Instagram Reels Discovery Scraper - No Login

Discover public Instagram Reels and creators for a selected country without an Instagram account, cookies, or login credentials. Choose the discovery country and maximum number of unique Reels, then receive structured data for content research, creator discovery, trend monitoring, social media analysis, and automated data workflows.

The Actor begins with Instagram's public logged-out Reels experience. For larger requests, it broadens the dataset with additional public Reels from creators surfaced during that discovery process.

This is a regional discovery Actor. The selected country controls where the public discovery request is made, but it does not prove that every returned Reel was created in that country. Instagram can recommend global content in every region.

Why use this Actor?

• No Instagram login, account, cookies, or session required
• Country-level regional discovery with a global AUTO option
• Simple maximum-result and maximum-spend control
• Unique results deduplicated by Instagram media ID
• Reel captions, engagement, creator, audio, image, and video data
• Clear distinction between feed discoveries and additional creator Reels
• Automatic concurrency for both small and large requests
• JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, and RSS exports
• Apify API, schedules, webhooks, and integrations supported
• Pay only for unique Reels successfully delivered

Quick start

1. Open the Input tab.
2. Select a country under Discovery country, such as United States, Spain, Brazil, or Mexico.
3. Enter the maximum number of Reels under Maximum Reels.
4. Leave Concurrency at 0 for automatic scaling.
5. Click Save & Start.
6. Open the Dataset when the run finishes and export the results in your preferred format.

For a quick test, use:

{
  "countryCode": "US",
  "resultsLimit": 10
}

Regional discovery

countryCode selects the country from which Instagram's logged-out Reels experience is requested. All discovery sessions in the run use that same country, while separate sessions can use different residential addresses inside the selected country.

This setting is useful for comparing the public Reels experience available to audiences in different markets. For example, run once with ES and once with BR, then compare creators, captions, hashtags, audio, and engagement.

Country targeting influences the discovery context; it is not an origin classifier:

• discoveryCountry: "ES" means the Reel was collected through an Instagram discovery session requested from Spain.
• It does not mean the creator lives in Spain or that the Reel was recorded or uploaded there.
• Instagram may surface global or cross-language content in any country.
• Select AUTO when you want an unrestricted global sample instead of a fixed country.

The input is a dropdown, so you do not need to remember or type a country code. The Actor supports 50 selected markets plus the global AUTO option.

Supported discovery countries

Code	Country	Code	Country
US	United States	IN	India
BR	Brazil	ID	Indonesia
TR	Turkey	JP	Japan
MX	Mexico	GB	United Kingdom
DE	Germany	AR	Argentina
IT	Italy	FR	France
KR	South Korea	CO	Colombia
ES	Spain	PH	Philippines
TH	Thailand	EG	Egypt
PK	Pakistan	BD	Bangladesh
SA	Saudi Arabia	MY	Malaysia
NG	Nigeria	MA	Morocco
VN	Vietnam	CA	Canada
AU	Australia	ZA	South Africa
AE	United Arab Emirates	NL	Netherlands
PL	Poland	RO	Romania
PT	Portugal	CL	Chile
PE	Peru	EC	Ecuador
UY	Uruguay	GR	Greece
CZ	Czechia	SE	Sweden
DK	Denmark	CH	Switzerland
AT	Austria	BE	Belgium
IE	Ireland	UA	Ukraine
SG	Singapore	NZ	New Zealand
TW	Taiwan	IL	Israel

What the Actor discovers

The dataset can contain two clearly labelled result sources:

discoverySource	Meaning
reels_feed	The Reel was surfaced directly by Instagram's public logged-out Reels experience.
discovered_creator	The creator was first surfaced in that public experience, and this is another public Reel from the same creator.

Use only rows with discoverySource: "reels_feed" when you need the strictest public-feed sample. Use the complete dataset when you need broader coverage of the creators Instagram surfaced.

Additional creator Reels should not be interpreted as an official global popularity ranking. Instagram does not publish the ranking logic used by its public discovery experience.

Common use cases

Creator discovery

Identify public creators surfaced through Instagram's Reels experience and collect content samples for further evaluation.

Trend and format research

Analyze captions, hashtags, mentions, audio, video length, publishing patterns, and engagement signals across a current discovery sample.

Influencer and partnership research

Build a candidate dataset containing creator usernames, verification status, public Reel URLs, content descriptions, and available engagement metrics.

Social media monitoring

Run the Actor on a schedule and compare datasets over time to observe changes in creators, formats, topics, and audio usage.

Content classification

Send captions, hashtags, thumbnails, or Reel URLs into analytics, moderation, tagging, or machine-learning workflows.

Data enrichment

Add public Reel and creator information to existing CRM, marketing, research, or business-intelligence datasets.

Input reference

All input fields are optional. Running the Actor without custom input uses the default values below.

Field	Type	Default	Allowed values	Description
countryCode	string	US	AUTO or one of 50 countries in the dropdown	Country used for the Instagram discovery request. This is a regional targeting signal, not proof of Reel origin.
resultsLimit	integer	100	1 to 5000	Maximum number of unique Reels delivered across the run. This is also the main maximum-spend control.
concurrency	integer	0	0 to 15	Number of discovery sessions processed in parallel. Use 0 for automatic scaling.
maxRetries	integer	3	1 to 5	Maximum attempts after a temporary network error or Instagram rejection.

Discovery country (countryCode)

Choose a country from the dropdown. The stored API value is the uppercase code shown below the country name. Common examples:

Value	Discovery region
US	United States
ES	Spain
BR	Brazil
MX	Mexico
DE	Germany
AUTO	No fixed country; global rotating sample

For consistent market comparisons, keep the same country in every run. To compare countries, use separate runs so every row in a dataset has one clear discovery context. API calls are also restricted to the same 50 codes, preventing misspelled or unsupported values from starting a run.

Maximum Reels (resultsLimit)

resultsLimit is a maximum, not a guaranteed minimum. The Actor stops when one of these conditions is reached:

• The requested number of unique Reels has been delivered.
• Instagram exposes no additional unique results after repeated discovery attempts.
• The configured Apify spending limit cannot pay for another result.
• Temporary Instagram access pressure remains after all configured retries.

If you request 50 Reels and only 20 unique Reels can be delivered, the dataset contains 20 rows and you pay for 20 results.

Concurrency (concurrency)

The recommended value is 0:

• Small runs use low concurrency to avoid unnecessary overhead.
• Medium runs increase concurrency automatically.
• Large runs use more parallel sessions to reduce completion time.

Set a manual value only when you specifically need to reduce request pressure or control resource use. Higher concurrency does not guarantee more unique content because Instagram controls the available discovery pool.

Maximum request attempts (maxRetries)

The default value of 3 is appropriate for most runs. Increase it when temporary network instability is more important than run duration. Lower it when you prefer a faster failure after repeated access problems.

Input examples

Quick sample: 10 Reels

{
  "countryCode": "US",
  "resultsLimit": 10
}

Research sample: 50 Reels

{
  "countryCode": "ES",
  "resultsLimit": 50,
  "concurrency": 0,
  "maxRetries": 3
}

Larger discovery dataset: 1,000 Reels

{
  "countryCode": "BR",
  "resultsLimit": 1000,
  "concurrency": 0,
  "maxRetries": 3
}

Conservative request pressure

{
  "countryCode": "DE",
  "resultsLimit": 100,
  "concurrency": 2,
  "maxRetries": 4
}

Output overview

Every row in the default dataset represents one unique public Reel. Duplicate media IDs are removed across the complete run.

Instagram does not expose every field for every Reel. Unavailable values are returned as null, false, or an empty list as appropriate. The Actor does not estimate or invent missing metrics.

Core Reel fields

Field	Type	Description
schemaVersion	integer	Version of the output contract.
id	string	Stable Instagram media ID used for deduplication.
shortCode	string	Shortcode used in the public Instagram Reel URL.
url	string	Permanent public Reel page, such as https://www.instagram.com/reel/.../.
type	string	Normalized content type. Always reel.
productType	string or null	Product classification exposed by Instagram, commonly clips.
caption	string or null	Reel caption text.
hashtags	string[]	Unique hashtags extracted from the caption, without #.
mentions	string[]	Unique usernames mentioned in the caption, without @.
timestamp	string or null	Publication time in ISO 8601 UTC format.
scrapedAt	string	Time the result was collected, in ISO 8601 UTC format.

Engagement and video fields

Field	Type	Description
likesCount	integer or null	Like count when Instagram exposes it.
commentsCount	integer or null	Comment count when available. Comments themselves are not included.
videoViewsCount	integer or null	View count when available.
videoPlaysCount	integer or null	Play count when available. This can differ from unique views.
videoDurationSeconds	number or null	Video duration in seconds.
width	integer or null	Original media width.
height	integer or null	Original media height.
hasAudio	boolean	Whether the Reel reports an audio track.
isPaidPartnership	boolean	Whether Instagram marks the Reel as a paid partnership.
displayUrl	string or null	Best available thumbnail or display-image URL.
videoUrl	string or null	Best available direct video URL. Direct media URLs can expire.

Creator fields

The owner object can contain:

Field	Type	Description
owner.id	string or null	Instagram creator ID.
owner.username	string or null	Public Instagram username.
owner.fullName	string or null	Public display name.
owner.isVerified	boolean	Verification status exposed for the creator.
owner.profilePicUrl	string or null	Public profile-image URL.

Audio fields

The audio object can contain:

Field	Type	Description
audio.id	string or null	Audio identifier when available.
audio.title	string or null	Track or original-audio title.
audio.artist	string or null	Artist or creator name exposed for the audio.
audio.isOriginalAudio	boolean	Whether the metadata represents original audio.

Discovery fields

Field	Type	Description
discoverySource	string	reels_feed or discovered_creator.
discoveryCountry	string or null	Country selected for this discovery run. It is null when countryCode is AUTO. This is not the creator's or Reel's confirmed origin.
seedReelId	string or null	Reel that led to the creator expansion. It is null for direct feed discoveries.

Example result

{
  "schemaVersion": 2,
  "id": "1234567890123456789",
  "shortCode": "ExampleCode",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/ExampleCode/",
  "type": "reel",
  "productType": "clips",
  "caption": "A public Reel caption #travel @example_creator",
  "hashtags": ["travel"],
  "mentions": ["example_creator"],
  "timestamp": "2026-07-22T12:00:00+00:00",
  "displayUrl": "https://...",
  "videoUrl": "https://...",
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1920,
  "likesCount": 1250,
  "commentsCount": 34,
  "videoViewsCount": 42000,
  "videoPlaysCount": 45100,
  "videoDurationSeconds": 18.4,
  "hasAudio": true,
  "isPaidPartnership": false,
  "owner": {
    "id": "987654321",
    "username": "example_creator",
    "fullName": "Example Creator",
    "isVerified": false,
    "profilePicUrl": "https://..."
  },
  "audio": {
    "id": "456789",
    "title": "Original audio",
    "artist": "Example Creator",
    "isOriginalAudio": true
  },
  "discoverySource": "reels_feed",
  "discoveryCountry": "ES",
  "seedReelId": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-22T12:05:00+00:00"
}

Pricing

The Actor uses pay-per-result pricing:

Event	Price	When it is charged
reel-result	$0.001	Once for each unique Reel successfully written to the default dataset.

There is no separate startup charge.

Cost examples

Unique Reels delivered	Maximum result charge
10	$0.01
50	$0.05
100	$0.10
1,000	$1.00
5,000	$5.00

You are not charged for:

• Duplicate Reels
• Invalid or incomplete records that cannot be delivered
• Failed requests and retries
• Sessions that return no new unique results
• The free run summary

The billing rule is: one default-dataset row equals one reel-result event.

Apify spending limits are respected. If the remaining budget cannot pay for another result, the Actor stops without delivering unpaid rows.

Exporting results

Open the run's Dataset tab to:

• View results in a table
• Select the fields you want to export
• Download JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS
• Copy the dataset API endpoint
• Connect the dataset to another application

Direct media URLs can expire or become region-restricted. Store the permanent url field whenever you need a durable reference to the Reel.

Run summary

Each run creates a free SUMMARY record in the default key-value store. It includes customer-relevant information such as:

• Requested and delivered Reel counts
• Selected discovery country and whether regional targeting was enabled
• Charged result count and estimated result charge
• Whether an Apify spending limit stopped the run
• Whether the available unique discovery pool was exhausted
• Duplicate and invalid records skipped
• Number of creators discovered
• Sessions, requests, response volume, and duration
• Concurrency used and completion time

The summary is not a billable result and does not appear as a Reel row in the dataset.

Using the Apify API

The Actor can be started programmatically with the Apify API. Replace YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN with a token from your Apify account settings.

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("datascraperes/instagram-reels-discovery-scraper").call(
    run_input={
        "countryCode": "ES",
        "resultsLimit": 50,
        "concurrency": 0,
        "maxRetries": 3,
    }
)

items = list(client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items())
print(f"Received {len(items)} unique Reels")

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('datascraperes/instagram-reels-discovery-scraper').call({
    countryCode: 'ES',
    resultsLimit: 50,
    concurrency: 0,
    maxRetries: 3,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(`Received ${items.length} unique Reels`);

HTTP request

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/datascraperes~instagram-reels-discovery-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"countryCode":"ES","resultsLimit":50,"concurrency":0,"maxRetries":3}'

The run response contains defaultDatasetId. Use it to retrieve the results:

https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/DATASET_ID/items?clean=true&format=json

Do not expose your Apify token in public code, browser-side applications, shared screenshots, or public URLs.

Scheduling and integrations

You can use standard Apify features to automate recurring discovery:

• Schedules: run daily, weekly, or at another interval.
• Webhooks: notify another service when a run succeeds or fails.
• Tasks: save reusable input configurations.
• API clients: integrate with Python, JavaScript, or direct HTTP requests.
• Automation platforms: connect through tools such as Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, or other Apify integrations.

Every run is an independent discovery snapshot. Instagram's public selection can change between runs, so scheduled datasets are useful for observing change over time.

Understanding result counts

Why can the Actor return fewer results than requested?

resultsLimit is the maximum number of unique rows. A run can finish below that limit when:

• Instagram repeatedly returns Reels that are already in the dataset.
• The current public discovery pool is limited.
• Some returned objects lack the minimum fields required for a usable result.
• Instagram keeps rejecting requests after all retries.
• Your Apify spending limit is reached.

Only successfully delivered unique rows are charged.

Why can two runs return different Reels?

Instagram can vary public discovery content by time, region, availability, recommendation randomness, and platform experiments. Two runs from the same country can therefore return different Reels. Use discoveryCountry to keep the requested market attached to each row.

Why do engagement metrics differ between runs?

Likes, comments, views, and plays can change continuously. Instagram can also hide or delay individual metrics.

Troubleshooting

Situation	Meaning	Recommended action
Results include creators from other countries	Country selection controls the request region, not the creator's residence or the Reel's place of creation.	Treat the dataset as a regional recommendation sample, not as verified origin data.
Two runs for the same country differ	Instagram's logged-out recommendations are dynamic and partly randomized.	Compare larger samples or recurring snapshots instead of expecting identical rows.
A country run cannot initialize	Instagram or the selected regional network was temporarily unavailable.	Retry later, increase maxRetries, or use another valid country code.
Fewer rows than resultsLimit	The requested value is a maximum and the current discovery pool was exhausted or repetitive.	Review availableResultsExhausted and spendingLimitReached in SUMMARY. Run again later if you need a different discovery snapshot.
videoUrl or displayUrl is null	Instagram did not expose that media URL for the Reel.	Use the permanent Reel url.
A direct media URL no longer works	Instagram CDN URLs can expire or be restricted by region.	Re-run the Actor to obtain a fresh URL and retain the permanent Reel page.
Likes, views, plays, or comments are null	Instagram did not expose that metric.	Treat null as unavailable, not as zero.
The run stops at an exact spending boundary	The Apify charge limit was reached safely.	Increase the run spending limit only if you want more paid results.
A large run takes longer than expected	More sessions and deduplication are required as the requested dataset grows.	Keep automatic concurrency enabled or split the work into scheduled snapshots.
The same creator appears multiple times	Larger discovery runs intentionally include additional public Reels from creators surfaced in the feed.	Filter by owner.id or owner.username when you need one row per creator.
A private or deleted Reel is missing	Only publicly accessible content can be returned.	No action is required; inaccessible content is not charged.

Limitations

• Country selection controls the discovery request region; it does not verify the creator's residence, nationality, upload location, or filming location.
• The Actor does not accept a profile, hashtag, keyword, city, place, or audio query.
• It does not return a personalized logged-in feed.
• It cannot access private, deleted, restricted, age-gated, or login-only content.
• Results represent a public discovery sample, not a complete index of Instagram Reels.
• discovered_creator rows are additional public creator content, not guaranteed trending rankings.
• Engagement metrics depend on what Instagram exposes at collection time.
• Direct video, image, audio, and profile-image URLs can expire.
• Comments are not returned; only the available comment count is included.
• Follower counts and complete profile records are not part of this Actor's output.
• Instagram can change its public pages and available data without notice.

Choosing the right Instagram Actor

Use this Actor when you want to discover public Reels and creators without supplying a target.

Choose another specialized Actor when you need:

• Reels from one or more specific public profiles
• Posts from specific profiles
• Details for known Instagram profiles
• Comments from a particular post or Reel
• Keyword, hashtag, place, or profile search

This distinction prevents accidental use of a discovery dataset when the real requirement is a complete profile feed or a targeted search.

Responsible use

This Actor processes publicly accessible Instagram content. You are responsible for ensuring that your collection and use of the data comply with applicable laws, contracts, privacy rules, copyright requirements, and platform policies.

Recommended practices:

• Collect only the fields needed for a legitimate purpose.
• Avoid using public personal data to harm, discriminate against, or profile individuals unfairly.
• Protect exported datasets and Apify API tokens.
• Review retention requirements and delete data that is no longer necessary.
• Respect intellectual-property rights when storing or reusing captions, images, audio, or videos.

The Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Actor require an Instagram login?

No. You do not provide an Instagram username, password, cookie, or session.

Can I scrape Reels from a specific profile?

Not with this Actor. It discovers creators through Instagram's public Reels experience. Use a profile-specific Reels Actor when you already know the username or profile URL.

Can I search by keyword or hashtag?

No. There is no search-term input. Instagram controls the public discovery selection.

Are the returned Reels guaranteed to be from the selected country?

No. The selected country is the region from which Instagram's public Reels experience is requested. Instagram can recommend international content, and public Reel records usually do not prove where a creator lives or where a video was created. Use discoveryCountry as discovery context, not as verified origin data.

What does AUTO do?

AUTO disables fixed-country targeting and produces a broader global sample. Select one of the 50 listed countries when you need comparable regional datasets.

Can I target a city?

No. Country-level targeting provides a larger and more reliable discovery pool. The Actor does not claim city-level accuracy.

Are all returned Reels trending?

Rows marked reels_feed were surfaced directly in Instagram's public discovery experience. Rows marked discovered_creator are additional Reels from creators found there and should not be described as an official global trending ranking.

Are duplicates charged?

No. The Actor deduplicates by stable Instagram media ID across the complete run. Only unique rows written to the default dataset are charged.

What happens if I request 1,000 Reels but receive 700?

You pay for 700 delivered unique rows. Review SUMMARY to see whether the available pool, retries, or spending limit stopped the run.

Is there a startup fee?

No. The only Actor event is $0.001 for each unique Reel delivered.

Can I download the videos?

When Instagram exposes a direct video URL, it is returned in videoUrl. Direct URLs can expire, so keep the permanent url field and download media only when you have the right to do so.

Are comments included?

No. commentsCount may be available, but comment text, authors, and replies are not included.

Can I monitor changes over time?

Yes. Create an Apify Task, schedule recurring runs, and store each dataset as a discovery snapshot. Metrics and public selections can change between runs.

Can I use the Actor through an API?

Yes. Use the Apify API, Python client, JavaScript client, schedules, tasks, webhooks, or integrations.

Does it work with private accounts or private Reels?

No. Only publicly accessible content is supported.

Where can I report an issue?

Use the Issues tab on the Actor page. Include the run ID, input used, expected result, and a description of the problem. Never include passwords, cookies, API tokens, or other secrets.