# Instagram Followers & Following Search (`data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search`) Actor

Find public Instagram accounts matching a keyword inside a profile's followers or following list. Search up to 25 target accounts, choose one relationship or both, and export deduplicated matches to JSON, CSV, or Excel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Data Slayer](https://apify.com/data-slayer) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Marketing, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 matched accounts

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

## Find keyword matches inside Instagram audiences

Search the followers or followed accounts of public Instagram profiles for a keyword, then export clean matching account records for audience research, creator discovery, partnership research, and lead-list preparation.

### Watch the demo

YouTube video coming soon.

### What this Actor does

Give the Actor up to 25 Instagram usernames, numeric IDs, or profile URLs and one keyword or phrase. Choose **Followers**, **Following**, or **Both**. The Actor runs one bounded search for each account and selected audience list, removes duplicate records within each query, and saves the matches to the default dataset.

The search returns the currently available matching slice. It has no pagination and should not be treated as a complete download of a profile's audience or a biography search. Private or unavailable profiles can return no matches.

### Input

| Field | Required | Default | Limits | Purpose |
|---|---:|---|---|---|
| `targetAccounts` | Yes | `instagram` | 1–25 unique values | Usernames, numeric IDs, or Instagram profile URLs. |
| `searchQuery` | Yes | `meta` | 1–100 characters | Keyword or phrase to match. |
| `relationship` | No | `followers` | `followers`, `following`, `both` | Audience list to search. |
| `maxResultsPerQuery` | No | `50` | 1–50 | Local cap for each account and audience-list query. |

```json
{
  "targetAccounts": ["instagram", "apifytech"],
  "searchQuery": "meta",
  "relationship": "both",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 25
}
```

### Output

Each matched account is one dataset row with the target account, query, relationship, result position, account ID, username, full name, profile URL, profile-picture URL, privacy and verification flags, and normalized account badges.

```json
{
  "targetAccount": "instagram",
  "searchQuery": "meta",
  "relationship": "following",
  "resultPosition": 1,
  "accountId": "573152838",
  "username": "metaglasses",
  "fullName": "Meta Glasses",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/metaglasses/",
  "profilePictureUrl": "https://example.invalid/profile.jpg",
  "isPrivate": false,
  "isVerified": true,
  "accountBadges": []
}
```

The `RUN_SUMMARY` key-value-store record reports requested, completed, empty and failed queries; emitted and deduplicated matches; charge-limit truncation; and stable functional error codes.

### Billing behavior

A completed audience query is charged after a successful response, including a valid query with no matches. Each unique row written to the default dataset is charged as one matched account. A failed request is not charged as a completed query and produces no matched-account charge. The standard Actor Start charge still applies. If the run charge limit is reached, remaining work stops and the summary reports the truncation.

Free runs process at most three account-and-audience-list queries per run. Paid plans can use the full input limit.

### Common uses

- Find creators, brands, locations, professions, or interests within a known audience.
- Inspect the accounts a creator or competitor follows for partnership research.
- Build a focused prospect list without downloading an entire audience first.
- Compare keyword matches across several public profiles with the same input.

Use public data responsibly and follow applicable laws and platform rules.

### FAQ

**How much does it cost to run this Actor?**
Pricing is listed in the Pricing section above, charged per row returned. You only pay for the rows
the Actor actually produces, so a small test run costs cents.

**Do I need cookies or a login?**
No. This Actor reads public data only - no cookies, no account, no browser automation.

**Can I schedule it?**
Yes. Run it from the Apify API, on a schedule, or via a webhook, and export results as JSON, CSV or Excel.

**What if I need a slightly different output?**
Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab describing the shape you need.

### Related actors

More Instagram actors from the same portfolio. Apify only auto-recommends actors in the same category, so here are the rest of ours:

| Actor |
|---|
| [Instagram Audio & Trending Sounds Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-audio-scraper) |
| [Instagram Brand Mentions & UGC Monitor](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-brand-monitor) |
| [Instagram Comments Scraper with Replies · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-comments-scraper-no-login-required) |
| [Instagram Creator Lead Finder · Keywords & Hashtags](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-creator-lead-finder) |
| [Instagram Engaged Audience Exporter](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-engaged-audience-exporter) |
| [Instagram Follower Count & Growth Monitor](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-follower-count-growth-monitor) |
| [Instagram Followers Scraper & Enricher · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-followers-scraper---no-login) |
| [Instagram Following Scraper & Enricher · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-following) |
| [Instagram Hashtag Finder · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-hashtags-scraper-no-login-required) |
| [Instagram Hashtag Posts & Reels Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-hashtag-posts-reels-scraper-no-login) |
| [Instagram Hashtag Research Reports](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-hashtag-research) |
| [Instagram Highlights Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-highlights-scraper) |
| [Instagram Keyword Posts Scraper](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-keyword-posts-scraper) |
| [Instagram Likes Scraper · No Cookies](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-likes) |
| [Instagram Location Posts Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-location-posts) |
| [Instagram Media Archive Downloader](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-media-archive-downloader) |
| [Instagram Place Finder & Details](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-place-finder) |
| [Instagram Post & Reel Details Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-post-details) |
| [Instagram Profile Posts & Reels Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-posts) |
| [Instagram Profile Reels Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-profile-reels) |
| [Instagram Profile Scraper · Account Age & Verified Emails](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-user-info-scraper-cookieless) |
| [Instagram Public Contact Finder](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-email-phone-scraper) |
| [Instagram Reel Performance Tracker](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-reel-performance-tracker) |
| [Instagram Reel Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper) |
| [Instagram Reels Search & Trend Discovery · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-search-reels) |
| [Instagram Reels by Audio ID · Sound & Music Tracker · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-reels-by-audio) |
| [Instagram Related Creator Network](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-related-creator-network) |
| [Instagram Reposts Scraper · Profile Repost History · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-reposts) |
| [Instagram Similar Accounts Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-related-profiles-scraper) |
| [Instagram Similar Accounts Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-similar-accounts-scraper) |
| [Instagram Stories Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-stories-scraper) |
| [Instagram Tagged Posts & Mentions Scraper · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-tagged-posts) |
| [Instagram Trending Audio & Sounds Search · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-trending-audio-search) |
| [Instagram User Search · Find Leads by Keyword · No Login](https://apify.com/data-slayer/instagram-search-users) |

# Actor input Schema

## `targetAccounts` (type: `array`):

Profile usernames, numeric IDs, or Instagram profile URLs to search.

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Text to match within each selected audience list.

## `relationship` (type: `string`):

Search followers, followed accounts, or both.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Keep up to this many matches from each account and audience-list combination.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targetAccounts": [
    "instagram"
  ],
  "searchQuery": "meta",
  "relationship": "followers",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runSummary` (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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search").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 '{}' |
apify call data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,data-slayer/instagram-followers-following-search"
        }
    }
}
```

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/Gdwbjuhunc88LsM4X/builds/HWo6UHmTlSWtUqA0C/openapi.json