Instagram Highlights Scraper - Stories & Media

Instagram Highlights Scraper - Stories & Media

Instagram Highlights Scraper extracts Instagram story highlights from public profiles or highlight links: highlight titles and covers, and every story item inside them with image and video URLs, duration, dimensions, timestamps, link stickers and hashtags.

Paste usernames or highlight links and get one clean row per story item, with the highlight and owner details on every row, ready to download media, archive a brand's highlights or analyse what creators keep pinned to their profile. No Instagram login or account needed.

ParseBird Instagram Suite   •  Profiles, Reels, audio & highlights
Instagram Profile Scraper Profiles, emails, phones, socials	Instagram Reels Search & Trend Discovery Reels by keyword, trending content	Instagram Reels Audio Scraper Reels using any sound or song
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Use the Apify actor "parsebird/instagram-highlights-scraper" (actor ID: parsebird~instagram-highlights-scraper) to scrape Instagram story highlights, via the ApifyClient: client.actor("parsebird/instagram-highlights-scraper").call(run_input={"usernames": ["instagram"], "includeStories": true, "maxStoriesPerHighlight": 100, "maxTotalItems": 500}). Inputs: usernames (array of strings: usernames, @handles or profile URLs; Instagram shows logged-out visitors up to 10 highlights per profile); highlightIds (array of strings: highlight IDs such as "18142207969557132", highlight URLs such as "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18142207969557132/" or /s/ share links; no 10-highlight limit); includeStories (boolean, default true; false = one row per highlight only); maxHighlightsPerUser (integer 1-200, default 20); maxStoriesPerHighlight (integer 1-1000, default 100); maxTotalItems (integer, default 5000, run-wide row cap); includeRawData (boolean, default false); proxyConfiguration (object, default Apify residential proxy, used only if Instagram limits the direct connection). Output with includeStories true: one row per story item with recordType "story", highlightId, highlightTitle, highlightUrl, position, mediaId, shortcode, storyUrl, mediaType (video|image), imageUrl, thumbnailUrl, videoUrl, videoDuration, hasAudio, width, height, caption, likeCount, commentCount, isPaidPartnership, musicArtist, musicTitle, linkStickers, hashtags, locations, takenAt, ownerId, ownerUsername, ownerVerified, ownerProfilePicUrl, coverImageUrl, scrapedAt, sourceUrl, input. With includeStories false: one row per highlight with recordType "highlight", highlightId, highlightTitle, highlightUrl, position, coverImageUrl, itemCount, owner fields. A RUN_SUMMARY record in the default key-value store holds savedCount, stopReason and per-input results. Pricing: pay per story item saved (includeStories on) or per highlight row saved (includeStories off). Full API spec: https://apify.com/parsebird/instagram-highlights-scraper/api. Get your token: https://console.apify.com/account/integrations.

What is Instagram Highlights Scraper?

Instagram Highlights Scraper is an Instagram highlights downloader and unofficial Instagram stories API for the stories that accounts save to their Instagram profile as highlights. Give it usernames or highlight links and it returns every highlight with its title and cover, plus each photo and video story inside it with direct media links.

Use it to:

• Download or archive a brand's or creator's highlights (photos and MP4 videos).
• Analyse highlight content: how many stories, how long the videos are, when they were posted, which links and hashtags they promote.
• Monitor competitors: see what products, FAQs, reviews and campaigns brands pin to their profile.

The easiest way to try it: click Start with the example input. It scrapes the first 50 story items from the highlights of the instagram account in under half a minute.

What can Instagram Highlights Scraper do?

• 📚 Profiles to highlights: give usernames, @handles or profile URLs and get each profile's highlights with every story item.
• 🔗 Highlight links: give highlight IDs, instagram.com/stories/highlights/... URLs or instagram.com/s/... share links to scrape specific highlights, from any public account.
• 🎬 Media links: image URL in the largest size Instagram returns, a small thumbnail, the MP4 video URL, video duration, audio flag and dimensions.
• 🏷️ Story stickers: link stickers (with Instagram's redirect removed), hashtag stickers and location stickers.
• 🗂️ Two modes: one row per story item, or just one row per highlight (title, cover, ID) for a fast, cheap inventory.
• 🧾 Analysis-ready rows: highlight title, owner username, verified badge and highlight URL are on every story row, so you can filter and pivot without joins.
• ⏱️ Runs on Apify: schedule runs to archive highlights over time, call it from the Apify API or Apify MCP, and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Make, Zapier or webhooks with integrations. Export as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML or XML.

What data can you extract from Instagram highlights?

Field	Description
recordType	story (one row per story item) or highlight (one row per highlight)
highlightId, highlightTitle, highlightUrl	The highlight's ID, title and link
position	Position of the story inside the highlight (or of the highlight on the profile)
mediaId, shortcode, storyUrl	The story item's IDs and link
mediaType	video or image
imageUrl, thumbnailUrl	Image (or video cover) in the largest size returned, and a small thumbnail
videoUrl, videoDuration, hasAudio	MP4 link, length in seconds and whether it has sound
width, height	Original dimensions in pixels
linkStickers, hashtags, locations	Links, hashtags and places added to the story as stickers
takenAt	When the story was originally posted (ISO 8601)
ownerId, ownerUsername, ownerVerified, ownerProfilePicUrl	The account that owns the highlight
coverImageUrl, itemCount	Highlight cover image and number of stories (highlight rows)
caption, likeCount, commentCount, musicArtist, musicTitle, isPaidPartnership	Filled when Instagram shows them to logged-out visitors (see FAQ)

How to scrape Instagram highlights

1. Open Instagram Highlights Scraper in Apify Console.
2. Add usernames to Usernames or profile URLs, or highlight links to Highlight IDs or URLs.
3. Keep Include story items on for every story, or turn it off to list highlights only.
4. Set Max story items per highlight and Max rows per run to control cost.
5. Click Start. In our test, 12 profiles with 1,481 story items took about 70 seconds.
6. Open the Output tab and download the data as JSON, CSV or Excel, or read it through the API.

Input examples

Profiles, every story item:

{
    "usernames": ["instagram"],
    "includeStories": true,
    "maxHighlightsPerUser": 20,
    "maxStoriesPerHighlight": 100,
    "maxTotalItems": 5000
}

Specific highlights by link:

{
    "highlightIds": ["https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18142207969557132/"]
}

Cheap inventory first (one row per highlight), then expand the ones you need:

{
    "usernames": ["nytimes", "glossier", "redbull"],
    "includeStories": false
}

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
usernames	array	No*	["instagram"]	Usernames, @handles or profile URLs
highlightIds	array	No*	—	Highlight IDs, highlight URLs or /s/ share links
includeStories	boolean	No	true	One row per story item; false = one row per highlight
maxHighlightsPerUser	integer	No	20	Highlights processed per username (1–200)
maxStoriesPerHighlight	integer	No	100	Story items saved per highlight (1–1000)
maxTotalItems	integer	No	5000	Run-wide row cap and spending guard
includeRawData	boolean	No	false	Attach Instagram's original object as rawData
proxyConfiguration	object	No	Apify residential	Used only if Instagram limits the direct connection

* Add at least one username or highlight.

Output example

{
  "recordType": "story",
  "highlightId": "18142207969557132",
  "highlightTitle": "creatives",
  "highlightUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18142207969557132/",
  "position": 1,
  "mediaId": "3811480328699137079",
  "shortcode": "DTlGSo0gEw3",
  "storyUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/instagram/3811480328699137079/",
  "mediaType": "video",
  "imageUrl": "https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/616341681_1403647328019524_609409640201682429_n.jpg?...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/616341681_1403647328019524_609409640201682429_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e15_p240x240_tt6...",
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m78/AQOd_6Ko6XVGRcbkl_piTFNNSHU2UxFWfFIkpdnK15GwiAeoa4EGsWVl869bbZ1oRLu0AwmWSNL0jEU8pK-CN8N13ZChU-BfJgFSRi4.mp4?...",
  "videoDuration": 24.333,
  "hasAudio": true,
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1920,
  "caption": null,
  "likeCount": null,
  "commentCount": null,
  "isPaidPartnership": false,
  "musicArtist": null,
  "musicTitle": null,
  "linkStickers": [],
  "hashtags": [],
  "locations": [],
  "takenAt": "2026-01-16T17:17:56.000Z",
  "ownerId": "25025320",
  "ownerUsername": "instagram",
  "ownerVerified": true,
  "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/550891366_18667771684001321_1383210656577177067_n.jpg?...",
  "coverImageUrl": "https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/756661521_3289512177887855_4009891805420027177_n.jpg?...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-04T02:34:44.428Z",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18142207969557132/",
  "input": "https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE4MTQyMjA3OTY5NTU3MTMy"
}

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram highlights?

Instagram Highlights Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay for each row saved, at a different price for each mode. Usernames and highlights that return nothing are not charged.

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Highlight story item (per 1,000)	$2.99	$2.79	$2.59	$2.39
Highlight record (per 1,000)	$1.99	$1.79	$1.59	$1.39

Highlight story item is charged per story row when Include story items is on. Highlight record is charged per highlight row when it is off. For example, the instagram account's 7 highlights had 217 story items in our test, which costs about $0.65 on the Free plan with stories on, or about $0.014 for the 7 highlight rows with stories off. Max rows per run caps the cost of every run, and you can also set a maximum cost per run in the run options.

Python and JavaScript API examples

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("parsebird/instagram-highlights-scraper").call(run_input={
    "usernames": ["nytimes", "glossier"],
    "maxStoriesPerHighlight": 50,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["ownerUsername"], item["highlightTitle"], item["mediaType"], item["videoUrl"] or item["imageUrl"])

JavaScript:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('parsebird/instagram-highlights-scraper').call({
    highlightIds: ['https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18142207969557132/'],
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.filter((s) => s.linkStickers.length).forEach((s) => console.log(s.takenAt, s.linkStickers.join(', ')));

See the API tab for more clients and endpoints.

FAQ

How many highlights can I get per profile? Instagram shows logged-out visitors the first 10 highlights of a profile, in the order they appear on the profile. Most accounts have 10 or fewer. For accounts with more, the run log says so; open the other highlights on Instagram and add their links to Highlight IDs or URLs, which have no such limit.

How many story items does a highlight return? All of them, up to Max story items per highlight. In our tests highlights had between 1 and 82 items.

Why are likes, comments, captions and music empty? Instagram does not show likes, comments or music stickers on highlight stories to logged-out visitors, and stories rarely have captions. These fields are kept for a stable output shape and are filled only when Instagram returns them. In a 368-story test, 84 stories had link stickers and 12 had hashtag stickers, while none had music or like counts.

Can I scrape current (24-hour) stories? No. This actor covers highlights, which are stories the account has saved to its profile.

Does it work for private accounts? No. Private accounts do not show highlights to logged-out visitors, so they return no rows and are not charged.

Do the media links expire? Yes. Instagram media links stop working after some time. Download the files soon after the run, or store storyUrl and highlightUrl and run again later.

Do I need a proxy or an Instagram account? No account. In our tests the actor worked on Apify's own connection without a proxy; it switches to the proxy you set (residential by default) only if Instagram starts refusing requests.

Can I schedule runs and connect other tools? Yes. Use Apify Schedules for recurring runs and integrations for Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, n8n, Slack or webhooks.

Something is missing or broken? Open an issue in the Issues tab. We read every report and fix problems quickly.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram highlights?

Instagram Highlights Scraper only collects highlights that Instagram shows to anyone without logging in. It does not log in and does not access private accounts. Usernames and profile pictures can be personal data under laws such as the EU GDPR and the California CCPA, so make sure you have a lawful reason to store them. Photos and videos are protected by copyright; use the links for analysis or archiving you are entitled to, not for republishing. You should also check Instagram's terms of use. If you are unsure, ask a lawyer. Read more in Apify's blog post Is web scraping legal?.

Other Instagram and social media scrapers

• Instagram Profile Scraper - Email, Phone, Socials: followers, bio, emails, phones and social links for any profile
• Instagram Reels Search & Trend Discovery: search Instagram Reels by keyword
• Instagram Reels Audio Scraper: find the Reels using any Instagram sound
• TikTok Story Viewer: TikTok stories from any public account
• Threads Scraper - Profiles, Posts & Search: profiles and posts from Meta's Threads