Instagram Related Profile Scraper

Use seed Instagram accounts to discover similar public profiles, then decide which discoveries deserve enrichment.

I built Instagram Related User Scraper for research that starts with an example rather than a perfect keyword. A seed account can reveal a useful neighborhood of adjacent creators, brands, or communities; chain discovery can continue that exploration beyond the first hop.

Control how far the trail travels

Start with usernames, set a result cap, and keep enrichment off while testing the quality of the neighborhood. Account filters help remove results that do not fit the study before optional profile enrichment adds cost and detail.

Similar accounts

Enter one or more Instagram usernames and collect accounts shown as directly similar to those seeds.

Field	Type	Required	Description
username	array	Yes	Instagram usernames to scrape
maxItem	integer	No	Maximum number of items to scrape (0 = unlimited)
enrichProfile	boolean	No	Fetch full profile details for each user (slower, costs more)

Chain discovery

Set chainDepth to 1 or higher to follow similar-account suggestions level by level, optionally exporting a connection graph.

Field	Type	Required	Description
username	array	Yes	Instagram usernames to scrape
chainDepth	integer	No	Discover accounts connected to your results, not just directly similar ones. Set to 1 to also find users similar to your results. Set to 2 to go one level further. Leave at 0 to skip this.
maxItemPerLevel	integer	No	How many similar accounts to follow at each step of the chain. Lower = faster and more focused. Higher = broader discovery.
exportGraph	boolean	No	In chain mode, also push a graph edge record for every discovered connection: { from, to, depth }. Useful for network visualization.

Filtered enrichment

Enable enrichProfile and combine with verifiedOnly, skipPrivate, minFollowers, or maxFollowers to keep only the accounts you care about.

Field	Type	Required	Description
enrichProfile	boolean	No	Fetch full profile details for each user (slower, costs more)
verifiedOnly	boolean	No	Only include verified (blue tick) accounts in results.
skipPrivate	boolean	No	Exclude private accounts from results.
minFollowers	integer	No	Only include accounts with at least this many followers. Requires Enrich Profiles — each profile is fetched and charged even if it doesn't meet the threshold.
maxFollowers	integer	No	Only include accounts with at most this many followers. Requires Enrich Profiles — each profile is fetched and charged even if it doesn't meet the threshold.

First-hop example

{
  "username": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "maxItem": 20,
  "enrichProfile": false
}

Keep discovery context in the dataset

Similar account

Field	Type	Description
username	string	Instagram username of the account.
full_name	string	Display name shown on the profile.
id	string	Instagram numeric user ID.
is_verified	boolean	Whether the account is verified (blue badge).
is_private	boolean	Whether the account is private.
profile_pic_url	string	Profile picture URL.

Chain discovery

Field	Type	Description
discovered_from	string	Seed or intermediate username this account was found through (chain mode only).
depth	number	How many chain levels deep this account was discovered at (chain mode only).
chain_path	array	Full chain of usernames from the seed to this account (chain mode only).

Enrichment

Field	Type	Description
enriched	boolean	Whether this record was replaced with a full enriched profile.

Suggested account preview

{
  "username": "nasaartemis",
  "full_name": "NASA Artemis",
  "id": "1104426670",
  "is_private": false,
  "is_verified": true,
  "profile_pic_url": "https://instagram.fadd2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/example.jpg",
  "enriched": false
}

Similarity is a platform suggestion, not proof that two accounts share ownership, audience, or views. I recommend treating it as a lead for review rather than a final classification.

Cost follows breadth 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.

Responsible profile research

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-related-user-scraper").call(run_input={
    "username": [
        "nasa"
    ],
    "maxItem": 20,
    "enrichProfile": 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-related-user-scraper").call({
  "username": [
    "nasa"
  ],
  "maxItem": 20,
  "enrichProfile": false
});

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

Move from discovery to audience lists

• Instagram Followers & Followings Scraper — Scrape both followers and followings of Instagram users in a single run
• LinkedIn Related User Scraper — Extract related LinkedIn profile suggestions from one or more seed profiles, with optional full profile enrichment for each related user.
• Facebook Ads Library Scrape — Scrape public Facebook and Instagram ads from Meta Ad Library: search by keyword or Ad Library URL, browse every ad from a known advertiser Page, or find a Page's ID by brand name. Filter by country, status, category, format, platform, and date, and optionally enrich each ad with full details.

Ask the maintainer

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