Instagram Hashtag Scraper

Scrape Instagram posts by hashtag without an API key. Extract captions, likes, comments, authors, images, videos, locations, hashtags, and mentions from any public hashtag.

Use Cases

• Influencer Marketing — Find top-performing posts and influencers for any hashtag. Identify potential brand ambassadors by analyzing engagement rates, follower counts, and content quality across your target hashtags.

• Trend Analysis — Monitor hashtag growth and content trends over time. Track which hashtags are gaining momentum, what type of content performs best, and how engagement patterns shift across seasons and events.

• Competitor Research — Analyze your competitors' branded hashtags and campaigns. See what content resonates with their audience, benchmark engagement metrics, and discover gaps in their content strategy.

• Content Strategy — Discover what types of posts perform best for specific hashtags. Use data on top-performing captions, image styles, posting times, and engagement patterns to optimize your own content calendar.

• Market Research — Understand audience sentiment and behavior around topics, products, or brands. Aggregate post data to identify customer pain points, popular product features, and emerging market trends.

• UGC Discovery — Find user-generated content featuring your brand or products. Identify authentic customer posts that can be repurposed (with permission) for marketing campaigns and social proof.

Features

• No API key or Instagram login required
• Multiple extraction strategies (embedded JSON, meta tags, DOM parsing)
• Google search fallback when Instagram blocks direct access
• 12 rotating user agents to avoid detection
• Automatic pagination for large scrapes
• Deduplication by post shortcode
• Pay-per-event pricing ($0.003 per post)
• Proxy support (residential proxies recommended)
• Sorts by recent or top posts
• Optional comment extraction

Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
hashtags	array	Yes	—	Hashtags to scrape (without #). Example: ["travel", "photography"]
maxPosts	integer	No	500	Maximum posts to scrape per run (1–10,000)
sortBy	string	No	recent	Sort order: recent or top
includeComments	boolean	No	false	Scrape comments for each post (slower)
proxyConfiguration	object	No	—	Proxy settings. Residential proxies recommended

Example Input

{
  "hashtags": ["travel", "wanderlust"],
  "maxPosts": 100,
  "sortBy": "top",
  "includeComments": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Output

Each post is saved as a dataset item with the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
shortcode	string	Unique Instagram post identifier
caption	string	Post caption text
likes	number	Number of likes
comments	number	Number of comments
author	string	Username of the post author
authorFollowers	number	Author's follower count (when available)
imageUrl	string	URL of the post image
videoUrl	string	URL of the video (if video post)
isVideo	boolean	Whether the post is a video/reel
date	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the post was created
location	string	Location tag (when available)
hashtags	array	Hashtags found in the caption
mentions	array	@mentions found in the caption
postUrl	string	Direct URL to the Instagram post
sourceHashtag	string	Which input hashtag this post was found under
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the post was scraped
extractionStrategy	string	Which extraction method was used

Example Output

{
  "shortcode": "C3xK9mNPqRs",
  "caption": "Exploring the hidden gems of Bali #travel #wanderlust #bali",
  "likes": 15234,
  "comments": 342,
  "author": "travelguru",
  "authorFollowers": 125000,
  "imageUrl": "https://instagram.com/...",
  "videoUrl": null,
  "isVideo": false,
  "date": "2026-02-28T14:30:00.000Z",
  "location": "Ubud, Bali",
  "hashtags": ["#travel", "#wanderlust", "#bali"],
  "mentions": [],
  "postUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/C3xK9mNPqRs/",
  "sourceHashtag": "travel",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-02T10:00:00.000Z",
  "extractionStrategy": "sharedData"
}

How It Works

The scraper uses multiple strategies to extract data, falling back automatically if one method fails:

1. Embedded JSON — Parses window._sharedData, __additionalDataLoaded, and Relay runtime data embedded in Instagram pages. This provides the richest data including exact like/comment counts, author details, and timestamps.

2. Instagram API — Attempts to use Instagram's internal API endpoints (/explore/tags/{hashtag}/?__a=1) for structured JSON responses with full post metadata.

3. Meta Tags — Extracts OpenGraph and Twitter Card meta tags from post pages. Provides image URLs, descriptions, and basic engagement data.

4. DOM Parsing — Falls back to parsing the HTML structure with Cheerio when JSON data is unavailable. Extracts post links, images, and captions from the page layout.

5. Google Search Fallback — When Instagram blocks direct access, searches Google for site:instagram.com/p/ #hashtag to discover post URLs, then fetches each individual post page for enrichment.

Proxy Configuration

Instagram actively blocks scrapers. For best results, use residential proxies:

{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]
  }
}

Without proxies, the scraper will still attempt to extract data but may encounter rate limiting or login walls. The Google search fallback helps mitigate this.

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• $0.003 per post scraped — You only pay for successfully extracted posts
• No charge for failed requests or deduplicated posts
• Comments are included at no extra charge when includeComments is enabled

Limitations

• Instagram frequently updates its page structure. Extraction strategies are designed to be resilient but may need updates over time.
• Rate limiting may reduce the number of posts scraped in a single run. Use proxies for best results.
• Some post metadata (like exact follower counts) may not always be available depending on the extraction strategy used.
• Very new or very niche hashtags may have limited posts available.
• Comment extraction requires additional requests and significantly increases run time.

Support

For issues, feature requests, or questions, contact: ricardo.yudi@gmail.com