# Instagram Scraper - $0.05 per 1,000 results (`esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper`) Actor

$0.05 per 1,000 results - about 50x cheaper than the usual Instagram scraper. Extract Reels, posts and carousels from public profiles with views, likes and comments.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Esdrasdw](https://apify.com/esdrasdw) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Social media, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.05 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

**$0.05 per 1,000 results.** Around 50x cheaper than the usual Instagram
scraper, for the same job.

Extract public **Reels and posts from Instagram profiles** — with view, like and
comment counts — and get clean, structured rows you can drop straight into a
spreadsheet, a dashboard or your own database.

Give it a list of profiles, say how many items you want from each, and run it.
No login, no cookies, no browser automation on your side.

### What you get

For every item, the standard output includes the thumbnail, the caption's first
line, the profile handle, the post URL, the publish date, view count, like
count, comment count and duration. Twenty-five more fields are available on
demand — hashtags, mentions, tagged users, co-authors, carousel items, full
caption, every video and thumbnail rendition, audio track details and more.

You choose the columns. Ask for nine fields and you get nine clean columns
instead of a wall of JSON you have to clean up later.

### How to use it

1. Put one or more usernames in **Instagram profiles**, without the @ sign.
2. Pick the **Content type** — Reels only, posts only, or everything.
3. Set **Items per profile**.
4. Run it, then download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `usernames` | array | `["nasa"]` | Profiles to scrape, without @ |
| `content_type` | string | `reels` | `reels`, `posts` or `all` |
| `quantity_per_user` | integer | `100` | Maximum items per profile |
| `selected_fields` | array | 9 standard fields | Which columns to return |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "usernames": ["nasa", "natgeo"],
  "content_type": "reels",
  "quantity_per_user": 50,
  "selected_fields": ["link_post", "titulo", "visualizacoes", "curtidas", "comentarios"]
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "thumb": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.../image.jpg",
  "titulo": "Coming out of my shell",
  "usuario": "@nasa",
  "link_post": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcEMvAdOryS/",
  "data_criacao_iso": "2026-08-10T20:06:13",
  "visualizacoes": 1512492,
  "curtidas": 34514,
  "comentarios": 291,
  "duracao": 79.5
}
```

Photos and carousels have no view count — Instagram only reports plays for
video — so `visualizacoes` is omitted for those items rather than sent as zero.

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

### API

Every run is available over the Apify API. Replace `<TOKEN>` with your API
token from **Settings → Integrations**.

#### Run and wait for the results

Returns the dataset items directly, in one call:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<ACTOR_ID>/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
        "usernames": ["nasa"],
        "content_type": "reels",
        "quantity_per_user": 50
      }'
```

Best for small and medium jobs. The connection stays open until the run ends,
so keep a generous client timeout.

#### Start a run and collect later

For large jobs, start the run and poll for it:

```bash
## 1. start
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<ACTOR_ID>/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"usernames": ["nasa"], "quantity_per_user": 5000}'

## 2. check status — look for "status": "SUCCEEDED"
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/actor-runs/<RUN_ID>?token=<TOKEN>"

## 3. fetch the items
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&format=csv"
```

#### Python

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<TOKEN>")

run = client.actor("<ACTOR_ID>").call(run_input={
    "usernames": ["nasa"],
    "content_type": "all",
    "quantity_per_user": 100,
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["link_post"], item.get("curtidas"))
```

#### JavaScript

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<TOKEN>' });

const run = await client.actor('<ACTOR_ID>').call({
    usernames: ['nasa'],
    contentType: 'reels',
    quantity_per_user: 100,
});

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

#### Run summary

Besides the dataset, each run writes an `OUTPUT` record to the key-value store
with a per-profile summary:

```json
{
  "ok": true,
  "total_items": 150,
  "users": [
    { "user": "nasa", "count": 100 },
    { "user": "natgeo", "count": 50 }
  ]
}
```

When a profile cannot be completed, its entry carries an `erro` field and the
items already collected stay in the dataset. A partial result is never silently
reported as a full one.

### Notes and limits

- Only **public** profiles are supported. Private accounts return no items.
- A profile that is unavailable is skipped with a warning; the other profiles in
  the same run continue normally.
- Requesting more items than a profile has simply returns everything available.

### Support

Found a bug or need a field that is not on the list? Open an issue on the
Actor's **Issues** tab with the input you used and the run ID.

### Disclaimer

This is an unofficial tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or
sponsored by Instagram or Meta Platforms, Inc. It collects only publicly
available content. You are responsible for how you use the data, including
compliance with applicable laws and the target site's terms.

# Actor input Schema

## `usernames` (type: `array`):

One username per line, without the @ sign. Example: nasa

## `content_type` (type: `string`):

Reels only is the fastest and cheapest option. Posts covers photos and carousels. All returns the complete profile feed.

## `quantity_per_user` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of items to return for each profile.

## `selected_fields` (type: `array`):

Leave as is for the standard set. Add extra fields if you need richer data.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "usernames": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "content_type": "reels",
  "quantity_per_user": 100,
  "selected_fields": [
    "thumb",
    "titulo",
    "usuario",
    "link_post",
    "data_criacao_iso",
    "visualizacoes",
    "curtidas",
    "comentarios",
    "duracao"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All extracted items, ready to download as JSON, CSV or Excel.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Per-profile counts and any profile that could not be completed.

# 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 = {
    "usernames": [
        "nasa"
    ],
    "content_type": "reels",
    "quantity_per_user": 100,
    "selected_fields": [
        "thumb",
        "titulo",
        "usuario",
        "link_post",
        "data_criacao_iso",
        "visualizacoes",
        "curtidas",
        "comentarios",
        "duracao"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper").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 = {
    "usernames": ["nasa"],
    "content_type": "reels",
    "quantity_per_user": 100,
    "selected_fields": [
        "thumb",
        "titulo",
        "usuario",
        "link_post",
        "data_criacao_iso",
        "visualizacoes",
        "curtidas",
        "comentarios",
        "duracao",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper").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 '{
  "usernames": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "content_type": "reels",
  "quantity_per_user": 100,
  "selected_fields": [
    "thumb",
    "titulo",
    "usuario",
    "link_post",
    "data_criacao_iso",
    "visualizacoes",
    "curtidas",
    "comentarios",
    "duracao"
  ]
}' |
apify call esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,esdrasdw/instagram-content-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/FGRi01W3Y7NMNheQy/builds/vQldBaHX1nuiG9i1a/openapi.json