Instagram Hashtag Scraper

Extract trending reels and posts from any Instagram hashtag. Get media downloads, engagement metrics (likes, comments, views), captions, hashtags, and more. Process up to 10 hashtags per run, with up to 24 trending posts per hashtag.

What data can you scrape?

For each post found under a hashtag, the scraper extracts:

• Media content: captions, hashtags, mentions, download URLs (video, image, carousel slides)
• Engagement: likes, comments, video views
• Metadata: publish date, video duration, dimensions, music info
• Creator info: username, tagged users, co-authors, location
• Hashtag context: total posts for the hashtag

How to use

1. Go to the Input tab
2. Enter one or more Instagram hashtags (e.g. coffee, #sunset, or paste a hashtag URL)
3. (Optional) Set a date filter to only get recent posts
4. Click Start and wait for the results in the Dataset tab

Input settings

Setting	Description	Default
Hashtags	Instagram hashtags to scrape (1-10). The scraper extracts up to 24 trending posts per hashtag.	Required
Posts Newer Than	Only get posts after this date. Use a date (2026-01-15) or relative period (7 days, 1 month).	No filter

Supported input formats

The scraper accepts hashtags in multiple formats:

Format	Example	Result
Plain text	coffee	#coffee
With hash symbol	#coffee	#coffee
Mixed case	Coffee	#coffee
Hashtag URL	https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/coffee/	#coffee
Unicode	東京	#東京

Output data

Overview (quick reference)

Field	Description
hashtagName	The hashtag that was searched
username	Post author
mediaType	image, video, or carousel
videoViewCount	Video views (null for images)
likes	Number of likes
comments	Number of comments
timestamp	Publish date
postUrl	Direct link to the post

Media downloads

Field	Description
mediaDownloadUrl	Direct download URL (for carousels: array of media objects)
displayUrl	Thumbnail or display image URL
videoUrl	Video file URL (null for images)

Hashtag context

Field	Description
hashtagName	The searched hashtag
hashtagMediaCount	Total posts for this hashtag on Instagram
hashtagPostUrl	Link to the hashtag explore page

Full output (all fields)

Field	Type	Description
hashtagName	string	Searched hashtag name
hashtagMediaCount	integer/null	Total posts for hashtag
hashtagPostUrl	string	Hashtag explore page URL
username	string/null	Post author username
postUrl	string	Post or reel URL
mediaDownloadUrl	string/array/null	Download URL (array for carousels)
mediaType	string	image, video, or carousel
caption	string/null	Full caption text
hashtags	array	Hashtags from caption
mentions	array	@mentions from caption
title	string	Caption preview (200 chars)
description	string	Post description
author	string/null	Post author
shortcode	string	Instagram post ID
likes	integer/null	Like count
comments	integer/null	Comment count
commentsDisabled	boolean	Comments turned off
timestamp	string/null	Publish date (ISO 8601)
scrapedAt	string	Extraction date (ISO 8601)
index	integer	Position (1-based)
dimensions	object/null	Width and height in pixels
isVideo	boolean	Whether the post is a video
displayUrl	string/null	Thumbnail URL
videoUrl	string/null	Video file URL
videoViewCount	integer/null	Video views
videoDuration	number/null	Duration in seconds
hasAudio	boolean/null	Has audio track
ownerId	string/null	Instagram user ID
locationName	string/null	Tagged location
taggedUsers	array	Tagged users in media
musicName	string/null	Music track and artist
coauthors	array	Collab post co-authors

Sample output

{
    "hashtagName": "coffee",
    "hashtagMediaCount": 364000000,
    "hashtagPostUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/coffee/",
    "username": "coffeelover",
    "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123/",
    "mediaDownloadUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
    "mediaType": "video",
    "caption": "Morning brew #coffee #latte #coffeeshop",
    "hashtags": ["coffee", "latte", "coffeeshop"],
    "mentions": [],
    "title": "Morning brew #coffee #latte #coffeeshop",
    "description": "Morning brew #coffee #latte #coffeeshop",
    "author": "coffeelover",
    "shortcode": "ABC123",
    "likes": 342,
    "comments": 12,
    "commentsDisabled": false,
    "timestamp": "2026-01-15T08:30:00.000Z",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-02-22T10:00:00.000Z",
    "index": 1,
    "dimensions": { "width": 720, "height": 1280 },
    "isVideo": true,
    "displayUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
    "videoUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
    "videoViewCount": 15000,
    "videoDuration": 30.5,
    "hasAudio": true,
    "ownerId": "12345678",
    "locationName": "Blue Bottle Coffee",
    "taggedUsers": [],
    "musicName": "Coffee Shop Jazz - Smooth Vibes",
    "coauthors": []
}

Tips

• Start small: Test with a few posts first to verify the data meets your needs
• Use date filters: Set "Posts Newer Than" to get only recent content
• Multiple hashtags: Process up to 10 hashtags in a single run to collect more data
• Export formats: Download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Dataset tab

Integrations

Connect this scraper to hundreds of other apps using Apify integrations. Popular options include:

• Google Sheets — automatically export results to a spreadsheet
• Slack — get notifications when new data is available
• Zapier / Make — trigger workflows based on scraped data

Use cases

• Content research: Discover trending posts and popular creators in your niche
• Competitor analysis: Monitor what content performs well under industry hashtags
• Inspiration collection: Build a library of high-performing post ideas
• Trend tracking: Track how hashtag popularity changes over time
• Influencer discovery: Find active creators posting under specific hashtags

FAQ

How many posts can I get per hashtag? Up to 24 trending posts per hashtag. Instagram's public hashtag pages show a curated selection of the most popular recent content, which currently consists mainly of Reels.

Why 24 posts? Instagram's public hashtag pages display a curated set of trending content. The number of posts available depends on what Instagram surfaces for each hashtag.

Why are all results Reels? Instagram's trending hashtag pages currently feature Reels as the primary content format. The scraper extracts whatever content Instagram serves on these pages.

Why are some fields null? Detailed engagement data depends on each post's availability. If a post's detail page is temporarily unavailable, some values like timestamp or dimensions may be null. Core fields like postUrl and shortcode are always present.

Limitations

• Up to 24 trending posts per hashtag
• Maximum 10 hashtags per run
• Media download URLs are temporary and expire after some time

Disclaimer

This Actor is provided for educational and research purposes only. Users are responsible for ensuring their use complies with Instagram's Terms of Service and all applicable laws and regulations. Please use this tool responsibly and ethically.