📸 Instagram Comment Scraper

Fast and efficient Instagram comment scraper that extracts comprehensive comment data — including text, engagement metrics, user info, replies, and more.

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✨ Features

• 🚀 High-Speed Scraping – Process 1000+ comments in under 3 minutes
• 📊 Comprehensive Data – Extract 15+ comment fields including text, likes, replies, and user details
• 💰 Cost-Effective – Optimized for minimal resource usage (~$0.50 per 5,000 comments)
• 🎯 Reliable – Built-in error handling and automatic recovery

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📥 What Data Can You Extract?

💬 Comment Information

• Comment ID
• Comment Text
• Comment URL
• Timestamp
• Sort Order (Popular/Recent)

📈 Engagement Metrics

• Likes Count
• Child Comment Count (Replies)
• Has Liked Status

👤 User Information

• Username
• Full Name
• User ID
• Profile Picture URL
• Verified Status

🔗 Post Context

• Post ID
• Post URL
• Parent Comment (for replies)

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⚙️ Input

The scraper accepts Instagram post URLs in multiple formats.

🧩 Example Input

{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/DQcvFCwCW-9/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQYl6giiCdQ/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/_foodie_fairy/reel/DQYl6giiCdQ/"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 1000,
  "sortOrder": "popular"
}

🎛️ Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
postUrls	Array	Required	Instagram post/reel URLs
maxCommentsPerPost	Number	1000	Maximum comments to scrape per post
sortOrder	String	"popular"	Sort by "popular" or "recent_activity"

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🏷️ Supported Formats

• Post URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/
• Reel URL: https://www.instagram.com/reel/XYZ789/
• Profile Reel: https://www.instagram.com/username/reel/ABC123/

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📤 Output

The scraper returns detailed comment data in JSON format.

🧾 Example Output

{
  "postId": "3755083244056965053",
  "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DQcvFCwCW-9/",
  "commentId": "17962997024990072",
  "commentUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DQcvFCwCW-9/c/17962997024990072/",
  "text": "This is amazing! 😍",
  "timestamp": 1729872000,
  "likesCount": 523,
  "userId": "12345678",
  "username": "foodie_lover",
  "userFullName": "Sarah Smith",
  "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://scontent-ams2-1.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "owner": "foodie_lover",
  "ownerUsername": "foodie_lover",
  "isVerified": false,
  "hasLikedComment": false,
  "childCommentCount": 12,
  "repliesCount": 12,
  "replies": []
}

📋 All Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
commentUrl	String	Direct link to comment
commentId	String	Unique comment identifier
likesCount	Number	Number of likes on comment
owner	String	Comment author username
ownerProfilePicUrl	String	Author's profile picture URL
ownerUsername	String	Comment author username
postUrl	String	Parent post URL
replies	Array	Child comments (if scraped)
repliesCount	Number	Number of replies to comment
text	String	Comment text content
timestamp	Number	Unix timestamp of comment
postId	String	Parent post ID
userId	String	Comment author ID
userFullName	String	Author's full name
isVerified	Boolean	Verified account status
hasLikedComment	Boolean	Your like status

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🧠 Use Cases

• 📈 Sentiment Analysis – Analyze comment sentiment and engagement
• 🎯 Audience Research – Understand your audience's feedback
• 📊 Competitor Analysis – Monitor competitor post engagement
• 🔍 Influencer Vetting – Check authenticity of influencer engagement
• 📱 Brand Monitoring – Track brand mentions and customer feedback
• 🎨 Content Strategy – Identify what resonates with audiences
• 💬 Community Management – Export comments for moderation
• 📍 Crisis Management – Monitor negative feedback in real-time

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⚡ Performance

🚀 Typical Speed (512MB Memory)
~500-1000 comments/minute (optimized with parallel processing)

• 100 comments in ~20 seconds
• 1,000 comments in under 3 minutes
• 5,000 comments in ~15 minutes
• 10,000 comments in ~30 minutes

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🧩 Resource Usage

• Memory: 512MB (recommended minimum)
• Cost: ~$0.10 per 1,000 comments

💡 Note: Actual performance may vary depending on network and Instagram response times.

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🧾 Dataset Preview

Username	User ID	Likes	Replies	Comment Text	Post URL
foodie_lover	12345678	523	12	This is amazing! 😍	🔗
travel_addict	87654321	234	5	Love this content!	🔗

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🧩 Advanced Features

⚡ Smart Batching – Batch data pushes every 10 seconds or 200 items
🛡️ Failure Recovery – Tracks consecutive failures and gracefully exits to save resources
🔒 Proxy Rotation – Automatic residential proxy rotation for each request

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🛡️ Error Handling

• Automatic retry on failures (3 attempts per post)
• Consecutive failure tracking (exits after 5 consecutive failures)
• Session expiry detection with clear error messages
• Graceful degradation and recovery
• Real-time error logging

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❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need to provide my Instagram password?
A: No! The scraper uses pre-configured session — no password needed.

Q: How many posts can I scrape comments from?
A: Unlimited! The scraper handles multiple posts efficiently.

Q: What if a comment is deleted during scraping?
A: The scraper gracefully skips deleted comments and continues.

Q: Can I scrape comments from private posts?
A: No, only publicly available posts can be scraped.

Q: Can I scrape replies to comments?
A: Currently, the scraper extracts top-level comments and reply counts. Reply extraction can be added as a custom feature.

Q: What's the difference between "popular" and "recent_activity" sort?
A: "popular" returns most-liked comments first, "recent_activity" returns newest comments first.

Q: Will I get rate-limited?
A: The scraper includes built-in rate limiting and proxy support to minimize rate limit risks.

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🧮 Memory Recommendations

Memory	Max Comments/Run	Recommended Use
512MB	5,000-10,000	Standard scraping

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🔧 Configuration Tips

🎯 Maximize Speed

{
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 1000
}

Process multiple posts in parallel (5 posts simultaneously)

🛡️ Maximize Reliability

{
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 500
}

Slower but more stable with lower detection risk

📊 Comprehensive Analysis

{
  "maxCommentsPerPost": 10000,
  "sortOrder": "popular"
}

Deep dive into post engagement

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🚀 Speed Optimization

The scraper uses several techniques to maximize speed:

1. Minimal Delays – Optimized request timing (50x faster than conservative delays)
2. Smart Batching – Efficient data pushing reduces overhead
3. Proxy Rotation – Each request uses a fresh residential IP

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🛠️ Support

🔒 Secure & Compliant – Respects the Instagrams rate limits
⚡ Real-Time Updates – Data pushed live to dataset
🎨 Clean Output – Structured JSON ready for analysis
🚀 Blazing Fast – Optimized extraction while respecting Instagram's rate limits

Having issues or questions?
📧 Contact ahmad120rehman@gmail.com or check the Apify documentation for help.

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🔄 Version History

v1.0 - Initial Release

• Speed Improvements
• Automatic proxy rotation support
• Session expiry detection
• Comprehensive error handling

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🚨 Common Issues & Solutions

Issue: "401 Unauthorized"

Solution: Session is invalid. Contact Developer.

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📜 Actor.json Configuration

{
  "actorSpecification": 1,
  "name": "instagram-comment-scraper",
  "title": "Instagram Comment Scraper",
  "description": "Fast Instagram comment scraper - Extract comments, likes, replies, and user data from any post",
  "version": "1.0",
  "minMemoryMbytes": 512,
  "maxMemoryMbytes": 4096,
  "storages": {
    "dataset": {
      "actorSpecification": 1,
      "views": {
        "overview": {
          "title": "Overview",
          "transformation": {
            "fields": [
              "ownerUsername",
              "userId",
              "text",
              "likesCount",
              "repliesCount",
              "timestamp",
              "postUrl",
              "commentUrl",
              "ownerProfilePicUrl"
            ]
          },
          "display": {
            "component": "table",
            "properties": {
              "ownerUsername": {
                "label": "Username",
                "format": "text"
              },
              "userId": {
                "label": "User ID",
                "format": "text"
              },
              "text": {
                "label": "Comment Text",
                "format": "text"
              },
              "likesCount": {
                "label": "Likes",
                "format": "number"
              },
              "repliesCount": {
                "label": "Replies",
                "format": "number"
              },
              "timestamp": {
                "label": "Timestamp",
                "format": "number"
              },
              "postUrl": {
                "label": "Post URL",
                "format": "link"
              },
              "commentUrl": {
                "label": "Comment URL",
                "format": "link"
              },
              "ownerProfilePicUrl": {
                "label": "Profile Pic",
                "format": "image"
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}