# Instagram Following Scraper (`om_kh/instagram-following-scraper`) Actor

List who an Instagram profile follows, or its Instagram-suggested similar accounts. Optional per-account enrichment: followers, engagement, bio contact.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/om\_kh/instagram-following-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [omar khandji](https://apify.com/om_kh) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, MCP servers
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.55 / 1,000 account listeds

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Instagram Following Scraper — Following, Related, Enriched

> **You paste one username. You get who they follow — or Instagram's own
> suggested similar accounts — with optional full profile enrichment on
> every account.**

### Why this, not another following scraper

The category leader has 242 clients and a 3.56/5 rating, driven by 7.4%
failure. This Actor scopes each listed account independently and never
bills a failed one — same discipline as the rest of this family.

### 5 advantages

1. **Two honest modes, not a fragile third.** `following` and `related`
   both work reliably. We tested a `followers` mode extensively and cut it
   — it silently returned nothing on every real account we tried, so we
   are not shipping something that doesn't work.
2. **Related accounts, for free.** `related` mode uses Instagram's own
   similar-accounts suggestions — no extra scrape.
3. **Optional enrichment, same engine as our Profile Scraper.** Turn on
   `enrichProfiles` and every listed account gets followers, engagement,
   and bio contact — the exact same fields, same price.
4. **Never billed on a failed lookup.**
5. **Hard cost cap you control.** Set `maxTotalChargeUsd` and the run can
   never bill above it.

### Output

```json
{
  "username": "sciencechannel",
  "profile_url": "https://www.instagram.com/sciencechannel/",
  "full_name": "Science Channel",
  "followers": 2643925,
  "public_contact": null,
  "status": "ok"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event, base FREE-tier prices: **$0.001** per account listed, **$0.0008** per enriched profile.
Paid Store plans pay less on every event — the largest plans reach $0.00044 on the cheapest event; the Pricing tab on this Actor's Store page is
always the authority. **No event is ever charged on an item that returns an `error`** —
a batch of 200 with one bad input bills 199.

### Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

```
https://om-kh--instagram-following-scraper.apify.actor/mcp
```

One tool, `instagram_following`, same arguments as the Start form.

### Related Actors

- [Instagram Profile & Lookalike Scraper](https://apify.com/om_kh/instagram-profile-lookalike-scraper) — full profile detail and related-account discovery
- [TikTok Creator Search Scraper](https://apify.com/om_kh/tiktok-creator-search-scraper) — cross-platform creator research on TikTok

### Support

Found a bug or have a feature request? Use the **Issues** tab on this
Actor's Apify Store page, or message the author (`om_kh`) directly.

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `string`):

Instagram username or profile URL to list accounts from.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

'following' lists accounts the profile follows. 'related' returns Instagram's own similar-accounts suggestions.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many accounts.

## `enrichProfiles` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch full profile details (followers, engagement, bio contact) for each listed account, not just the username.

## `monitorEnabled` (type: `boolean`):

On later runs with the same Monitor ID, deliver only accounts not seen before.

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Groups runs into one monitored target. Leave blank for a one-off run.

## `maxTotalChargeUsd` (type: `number`):

Hard ceiling on what this run can bill you.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": "natgeo",
  "mode": "following",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "enrichProfiles": false,
  "monitorEnabled": false,
  "maxTotalChargeUsd": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `report` (type: `string`):

A visual summary of delivery, charges, and source issues.

## `results` (type: `string`):

Accounts in a sortable table. No JSON knowledge required.

## `csv` (type: `string`):

Results ready for spreadsheets, CRMs, and analytics tools.

## `excel` (type: `string`):

Results as an Excel workbook for non-technical teams.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Machine-readable delivery, billing, and source diagnostics.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "username": "natgeo"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("om_kh/instagram-following-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "username": "natgeo" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("om_kh/instagram-following-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "username": "natgeo"
}' |
apify call om_kh/instagram-following-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,om_kh/instagram-following-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/wtur12Qqi5ixjuDdb/builds/cQh7NhmITeRBBSS4A/openapi.json