Instagram Related Profiles Scraper

Discover Instagram's direct related-profile suggestions from up to five seed accounts. Export profile identity, source-list rank, public details when available, and cross-seed overlap—not followers, following lists or a recursively expanded network.

Quick start

1. Add one public username or full Instagram profile URL.
2. Start with a small result limit and run the Actor.
3. Open the dataset to inspect results, then export JSON, CSV or Excel.

{
  "usernames": ["nasa"],
  "maxRelatedPerSeed": 3,
  "includeProfileDetails": true,
  "deduplicateAcrossSeeds": false
}

Suggestions and public access vary. A result limit is a maximum, not a promise that every seed exposes that many accounts.

Prefer a video guide? This short Apify walkthrough shows you how to set up and run an Actor. It uses a different Actor, but the setup steps are the same.

Ready-to-run examples

Choose a public example to see its settings before starting a run:

• Export Fast Instagram Related Profiles
• Compare Related Instagram Profiles Across Seeds
• Find Related Instagram Creator Profiles

What you get

Direct related-profile suggestions with the seed account, source-list position, suggested identity and observed cross-seed overlap. Optional public details can add biographies, counts, links and disclosed business contacts. Discovery stays one level deep, with no follower/following lists or recursive network expansion.

Who is it for?

• Creator-partnership researchers reviewing adjacent suggestions from known seed accounts.
• Brand analysts comparing recommendations observed around selected profiles.
• Social-research agencies retaining source and seed context for manual qualification.
• Data teams building compact identity sheets or their own overlap reports.

How you can use the data

• Review NASA's direct suggestions. Use the existing nasa seed with a three-suggestion cap and details enabled. Keep seedUsername, rank, suggested user ID and profile URL together, without treating source-list position as popularity.
• Compare a small seed batch yourself. Keep matchedSeedUsernames and seedMatchCount beside each suggested identity. These describe overlap observed in the collected batch rather than filtering, sorting or proving a complete relationship network.
• Choose a compact identity export. Turn optional details off when counts and contacts are unnecessary. Discovery rows can still include basic metadata supplied with the suggestion, while missing extended fields remain unknown.
• Retain recommendation provenance across exports. Keep seed, user ID and collectedAt before comparing later files. Deduplication retains the first discovery row across seeds when enabled. With it disabled, one profile can produce several paid rows, one per seed, rather than a globally unique identity list.

Input settings

Setting / API key	Default	Purpose
Seed profiles / usernames	Required	1–5 usernames, @handles or full profile URLs
Maximum related profiles / maxRelatedPerSeed	20	Consider up to 1–50 suggestions per seed
Include public details / includeProfileDetails	true	Add public biography, links, counts and contacts when available
Deduplicate / deduplicateAcrossSeeds	false	Keep one row per discovered profile across seeds
Proxy configuration / proxyConfiguration	Existing managed settings	Standard proxy editor. See field help for settings and opt-out

Seeds are normalized and duplicate seeds are combined. Each seed contributes only its direct suggestions. With deduplication off, a suggested profile can appear once per seed. With it on, the first discovery row is retained. matchedSeedUsernames and seedMatchCount describe overlap in the discovered batch. They do not filter or sort results by overlap.

Example inputs

Use the Quick start input as a small first run. Adjust the fields described above for your own data.

Output data

Each dataset row represents a discovered related profile. Missing optional details remain null or empty arrays. Discovery-only rows may still contain basic metadata supplied with the suggestion.

Fields	Meaning
seedUsername, seedUserId, sourceUrl	Seed provenance for this discovery
rank, depth	Original suggestion position. Depth is always 1
userId, username, fullName, profileUrl, profilePicUrl	Suggested profile identity and image
biography, bioLinks, externalUrl	Public biography and outbound links
followersCount, followingCount, postsCount	Available public counters, otherwise null
isPrivate, isVerified	Account flags in the available response
isBusinessAccount, isProfessionalAccount, category	Available account classification
businessEmail, businessPhoneNumber, businessAddress	Business contacts disclosed by the profile, not inferred contacts
relatedToSeed, matchedSeedUsernames, seedMatchCount	Recommendation provenance and observed seed overlap
collectedAt	Collection timestamp

There is no engagement score, follower-list export, recursive discovery, overlap filter or popularity sorting. Sort exported rows in your own analysis tool if needed.

The RUN_SUMMARY key-value record reports saved/discovered counts, remaining work and per-seed outcomes such as saved, empty, unavailable, failed and cutoff. An inaccessible response does not prove that an account is private or deleted. The summary is diagnostic information, not an additional dataset profile.

Download your results

Open your run's dataset, choose Export and select JSON, CSV or Excel. JSON keeps nested fields together. CSV and Excel are useful when you want to review the records in a spreadsheet.

See Apify's download and export guide for the available formats and field options.

Pricing

Pay-per-event pricing charges start once per run and item for each saved profile row. With cross-seed deduplication off, a profile suggested by several seeds can produce several paid rows. Summary records are not profile rows.

Use fewer seeds, a small per-seed cap and only the optional details needed. Consult the live Pricing tab for current rates and plan discounts.

Tips for best results

• Use profile seeds rather than post, Reel or hashtag URLs. Malformed inputs are rejected rather than silently skipped.
• Choose deduplication for the intended export. Keep seed relationships when reviewing multiple discovery paths.
• Retain original rank and collection time. Source suggestions change, and rank is not overlap or popularity order.
• Request details only when useful. A discovery row can survive optional detail failure with extended fields left empty.
• Read per-seed outcomes before interpreting an empty run. One confirmed empty seed can coexist with unavailable or failed siblings.

Limits and caveats

At most five normalized unique seeds and fifty direct suggestions per seed are supported. Availability and the run deadline can reduce output. Suggestions are neither paginated nor recursively expanded. There is no follower-list export, engagement score, overlap filter or popularity sorting.

Only public responses are used without an Instagram login input. A private-account flag in a suggestion does not grant access to private content, and missing counts or contacts are not inferred. Optional detail failures preserve useful discovery rows where available. Inaccessibility does not establish privacy or deletion.

A confirmed empty suggestion list or a profile independently confirmed as currently unavailable on its public embed can finish without rows. Unavailability does not establish deletion or privacy. Login screens, missing responses and request failures do not qualify as confirmed emptiness. A run with only failed or cutoff seeds fails; mixed batches preserve useful profiles and flag unresolved seeds as partial. An empty successful run does not prove every seed was accessible.

RUN_SUMMARY reports discovered and saved counts, remaining work and per-seed outcomes. This is diagnostic information rather than an additional dataset profile. Cross-seed overlap reflects the observed batch, with first-discovery retention when deduplicating. Perform any further ranking, network interpretation or repeat-snapshot comparison yourself.

Automation and integrations

Save your settings for next time

Once you have an input that works for you, save it as an Apify task. This keeps your settings together so you can use them again without filling in the form from scratch.

Run on a schedule

Need fresh results regularly? You can schedule the Actor or a saved task to run at a time that suits you.

Each scheduled run collects the data again. If you want to compare results or highlight changes, add that step in your own workflow.

Send results to your other tools

Use n8n, Make or Zapier to connect this scraper to the rest of your workflow. For example, you could pass its results to an AI assistant or add records to a spreadsheet. Follow the Apify integration guides for your chosen tool.

For a custom connection, an Apify webhook can notify your app when a run finishes or fails. Your app can then fetch the results or handle the failure.

API usage

Want to collect this data from your own app or automation? The examples below send input to the scraper and show how to collect its results.

The Node.js and Python examples wait for the run to finish before reading its results. The cURL example starts the run and returns its details. Wait for that run to finish, then use its defaultDatasetId to fetch the results.

For setup instructions, see Apify's JavaScript client guide, Python client guide and Actor runs API reference.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~instagram-related-profiles-scraper/runs' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data @- <<'JSON'
{
  "usernames": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "maxRelatedPerSeed": 3,
  "includeProfileDetails": true,
  "deduplicateAcrossSeeds": false
}
JSON

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/instagram-related-profiles-scraper').call({
  "usernames": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "maxRelatedPerSeed": 3,
  "includeProfileDetails": true,
  "deduplicateAcrossSeeds": false
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('fetch_cat/instagram-related-profiles-scraper').call(run_input={'usernames': ['nasa'], 'maxRelatedPerSeed': 3, 'includeProfileDetails': True, 'deduplicateAcrossSeeds': False})
print(client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items)

API usage notes

Wait for completion, then read the run's defaultDatasetId. The clients below wait for the run and retrieve its dataset:

MCP and AI agents

You can ask your AI assistant to collect data with Instagram Related Profiles Scraper and help you work with the results. The scraper returns the data, and your assistant can then summarize it, compare records or prepare notes.

Connect your assistant through the Apify MCP server. MCP gives your assistant a way to find this scraper, run it and read the results. Follow the official setup and sign-in guide for your app.

Easier setup with an Apify plugin

If you use a supported coding assistant, the official Apify plugin can set up the connection for you. It connects your assistant to Apify and includes instructions for common tasks. Follow the guide for your particular app.

Use Apify AI in Console

Prefer to keep everything in Apify? Open Apify AI in Console and ask it to find Fetch Cat's Instagram Related Profiles Scraper. You can describe the data you want and ask questions about the results.

Apify AI is currently in beta. It asks for confirmation before starting an Actor, and normal run charges apply.

Choose your assistant

• Claude and Claude Code (Anthropic): Apify setup guide.
• ChatGPT and Codex (OpenAI): Apify setup guides.
• Grok Bot (xAI): Apify plugin guide.
• Gemini CLI (Google): MCP server setup guide. Use the server URL below with the HTTP configuration supported by Gemini CLI.

Connect just this scraper

To keep your setup focused on this scraper, add this server configuration to a compatible MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/instagram-related-profiles-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Sign in to Apify when your client asks. If your client uses a Bearer token instead, follow its setup guide and keep the token in its secure configuration. Configuration formats vary by app, so use the linked guide if your client needs a different format.

Use Apify's general server

Already connected to the general Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com? You can use it to find this scraper without adding another server. Ask your assistant to use Instagram Related Profiles Scraper by Fetch Cat, or give it the identifier fetch_cat/instagram-related-profiles-scraper.

Your assistant can check the available settings and retrieve the results from the returned run. If the run is still working, it should follow that run rather than start it again. Both connection options use Apify's hosted service.

Example requests

• “Use Fetch Cat’s Instagram Related Profiles Scraper to collect up to 3 direct suggestions for nasa with public details enabled and cross-seed deduplication off. Keep source ranks and seed links without treating the list as followers or popularity order.”
• “Collect up to 3 direct suggestions each for nasa and natgeo with details off and cross-seed deduplication on. Show observed matched seeds and keep missing details unknown rather than inferring a complete relationship network.”
• “Retrieve up to 3 related-profile suggestions for nasa with details off. Make a compact source-linked identity sheet and check every seed outcome before interpreting a successful empty export.”

Normal Apify charges apply. Check the live Pricing tab before asking your assistant to run a larger batch.

Pay with x402

If your AI agent has a funded wallet, it can pay for Apify usage through x402. This experimental option lets an agent use Apify without a conventional account.

Apify AGI provides a prepaid API token with a spending cap after payment. Your agent can use that token to run this scraper through the Apify API or an authenticated MCP connection.

Some MCP setups also support paying for each request directly. That is a different payment option, so check the official guide for its availability.

Follow the official guide for wallet setup, supported payment options and current terms. Apify handles the payments. Keep wallet keys and payment tokens in your agent's secure configuration.

Other ways for agents to pay

Apify also supports MPP for prepaid access through AGI and Skyfire for eligible Actors. If your agent already uses one of these, see the agentic payment guide to choose the right setup.

FAQ

Does this return followers or following lists?

No. It returns Instagram's direct related-profile suggestions. It does not paginate or recursively expand suggestions.

Are the most-shared profiles returned first?

No. Rank reflects the seed's source list. Deduplication retains the first discovery. Overlap fields are for your own comparison.

Why are profile details missing?

The source may omit them, access may be unavailable, or optional enrichment may not finish. Available discovery rows are retained without invented values.

Does a successful empty run prove that every seed was accessible?

No. One confirmed empty seed can coexist with unavailable siblings. Read the per-seed summary, including any failure or cutoff, before interpreting the export.

Related Actors

• Instagram Profile & Posts Scraper — Collect public profile details and available post or Reel metadata from known accounts or media URLs.
• Instagram Popular Search Scraper — Collect visible topic-linked records from public popular-topic pages, rather than comprehensive Instagram search.
• Instagram Hashtag Scraper — Collect visible public hashtag-post records with available captions and engagement fields.
• Instagram Reel Scraper — Collect available public video metadata from known Instagram Reel URLs.
• Instagram Post Details Scraper — Collect available captions, author details, dates and visible engagement from known public post URLs.

Support and feedback

For custom additions or integrations, email hello@fetchcat.dev.

Found an error or have a feature request? Open an issue with the run URL, a non-sensitive input example and what you expected.

Need help sharing it? See Apify’s guide to sharing a run when reporting an issue. Sharing a run can give the developer access to its input, logs and results, so use a run that contains no sensitive data. Please leave out API tokens, passwords, cookies, private documents and personal data. Use a public sample URL or a redacted example instead.

Tried this scraper? We'd love to hear how it worked for you. Leave a review to help others choose the right tool and help us improve it. Your feedback means a lot to us.

Made with care for curious people, AI agents and the possibilities in data. ♥