Instagram Profile Scraper

Extract complete Instagram profile metadata, public business emails/phones, engagement rates, and recent posts without cookies or browser overhead.

Native HTTP-First · TypeScript Node 20 · 256MB RAM · Zero-Cookie Architecture

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Why this Actor?

Feature	What you get
Zero-Cookie Architecture	100% cookie-free. No account credentials or exported session cookies required. Zero ban risk for your personal Instagram accounts.
Ultra-Low Memory (256MB)	Built with a native HTTP-first engine using got-scraping. Strictly zero Playwright/Puppeteer overhead, saving ~90% in compute unit costs compared to browser scrapers.
High-Value B2B Lead Contact	Extracts official businessEmail and businessPhoneNumber, and applies intelligent regex extraction on biography text for buried emails.
Influencer Analytics & ER	Computes the average Engagement Rate percentage across recent posts: $\frac{\text{Likes} + \text{Comments}}{\text{Posts} \times \text{Followers}} \times 100%$.
Recent 12 Posts Summary	Retrieves shortcodes, post URLs, timestamps, captions, like counts, and comment counts for immediate content analysis.
Dual Target Normalization	Accepts raw usernames (@natgeo, natgeo) or full profile URLs (https://instagram.com/natgeo/) with automatic URL cleaning and deduplication.
Threads & Social Badging	Extracts Threads account presence (hasThreads, threadsProfile), verified status (isVerified), and professional category.

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Quick Start

Apify Console

1. Open the Actor on Apify Console and click Start.
2. Enter target usernames (e.g. ["natgeo", "cristiano"]) or paste profile URLs.
3. Click Save & Run. Results will stream in real-time to Storage → Default Dataset.
4. Export your dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or consume via API.

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How It Works

User Input (Usernames / URLs)
        │
        ▼
[Target Normalizer] ── Clean handles, strip slashes, deduplicate
        │
        ▼
[Instagram HTTP Client] ── got-scraping + Residential Proxy + Anti-Bot Headers
        │                (x-ig-app-id: 936619743392459)
        │
        ├──► Web API: /api/v1/users/web_profile_info/?username={handle}
        └──► Fallback: Mobile API endpoint / GraphQL query
        │
        ▼
[Domain Parsers & Analytics Engine]
        ├── Profile Metadata & Social Graph
        ├── Contact Parser (Business fields + Bio Email Regex)
        └── Engagement Calculator (12 Recent Posts + ER %)
        │
        ▼
[Apify Dataset Storage] ── Push typed record + update KVS summary

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Input

{
  "usernames": ["natgeo"],
  "profileUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/instagram/"],
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "calculateEngagementRate": true,
  "maxRequestRetries": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
usernames	array	No	["natgeo"]	Array of Instagram handles to scrape.
profileUrls	array	No	[]	Array of full Instagram profile URLs.
includeRecentPosts	boolean	No	true	Include metadata summaries for up to 12 recent posts.
calculateEngagementRate	boolean	No	true	Compute influencer engagement rate percentage.
proxyConfiguration	object	No	{"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}	Apify Proxy configuration (Residential proxy strongly recommended).
maxRequestRetries	integer	No	3	Maximum retry attempts on rate limits or transient errors.

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Output

Each scraped profile generates one structured record in the default dataset:

{
  "id": "787132",
  "username": "natgeo",
  "fullName": "National Geographic",
  "biography": "Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888. Contact: press@natgeo.com",
  "biographyLinks": [
    {
      "title": "National Geographic Expeditions",
      "url": "https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions",
      "linkType": "external"
    }
  ],
  "externalUrl": "https://linkin.bio/nationalgeographic",
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "hasThreads": true,
  "threadsProfile": "https://www.threads.net/@natgeo",
  "isBusinessAccount": true,
  "isProfessionalAccount": true,
  "businessCategoryName": "Media/News Company",
  "businessEmail": "press@natgeo.com",
  "businessPhoneNumber": null,
  "followersCount": 281000000,
  "followsCount": 160,
  "mediaCount": 29480,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "engagementRate": 0.14,
  "recentPosts": [
    {
      "id": "314592837192",
      "shortcode": "C9X8qZaL9",
      "type": "GraphImage",
      "caption": "Photo by Joel Sartore. A stunning look at...",
      "likesCount": 42000,
      "commentsCount": 380,
      "timestamp": "2026-09-05T12:00:00.000Z",
      "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/C9X8qZaL9/"
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-06T05:30:00.000Z"
}

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Cost, Limits & Performance

• Memory Allocation: 256MB - 512MB RAM.
• Compute Unit (CU) Cost: ~$0.0013 per 100 profiles (90x cheaper than 2GB Playwright browser scrapers).
• Network Bandwidth: ~15 KB per profile (JSON API) vs ~2.1 MB per profile (Browser full page render).
• Concurrency: Adaptive 1-3 requests with 1000ms - 2500ms jittered delays to respect platform rate limits.
• Proxy Recommendation: Apify Residential Proxies (RESIDENTIAL group) are strongly recommended for seamless zero-cookie scraping. Datacenter IPs are aggressively challenged with 429 / login redirects by Instagram.

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Recipes

1. High-Speed Influencer Lead Discovery

Extract emails, follower counts, and engagement rates for prospective brand partners:

{
  "usernames": ["mkbhd", "mrbeast", "peter McKinnon"],
  "includeRecentPosts": true,
  "calculateEngagementRate": true
}

2. URL Batch Ingestion from Spreadsheets

Paste raw URLs exported from Google Sheets or CRM:

{
  "profileUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/puma/"
  ],
  "includeRecentPosts": false
}

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Architecture & Design Decisions

Key Architectural Decisions

1. HTTP-First over Browser: Zero Playwright/Puppeteer ensures minimal memory usage (256MB), instant startup, and zero container crash risks.
2. Zero User Cookies: Eliminates credential exposure, account ban risks, and tedious cookie export steps for users.
3. Resilient Dual Endpoints: Automatically falls back between web API (www.instagram.com) and mobile API (i.instagram.com) when transient platform errors occur.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Probable Cause	Recommended Fix
RateLimitError (429 / 302)	Datacenter IP blocked or rate-limited by Instagram.	Enable Apify Residential Proxy (RESIDENTIAL group) in input configuration.
NotFoundError (404)	Username does not exist or account was deactivated/renamed.	Verify the username handle or URL spelling on Instagram.
PrivateProfileError	The account is private (isPrivate: true).	The Actor returns profile metadata and flags engagementRate: null as posts are hidden.
0 items in dataset	Input list is empty or inputs are invalid.	Ensure usernames or profileUrls contains valid handles.

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FAQ

Q: Does this Actor require my Instagram login or password?
A: No. It operates 100% cookie-free and never requests, requires, or stores user credentials.

Q: Can it scrape private Instagram profiles?
A: No. Private profile timelines cannot be viewed without an authenticated follower account. The Actor extracts public bio/follower metrics and marks the record as private.

Q: How many profiles can I scrape in a single run?
A: You can scrape hundreds to thousands of profiles per run when using Apify Residential Proxies with adaptive concurrency.

Q: Does it scrape Instagram Stories or Direct Messages?
A: No. Stories and DMs require private authenticated session cookies, which is explicitly out of scope for this zero-cookie public scraper.

Q: Is it safe for commercial B2B lead generation?
A: Yes. It extracts only publicly accessible business contact information and public bios adhering to standard public data collection practices.

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Limitations

• Scrapes publicly accessible profile and media information only.
• Historical post pagination beyond the first 12 timeline posts is omitted to ensure fast, low-cost execution.
• Users are responsible for complying with Instagram Terms of Service and applicable privacy regulations (such as GDPR/CCPA).

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Run It

Ready to start scraping? Open the Actor in the Apify Console and launch your first run!