Instagram Scraper

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Scrape Instagram posts and profiles without a login — captions, like and comment counts, media URLs, follower counts, and recent post history.

What you get

Structured data for any public Instagram account or post. Pass usernames, post URLs, or hashtag-prefixed search terms and get back engagement metrics, media links, and profile metadata. When scraping profiles you also get the most recent N posts per profile for content and engagement analytics.

Output fields (posts)

Field	Description
shortcode	Post shortcode (used in the URL)
url	Full post URL
type	image, video, carousel, or reel
caption	Post caption text
likeCount	Number of likes
commentCount	Number of comments
viewCount	View count (video/reel)
authorUsername	Author handle
timestamp	ISO 8601 post timestamp
location	Tagged location (if any)
imageUrl	Full-resolution image URL
videoUrl	Video URL (if video/reel)
hashtags	Hashtags extracted from the caption

Output fields (profiles)

Field	Description
username	Instagram username
fullName	Display name
biography	Profile bio
followerCount	Number of followers
followingCount	Number of accounts followed
postCount	Total posts
isVerified	Verified badge flag
isPrivate	Private-account flag
profilePicUrl	Profile picture URL
externalUrl	Link in bio
recentPosts	Array of recent posts (up to maxPostsPerProfile)

Example output

{
    "shortcode": "C7xYz12ABcd",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/C7xYz12ABcd/",
    "type": "image",
    "caption": "Sunrise at the South Rim. #nature #photography",
    "likeCount": 245000,
    "commentCount": 1200,
    "authorUsername": "natgeo",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-08T18:30:00+00:00",
    "location": "Grand Canyon National Park",
    "imageUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
    "hashtags": ["nature", "photography"]
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
queries	Yes	List of @username, #hashtag, post URLs, or profile URLs. Examples: ["@natgeo", "#photography", "https://www.instagram.com/p/ABC123/"].
searchType	No	posts returns individual posts/media, profiles returns profile info with recent posts. Default posts.
maxResults	No	Max total results across all queries. Default 8.
maxResultsPerQuery	No	Max results per individual query. 0 = no per-query limit. Default 0.
maxPostsPerProfile	No	When searchType=profiles, recent posts returned per profile. Default 12, max 60.

Use cases

• Social media marketers: Benchmark competitor content, post cadence, and engagement.
• Influencer analysts: Pull follower counts and recent-post engagement for creator shortlists.
• Brand monitoring: Watch hashtag feeds and profile activity for mentions.
• Trend researchers: Collect caption and hashtag corpora for NLP and topic modeling.
• CRM enrichment: Attach Instagram metrics to creator and influencer records.

Use cases & recipes

Step-by-step guides on thirdwatch.dev/blog:

• Monitor Brand Instagram Engagement (2026 Guide)
• Research Instagram Hashtag Performance (2026 Guide)
• Scrape Instagram Profiles and Posts at Scale (2026)
• Track Influencer Follower Growth on Instagram (2026)

-end

Pricing

Pay per delivered result. Tiered discounts apply automatically based on usage volume. The scraper tries low-cost direct HTTP first. If Instagram blocks that path and a residential retry successfully delivers results, that query has one additional $0.008 proxy fallback event. Failed and empty queries do not incur this event.

Tier	Price per result
FREE	$0.0012
BRONZE	$0.0010
SILVER	$0.0008
GOLD	$0.0006

Limitations

• Private profiles cannot be scraped.
• Stories and the Reels "For You" feed require authentication and are not supported.
• Hashtag and location search are rate-limited in 2026 and may return partial results.
• viewCount is only populated for video and reel posts.

Compared to alternatives

• vs. apify/instagram-scraper ($0.0027/result on FREE, from $0.0015 at high volume): Thirdwatch starts at $0.0012/result and drops to $0.0006 while keeping one consolidated schema across posts and profiles.
• vs. apidojo/instagram-scraper (from $0.00047/post): Apidojo's lowest advertised high-volume rate remains lower. Thirdwatch's FREE rate is transparent at $0.0012/result and includes profile results plus maxPostsPerProfile enrichment.

Pairs well with TikTok Scraper and YouTube Scraper for cross-platform creator research.

FAQ

Can I scrape a single post by URL? Yes. Pass the https://www.instagram.com/p/... URL directly in queries.

Can I get recent posts from a profile? Yes. Set searchType: "profiles" and use maxPostsPerProfile to control how many recent posts come back per profile.

Do I need an Instagram account or API key? No. The actor works against publicly accessible endpoints.

Will it scrape Stories or Reels tab? No. Stories require login. Individual reels that appear in a profile's grid are returned as posts with type: "reel".

Last verified: 2026-04

More scrapers at thirdwatch.dev.