# Instagram Reels Search Scraper (`piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-scraper`) Actor

Search Instagram reels by keyword and get the top reels for each phrase with views, likes, comments, caption, hashtags, date, duration, video URL, author and related keywords. Find trending and viral reels on any topic. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [FalconScrape](https://apify.com/piotrv1001) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 reels

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### 🚀 Instagram Reels Search Scraper: Trending Reels by Keyword

Search **Instagram reels by keyword** and get the top reels for each phrase with views, likes, comments, caption, hashtags, date, duration, video URL and author, plus the related keywords Instagram suggests. The **Instagram Reels Search Scraper** finds trending and viral reels on any topic without an Instagram account: enter phrases like "street food" or "latte art", run it, and export the reels to JSON, CSV or Excel.

### 🎯 Use Cases

- **Find trending reels**: see which reels lead a topic right now, with their views and likes.
- **Viral reels research**: collect the best-performing reels for a niche and study their hooks, captions, length and hashtags.
- **Content ideas**: build a swipe file of top reels for your own videos or a client's.
- **Influencer and creator discovery**: every reel names its creator, so you find the accounts that rank for a topic.
- **Keyword research for Instagram**: the related keywords show what else people search around a topic.
- **Brand and product monitoring**: track the reels that show up for your brand, product or category.

### ✨ Features

- **Top reels per keyword**: up to about 96 reels for each phrase, in Instagram's own order.
- **Views, likes and comments**: play count, likes and comments as plain numbers.
- **Reel details**: caption, hashtags, mentions, post date, duration in seconds, width and height, video URL and thumbnail.
- **Author**: username, ID, verified badge and profile picture.
- **Related keywords**: the 10 phrases Instagram suggests for each keyword come with every row.
- **Go past the cap**: turn on "Expand related keywords" to also collect the reels of those 10 phrases.
- **Reels only**: the occasional photo post on a keyword page is skipped and not charged.
- **Many keywords per run**, each reel saved once.

### 🛠️ How It Works

1. **Enter keywords**, one per line. Phrases of 2–4 words work best ("street food", "latte art", "home workout").
2. **Set "Max reels per keyword"** (default 50) and, if you want more than ~96, turn on **Expand related keywords**.
3. **Run** and download the reels as JSON, CSV or Excel, or pull them through the API.

### ⚙️ Input

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Keywords** | Search phrases, one per line. |
| **Max reels per keyword** | Stop after this many reels for each keyword (default 50). |
| **Expand related keywords** | Also collect the reels of the 10 related keywords, until the limit is reached (default off). |

```json
{
    "keywords": ["street food", "latte art"],
    "maxReelsPerKeyword": 96,
    "expandRelatedKeywords": false
}
```

### 💰 Pricing

Pay only for the reels you get. No monthly rental.

| Event | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Reel** | $0.0015 per reel ($1.50 per 1,000) | One reel with views, likes, comments and all fields below |
| **Actor start** | $0.00005 per run | Charged once when the run starts. |

Examples: 100 reels = $0.15 · 1,000 reels = $1.50 · 10,000 reels = $15.00. Keywords with no reels cost nothing.

### 📊 Sample Output Data

```json
{
    "id": "3865752562931222726",
    "shortcode": "DWl6XlvEkjG",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWl6XlvEkjG/",
    "playCount": 140563,
    "likes": 5254,
    "comments": 24,
    "caption": "Double Style Maharaja Thali 😱🔥\n.\n.\nGeeta Colony Foodie Raja 📍\n.\n.\n#shorts #india #food #reelkarof…",
    "hashtags": ["shorts", "india", "food", "reelkarofeelkaro", "trendingreels"],
    "mentions": [],
    "timestamp": 1775053783,
    "takenAt": "2026-04-01T14:29:43.000Z",
    "durationSeconds": 151.28,
    "videoUrl": "https://scontent-lga3-3.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQMszZ_VQAbfRrGgbt1xGe5S…",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent-lga3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/658154412_130315655502611…",
    "width": 720,
    "height": 1280,
    "hasAudio": true,
    "music": null,
    "username": "foodie_talib786",
    "userId": "68031650705",
    "userIsVerified": false,
    "userProfilePicUrl": "https://scontent-lga3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/754143667_179427075422667…",
    "isPaidPartnership": false,
    "likeAndViewCountsDisabled": false,
    "keyword": "street food",
    "sourceKeyword": "street food",
    "relatedKeywords": ["koramangala food street", "sindhi street food recipes", "kozhikode street food", "…"],
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-26T12:58:35.878Z"
}
```

`keyword` is the phrase you entered; `sourceKeyword` is the phrase the reel was found under (a related keyword when expansion is on). `music` is filled for licensed tracks and `null` for original audio. Video and image links are signed by Instagram and expire after a few days.

### 🔁 Schedule and Integrate

Run your keywords **daily or weekly** with Apify **Schedules** to see which reels rise to the top of a topic over time. Send the rows to **Google Sheets**, **Zapier**, **Make**, **n8n** or a webhook with Apify **integrations**.

### 🤖 Use with AI Agents (MCP)

This Actor works as a tool in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients through the Apify MCP server (`https://mcp.apify.com`). An agent can call it with:

```json
{ "keywords": ["latte art"], "maxReelsPerKeyword": 30 }
```

### ❓ FAQ

**How do I search Instagram reels by keyword?** Enter one or more phrases under "Keywords" and run the Actor. You get the reels Instagram shows for each phrase, with views, likes, comments and the creator.

**How do I find trending or viral reels on a topic?** Search the topic and sort the results by `playCount` or `likes`. Run it on a schedule to see which reels keep climbing.

**Why did my keyword return nothing?** Instagram has a reels page for many specific phrases but not for every word, and broad single words ("food", "music") often have none. Try a more specific phrase of 2–4 words, such as "street food" or "pasta recipe". Keywords with no reels are listed in the status message and cost nothing.

**How many reels can I get per keyword?** Instagram shows up to about 96 reels per phrase. Turn on "Expand related keywords" to also collect the reels of the 10 related phrases and go past that.

**Do I need an Instagram account or cookies?** No. The Actor works without logging in.

**Can I search hashtags?** Enter the hashtag as a phrase without the `#` ("latte art" rather than "#latteart"); a leading `#` is removed for you.

### 🔗 Related Scrapers

- [Instagram Reels Scraper](https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-reels-scraper): every reel of a profile with views.
- [Instagram Related Profiles Scraper](https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-related-profiles-scraper): find similar accounts to the creators you found here.
- [Instagram Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-profile-scraper): followers, bio and links of any profile.
- [Instagram Reel Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper): turn reels into text.
- [Instagram Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/piotrv1001/instagram-comments-scraper): comments of any reel.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Search phrases, one per line. Phrases of 2–4 words work best (for example "street food" or "latte art").

## `maxReelsPerKeyword` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many reels for each keyword. Instagram shows up to about 96 reels per keyword; turn on "Expand related keywords" to get more.

## `expandRelatedKeywords` (type: `boolean`):

Also collect the reels of the 10 related keywords Instagram suggests for each keyword, until "Max reels per keyword" is reached.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "street food"
  ],
  "maxReelsPerKeyword": 50,
  "expandRelatedKeywords": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "keywords": [
        "street food"
    ],
    "maxReelsPerKeyword": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-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 = {
    "keywords": ["street food"],
    "maxReelsPerKeyword": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-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 '{
  "keywords": [
    "street food"
  ],
  "maxReelsPerKeyword": 50
}' |
apify call piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,piotrv1001/instagram-reels-search-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/t1wdWvuakpNCbuwI1/builds/fC4hOcOp7okCdHavT/openapi.json