Instagram Popular Search Scraper — Hashtag & Keyword

Search Instagram by hashtag or plain keyword and see what's actually being posted right now.

I built this for scoping a topic before committing to it — enter a hashtag or just a keyword and get back the same kind of result, no separate tool needed for each.

One search box, hashtag or keyword

Set Hashtag/Keyword(s) to the terms you're researching (no # needed) and Media Per Keyword to how many results you want for each. Turn on Fetch Full Media Details to swap thin hits for their complete media record.

Hashtag/keyword search

Set Hashtag/Keyword(s) to search terms (without #) and Media Per Keyword to how many results to pull for each.

Field	Type	Required	Description
keywords	array	Yes	Hashtags or search keywords, without the # prefix — one per line.
mediaCount	integer	No	How many media items to fetch per hashtag/keyword (max 50).

Full media detail

Turn on Fetch Full Media Details to replace each thin search hit with its complete media record.

Field	Type	Required	Description
keywords	array	Yes	Hashtags or search keywords, without the # prefix — one per line.
enrichMedia	boolean	No	Replace each thin hit with its complete media record (caption, counters, all image/video variants). Costs an extra event per swapped item.

Example search

{
  "keywords": [
    "travel"
  ],
  "mediaCount": 12,
  "enrichMedia": false
}

Results, tagged by search term

Media identity

Field	Type	Description
pk	string	Instagram media numeric primary key.
code	string	Instagram post/reel shortcode.
media_type	number	Instagram media type (1=photo, 2=video, 8=carousel).
taken_at	number	Unix timestamp the media was posted.

Engagement

Field	Type	Description
like_count	number	Number of likes on the media.
comment_count	number	Number of comments on the media.

Source & enrichment

Field	Type	Description
source_keyword	string	The hashtag/keyword this media item or search result belongs to.
enriched	boolean	Whether this record was replaced with a full enriched profile.

Result preview

{
  "pk": "3920738671208852726",
  "code": "DZpQwxqimz2",
  "like_count": 1024,
  "comment_count": 42,
  "taken_at": 1753123200,
  "media_type": 1,
  "source_keyword": "travel",
  "enriched": false
}

Cost follows result count and enrichment

This Actor uses Apify pay-per-result pricing. You are charged for successful dataset results according to the Actor pricing shown on the Apify Pricing tab. Enrichment may add extra billable events when enabled.

Apify's free credits may cover small test runs and up to the free result allowance configured for the Actor.

Start with a low maxItem value and chainDepth 0 before enabling enrichment or chain discovery for large runs.

Public search results, used responsibly

This Actor extracts publicly available Instagram account information. It should not be used to collect private account data, bypass access controls, or contact people in ways that violate privacy laws, Instagram terms, or your own compliance obligations. If you are unsure, consult a qualified lawyer.

Run this Actor from code

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("thenetaji/instagram-popular-search-scraper").call(run_input={
    "keywords": [
        "travel"
    ],
    "mediaCount": 12,
    "enrichMedia": false
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN" });
const run = await client.actor("thenetaji/instagram-popular-search-scraper").call({
  "keywords": [
    "travel"
  ],
  "mediaCount": 12,
  "enrichMedia": false
});

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

Complementary Actors

• Instagram Post Scraper — Details, Comments & oEmbed — Fetch a post's full media object, its comments, or its oEmbed metadata, by shortcode, media ID, or URL, with optional author profile enrichment.
• Instagram Profile Content Scraper — Posts, Reels & Story Status — Scrape posts, reels, or check story/live status for one or more public Instagram accounts, with optional full media detail enrichment.
• Instagram Location Scraper — Fetch public metadata — name, category, coordinates, media count — for one or more Instagram locations.

Ask the maintainer

Use the Issues tab on the Actor page for bug reports, missing fields, and feature requests.