# Instagram Scraper - Public Profile & Recent Posts (`santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper`) Actor Scrape public Instagram profiles: bio, follower count, following count, post count, verification status, business category, external website, and up to 12 recent posts per profile with captions and engagement metrics. No login required. Pay-per-result. - **URL**: https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [NanoScrape](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations) (community) - **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 results 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Instagram Scraper Extract public [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/) profile data in bulk. No API key, no login. Supply a list of usernames or profile URLs and get structured profile records back: bio, follower and following counts, verification status, business category, external website, and up to 12 recent posts per profile with captions and engagement metrics. HTTP-only, ~128 MB RAM, pay-per-result. ### What It Does For every public Instagram handle in the input, the actor returns one dataset row with: - Identity: username, user_id, full_name, profile_url, profile_pic_url - Bio: biography, external website - Stats: follower_count, following_count, post_count - Signals: is_verified, is_private, is_business_account, category_name - Recent posts: up to 12 per profile, each with shortcode, caption, like_count, comment_count, media_type (image, video, carousel), media_url, posted_at, post_url Private accounts return the profile row without post details. Not-found handles are logged and skipped. If Instagram serves an auth wall, the actor stops and logs an escalation message. ### Input Accepts bare handles, `@handle`, or full profile URLs. Mix and match freely. ```json { "usernames": [ "example_handle", "@another_example", "https://www.instagram.com/third_example/" ], "maxPostsPerProfile": 12, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ```` #### Input Fields | Field | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | `usernames` | string\[] | Yes | - | Instagram handles or profile URLs to scrape | | `maxPostsPerProfile` | integer | No | `12` | Recent posts per profile (0 to 12). Set to 0 to skip posts and run faster | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | No | Auto | Apify proxy settings. Datacenter is fine for most runs | ### Output One row per input handle, pushed to the default dataset. ```json { "username": "example_handle", "user_id": "1234567890", "full_name": "Example Company", "biography": "Example bio for a public Instagram profile.", "website": "https://example.com", "follower_count": 125000, "following_count": 420, "post_count": 1830, "is_verified": true, "is_private": false, "is_business_account": true, "category_name": "Retail Company", "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/example.jpg", "posts": [ { "shortcode": "CxAmpleAbc", "caption": "Example post caption.", "like_count": 1200, "comment_count": 34, "media_type": "image", "media_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/example_media.jpg", "posted_at": "2026-07-01T12:00:00Z", "post_url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/CxAmpleAbc/" } ], "profile_url": "https://www.instagram.com/example_handle/", "scraped_at": "2026-07-18T09:00:00Z" } ``` `profile_url` echoes the input identifier and is safe to use as a merge key when joining back to your CRM or another actor's output. ### Pricing Pay-per-result via Apify Pay-Per-Event billing: | Event | Price | Description | |-------|-------|-------------| | Actor start | $0.001 | Charged once per run | | Profile scraped | $0.005 | Charged per profile row returned | Scraping 1,000 profiles costs about $5. No monthly fees, no minimum spend. ### Use with AI Agents (MCP) Connect this actor to any MCP-compatible AI client: Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, Cursor, VS Code, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or custom agents. Apify MCP server URL: ``` https://mcp.apify.com?tools=santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper ``` Example prompt once connected: > "Use `instagram-scraper` to fetch the profile and last 12 posts for two example handles. Return a table with username, follower count, verification status, and each post's like count and caption." Clients that support dynamic tool discovery (Claude.ai, VS Code) receive the full input schema automatically via `add-actor`. ### Tips - Bare handles run fastest. If you pass full URLs the actor strips them down to the handle for you. - Set `maxPostsPerProfile` to `0` when you only need profile stats. Cuts response size and speeds up big runs. - Every handle is scraped once per run even if it appears multiple times in the input list. - Datacenter proxy is fine for most cases. Switch to residential only if you see rate limits at higher volumes. ### FAQ **What does "public profile" mean?** Instagram profiles set to public are visible without logging in. This actor can only scrape public accounts. Private accounts return profile stats but no post details. **What happens if a handle does not exist?** The actor logs a warning for that handle and continues. Not-found handles are not written to the dataset. **What if Instagram requires login?** If Instagram's authentication wall is encountered the actor stops immediately and logs an escalation. This can happen when Instagram temporarily enforces login for unauthenticated requests. **Are results deduplicated?** Each handle is scraped once per run regardless of how many times it appears in the input. ### Related Actors Discovery: - [Google Maps Scraper](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/google-maps-scraper) - collect places and companies in bulk - [Website Email Scraper](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/website-email-scraper) - pull emails, phones and social handles from company sites Enrichment: - [LinkedIn Company Scraper](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/linkedin-company-scraper) - enrich companies with LinkedIn data - [AI Icebreaker Generator](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/ai-icebreaker) - one personalized cold-outreach line per business - [GBP Completeness Audit](https://apify.com/santamaria-automations/gbp-completeness-audit) - score Google Business Profiles for lead prioritization ### Issues & Feature Requests If a field is missing or looks off for a given profile, open an issue on the actor's Issues tab and we will take a look. # Actor input Schema ## `usernames` (type: `array`): List of public Instagram usernames or profile URLs to scrape. Accepts bare usernames ('example\_handle'), '@example\_handle', or full URLs like 'https://www.instagram.com/example\_handle/'. ## `maxPostsPerProfile` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of recent posts to include per profile. Set to 0 to return profile data only (no posts). Default is 12. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Apify proxy settings. Datacenter proxies are used by default. ## Actor input object example ```json { "usernames": [ "example_handle", "another_example" ], "maxPostsPerProfile": 12, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `defaultDataset` (type: `string`): Dataset containing scraped Instagram profile records with bio, stats, and recent posts. # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "usernames": [ "example_handle", "another_example" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("santamaria-automations/instagram-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "usernames": [ "example_handle", "another_example", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "usernames": [ "example_handle", "another_example" ] }' | apify call santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=santamaria-automations/instagram-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Instagram Scraper - Public Profile & Recent Posts", "description": "Scrape public Instagram profiles: bio, follower count, following count, post count, verification status, business category, external website, and up to 12 recent posts per profile with captions and engagement metrics. No login required. Pay-per-result.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "mM5dSSnuzXlEdL9ts" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/santamaria-automations~instagram-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-santamaria-automations-instagram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/santamaria-automations~instagram-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-santamaria-automations-instagram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/santamaria-automations~instagram-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-santamaria-automations-instagram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "usernames" ], "properties": { "usernames": { "title": "Instagram Usernames", "type": "array", "description": "List of public Instagram usernames or profile URLs to scrape. Accepts bare usernames ('example_handle'), '@example_handle', or full URLs like 'https://www.instagram.com/example_handle/'.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxPostsPerProfile": { "title": "Max Recent Posts per Profile", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 12, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of recent posts to include per profile. Set to 0 to return profile data only (no posts). Default is 12.", "default": 12 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Apify proxy settings. Datacenter proxies are used by default.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```