Instagram Username Checker · Taken or Available

Instagram username checker: taken or available, in bulk

Paste username ideas and see at once which are taken — with the account behind each — and which are free.

• ✅ Available usernames are free — you pay only for taken ones.
• 👤 Who has it — name, followers, posts, private and verified flags of the account.
• 📋 Thousands at once — duplicates checked and charged once.
• 🔓 No login.

Why this one

• 🔓 No Instagram login or cookies — you paste usernames, links or keywords; your own account is never involved.
• 🧾 Free rows, not silent gaps — private, deleted or missing items come back as free rows with an error reason; duplicates are never returned or charged.
• 🧯 Your budget is a hard stop — set Maximum cost per run and the run stops at your limit (the run summary says so).
• 📊 A summary you can check — every run saves a SUMMARY record: results, free rows, what was skipped and why.
• 🚫 null, never a fake 0 — when Instagram hides a number (hidden likes, saves on photos), you see that it's missing.

Why scrape Instagram usernames?

• Brand names: check if your handle is still free before you launch.
• Bulk checks: thousands of name ideas in one run; free names cost nothing.
• Clean a list: which usernames in your sheet still exist, with followers and verification.

How to scrape Instagram usernames

1. Paste usernames or links into the input, one per line.
2. Press Start — rows stream into the Output tab while the run goes.
3. Download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or get them through the API.

Works with any public profile on Instagram — no login, no cookies, no Instagram account of yours.

No input at hand? Press Start with an empty input — you get a 3-row sample.

Input example

{
  "usernames": [
    "natgeo",
    "zalet.free.handle.2026"
  ]
}

Output example: Instagram usernames data

{
  "username": "natgeo",
  "status": "taken",
  "exists": true,
  "id": "787132",
  "fullName": "National Geographic",
  "followers": 283000000,
  "posts": 30000,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "isVerified": true,
  "isBusiness": true,
  "category": "Media/news company"
}

Each row has up to 14 fields — the Output tab describes every one of them. Fields Instagram doesn't show come as null, never as a fake 0.

Limits

• “Available” = no account uses it now; Instagram may still block some names.
• Free Apify plan: the first 100 results of each run. Any paid Apify plan gets every result — no cap.

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram usernames?

Pay per event: you pay for the rows you get, plus $0.0005 per run. No subscription to this Actor.

Apify plan	Per 1,000 taken usernames	What $5 of free credit gets you
Free	$2.50	≈ 2,000 taken usernames
Starter	$0.63	—
Business and higher	$0.44	—

Every event of this Actor on the Starter plan:

Event	What it is	Price
Taken username	Each username that belongs to an account — free usernames cost nothing	$0.63 per 1,000

Typical jobs on Starter:

• 1,000 name ideas, 600 of them taken ≈ $0.38

Always free: available usernames and duplicates. Set Maximum cost per run in the run options to cap any run.

Chain it with other Actors

Use the rows of an earlier run as the input: paste its dataset ID into Or: dataset from another run. For example, run Instagram Followers Scraper on a brand, then give its dataset to Instagram Email & Phone Scraper — you get the emails of the brand's followers. Works with the datasets of Apify's own Instagram Actors too.

Instagram usernames API: Python, n8n, Make, Zapier and AI agents

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("instagram-data-api/instagram-username-checker").call(run_input={'usernames': ['natgeo', 'zalet.free.handle.2026']})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)

n8n, Make, Zapier or any HTTP client: one request runs the Actor and returns the rows — POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/instagram-data-api~instagram-username-checker/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN with the input JSON as the body.

AI agents (MCP) — your agent gets this Actor as a tool:

• Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=instagram-data-api/instagram-username-checker"
• Claude, Cursor, VS Code, n8n: add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=instagram-data-api/instagram-username-checker as a remote MCP server and sign in to Apify.
• Ask it: “Which of these 20 brand names are still free on Instagram?” · “Check if @natgeo and @natgeo2026 are taken.”

FAQ: scraping Instagram usernames

Is “available” guaranteed? It means no account uses the name right now. Instagram may still hold some names (recently deleted or reserved accounts), so check in the app before you rely on it.

Why do I pay only for taken names? A taken name returns an account card; a free one is just a yes — we don't charge for it.

Do I need an Instagram account or cookies? No. You only paste usernames, links or keywords. Nothing to log in, nothing to install, and your own Instagram account is never involved.

What am I charged for — and what's free? Only the events in the pricing table, plus $0.0005 per run. Rows with an error field are free, and duplicates are never returned or charged. Each run's SUMMARY record shows results and free rows.

Can I cap what a run costs? Yes. Set Maximum cost per run in the run options — the run stops at your limit and SUMMARY shows stoppedAtChargeLimit: true.

Can I use it from n8n, Make, Zapier or an AI agent? Yes, like any Apify Actor: REST API, webhooks, the n8n, Make and Zapier integrations, and the Apify MCP server for Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram? We only collect what public profiles show publicly. Results can include personal data such as names, usernames or public business contacts, which laws like GDPR protect — use the data for a legitimate purpose and ask a lawyer if unsure.

For AI agents

Actor:   instagram-data-api/instagram-username-checker
Does:    Check Instagram username availability in bulk: taken or available, with followers and verification of taken ones. Free names cost nothing. No login.
Input:   {"usernames": ["natgeo", "zalet.free.handle.2026"]}
Output:  one JSON row per result, up to 14 fields; main: username, status, exists, followers, fullName, isPrivate, isVerified, message
Free:    available usernames and duplicates
Price:   event "username-checked" $0.63 per 1,000 on Starter + $0.0005 per run
Run:     POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/instagram-data-api~instagram-username-checker/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=APIFY_TOKEN

More Instagram Actors from us

Content	People	Stories
All-in-one Instagram Scraper · Reels · Posts · Post details · Reel views checker · Hashtags (coming this week) · Search (coming this week) · Transcripts (coming this week) · Tagged posts (coming this week) · Sounds (coming this week) · Locations (coming this week)	Profiles · Account age · Emails & phones · Similar · Lookalikes · Followers · Comments (coming this week) · Likers (coming this week) · Engagement rate · Username checker · User ID · Follower checker	Stories (coming this week) · Highlights (coming this week)

What changed and when — see the Changelog tab.

Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Instagram or Meta. Instagram is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.