# Instagram Reel Transcript Scraper: $10 per 1,000 (`rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Get the spoken words of Instagram reels, from a profile's latest reels or from reel URLs: Instagram's own captions when a reel has them, AI speech-to-text when it doesn't. Reels without speech are free. $10 per 1,000 reels of up to a minute.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Rowfinch](https://apify.com/rowfinch) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 transcript minutes

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 Reel Transcript Scraper

Get what's said in Instagram reels: a profile's latest reels or any reel URL, with the reel's caption, views, likes and date.

Each transcript comes from Instagram's own captions when the reel has them, and from AI speech-to-text when it doesn't. Reels with no speech (music only, silence) are free.

**$10 per 1,000 reels** of up to a minute.

### What it's for

- **Content research**: hooks, scripts and talking points of the creators in your niche, as text you can search.
- **Repurposing**: turn your own reels into posts, newsletters, blog drafts or subtitles.
- **Brand and ad monitoring**: what creators actually say about a product, beyond the caption.
- **Data for AI agents and LLM pipelines**: clean JSON, ready to summarize, classify or embed.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `username` | Usernames, profile URLs or reel URLs, one per line |
| `resultsLimit` | Reels per profile, newest first (default 10) |
| `onlyPostsNewerThan` | A date, or a period like `7 days` for scheduled runs |
| `skipPinnedPosts` | Leave out pinned reels |

These are the field names of Apify's Instagram Reel Scraper, so saved inputs carry over.

### Output

One row per reel:

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "hubermanlab",
  "id": "4006641491337669707",
  "shortCode": "DeaczVRhexL",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DeaczVRhexL/",
  "ownerUsername": "hubermanlab",
  "ownerFullName": "Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.",
  "caption": "Comment BRAIN FOOD & I will DM you a link to the full episode: How Food Choices Shape Memory, Cognition & Cravings…",
  "timestamp": "2026-10-12T23:54:18.000Z",
  "videoDuration": 38.505,
  "videoPlayCount": 1676425,
  "likesCount": 28552,
  "commentsCount": 1336,
  "transcript": "If I eat healthy foods and I like the way they taste, I find that I crave those foods and I don't tend to crave other foods presumably because I'm sated…",
  "transcriptSource": "instagram"
}
```

`transcriptSource` is `instagram` for Instagram's captions and `speech-to-text` for ours. A reel without speech comes with an empty `transcript`.

Profiles or reels that can't be read get a row with the reason, free of charge:

```json
{ "input": "some_private_profile", "error": "Private profile" }
```

### Price

- **$0.01 per reel** of up to a minute; longer videos count once per started minute (a 90-second reel is $0.02)
- Reels without speech: free
- Private, missing or invalid profiles and reels: free

| Run | Cost |
|---|---|
| 10 profiles, 10 reels each, under a minute | $1.00 |
| 1,000 reel URLs, under a minute | $10.00 |

A run stops at the maximum cost you set for it. On Apify's free plan, a run transcribes up to 5 reels.

### FAQ

**Which languages does it handle?**
Instagram's captions come in the reel's language. Speech-to-text detects the language by itself and transcribes over 50 of them, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi and Arabic.

**Are there timestamps?**
No, one block of text per reel.

**What about videos longer than a few minutes?**
The first 10 minutes are transcribed, and charged per started minute.

**Does it work with private accounts?**
No. Only public profiles and reels.

**Is it legal?**
It reads only public reels. Names and voices are personal data under GDPR and similar laws: use them for a legitimate purpose and honor deletion requests.

# Actor input Schema

## `username` (type: `array`):

One per line. A profile gives its latest reels; a reel URL gives that reel.

## `resultsLimit` (type: `integer`):

Newest first, after any pinned reels.

## `onlyPostsNewerThan` (type: `string`):

A date, or a period like 7 days for scheduled runs. UTC.

## `skipPinnedPosts` (type: `boolean`):

Pinned reels stay on top of a profile however old they are.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "username": [
    "hubermanlab"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 5,
  "skipPinnedPosts": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (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 = {
    "username": [
        "hubermanlab"
    ],
    "resultsLimit": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-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": ["hubermanlab"],
    "resultsLimit": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-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": [
    "hubermanlab"
  ],
  "resultsLimit": 5
}' |
apify call rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rowfinch/instagram-reel-transcript-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/dIGtkVngb9xufNiVa/builds/WNWUOhiezFXFVgEYZ/openapi.json