Instagram Highlights Scraper | $2.15/1K Highlights

Explore the Stories brands and creators choose to keep on their profiles. Discover Instagram Highlight collections to research products, campaigns and recurring content themes.

Export collection titles, available cover images and links, or collect the saved Stories from selected Highlights for a closer look. Start with a profile or known Highlight link; no Instagram login or technical setup required.

Quick start

List only:

{
  "profiles": ["examplebrand"],
  "maxPagesPerProfile": 1,
  "maxCollections": 20
}

Expand listed collections into saved Stories:

{
  "profiles": ["https://www.instagram.com/examplebrand/"],
  "expandCollections": true,
  "selectedCollectionIds": ["highlight:123456789"],
  "maxCollections": 20,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "enrichProfiles": false,
  "enrichPlaces": false,
  "enrichMedia": false
}

Omit selectedCollectionIds to expand all collections actually listed within this run's bounds. An explicit selection does not trigger an extra lookup for collections that were not listed.

Direct mode:

{
  "highlightIds": ["highlight:123456789", "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/987654321/"],
  "maxCollections": 20,
  "maxItems": 100
}

Direct mode automatically selects expansion. It produces saved Story rows and collection count summaries in OUTPUT, not metadata rows, and performs no profile resolution or listing. Do not also set profiles, expandCollections or selectedCollectionIds.

Input

Unknown fields, conflicting modes, malformed URLs and invalid limits are rejected before extraction or FREE admission. Reference equivalents are deduplicated while retaining first-input order. URLs must be canonical HTTPS Instagram URLs; arbitrary URLs are never fetched.

Field	Default and bounds	Meaning
profiles	Up to 50 refs	Username, @username, canonical profile URL or numeric ID. Mutually exclusive with highlightIds.
highlightIds	Up to 1,000 refs	Numeric ID, highlight:<number> or canonical /stories/highlights/<number>/ URL. Direct mode.
maxPagesPerProfile	1; 1–10 per run	List page cap for each profile. Pagination is bounded, not exhaustive by default.
maxCollections	20; 1–1,000 per run	Unique metadata limit and bounded collection expansion selection.
expandCollections	false	Expand collections observed during listing.
selectedCollectionIds	Optional; up to 1,000	Restrict list-mode expansion to these normalized IDs. Requires expandCollections=true.
maxItems	100; 1–1,000 per run	Unique saved Story delivery bound. Declared counts are not delivered item totals.
enrichProfiles	false	Look up owners where full resolution facts are not already cached.
enrichPlaces	false	Look up actual referenced Instagram place IDs in saved Story context. Requires expansion.
enrichMedia	false	Look up referenced feed-media IDs, not arbitrary sticker IDs. Requires expansion.
continuationToken	Optional	Opaque authenticated continuation from OUTPUT, valid for 15 minutes.

Basic metadata, assets and supplied content context do not require enrichment. Enrichment does not invent missing facts, follows identity checks and caches success, missing and failure outcomes per entity/run. Username resolution facts are reused rather than looked up again. Enrichment statuses include not_requested, reused, succeeded, not_available, charge_unconfirmed, failed and limit_reached; base rows remain available when a lookup is unavailable.

Two datasets and exports

1. Default / collection metadata: one row per unique listed collection.
2. savedStories / saved Story items: run-scoped second dataset, one row per unique top-level saved Story across the collections actually visited. All observed collection memberships and one-based item positions are retained. This dataset is not a global shared collection.

Use the Storage dropdown to select and export each dataset, or use the two Output links. The ordinary run-page Export button exports only the default metadata dataset. Direct mode can leave that dataset empty while savedStories contains results. Collection rows do not contain a grouped stories[] substitute.

Collection metadata

Enrichment required? Listing supplies the base collection fields; optional facts may be missing. Expansion (expandCollections=true) retrieves collection details and saved Stories. Expansion is not enrichment: enrichProfiles only supplies extra owner details under enrichment.profile, without rewriting the base owner fields.

Field	Meaning	Enrichment required?
record_kind, id, url	highlightMetadata, canonical highlight:<number> and Highlight-domain URL.	No.
owner	Identity and observed username/private/restricted flags. Optional facts may be null.	No.
title, cover	Supplied title, cover image variants, media ID/crop when present; nullable.	No; a cover does not require enrichMedia.
declared_item_count	Count observed in the list; nullable and not proof of delivery.	No.
detail_declared_item_count	Count observed in selected detail, when checked. It may differ from the earlier list.	No — requires expansion, not enrichment.
returned_item_count	Actual detail item count; null for unexpanded/unavailable details.	No — requires expansion, not enrichment.
delivered_item_count	Distinct saved Stories confirmed delivered for this collection in this observation.	No — a positive count requires saved Story delivery through expansion.
expansion_status	not_requested, completed, partial or a specific unavailable/extraction outcome.	No — reports whether expansion was selected and completed.
collection_memberships	Observed profile/page/rank provenance.	No.
flags, fetched_at	Supplied flags and observation time.	No.
enrichment.profile.status	Selected owner lookup outcome; not_requested when disabled.	No — the status is present even with enrichment off.
enrichment.profile.data	Available matching owner profile details, such as biography and follower/following/post counts; null when unavailable.	Yes — select enrichProfiles; already-included matching details may be reused.

Saved Stories

Saved Story rows require collection expansion or direct highlightIds mode, not enrichMedia. Their own media and supplied context are base fields. Optional lookup details are separate under enrichment and do not rewrite those base fields.

Fields	Meaning	Enrichment required?
record_kind, id, story_id, content_kind	savedStory, actual Story identity and saved_story.	No — available through expansion/direct mode.
url, shortcode, owner, owner_id, owner_username	url is null: saved content has no invented active-Story or feed permalink. Optional shortcode and owner facts are retained; owner_id and owner_username are flattened owner copies.	No.
collection_memberships	Every observed {collection_id, item_order, collection_url} within the visited bounded selection; collection_url opens its Highlight viewer.	No.
published_at, fetched_at	Supplied publication time and observation time.	No.
expires_at, remaining_lifetime_seconds	Null: saved content is not presented as an expiring active Story.	No; enrichment does not supply active-Story expiry.
images, videos, audio, width, height, duration_seconds	Supplied asset variants, dimensions, duration and audio facts; nullable.	No; enrichMedia is for referenced media, not the saved Story's own assets.
caption, hashtags, mentions, links, link_domains, location, locations	Supplied context and local caption parsing; nullable if absent.	No — optional place lookup details are separate.
sponsors, is_paid_partnership, stickers, reshared_media	Supported supplied rich subtypes only, not exhaustive interaction coverage.	No — optional referenced-media lookup details are separate.
flags	Observed flags.	No.
enrichment	Owner lookup status plus arrays of selected place/media lookup results. The profile status is not_requested and place/media arrays are empty when enrichment is off.	No for the outcome containers.
enrichment.profile.data	Available matching owner profile details; null when unavailable.	Yes — select enrichProfiles; already-included matching details may be reused.
enrichment.places[].data	Available details of supplied Instagram places, such as address, website, phone or opening hours. Requires a usable location ID.	Yes — select enrichPlaces; already-included matching details may be reused.
enrichment.media[].data	Available details of referenced posts/Reels, such as captions, engagement or asset links. Requires a usable referenced media ID.	Yes — select enrichMedia; already-included matching details may be reused.

Asset URLs are temporary and can expire. No binaries are downloaded, retained or archived. Nested reshared/reference objects are context, not additional Story rows.

Example saved row (abbreviated optional fields):

{
  "record_kind": "savedStory",
  "id": "111222333",
  "story_id": "111222333",
  "content_kind": "saved_story",
  "media_type": "image",
  "owner": {"id": "12345", "username": "examplebrand", "is_private": false},
  "owner_id": "12345",
  "owner_username": "examplebrand",
  "url": null,
  "expires_at": null,
  "remaining_lifetime_seconds": null,
  "collection_memberships": [
    {"collection_id": "highlight:123456789", "item_order": 1, "collection_url": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/123456789/"},
    {"collection_id": "highlight:987654321", "item_order": 4, "collection_url": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/987654321/"}
  ]
}

Pricing

The headline is not an all-in price. Collection metadata is $0.00215 each; username resolution is $0.004 and each list page is $0.008. Collecting the saved Stories from a selected Highlight costs $0.004 per collection, plus $0.00015 per unique saved Story. Optional enrichment and a $0.00005 automatic run-start fee are additional. One username, seven collections and one page costs $0.02710; expanding seven collections and delivering 70 unique saved Stories costs $0.06560, without enrichment.

USD/Starter prices; the platform's current pricing governs other plans.

Event	Price	Charged for
highlight-metadata — primary	$0.00215	Unique listed metadata row accepted with named billing.
profile-resolution	$0.004	Completed matching username resolution; numeric profile IDs avoid this work.
highlight-list	$0.008	Valid completed list page, including verified empty and duplicate-only pages.
highlight-expansion	$0.004	Valid selected/direct detail extraction, including valid empty detail.
highlight-story-result	$0.00015	Unique top-level saved Story persisted in savedStories. Not declarations, covers or references.
profile-enrichment	$0.0055	Selected successful incremental owner lookup, once per identity/run.
place-enrichment	$0.004	Selected successful incremental place lookup, once per identity/run.
media-enrichment	$0.004	Selected successful incremental referenced-media lookup, once per identity/run.
apify-actor-start	$0.00005	Automatic start at up to 1 GB.

No additional automatic default-dataset-item fee is configured. Unavailable/malformed/failed extraction is not billed as completed work. A generic missing response is not_available, not a verified empty list. Successful username resolution can still incur its own fee if the subsequent list is unavailable. A verified empty username list costs $0.01205 including start; the same list by numeric profile ID costs $0.00805. A direct valid empty collection costs $0.00405. No unperformed resolution/list/metadata fees apply in direct mode.

Base metadata, assets and supplied context have no enrichment fee. Already-included matching details, including username-resolution facts, are reused without another enrichment charge. Declared collection counts, covers and nested references are not billed as saved Story results. Resuming a partial collection detail incurs a new $0.004 fee for a valid completed expansion.

The Actor checks combined decimal affordability and event capacities before paid work and persists only an affordable prefix. Work charges precede delivery, so a limit can leave paid extraction without all possible rows. Writes and charges are not one atomic transaction: saved Story writes are serialized, followed by one explicit custom result charge for each accepted row. A write or charge whose completion is uncertain stops the run without replay. OUTPUT distinguishes confirmed delivered rows from confirmed event charges; it does not promise equality or automatic refunds. Enrichment may be charged before its row is persisted; interrupted delivery is reported, not silently treated as free work.

FREE demo

Five admitted runs per Actor/Apify user/UTC month. Each run permits one profile, one list page, at most five metadata rows and at most two extraction attempts. No expansion, direct mode, enrichment or continuation. A page bound above one is rejected; the ordinary collection default is clamped to five and explicit collection bounds are silently clamped to five as well. Admission uses atomic monthly slots and run fencing; missing account/quota verification fails closed. An aborted or resurrected admitted run cannot acquire a fresh allowance. Paying users bypass demo admission, not workload or spending limits. FREE eligibility is not an all-in paid invoice guarantee.

Outcomes, counts and continuation

OUTPUT contains metadataDatasetId / defaultDatasetId, savedStoriesDatasetId, run-local metadataCount, savedStoryCount, per-event confirmed totals, source outcomes, collection declared/returned/delivered counts, reconciliation and continuation. AUDIT contains sanitized extraction/delivery/billing aggregates and duration, without raw responses or credentials.

Continuation is bound to normalized source refs, direct/list mode, expansion selection and enrichment flags. Keep those fields identical; page/item/collection bounds may change. It carries actual cursors, buffered unpersisted metadata, confirmed dedup progress and detail offsets. A resumed partial detail is fetched again; verified item-order fingerprints detect changed detail snapshots rather than silently skipping content. Lists are live observations, not an immutable snapshot, and later changes cannot be ruled out. Previously exported append-only rows are not retroactively revised when a later run observes another membership. Memberships and delivered counts describe observed work, never unvisited collections.

Normalized buffering is bounded to 8 MB, with at most 1,000 delivered saved items per run; individual detail/list responses exceeding supported safety bounds are unavailable outcomes. Continuation state is limited to 2 MB and tokens to 3 MB. If a checkpoint cannot fit, OUTPUT reports page_limit with no usable token rather than inventing resumability. Spending/dependency ambiguity never triggers an automatic mutation replay.

API and CLI

With an authenticated Apify CLI session:

apify call publicsignallabs/instagram-highlights-scraper --input '{"profiles":["examplebrand"],"maxCollections":20}'

Or POST the quick-start JSON to the Actor's Apify run API using your normal Apify authentication. Fetch dataset items using either Output link; use OUTPUT's actual dataset IDs, not a global dataset name. Do not put Instagram credentials or cookies in input.

Limitations and support

This is current collection/saved-content extraction, not active Story retrieval, viewer/reach/impression analytics, historical capture, private-access guarantees, OCR/transcription/AI, durable downloads or exhaustive unsupported sticker mapping. Absent optional facts are null, not fabricated. Collection counts can drift between listing and detail observation.

Use the Actor's Issues tab with a run ID and sanitized expected/actual details. Never share tokens, cookies, signed asset URLs or private contact information. Use extracted data lawfully and respect account holders' rights. This Actor is not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.