Instagram Comment Scraper

The Instagram Comment Scraper is an Apify actor that extracts comments from Instagram posts and reels — anonymously, with no login. Point it at a post/reel URL or a username, and it returns each comment's text, author, like count, reply count, timestamp, and the parent comment ID that links replies to their thread. It runs HTTP-only through Instagram's public API, no browser required.

Use it for sentiment analysis, engagement audits, community-management triage, or competitor monitoring — exported to JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Table of contents

• What the Instagram comment scraper does
• Use cases
• How to scrape Instagram comments
• Instagram comment scraper input
• Instagram comment data output
• How much it costs
• Recommended proxies for Instagram
• Why this Instagram comment scraper
• FAQ
• Rate this actor
• Related actors

What the Instagram comment scraper does

• 💬 Comments by post or reel URL — paste a post/reel link and collect its comments up to your cap.
• 👤 Comments by username — give a handle and the scraper pulls comments across that profile's recent posts.
• 🔓 No login required — anonymous scraping through Instagram's public API, the same one the browser uses before you sign in.
• 🧵 Thread-aware — every reply carries a parent_id pointing to its parent comment's pk, so you can rebuild conversation threads.
• 📄 Flat, CSV-ready output — one comment per row, no deep nesting; open it straight in a spreadsheet.
• 🌐 HTTP-only, no browser — fast and cheap; residential proxy handles the geo/IP requirements.

Use cases

Sentiment analysis on real audience reaction — Comments carry the unfiltered response to a post in a way like counts never do. Text, author, like count, and timestamp come back structured and ready to classify.

Thread reconstruction — Each comment carries the parent comment ID that links replies to their thread, so a conversation can be rebuilt rather than flattened into an undifferentiated list — necessary if you care who was replying to whom.

Community-management triage — Point it at your own recent posts and surface the comments with the most likes or replies, which are the ones worth a response. Runs HTTP-only with no login, so it can sit on a schedule without an account to keep alive.

Competitor audience research — Reading a competitor's comment section shows what their customers ask for and complain about, and which of their posts actually provoked a conversation instead of passive likes.

How to scrape Instagram comments

1. Click Try for free and open the actor.
2. Add one or more targets — post/reel URLs, usernames, or a mix of both.
3. Set max_comments (per post) and, for usernames, max_posts (how many recent posts to walk).
4. Leave Proxy provider on Default — a residential proxy is included.
5. Click Start and watch comments stream into the dataset.
6. Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or pull from the Apify API.

Example input:

{
  "targets": ["https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbdo4gTupuE/", "nike"],
  "max_comments": 100,
  "max_posts": 5,
  "proxyProvider": "default"
}

Instagram comment scraper input

Field	Description
targets	Post/reel URLs (comments on that post) or usernames (comments on the profile's recent posts). Mix both in one run.
max_comments	Cap on comments per post. Default 50, max 1000. Instagram serves ~12–15 per API page, so larger caps mean more requests.
max_posts	When a username is given, how many recent posts to pull comments from. Default 12, max 100. Ignored for direct post URLs.
proxyProvider	default (residential proxy included), dataimpulse, apify, custom (uses proxyUrls), or disabled.
proxyUrls	Your own gateway URLs, one per entry. Only read when proxyProvider is custom.
proxy	Apify Proxy group + country, read when proxyProvider is apify. Its country also sets the exit country for the built-in providers.

Instagram comment data output

Each dataset row is one comment. Sample row:

{
  "comment": {
    "pk": "17919229620205994",
    "text": "Those are my initials too 👽",
    "created_at": "2026-08-03T02:31:51Z",
    "like_count": 0,
    "reply_count": null,
    "parent_id": null,
    "owner_username": "an_instagram_user",
    "owner_id": "16872033002",
    "owner_is_verified": false,
    "owner_profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-scl3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/..."
  },
  "post_shortcode": "Dbdo4gTupuE",
  "post_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbdo4gTupuE/",
  "owner_username": "nike",
  "scraped_at": "2026-08-03T02:35:00Z"
}

The shape above is a real captured row; the commenter's handle is replaced with a placeholder, since a private individual's username does not belong in public documentation. Post owners shown elsewhere (nike, zara) are public brand accounts.

Field	Description
comment.pk	Instagram's stable comment ID.
comment.text	The comment body.
comment.created_at	Timestamp the comment was posted.
comment.like_count	Likes on the comment.
comment.reply_count	Number of replies to the comment.
comment.parent_id	Parent comment pk for replies; null for top-level comments.
comment.owner_username, comment.owner_id	Comment author handle and user ID.
comment.owner_is_verified	Whether the author has a verified badge.
comment.owner_profile_pic_url	Author avatar URL.
post_shortcode, post_url	The post the comment belongs to.
owner_username	Handle of the post's owner.
scraped_at	ISO timestamp of the scrape.

How much it costs

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing — you pay for what you scrape, not for time.

Event	USD
Actor start (per GB memory)	$0.005
Comment scraped	$0.001

Typical run (default 1 GB)	Cost
1,000 comments	~$1.005
5,000 comments	~$5.01

Only successfully scraped comments are billed — blocked or failed requests cost nothing.

Recommended proxies for Instagram

A residential proxy is included — leave Proxy provider on Default. Pick Custom and paste your own gateway URLs.

👉 Get DataImpulse residential proxies (referral link)

Why this Instagram comment scraper

• No login, no credentials — anonymous public-API access; nothing to store, nothing to get flagged.
• HTTP-only — no headless browser, so runs are fast and cheap versus browser-based scrapers.
• Thread reconstruction — parent_id on every reply lets you rebuild full comment threads.
• CSV-ready flat rows — no post-processing needed for spreadsheets or BI tools.
• Open source — the underlying instagram-scraper Python package ships a Typer CLI and a FastAPI server; the Apify wrapper is a thin layer.

FAQ

Do I need an Instagram account? No. This scraper uses Instagram's anonymous public API — the same endpoints the browser hits before you log in. No credentials are required or stored, and deep comment pagination works without login.

Why is a residential proxy required? Instagram blocks datacenter IP ranges outright. Residential IPs are included by default, so there is nothing to set up.

Which proxies work best for Instagram? Residential — included by default. For your own scrapers we use DataImpulse (referral link).

How many comments can I scrape per post? Instagram serves ~12–15 comments per API page and the scraper paginates up to your max_comments cap. Posts with tens of thousands of comments can hit rate limits — start with 50–200 and scale up if stable.

Are replies included? Yes. Replies come back as separate rows with a non-null parent_id pointing to their parent comment's pk, so you can reassemble threads.

Is scraping Instagram comments legal? This actor collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for complying with Instagram's terms and applicable laws (including GDPR/CCPA). Do not collect personal data without a lawful basis.

Rate this actor ⭐

If the Instagram Comment Scraper saved you time, please leave a review on its Apify Store page — ratings help other people find it and tell us what to build next. Hit a bug or missing field? Open an issue through the actor's Issues tab and we'll fix it fast — recency and reliability are what keep this actor ranking.

Related actors

Building a full Instagram data pipeline? Pair this actor with our other scrapers — same proxy config format, same Pydantic-validated output, all open source.

• Instagram Profile Scraper — scrape public Instagram profiles: bio, follower/following counts, post counts, and profile metadata. No login required.
• TikTok Profile Scraper — scrape public TikTok profiles for cross-platform social monitoring.