Instagram Profile Posts Scraper

Instagram Profile Posts Scraper — every post from any public profile, as a clean table

Paste one or more public Instagram profile URLs or @handles and get their posts back as structured rows: caption, media type (photo, video, or carousel), thumbnail, carousel size, shortcode, and permalink, newest first. Choose how many posts to pull per profile and download the result as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML. No login, cookies, or API key required.

What can Instagram Profile Posts Scraper do?

• Pull the posts of one profile or hundreds in a single run
• Accept profile URLs (https://www.instagram.com/markruffalo/), @handles, plain handles, or numeric IDs
• Return captions, media type, product type, thumbnails, carousel size, shortcode, and permalink
• Keep the feed order (newest first) and deduplicate repeated profiles automatically
• Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML; run via the API, schedule runs, and connect through MCP

What data can I extract?

What you get

Features

Post identity — post ID, shortcode, canonical permalink Content — full caption text, alt/accessibility text Media — media type (image / video / carousel), product type, thumbnail URL, carousel item count Direct media links (optional) — with Include media URLs on, each post also carries a playable video_url, a best-quality image_url, and per-item links for carousels Owner — username, profile ID, and legacy ID for joining to profile data

Newest-first feed order, up to your chosen cap per profile max_posts cap per profile Optional include_media direct media links, fetched in parallel One row per post, keyed by shortcode Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML API access, webhooks, scheduling, LLM-ready output for MCP

How to use Instagram Profile Posts Scraper

1. Create a free Apify account.
2. Open Instagram Profile Posts Scraper in Apify Console.
3. Paste one or more public profile URLs or @handles into Instagram profiles, one per line.
4. Set Max posts per profile (default 20).
5. Optional: turn on Include media URLs to add direct video/image download links (billed at a higher rate).
6. Click Save & Start.
7. Download the results in JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML from the Storage tab.

Input

Give it a list of profiles; each one contributes its own posts to the dataset. For each profile the Actor reads the newest posts first and stops at your cap.

• profiles — public profile URLs, @handles, plain handles, or numeric IDs.
• max_posts — how many recent posts to return per profile (default 20).
• include_media — when true, add direct media links (video_url, image_url, carousel_media) to every post. These are fetched in parallel and are time-limited, so download them soon after the run. This adds one request per post and is billed as a separate media-included event.

Example input

{
  "profiles": ["https://www.instagram.com/markruffalo/", "@markruffalo"],
  "max_posts": 40,
  "include_media": true
}

See the Input tab above for every parameter.

Output

Results land in a dataset under the Storage tab. Three built-in views are included: Overview, Media, and Captions. Download in JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML, or pull them via the API.

{
  "id": "3978139377163268513",
  "shortcode": "Dc1MK-6z3Gh",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc1MK-6z3Gh/",
  "caption": "The fight is on. Meet Judy on November 13 in #BeingHeumann on @AppleTV. #BeingHuemann",
  "media_type": 2,
  "media_type_name": "video",
  "product_type": "clips",
  "is_video": true,
  "is_carousel": false,
  "carousel_media_count": 0,
  "display_url": "https://scontent-mrs2-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/791844615_18616681111063829_14811162466_n.jpg",
  "video_url": "https://instagram.fdel1-5.fna.fbcdn.net/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/....mp4?oh=...&oe=...",
  "accessibility_caption": "Video by Mark Ruffalo on September 03, 2026. May be an image of poster, magazine and text.",
  "owner_id": "17841401914858621",
  "owner_pk": "1191807828",
  "owner_username": "markruffalo",
  "scraped_at": "2026-09-17T13:33:33Z"
}

Field names are lowercase snake_case, and the input keys match them. The caption above is abbreviated for readability — the dataset contains the full text. video_url, image_url, and carousel_media are only present when Include media URLs is on.

What can you do with the data?

1. Monitor a competitor's content

1. Run the Actor over a list of competitor handles.
2. Use the Overview view to see media mix and product types per profile.
3. Schedule a weekly run and compare which formats they post most.

2. Build a caption / hashtag corpus

1. Run the Actor with a higher max_posts.
2. Open the Captions view and export to CSV or JSON.
3. Feed the captions into keyword, sentiment, or topic analysis.

3. Collect and download media

1. Run the Actor over the profiles you care about with Include media URLs on.
2. Use the Media view to filter videos and carousels and read the direct video_url / image_url links.
3. Download the files promptly — the links are time-limited — or keep display_url for thumbnails and url for permalinks.

How much does Instagram Profile Posts Scraper cost?

This Actor is billed per post returned (pay-per-event) on top of standard Apify platform usage. A run over 10 profiles at 20 posts each is billed as up to 200 results; profiles with fewer posts than the cap are billed for what they return.

Turning on Include media URLs adds a separate media-included event, charged once per post whose media was fetched. It is priced separately from the base result event, so media-enabled runs are billed at a higher rate than metadata-only runs. Leave it off if you only need captions and thumbnails.

See the Pricing tab for current rates and your plan's discounts.

FAQ

Do I need an Instagram account, cookies, or an API key? No. The Actor reads publicly available posts, so no login or credentials are required.

Can it scrape private profiles? No. Only public profiles have a readable feed; private or restricted profiles are reported in the run log and skipped.

How many posts can I get per profile? Up to max_posts (default 20). Set it higher for more history; large values take longer and are billed per post returned.

Why are there no like, comment, or date fields? Instagram does not expose engagement counts or post timestamps to visitors who are not logged in, so the Actor returns the fields that are publicly available: caption, media type, media URLs, shortcode, and owner. The alt text (accessibility_caption) often mentions the post date.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram? The Actor returns public data only. Review Apify's legal and ethical scraping guidance and the terms that apply to your use case.

Can I use it with the API, SDKs, or MCP? Yes — see the API tab above, or connect through the Apify MCP server.

A media link fails with "DNS address could not be found". It shouldn't: media links are rewritten to the generic dual-stack host scontent.xx.fbcdn.net, which resolves on IPv4-only networks. If you still hit it, re-run the Actor for a fresh link and report it.

A profile is missing from the results. That profile is logged with the reason (for example, it does not exist, is private, or was temporarily throttled). The rest of the run continues; re-run just that profile if needed.

Notes and limitations

• No timestamps or engagement. Instagram does not expose post dates, like counts, or comment counts to visitors who are not logged in, so those fields are not produced. accessibility_caption frequently contains a human-readable date.
• Direct media links are optional and time-limited. With Include media URLs on, video_url, audio_url, and carousel_media point at Instagram's CDN and expire within roughly a day or two. Download them soon after the run instead of storing the links long-term. Media links are public (no cookies needed) while valid.
• A media link may land on an IPv6-only CDN node. Instagram picks the CDN host per request, and occasionally returns a host that publishes only an IPv6 address. Because the URL signature lives in the query (not the host), the Actor rewrites the host of every media link to the generic dual-stack host scontent.xx.fbcdn.net while keeping the path and signature intact, so video_url, audio_url, and image_url open on IPv4-only networks too.
• display_url is a time-limited image link. Download the files soon after the run if you need to keep them.
• carousel_media_count is 0 for non-carousel posts; per-item carousel links are returned in carousel_media only when Include media URLs is on.
• Include media URLs adds one request per post; runs take noticeably longer and are billed at a higher rate.
• Raising max_posts increases the number of requests per profile and the run time.
• Post, reel, or story URLs are rejected as profile input with a clear error for that entry.

Support

Found a bug or have feedback? Open an issue in the Issues tab.