Instagram User Search Scraper

What is Instagram User Search Scraper?

Instagram User Search Scraper finds public Instagram accounts that match a keyword, such as fitness coach or vegan bakery london, and returns one row per account. Each row has the username, name, bio, follower, following and post counts, verified, business and creator flags, Instagram category, bio links, and any email or phone number written in the public bio. Marketers, agencies, recruiters and AI agents use it to turn a niche phrase into a filtered list of accounts to contact, with no Instagram login or cookies.

Why marketers use it to build creator and lead lists

• Audience-size bands. minimumFollowers and maximumFollowers keep only accounts in the range you want, such as 10,000–100,000 for micro-influencers.
• Account-type filters. Keep only business, creator (professional) or personal accounts, and only verified ones if you need them.
• Filters before billing. Accounts outside your filters are dropped before they are saved, so they cost nothing.
• Contacts from the bio. Emails and phone numbers written in the public bio or bio links are pulled into their own fields.
• Many keywords, one clean list. Each keyword is searched separately and duplicate accounts across keywords are removed.

How to use it

Micro-influencers in a niche:

{
  "searchQueries": ["fitness coach", "personal trainer"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "minimumFollowers": 10000,
  "maximumFollowers": 100000,
  "accountType": "professional"
}

Local businesses with contact details:

{
  "searchQueries": ["vegan bakery london"],
  "accountType": "business",
  "parseContacts": true,
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 30
}

Input	What it controls
searchQueries	Plain keyword phrases, one per entry; hashtags and URLs are best left out
maxResultsPerQuery	Accounts per keyword, from 1 to 100 (default 20)
maxResults	Total accounts across all keywords, from 1 to 1,000 (default 200)
minimumFollowers, maximumFollowers	Audience-size band; 0 means no limit
verifiedOnly	Keep only verified accounts
accountType	any, personal, business or professional (creator)
includePrivateProfiles	Also keep private accounts, which show little public data (default off)
parseContacts	Pull emails and phone numbers out of the bio and bio links (default on)

Output: Instagram account data you receive

One dataset row is one public Instagram account. This row has the exact structure of a real result for fitness coach; the username, name, bio text and links are replaced with placeholders to protect the person's privacy.

{
  "userId": "288249236",
  "username": "example.coach",
  "fullName": "Example Coach",
  "biography": "Certified fitness coach · online programs · owner of an activewear brand",
  "followerCount": 55956,
  "followingCount": 2058,
  "mediaCount": 12,
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "isBusinessAccount": false,
  "isProfessionalAccount": true,
  "category": "Athlete",
  "externalUrl": "https://linktr.ee/example.coach",
  "bioLinks": [{ "url": "https://linktr.ee/example.coach", "title": null }],
  "email": null,
  "phone": null,
  "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/example.coach/",
  "matchedQuery": "fitness coach",
  "position": 1,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-30T07:15:21.630Z"
}

Field	What it contains
followerCount, followingCount, mediaCount	Audience size, accounts followed and number of posts
isVerified, isBusinessAccount, isProfessionalAccount, category	Account type and Instagram category, such as Athlete or Bakery
externalUrl, bioLinks	Website and all links shown in the bio
email, phone	Contact details found in the public bio text or bio links, or null
matchedQuery, position	Which keyword found the account, and where it ranked

Example workflow: a micro-influencer shortlist

A DTC supplement brand wants 50 fitness creators with a follower count between 10,000 and 100,000. The team searches fitness coach, personal trainer and home workouts with that follower band and accountType: "professional". They sort by followerCount, keep accounts whose category fits, then pass the usernames to Instagram Fake Follower Auditor to check audience quality before outreach. Accounts with an email go straight into the outreach sheet.

Pricing

This Actor uses Pay per event. Apify platform usage is included in the event prices, so you pay one event per account saved plus one start event per run. Accounts removed by your filters are free. The live Pricing tab on this page shows the current price.

• 3 keywords × 20 accounts = up to 60 account events + 1 start event.
• A follower band that keeps 25 of 60 matches = 25 account events + 1 start event.
• maxResults caps the whole run, so it doubles as a cost ceiling.

Account search with AI agents (MCP)

Connect this Actor to an AI agent through Apify MCP and ask in plain language:

Find 30 public Instagram fitness coaches whose follower count is between 10,000 and 100,000. Return username, follower count, category, bio link and any email, and tell me the run outcome.

Agent checklist:

1. Put the niche in searchQueries as plain phrases, and set the follower band and accountType from the request.
2. Read rows with get-dataset-items, then read OUTPUT.outcome and OUTPUT.queryCoverage to see how each keyword did.
3. Keep profileUrl as the stable link for each account.

API example

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~instagram-user-search-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQueries": ["fitness coach"], "maxResultsPerQuery": 20, "minimumFollowers": 10000}'

Related Instagram tools from the same developer

Your next step	Use	Why
When you want creators ranked by engagement for a topic	Instagram Niche Influencer Finder	A shortlist scored on recent-post engagement
When you want to verify an account before a partnership	Instagram Fake Follower Auditor	An explainable audience-quality score
When you then want full profiles with recent posts	Instagram Profile Scraper	Profile, recent posts and parsed contacts by username
When you want the followers of an account	Instagram Followers Scraper	The follower or following list
When you start from a hashtag	Instagram Hashtag Posts Scraper	Posts and Reels under a tag, with authors

Best results

Starting situation	Helpful action	Expected outcome
A broad niche	Use 3–5 specific phrases instead of one general word	More relevant, deduplicated accounts
Local businesses	Include the city in the phrase, such as dentist austin	Accounts from that area
Influencer tiers	Set both follower limits	One audience-size band
Contact-led outreach	Keep parseContacts on and filter rows with an email	Accounts you can email directly

Builder's note

I found that keyword lists are only useful after filtering, so follower bands, account type and verified status are applied before a row is saved and billed. I learned that many business and creator accounts put an email or phone in the bio, so the Actor pulls those into their own fields instead of leaving them inside the bio text.

FAQ

How many accounts does one keyword return?

Up to 100 with maxResultsPerQuery. Several specific phrases usually return more relevant accounts than one broad word.

Does it find emails for every account?

Only when the account shows an email or phone in its public bio or bio links.

Can I search by hashtag?

Use plain phrases here. For posts under a hashtag, use Instagram Hashtag Posts Scraper.

Do I need an Instagram account?

No. The Actor reads public data only and needs no login.

What does professional mean in accountType?

Creator and professional accounts, the type many creators use. business keeps business accounts and personal keeps regular accounts.

Responsible use

This Actor collects public Instagram account data, including names, bios and any contact details people published, which is personal data protected by laws such as the GDPR and CCPA. Use it only with a lawful basis, honor opt-outs before any outreach, keep data no longer than you need, and respect Instagram's terms. Read Apify's guide on whether web scraping is legal for more context. Instagram is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc. This independent Actor is not affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by Meta. For questions or bugs, open a ticket in the Issues tab.