Instagram Scraper

Extract Instagram posts, reels, profiles, places, hashtags, carousels, and comments with structured metadata, metrics, and high detail.

Get data from Instagram using one or more Instagram URLs or search queries: content, context, metrics, and metadata. Export scraped data in JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML format, run the scraper via API, schedule and monitor runs, or integrate with other automation tools.

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🌟 Key Features

• Multi-Entity Extraction: Scrape Profiles, Posts, Reels, Carousels, Hashtags, Locations/Places, and Comments in a single run.
• Flexible Input Support: Input direct Instagram URLs (profile links, post permalinks, reel URLs, tag pages, place pages) or search keywords.
• Dynamic Dataset Output: Produces dynamic JSON output tailored to your selected resultsType (posts, comments, details, reels).
• Rich Context & Metrics: Collect likes count, comments count, video views, captions, user handles, timestamps, media URLs, carousel slide breakdowns, hashtags, and user mentions.
• Comment Extraction: Pull detailed comments per post including commenter handle, comment text, timestamp, and comment likes.
• Apify Proxy Ready: Built-in support for Apify Proxy to prevent rate limits and geo-restrictions.

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📥 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
directUrls	Array	["https://www.instagram.com/instagram/"]	List of target Instagram URLs (Profile, Post, Reel, Hashtag, or Place).
searchQueries	Array	["instagram"]	Keywords or handles to search.
searchType	String	"user"	Search target type: "user", "hashtag", or "place".
resultsType	String	"posts"	Desired dataset output type: "posts", "comments", "details", or "reels".
resultsLimit	Integer	20	Maximum number of items to scrape per URL/query.
includeComments	Boolean	true	Include top comments for posts/reels.
proxyConfiguration	Object	{ "useApifyProxy": false }	Apify proxy configuration options.
debugLog	Boolean	false	Enable verbose diagnostic logging.

Example input.json

{
  "directUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/instagram/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/C-XyZ12345/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-AbCd12345/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/photography/"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [
    "photography",
    "travel"
  ],
  "searchType": "user",
  "resultsType": "posts",
  "resultsLimit": 10,
  "includeComments": true,
  "debugLog": false
}

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📤 Dataset Output Formats

Depending on the resultsType selected, the actor pushes dynamic records to the output dataset.

1. Post / Reel / Carousel Item Output

{
  "id": "post_C-XyZ12345",
  "type": "Image",
  "shortCode": "C-XyZ12345",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/C-XyZ12345/",
  "caption": "Exploring breathtaking views! #photography #travel",
  "likesCount": 14250,
  "commentsCount": 320,
  "videoViewCount": 0,
  "timestamp": "2026-08-01T12:00:00.000Z",
  "ownerUsername": "instagram_creator",
  "ownerId": "987654321",
  "displayUrl": "https://instagram.com/media/C-XyZ12345.jpg",
  "childPosts": [
    { "id": "slide_1", "displayUrl": "https://instagram.com/media/C-XyZ12345_1.jpg" },
    { "id": "slide_2", "displayUrl": "https://instagram.com/media/C-XyZ12345_2.jpg" }
  ],
  "hashtags": ["#photography", "#travel"],
  "mentions": ["@instagram"],
  "comments": [
    {
      "commentId": "c_C-XyZ12345_1",
      "text": "Awesome post! Keep it up 🔥",
      "timestamp": "2026-08-01T12:05:00.000Z",
      "ownerUsername": "fan_user_1",
      "ownerProfileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/fan_user_1/",
      "likesCount": 14,
      "postId": "post_C-XyZ12345",
      "postShortCode": "C-XyZ12345"
    }
  ],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-06T15:03:00.000Z"
}

2. Profile Details Item Output

{
  "id": "1029384756",
  "username": "instagram",
  "fullName": "Instagram",
  "biography": "Discover what's next on Instagram 💫",
  "externalUrl": "https://about.instagram.com",
  "followersCount": 670000000,
  "followsCount": 85,
  "postsCount": 7400,
  "profilePicUrl": "https://instagram.com/p/instagram/avatar.jpg",
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/instagram/",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-06T15:03:00.000Z"
}

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🚀 How to Run

Via Apify CLI

# Validate input schema
apify validate-schema

# Run actor locally with simulated platform storage
apify run

Via npm

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Execute main script
npm start

Via Apify API (Node.js SDK)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('username/instagram-scraper').call({
    directUrls: ['https://www.instagram.com/instagram/'],
    resultsType: 'posts',
    resultsLimit: 20
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

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🔒 Proxy & Compliance

When scraping public data at scale, it is recommended to enable Apify Proxy (useApifyProxy: true) to avoid request throttling and ensure smooth data retrieval.