Fast Instagram hashtags Scraper

This Actor scrapes public Instagram hashtag popular pages. It runs in no‑login mode, which makes it fast to start and easy to use for analytics, research, and content monitoring workflows.

How to run it in the Apify Console

1. Open the Actor page and click Try for free / Run.
2. In Input, paste one or more hashtag keywords.
3. Set how many posts to scrape per hashtag (postsPerHashtags).
4. After the run finishes, open the Dataset to view results and export to JSON / CSV / Excel.

Input parameters

hashtags (required)

Accepts either a plain hashtag keyword or a #keyword:

travel
#travel

Notes:

• Empty lines are ignored and inputs are de‑duplicated
• Invalid inputs are reported in logs (they do not automatically fail the whole run)

postsPerHashtags

Maximum number of posts to scrape per hashtag.

• Minimum: 5
• Default: 12
• If a hashtag has fewer available posts (or Instagram limits access), the actual output will be lower

input json example

{
  "hashtags": ["youtube", "#furniture", "travel"],
  "postsPerHashtags": 10
}

Output (Dataset)

Results are stored in the default Dataset (default).

Field reference

Each hashtag post is stored as one Dataset item with a stable post-detail-like schema.

Core fields

Field	Type	Notes
id	string | null	Instagram media id.
pk	string | null	Instagram primary key.
shortcode	string | null	Public shortcode used to build URL.
url	string | null	Canonical post/reel URL.
from_url	string | null	Source hashtag page URL (/popular/{hashtag}/).
crawled_at	string | null	Crawl timestamp in UTC ISO format.

Content and actor fields

Field	Type	Notes
caption	string | null	Caption text (best effort).
hashtags	string[]	Hashtags extracted from caption.
mentions	string[]	Mentions extracted from caption/usertags.
tagged_user	object[]	Simplified tagged users.
comments	object[]	Parent comments from post detail when available.
owner	object | null	Owner summary (id, username, profile_pic_url, etc.).
location	object | string | null	Location data when available.
status	number | null	Present on restricted/transient fallback records (for example 572).
message	string | null	Short fallback reason text.

Media fields

Field	Type	Notes
image	string | null	Cover image URL.
is_video	boolean | null	Media type flag.
video_url	string | null	Playable video URL.
has_audio	boolean | null	Video audio flag.
video_duration	number | null	Video duration in seconds.
accessibility_caption	string | null	Accessibility caption.
dimensions	object | null	{ "width": number|null, "height": number|null } or null when unknown.
product_type	string | null	Media/product type (for example clips).
clips_music_attribution_info	object | null	Music attribution info for clips.
coauthor_producers	array | null	Co-author list (empty or populated).
taken_at	string | null	Original post timestamp in UTC ISO format.

Engagement and flags

Field	Type	Notes
comment_count	number | null	Comment count.
like_count	number | null	Like count.
play_count	number | null	Play count.
view_count	number | null	View count.
is_ad	boolean | null	Whether the post is ad content.
is_affiliate	boolean | null	Affiliate indicator.
is_paid_partnership	boolean | null	Paid partnership indicator.
is_published	boolean | null	Published flag.

Example item

Fields may vary slightly depending on Instagram responses:

{
  "id": "3847167235685798934",
  "pk": "3847167235685798934",
  "is_video": true,
  "video_url": "https://sconten..oe=69B3232F",
  "has_audio": true,
  "video_duration": 8.103,
  "accessibility_caption": null,
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": ["@bts.bighitofficial"],
  "tagged_user": [
    {
      "full_name": "BTS official",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "2274763833",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent..4041&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "bts.bighitofficial"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google India",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "8536113897",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-l...c_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindia"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google Indonesia",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "44378210506",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7..F9&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindonesia"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google en Español",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "48967006444",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax..c_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleespanol"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google Japan / グーグル・ジャパン",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "45157324866",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7..NTKIIoBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_Afy7_nxWep6lYlwcDSxLpVuWSSULtqQxWpL92A-kd_F73A&oe=69B34CB7&_nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googlejapan"
    },
    {
      "full_name": "Google France",
      "followed_by_viewer": false,
      "id": "74161638136",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7...id=d885a2",
      "username": "googlefrance"
    }
  ],
  "caption": "@bts.bighitofficial fans, have you seen what happens when you search “BTS” yet? 👀 Something special is waiting for you.\n\n구글에 “BTS”를 검색하면 어떤 일이 일어나는 지 알고 계시나요? 👀 특별한 경험이 기다리고 있습니다!\n\nBTS ファンの皆さん、Google で「BTS」と検索すると何が起きるか、もうチェックしましたか？👀 今なら、とっておきのサプライズが待っていますよ！",
  "comment_count": 5550,
  "like_count": 261079,
  "play_count": 6338210,
  "view_count": 1897124,
  "taken_at": "2026-03-06T23:04:38Z",
  "is_ad": false,
  "is_affiliate": false,
  "is_paid_partnership": false,
  "is_published": true,
  "location": null,
  "from_url": "https://www.instagram.com/popular/google/",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVj4je6ktQW/",
  "crawled_at": "2026-03-08T12:33:04.461569Z",
  "comments": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "text": "...",
      "created_at": 1529249418,
      "did_report_as_spam": false,
      "owner": {
        "id": "...",
        "is_verified": false,
        "profile_pic_url": "https://scont...",
        "username": ".."
      },
      "viewer_has_liked": false,
      "like_count": 0,
      "is_restricted_pending": false
    }
  ],
  "image": "https://scontent-lax..c_sid=d885a2",
  "shortcode": "DVj4je6ktQW",
  "product_type": "clips",
  "clips_music_attribution_info": {
    "artist_name": "google",
    "song_name": "Original audio",
    "uses_original_audio": true,
    "should_mute_audio": false,
    "should_mute_audio_reason": "",
    "audio_id": "33977498751893623"
  },
  "owner": {
    "id": "1067259270",
    "username": "google",
    "is_verified": true,
    "profile_pic_url": "https://sconte..9B33AE9&_nc_sid=d885a2",
    "blocked_by_viewer": false,
    "restricted_by_viewer": null,
    "followed_by_viewer": false,
    "full_name": "Google",
    "has_blocked_viewer": false,
    "is_embeds_disabled": false,
    "is_private": false,
    "is_unpublished": false,
    "requested_by_viewer": false,
    "pass_tiering_recommendation": true,
    "post_count": 3137,
    "followers": 15742809
  },
  "coauthor_producers": [
    {
      "id": "8536113897",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7-..._sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindia"
    },
    {
      "id": "45157324866",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-la..._nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googlejapan"
    },
    {
      "id": "48967006444",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-..._nc_sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleespanol"
    },
    {
      "id": "44378210506",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-lax7-...sid=d885a2",
      "username": "googleindonesia"
    }
  ]
}

Need other Instagram data?

Use dedicated Actors for other Instagram data types:

• Instagram Posts Scraper: All-in-one
• Instagram Profile Scraper
• Instagram Profile Posts Scraper
• Instagram Tagged Posts Scraper
• Instagram Reels Scraper

FAQ

1) Why is the Dataset empty / much smaller than expected?

The hashtag has no available posts, not enough posts, or Instagram is limiting access

2) What does restricted_profile mean?

A hashtag query can still be limited for anonymous (no-login) access. Instagram may gate some popular-search endpoints unless a logged-in session is used. When this happens, the Actor logs the restriction and skips/stops that hashtag query.

3) How does billing work for unavailable hashtags?

The Actor uses one unified charge event: restricted_profile. This event is emitted when a hashtag query cannot return posts due to:

• restricted/no-login access limits,
• invalid hashtag target,
• no posts found for that hashtag.

Limitations & recommendations

• Data scope: this Actor is optimized for hashtag popular-page post-level data.
• No-login access limits: this Actor runs without an Instagram login by default. Some hashtag endpoints may be unavailable in no-login mode.
• Compliance: make sure your usage complies with Instagram’s terms and your local laws, and only collect data you have the right to use.