Instagram Following Filter - Discover Who Influencers Trust 2026

Scrape AND filter who any Instagram account follows. See who influencers, brands, and competitors trust - filtered to show only the accounts that match your criteria.

No Login Required

Your Instagram account stays safe. This Actor:

• Does NOT require your Instagram login or cookies
• Uses our own infrastructure to fetch data
• Zero risk of account suspension for you
• Works with any public Instagram profile

Unlike browser extensions or tools that use your account, we handle all scraping server-side. Your credentials are never needed.

Why Use Filtered Following Scraping?

Basic scraper: Returns ALL accounts someone follows (hundreds of random profiles)

This Actor: Returns ONLY accounts matching your filters (the quality connections that matter)

Why Analyze Following Lists?

The accounts someone follows reveal:

• Influencers they admire (potential partnership targets)
• Brands they trust (competitor insights)
• Industry leaders (key accounts in your niche)
• Hidden gems (quality accounts before they blow up)

Important: Processing Time

Filtered scraping takes longer than basic scraping because:

1. First, we scrape the raw following list from the target account
2. Then, we enrich EACH user with their full profile data
3. Finally, we apply your filters to return only matching users

Scale	First Results	Complete Results
Filter 500 users	8-12 min	15-25 min
Filter 1,000 users	12-18 min	25-40 min
Filter 2,000+ users	20-30 min	45-75 min

Your data is safe! Streaming mode saves filtered results to the dataset every 60 seconds.

Input - Filter Options

Filter	Type	Default	Description
username	String	required	Target Instagram account to analyze
limit	Number	1000	Maximum accounts to process
minFollowers	Number	-	Minimum follower count
maxFollowers	Number	-	Maximum follower count
verifiedOnly	Boolean	false	Only return verified accounts
businessOnly	Boolean	false	Only return Business or Creator accounts
hasEmail	Boolean	false	Only return users with a public email
hasWebsite	Boolean	false	Only return users with a website
minPosts	Number	-	Minimum number of posts

Example: Find Influencers That Top Creators Follow

{
  "username": "top_fitness_creator",
  "limit": 500,
  "minFollowers": 50000,
  "businessOnly": true
}

Example: Discover Rising Stars (Accounts Followed by Industry Leaders)

{
  "username": "industry_leader",
  "limit": 1000,
  "minFollowers": 10000,
  "maxFollowers": 100000,
  "minPosts": 20
}

Example: Find Contactable Brands

{
  "username": "competitor",
  "limit": 500,
  "hasEmail": true,
  "businessOnly": true,
  "minFollowers": 5000
}

Output

Each filtered account includes enriched profile data:

{
  "position": 1,
  "userId": "98765432101",
  "username": "trusted_brand",
  "fullName": "Trusted Brand Co",
  "biography": "Premium quality products since 2015",
  "email": "partnerships@trustedbrand.com",
  "website": "https://trustedbrand.com",
  "followers": 125000,
  "following": 450,
  "postsCount": 892,
  "isBusiness": true,
  "isVerified": true,
  "accountType": "business",
  "category": "Product/Service",
  "engagementRate": 2.8,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z"
}

Use Cases

Goal	Recommended Filters
Find Industry Leaders	verifiedOnly: true, minFollowers: 100000
Discover Rising Influencers	minFollowers: 10000, maxFollowers: 100000, businessOnly: true
Partnership Research	hasEmail: true, minFollowers: 25000
Competitor Network Analysis	businessOnly: true, minFollowers: 5000
Niche Account Discovery	minPosts: 50, minFollowers: 1000

Streaming Mode

Data is automatically saved to the dataset every 60 seconds. Benefits:

• No data loss if the run is interrupted
• Monitor progress in real-time via the Apify console
• Export partial results before the run completes

Integrations

Export your data to:

• Google Sheets - Direct integration, auto-sync results
• Zapier / Make (Integromat) - Trigger workflows when scrape completes
• Webhooks - Get real-time notifications
• API - Programmatic access via Apify API
• Download - JSON / CSV / Excel files

FAQ

Why analyze who someone follows instead of their followers?

Following lists are curated. Unlike followers (which anyone can become), the accounts someone chooses to follow represent conscious decisions. This makes following lists more valuable for discovering quality, trusted accounts.

Why does filtered scraping take longer?

To filter by metrics like "minFollowers" or "hasEmail", we need to fetch the full profile of each account. This enrichment is what enables powerful filtering but requires additional processing time.

Can I analyze private accounts?

No. Only public accounts' following lists can be scraped.

How do I find a competitor's network?

Set the competitor's username, use businessOnly: true and minFollowers: 1000 to see the quality brands and creators they follow.

Support

Telegram: @taskforceorange

Need Custom Solutions?

Looking for custom scraping, higher limits, or dedicated infrastructure?

📩 Contact us:

• Telegram: @taskforceorange
• Website: socialswarm.com

We offer:

• Custom actor development
• Enterprise-grade scraping solutions
• Dedicated proxy infrastructure
• White-label integrations
• Priority support

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