Instagram Posts Scraper: Likes, Comments & Dates

Get the posts of a public Instagram profile, newest first, each with its like count, comment count and exact date and time, plus the caption, hashtags, mentions, images, videos, tagged accounts, collaborators, place and the first comments, with the profile's followers and bio on every row. Paste profile links or just usernames. No Instagram account needed.

Tested daily. Latest check: 80 posts from two profiles in under 3 minutes, every one with its exact date and comment count.

What does this Actor do?

You give it Instagram profiles. For each one it reads the profile's grid from the newest post back, and saves one row per post until it reaches your limit, your date, or the profile's first post.

Each post comes with:

• its link, caption and exact date, and whether the caption was edited
• its like count and comment count (or a flag when the author hid the likes)
• whether it is an image, a video or a carousel, with the image and video links, each slide of a carousel, and the image description
• the hashtags and accounts named in its caption
• the accounts tagged in it, its collaborators and its place
• the sound on a reel, and Instagram's related topics
• the first comments shown under it, with their likes and authors
• the author's username, name, id, picture and verified badge
• the profile's followers, following, post count, bio, links and highlights

Why use it?

• Counts on every post. Every row has the post's like and comment count and its exact time, not just the day.
• Collaboration posts included. Posts another account made together with the profile appear on its grid, and come with their real author and every collaborator.
• Track a brand, a creator or a competitor. See what they post, how each post does, and how many followers they have.
• Monitor new posts. Run it daily with Only posts newer than set to 1 day.
• Use the data anywhere. Download as JSON, CSV or Excel, or send it to your own tools through Apify's API and integrations.

How to use it

1. Paste one or more profiles into Profile links or usernames: https://www.instagram.com/nasa/, instagram.com/nasa, @nasa or nasa all work.
2. Optionally, set Only posts newer than and Max posts per profile.
3. Click Start. When the run ends, open the Output tab to view the posts or download them.

A link to a single post, a reel, a hashtag or a place is not supported: paste the profile's link or username instead. Put one profile on each line of the list.

Run it with no input to see a sample: up to 20 posts from NASA's profile, charged as usual.

Input

Field	What it does	Default
Profile links or usernames (startUrls)	The profiles to read. Required.	—
Only posts newer than (onlyPostsNewerThan)	A date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC) or a period (7 days, 2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year). Empty = the whole history	empty
Max posts per profile (maxPostsPerProfile)	Stop reading a profile after this many posts, from 1 to 10,000	50

Example input:

{
  "startUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/nasa/", "natgeo"],
  "onlyPostsNewerThan": "30 days",
  "maxPostsPerProfile": 200
}

Output

One row per post. An example, with made-up values:

{
  "post_id": "3700000000000000001",
  "post_code": "DAbCdEfGhIj",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DAbCdEfGhIj/",
  "caption": "Our new launch is live today 🚀 #launch #design with @example.partner",
  "caption_is_edited": false,
  "posted_at": "2026-10-13T18:28:06.000Z",
  "like_count": 4176,
  "comment_count": 89,
  "like_counts_hidden": false,
  "media_type": "carousel",
  "product_type": "carousel_container",
  "hashtags": ["launch", "design"],
  "mentions": ["example.partner"],
  "image_url": "https://…/1.jpg",
  "image_width": null,
  "image_height": null,
  "video_url": null,
  "video_duration": null,
  "audio_url": null,
  "has_audio": null,
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1350,
  "alt_text": "Photo by Example Brand on October 13, 2026. May be an image of a shoe.",
  "carousel_media_count": 2,
  "carousel_media": [
    {
      "media_id": "3700000000000000002",
      "media_type": "image",
      "image_url": "https://…/1.jpg",
      "image_width": null,
      "image_height": null,
      "video_url": null,
      "video_duration": null,
      "audio_url": null,
      "has_audio": null,
      "width": 1080,
      "height": 1350,
      "alt_text": "A shoe",
      "tagged_users": []
    },
    {
      "media_id": "3700000000000000003",
      "media_type": "video",
      "image_url": "https://…/2.jpg",
      "image_width": 720,
      "image_height": 1280,
      "video_url": "https://…/2.mp4",
      "video_duration": 9.5,
      "audio_url": "https://…/2-audio.mp4",
      "has_audio": true,
      "width": 1080,
      "height": 1920,
      "alt_text": null,
      "tagged_users": []
    }
  ],
  "tagged_users": [
    {
      "username": "example.partner",
      "full_name": "Example Partner",
      "id": "70000000002",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://…/p.jpg",
      "x": 0.25,
      "y": 0.75
    }
  ],
  "coauthors": [
    {
      "username": "example.partner",
      "full_name": "Example Partner",
      "id": "70000000002",
      "is_verified": true,
      "profile_pic_url": "https://…/p.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "location_name": "Example Store",
  "location_id": "213000001",
  "location_lat": 40.7,
  "location_lng": -74.0,
  "audio_id": null,
  "audio_title": null,
  "audio_artist_username": null,
  "audio_artist_id": null,
  "audio_is_explicit": null,
  "audio_is_trending": null,
  "audio_is_muted": null,
  "audio_muted_reason": null,
  "uses_original_audio": null,
  "related_topics": ["Sneakers"],
  "first_comments": [
    {
      "comment_id": "17900000000000001",
      "text": "Love it",
      "gif_url": null,
      "posted_at": "2026-10-13T18:40:00.000Z",
      "like_count": 3,
      "username": "a.fan",
      "user_id": "70000000003",
      "user_is_verified": false,
      "user_profile_pic_url": "https://…/f.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "author_username": "example.brand",
  "author_full_name": "Example Brand",
  "author_id": "70000000001",
  "author_graph_id": "17841400000000001",
  "author_is_verified": true,
  "author_profile_pic_url": "https://…/avatar.jpg",
  "profile_username": "example.brand",
  "profile_id": "70000000001",
  "profile_graph_id": "17841400000000001",
  "profile_full_name": "Example Brand",
  "profile_biography": "Making things people like.",
  "profile_bio_links": [{ "url": "https://example.com", "title": "Shop", "type": "external" }],
  "profile_follower_count": 48210,
  "profile_following_count": 120,
  "profile_post_count": 312,
  "profile_is_verified": true,
  "profile_is_memorialized": false,
  "profile_latest_story_at": "2026-10-13T09:00:00.000Z",
  "profile_pic_url": "https://…/avatar.jpg",
  "profile_threads_badge": "example.brand",
  "profile_highlights": [
    { "id": "18000000000000001", "title": "New in", "cover_url": "https://…/h.jpg" }
  ],
  "source_url": "https://www.instagram.com/example.brand/"
}

Field	What it holds
post_id	Instagram's id for the post
post_code	The short code in the post's link
url	The post's page
caption	The caption. null for a post without one
caption_is_edited	true when the author edited the caption
posted_at	When it was posted (UTC, ISO 8601)
like_count	Likes. null when the author hid them
comment_count	Comments
like_counts_hidden	true when the author hid the post's like count
media_type	image, video or carousel
product_type	Instagram's kind of post: feed, clips (a reel) or carousel_container
hashtags	The hashtags in the caption, without #
mentions	The accounts named in the caption, without @
image_url	The post's image at its largest size (a video's cover image)
image_width, image_height	For a video, the size of image_url in pixels (Instagram gives no size for a photo's image)
video_url	The post's video, when it is one
video_duration	For a video, its length in seconds
audio_url	For a video with sound, its sound as a separate audio file
has_audio	For a video, whether it has sound
width, height	The size the post's image or video was uploaded at, in pixels
alt_text	The image description Instagram gives the post
carousel_media_count	How many slides a carousel has
carousel_media	Each slide: media_id, media_type, image_url, image_width, image_height, video_url, video_duration, audio_url, has_audio, width, height, alt_text, tagged_users
tagged_users	The accounts tagged in the image: username, full_name, id, is_verified, profile_pic_url, and where (x, y)
coauthors	The post's collaborators: username, full_name, id, is_verified, profile_pic_url
location_name, location_id	The place tagged on the post
location_lat, location_lng	That place's coordinates
audio_id, audio_title, audio_artist_username	A reel's original sound
audio_artist_id	Instagram's id for the account whose sound it is
audio_is_explicit, audio_is_trending	Instagram's flags on that sound
audio_is_muted, audio_muted_reason	For a reel, whether Instagram mutes its sound, and the reason it gives
uses_original_audio	For a reel, true when its sound is its own, false when it is set to a song from Instagram's music library
related_topics	The related topics Instagram shows under the post
first_comments	The comments Instagram shows first under the post, each with its text or GIF, date, likes and author
author_username, author_full_name	The author's username and display name
author_id	Instagram's id for the author
author_graph_id	Instagram's other id for the author (the one its Graph API uses)
author_is_verified	true when the author has the verified badge
author_profile_pic_url	The author's profile picture
profile_username, profile_id	The profile this post was read from (the author, unless it is a collaboration)
profile_graph_id	Instagram's other id for that profile
profile_full_name, profile_biography	That profile's name and bio
profile_bio_links	The links on the profile: url, title and type for each
profile_follower_count, profile_following_count	The profile's followers and following when it was read
profile_post_count	The post count the profile shows; null when Instagram shows it rounded or not in English
profile_is_verified	true when the profile has the verified badge
profile_is_memorialized	true for a memorialized account
profile_latest_story_at	When the profile last posted a story, if it has one up
profile_pic_url	The profile's picture
profile_threads_badge	The profile's Threads username, when it shows one
profile_highlights	The profile's story highlights: id, title and cover_url
source_url	The profile link this post was read from

Not included: view and play counts, whether a post is pinned, the rest of a post's comments, stories, and the contents of highlights.

How much does it cost?

No surcharges and no paid options; an item that fails is not charged.

You pay for what you get:

• $2 per 1,000 posts ($0.002 a post). Each post is charged once per run.
• No start fee, and nothing per profile.

So 100 posts from each of 5 profiles cost $1. If you set a maximum cost for a run, the Actor stops when it reaches it and keeps every post saved so far.

How long does a run take?

About 30 posts a minute: 80 posts from two profiles took under 3 minutes.

Good to know

• Pinned posts come first. A profile's pinned posts open its grid whatever their date. With Only posts newer than set, an older pinned post is left out.
• Collaborations are on the grid. A post another account made together with the profile is part of the profile's grid, so it is a row: its author_username is that account, and profile_username is the profile you asked for.
• Hidden likes are not a count. When an author hides a post's likes, like_count is null and like_counts_hidden is true.
• Check your input first. A link that is not an Instagram profile stops the run before anything is read, and the message names it.
• One profile that cannot be read does not stop the run. A profile that does not exist ends with a message, the others carry on, and the run's status lists the profiles that could not be read. Such a profile is tried a few times before it is given up, which can add a minute or two to the run. A private profile shows no posts and ends with none.
• Some posts are skipped. A post Instagram shows only to signed-in visitors, and a post deleted while the run reads the profile, give no row.
• Counts move. Likes, comments and followers are the numbers at the moment the post was read.

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Use it from an AI agent or the API

One call starts a run and returns its items (Apify waits up to 300 seconds; for a longer run, start it with POST /v2/acts/…/runs and read its dataset):

POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/luzivanlt~instagram-posts-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>

With the sample input as its JSON body:

{
  "startUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/nasa/"],
  "maxPostsPerProfile": 20
}

Its inputs, in the order of the input form:

Input	What it takes	Default
startUrls (Profile links or usernames)	Public Instagram profiles to read: links such as https://www.instagram.com/nasa/ (instagram.com/nasa, m.instagram.com and a profile's /reels/ tab work too), or just the username (nasa or @nasa).	—
onlyPostsNewerThan (Only posts newer than)	Keep only posts from this date on: a date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC) or a period such as "7 days", "2 weeks", "3 months" or "1 year".	—
maxPostsPerProfile (Max posts per profile)	Stop reading a profile after this many posts.	50

Apify's MCP server, https://mcp.apify.com, lists it as luzivanlt/instagram-posts-scraper. To give an AI agent this Actor as a tool, add the server to the agent's MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=luzivanlt/instagram-posts-scraper"
    }
  }
}

The client signs in with OAuth, or add "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>" }.

Charged per post delivered; the sample input above costs at most $0.04.

FAQ

Do I need an Instagram account? No. The Actor reads what anyone can see on a public Instagram profile.

Can it read private profiles? No, only public ones.

Can I search Instagram by hashtag or place? Not yet: this Actor reads profiles.

Can I run it from my own code, on a schedule, or with other apps? Yes. Like any Apify Actor, you can start it through the Apify API, run it on a schedule, and connect it to other apps with Apify's integrations and webhooks.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram?

This Actor reads only public posts that anyone can see. Posts, comments and profiles hold personal data, such as names, ids and pictures: check Meta's terms and the laws that apply to you (such as the GDPR) before you use the data. If you are unsure, ask a lawyer.

Support

Found a problem or missing a feature? Open an issue on the Issues tab and include the run's link.

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This Actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.