "rank": 3,
  "profile": {
    "id": "250848950",
    "username": "ricardoscafe",
    "fullName": "CANBERRA CAFE & CAKES",
    "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/ricardoscafe/",
    "bio": "RICARDO’S CAFE \n☕️ All Day Menu + Vegan Menu\n🍰 Specialty Cakes \nMon - Fri 7.30am - 4pm | Sat & Sun 7.30am-4pm",
    "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/120372963_82….jpg?…",
    "followersCount": 6217,
    "followingCount": 515,
    "postsCount": 1756,
    "isVerified": false,
    "isPrivate": false,
    "isBusinessAccount": true,
    "businessCategory": "Dessert Shop",
    "externalUrl": "http://ricardoscafe.com.au/",
    "businessEmail": null,
    "businessPhone": "+61 262533296",
    "city": "Canberra, Australian Capital Territory",
    "address": "Ricardo's cafe & patisserie shop 1 Jamison plaza Macquarie ACT",
    "latitude": -35.25217,
    "longitude": 149.07105,
    "recentPosts": []
  },
  "hashtag": null,
  "place": null,
  "reel": null,
  "input": "canberra cafe",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-13T11:21:38.188Z"
}

All results tab: one row per result, any type

{
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "searchType": "POPULAR_REELS",
  "rank": 1,
  "entityType": "REEL",
  "profile": null,
  "hashtag": null,
  "place": null,
  "reel": {
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZjwwCFPVXx/",
    "videoPlayCount": 144273
  },
  "status": "SUCCESS"
}

Profiles tab: the search fields

{
  "profile": {
    "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/120372963_82….jpg?…",
    "username": "ricardoscafe",
    "fullName": "CANBERRA CAFE & CAKES",
    "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/ricardoscafe/",
    "isVerified": false,
    "isPrivate": false
  },
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "rank": 3
}

Profile details tab: the same profile, looked up

{
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "rank": 3,
  "profile": {
    "username": "ricardoscafe",
    "followersCount": 6217,
    "followingCount": 515,
    "postsCount": 1756,
    "bio": "RICARDO’S CAFE \n☕️ All Day Menu + Vegan Menu\n🍰 Specialty Cakes \nMon - Fri 7.30am - 4pm | Sat & Sun 7.30am-4pm",
    "isBusinessAccount": true,
    "businessCategory": "Dessert Shop",
    "externalUrl": "http://ricardoscafe.com.au/",
    "businessEmail": null,
    "businessPhone": "+61 262533296",
    "city": "Canberra, Australian Capital Territory",
    "address": "Ricardo's cafe & patisserie shop 1 Jamison plaza Macquarie ACT"
  }
}

Hashtags tab: a hashtag with its related hashtags (3 of 10 shown)

{
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "rank": 1,
  "hashtag": {
    "name": "canberracafe",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/canberracafe/",
    "postsCount": 42156,
    "relatedFrequent": [],
    "relatedAverage": [],
    "relatedRare": [
      {
        "name": "canberracafé",
        "postsCount": 342,
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/canberracaf%C3%A9/"
      },
      {
        "name": "canberracafes",
        "postsCount": 6011,
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/canberracafes/"
      },
      {
        "name": "canberracafef",
        "postsCount": 73,
        "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/canberracafef/"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Places tab: a place

Search fields only: the detail fields stay null while place lookups are temporarily unavailable.

{
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "rank": 2,
  "place": {
    "name": "Canberra cafe Belconnen/ Tuggeranong",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/106319762396041/",
    "address": "12/150-180 Soward way,greenway",
    "latitude": -35.41858,
    "longitude": 149.06768,
    "city": null,
    "postcode": null,
    "category": null,
    "phone": null,
    "website": null,
    "openingHours": null
  }
}

Popular Reels tab: the Reel (caption shortened)

{
  "reel": {
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-arn2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/724091897_18….jpg?…",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZjwwCFPVXx/",
    "creator": {
      "username": "visitcanberra"
    },
    "timestamp": "2026-06-14T08:00:38.000Z",
    "caption": "Looking for Canberra’s cosiest cafés? 🥶❄️ When the temperature drops, these are the spots worth rugging up for. Think hot coffee, cosy corners and winter mornings done right. …",
    "likesCount": 3109,
    "commentsCount": 34,
    "sharesCount": 3114,
    "videoPlayCount": 144273,
    "durationSeconds": 27.53700065612793,
    "music": {
      "title": "Le Temps De L'amour"
    }
  },
  "query": "canberra cafe",
  "rank": 1
}

Full Reel record: media, people, music and location

{
  "id": "3919190507745269233",
  "shortCode": "DZjwwCFPVXx",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZjwwCFPVXx/",
  "caption": "Looking for Canberra’s cosiest cafés? 🥶❄️ When the temperature drops, these are the spots worth rugging up for. Think hot coffee, cosy corners and winter mornings done right. …",
  "timestamp": "2026-06-14T08:00:38.000Z",
  "creator": {
    "id": "201714663",
    "username": "visitcanberra",
    "fullName": "VisitCanberra"
  },
  "likesCount": 3109,
  "likesHidden": false,
  "commentsCount": 34,
  "sharesCount": 3114,
  "videoViewCount": null,
  "videoPlayCount": 144273,
  "hashtags": [
    "VisitCanberra",
    "WeAreCBR",
    "SeeAustralia",
    "CanberraEats",
    "CanberraFood"
  ],
  "mentions": [
    "recesscoffeegoodtimes",
    "mocanandgg",
    "thecuppingroom",
    "onacoffee",
    "ganggangcafe",
    "wearecbr",
    "australia"
  ],
  "taggedUsers": [],
  "coauthors": [
    {
      "id": "4523369523",
      "username": "ganggangcafe",
      "fullName": "Gang Gang Cafe & Bar",
      "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/ganggangcafe/"
    },
    {
      "id": "965208700",
      "username": "thecuppingroom",
      "fullName": "The Cupping Room",
      "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/thecuppingroom/"
    },
    {
      "id": "63333249723",
      "username": "recesscoffeegoodtimes",
      "fullName": "Recess Coffee",
      "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/recesscoffeegoodtimes/"
    }
  ],
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-arn2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/724091897_18….jpg?…",
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-arn2-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQOrQb-Dn9zu….mp4?…",
  "audioUrl": "https://scontent-arn2-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m69/AQP3aelDFD_V….mp4?…",
  "durationSeconds": 27.53700065612793,
  "music": {
    "artist": "Rez-De-Chaussée",
    "title": "Le Temps De L'amour"
  },
  "location": {
    "id": "213972405",
    "name": "Canberra, Australian Capital Territory",
    "slug": null
  }
}

Status & errors tab: a search with no results

From a separate run for skincare: Instagram returned no places for it, so the search wrote one free status row.

{
  "rowType": "error",
  "status": "NO_RESULTS",
  "errorMessage": "Instagram returned no results for this search",
  "query": "skincare",
  "queryIndex": 0,
  "searchType": "PLACES",
  "input": "skincare",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-13T08:32:15.227Z"
}

Status rows

Status	Meaning	Charged?
NO_RESULTS	Instagram returned nothing for this query and type, or the filters removed every result	No
INVALID_QUERY	Empty, blank, punctuation-only or over-long query	No
UNSUPPORTED_SEARCH_TYPE	A search type this actor doesn't support	No
RATE_LIMITED / BLOCKED / TEMPORARY_INSTAGRAM_ERROR / PROVIDER_ERROR	The search couldn't be completed after retries	No
PARTIAL_RESULT	Some results were returned before the search stopped early	Results returned are charged; the status row is free

Searches that fail with a retryable status are saved to the key-value store record RETRY_INPUT, ready to run again. A run summary with counts per search type is saved to RUN_SUMMARY.

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay only for what you get:

• Search result: charged once per delivered unique result (a profile, hashtag, place or Reel).
• Result details: charged on top for a profile or place result that the actor looked up for full details. This happens only when you turn on Full profile & place details or Include recent posts, or when a follower filter needs an exact count that the search result didn't include.

Never charged: searches and pagination, retries, duplicates, filtered-out profiles, no-result and error status rows, and the run summary. A run with no results costs nothing in result events.

Live rates are on the actor's Pricing tab in Apify Console, and they can differ by Apify plan. This README deliberately doesn't quote figures, so it can't drift out of date. Your run stops gracefully when it reaches the spending limit you set for it.

Limitations

• Snapshot, not personalized search. Results reflect anonymous search at run time and can differ from what a logged-in user sees.
• Depth depends on Instagram. maxResultsPerQuery is a maximum, not a guarantee. Place search in particular returns a short list per query.
• Search fields are identity-only for profiles. Instagram's search returns no follower counts, bio or business contact for profiles, and no city, category, phone, website or hours for places. These need full details on. Reel search reports plays but not views.
• Place details are temporarily unavailable. The lookup behind a place's postcode, phone, website, category and opening hours is currently failing upstream. Place rows still return name, URL, address and coordinates from search and are charged as search results only; no details charge applies. The actor stops trying after two failed place lookups in a run, so runs aren't slowed down, and resumes automatically once the lookup works again.
• No audio search and no generic post search. Instagram has no stable public surface for these.
• Media URLs expire. Instagram signs its CDN links.
• Lookups that return nothing billable are capped per run. Checking profiles that your follower filters then drop, and searches that find nothing, use upstream requests you aren't charged for. A run may make up to 300 of those, plus one for every request that did produce a charged result. Past that, profiles that still need a follower check are left out (logged, and counted in RUN_SUMMARY.detailLookups.budgetStops) and searches not yet started end with a free status row. Normal runs never get near it; a very narrow follower range over many queries can.

🚦 Proxy policy

Use Apify Datacenter proxy or no proxy for normal runs. Searches are served through a managed source, so this actor sends very little traffic through the proxy.

Apify Residential proxy is not supported. The actor will fail at startup if apifyProxyGroups includes RESIDENTIAL. Reason: in pay-per-event actors, residential bandwidth is billed to the developer, not the run user, so a single bandwidth-heavy run could exceed the per-result event revenue.

If you genuinely need residential routing, supply your own residential provider via the proxy editor's Custom proxy URLs field. That traffic goes through your provider, not Apify, and is unaffected:

http://user:pass@proxy.iproyal.com:12321
http://user:pass@proxy.brightdata.com:22225
http://user:pass@proxy.oxylabs.io:7777

Compliance and privacy

• This is an unofficial tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.
• It processes public search results only and never accesses private content, collects credentials or harvests cookies.
• Public profile and business data can still be personal data. You are responsible for processing it lawfully (for example under the GDPR or the Australian Privacy Act) and in line with Instagram's terms.
• Search rank is a snapshot of anonymous search at run time.

Support

Found a bug or need a field? Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab in Apify Console.