Instagram Reels Search Scraper

Discover public Instagram Reels by keyword or hashtag using the authenticated Instagram web endpoints. The actor resolves a keyword to a small bounded set of matching hashtags, reads their Reels-capable media feeds, and returns only video or clips records.

$0.40 per 1,000 reels ($0.0004 each), plus $0.001 each time a run starts. Flat rate — no volume tiers, no plan gates — and you are charged only for reels actually returned. No Reels scraper on the market bills less per reel, and keyword-driven Reels discovery of the kind this Actor does normally costs several times more.

Authentication and account rotation

Real Reels discovery requires one or more authorized sessionid cookies from dedicated Instagram accounts. Provide them as a secret array through sessionCookies, or configure the private actor environment variable INSTAGRAM_SESSION_COOKIES.

The environment value accepts either a JSON array or newline-delimited cookie values. Input sessionCookies take precedence. Cookie values, proxy URLs, and request headers are never logged or written to output. Logs contain only account-slot numbers, retry reasons, and result totals.

Use only accounts you own and are authorized to automate. Manage and revoke their sessions through your secure account process. Do not put cookie values in source files, README text, task descriptions, or support messages.

Input

• searchQueries: up to five keywords, each resolved to up to hashtagsPerQuery authenticated Instagram hashtags.
• hashtags: up to five direct hashtags. These skip keyword discovery.
• maxReels: hard run-wide limit of 1-100 genuine Reels; default 30.
• hashtagsPerQuery: 1-5 hashtag candidates per keyword; default 3.
• sessionCookies: secret array of dedicated-account session cookies.
• proxyConfiguration: optional proxy configuration. Rotating Apify datacenter addresses are used by default; your own proxyUrls are honoured exactly as supplied. Metered groups (RESIDENTIAL, GOOGLE_SERP) are not offered and are replaced with datacenter addresses.
• maxAttempts: 1-12 bounded account/IP attempts; default 8.
• requestTimeoutSeconds: 5-30 seconds per authenticated request.
• maxRunSeconds: 20-180 second hard run deadline.

Empty input, invalid input, or an unavailable credential emits exactly one clearly labeled _sample record. It makes no Instagram request, proxy connection, or billing event. The sample is solely an output-shape preview.

Transport and charging

One dedicated account is paired with one sticky datacenter proxy session. On 401, 403, 429, server, or network failures, the actor rotates together to the next configured account and a fresh sticky proxy session, within the configured bound. It uses direct Instagram web endpoints only after authentication; a direct unauthenticated path is not attempted.

Each genuine Reel is written to the dataset before it is billed. Samples, empty responses, blocks, and diagnostics are never charged. Video files are never downloaded, so you are not paying for video bandwidth.

Output

Each genuine Reel includes its ID, shortcode and URL, caption, parsed hashtags and mentions, play/like/comment counts, duration, thumbnail and video URLs, creator information, available audio metadata, timestamp, and the source keyword and hashtag that found it.

Pricing

Event	When	Price
Actor start	Once per run, per GB of run memory	$0.001
Reel returned	Each genuine Reel row written to the dataset	$0.0004 ($0.40 / 1,000)

Because maxReels is capped at 100 per run, a full run costs at most $0.041. A run with no working credential returns one _sample row, makes no Instagram request and no proxy connection, and is charged only the start fee.

Limits, stated plainly

• You bring the credential. Instagram's Reels search is login-gated; without a sessionid from an account you own and are authorized to automate, the actor returns the labelled sample and stops.
• 100 reels per run, 5 keywords, 5 hashtags per run. These are hard input caps, not throttles that lift at higher volume.
• Unmetered proxy egress. One account is pinned to one sticky datacenter session, rotating together on 401, 403, 429, server or network failures, up to maxAttempts. Metered residential egress is never used.
• Hard run deadline. maxRunSeconds (20–180) ends the run cleanly rather than letting a blocked search burn time.