Instagram related user scraper

Instagram Related User Scraper extracts similar Instagram accounts from seed profiles, with chain discovery, account filters, and optional full profile enrichment.

Use it when you need structured similar-account suggestions from Instagram inside Apify datasets. Provide one or more seed usernames, set a result limit, and optionally follow the chain of similar accounts multiple levels deep.

It is designed for lookalike audience discovery, influencer research, network mapping, market research, and AI workflows that need repeatable Instagram similar-account data.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform where public profiles show posts, follower counts, and Instagram-suggested similar accounts.

What data can I extract with Instagram Related User Scraper?

Instagram Related User Scraper extracts the following data from Instagram:

• Similar account identity - Usernames, numeric user IDs, display names, and profile picture URLs from the similar accounts block.
• Account status flags - Whether each similar account is private or verified.
• Chain discovery context - The discovered-from username, depth, and full chain path for accounts found through multi-level chain discovery.
• Enriched profile details - When enrichment is enabled, each similar account can be replaced with its full public profile: biography, follower/following counts, and other profile metadata.

Use maxItem to keep test runs small, then enable enrichProfile or chainDepth when you need full profile details or multi-level discovery.

How can I use Instagram data?

• Lookalike audience discovery - Start from a known creator, brand, or public figure and collect Instagram accounts Instagram considers similar.
• Influencer and creator research - Build datasets of adjacent accounts in a niche for outreach or competitive research.
• Network mapping with chain discovery - Follow similar-account suggestions multiple levels deep to map out a niche or find accounts a single search would never surface.
• Market and audience research - Discover accounts clustered around a brand or topic, then export the dataset for analysis.
• AI enrichment workflows - Feed similar-account records into ranking, classification, CRM enrichment, or research agents.

How to scrape Instagram

Step 1: Enter seed accounts

Add one or more Instagram usernames to the username array.

Step 2: Set the result limit

Use maxItem to control how many similar accounts are saved (0 = unlimited, capped at 100 automatically once enrichment is on).

Step 3: Choose chain discovery and filters

Set chainDepth above 0 to follow the chain of similar accounts, and use verifiedOnly, skipPrivate, minFollowers, or maxFollowers to narrow results.

Step 4: Choose enrichment

Turn on enrichProfile to replace each result with its full public profile, then use the exclude* toggles to trim heavy or noisy fields.

Step 5: Run and export

Start the Actor and download the Apify dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or HTML.

Instagram Related User Scraper features

• Similar Instagram accounts - Extract the accounts Instagram suggests as similar for one or more seed usernames.
• Chain discovery mode - Follow similar-account suggestions BFS-style up to 5 levels deep, with a per-level cap on how many accounts to follow at each step.
• Optional profile enrichment - Fetch the full public profile for every result. Enriched profiles can be trimmed with exclude-field toggles for posts, saved media, internal viewer flags, and bio link tracking data.
• Account filters - Keep only verified accounts, skip private accounts, or filter by minimum/maximum follower count (requires enrichment).
• Connection graph export - In chain mode, optionally push a { from, to, depth } graph edge record for every discovered connection, ready for network visualization.
• Apify-ready exports - Results are saved to the default Apify dataset and can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or HTML.

Built for reliable Apify runs with automatic retries, proxy support, and structured dataset output.

Input

Configure the run on the Actor's Input tab. Set the fields for your chosen mode, then start the run.

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.

Example input

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

Output

Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or HTML, or pull them from the Apify Dataset API.

Similar account

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

Chain discovery

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

Enrichment

Field	Type	Description
enriched	string,number,boolean,object,array,null	Whether this record was replaced with a full enriched profile.

Example output

{
  "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
}

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram?

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 plan includes monthly credits, which 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.

How does Instagram Related User Scraper compare to other Instagram scrapers?

Tool	Price / 1K	Fields	Key difference
Instagram Related User Scraper (this Actor)	Apify pay-per-result	Similar account username, full name, ID, verification/privacy flags, profile picture, chain discovery context, optional full enriched profile	Focused on collecting Instagram-suggested similar accounts from seed profiles, with multi-level chain discovery and account filters built in.
Manual Instagram browsing	Manual time	Whatever you copy by hand	Slow, inconsistent, and hard to repeat across seed accounts.

• Best when you want lookalike or adjacent Instagram accounts starting from known accounts, optionally mapped out across multiple degrees of connection.
• Use manual browsing only for one-off checks, not repeatable datasets.

Instagram Related User Scraper FAQ

What is chain discovery?

Set chainDepth to 1 or higher to follow Instagram's similar-account suggestions level by level, starting from your seed usernames. maxItemPerLevel controls how many accounts to follow at each step, up to a maximum depth of 5.

What does Enrich Profiles do?

When enabled, the Actor fetches the full public profile for each similar account and uses it as the dataset record instead of the lightweight summary. Use the exclude* fields to strip heavy sections like posts, saved media, and internal viewer flags.

Can I filter by follower count or verification status?

Yes. verifiedOnly and skipPrivate work without enrichment. minFollowers and maxFollowers require enrichProfile since follower counts only come from the full profile — matching accounts are still fetched and charged even if they don't pass the threshold.

How do I control run cost?

Set maxItem to a small number while testing. Enrichment and chain discovery both increase the number of profile fetches, so enable them only once you know the scope you need.

Can I export a connection graph?

Yes. Enable exportGraph in chain discovery mode to also push { from, to, depth } edge records describing every discovered connection, useful for network visualization tools.

Can I export Instagram similar accounts to CSV or Excel?

Yes. Apify datasets can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML, or accessed through the Dataset API.

Can I integrate Instagram Related User Scraper with other apps?

Yes. Instagram Related User Scraper works with Apify integrations and can send results to common automation, spreadsheet, database, and AI workflows.

• Google Sheets and Airtable - Export similar-account lists into shared research tables.
• CRM and enrichment workflows - Send similar-account records into lead scoring, enrichment, or influencer research pipelines.
• Make, Zapier, and n8n - Trigger downstream automations when a scrape finishes.
• Apify API and webhooks - Run the Actor from code and consume completed datasets programmatically.
• Apify MCP Server - Let AI agents pull fresh Instagram similar-account data through Apify.

Can I use Instagram Related User Scraper with the Apify API?

Yes. Instagram Related User Scraper can be run programmatically with the Apify API. You can also schedule recurring runs, trigger runs with webhooks, and export data through the Dataset API.

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);

Can I use Instagram Related User Scraper through an MCP server?

Yes. AI agents can call this Actor through the Apify MCP server. Point your MCP client at the Apify MCP server (https://mcp.apify.com) and enable the Actor as a tool so agents can pull fresh Instagram similar-account data on demand.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram?

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.

Your feedback

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

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Last updated: 2026-07-11

Keywords: Instagram Related User Scraper, Instagram similar accounts scraper, Instagram suggested accounts scraper, scrape Instagram related users, Instagram chain discovery, Instagram lookalike accounts, Instagram profile enrichment, Instagram network mapping