Instagram Scraper - Posts, Reels, Hashtags & Profiles

What does Instagram Scraper do?

Instagram Scraper extracts Instagram posts and reels from instagram.com and turns profile names, hashtags or post URLs into structured rows: one row per post, reel or carousel with caption, likes, comments, plays, views, publish date, media URLs, music, tagged users and the owner. Built for marketing teams, influencer and brand researchers, and data pipelines that need Instagram posts and reels data without a login, cookies or an API key.

Instagram Posts Scraper - Instagram Reels Scraper - Instagram Hashtag Scraper - Instagram Profile Posts API

• Every reel of a profile, with plays on every row: set Content to Reels and the actor reads the profile's Reels tab (also reels that are not in the grid), with play, like and comment counts on each reel.
• Posts, reels and carousels from any public profile (newest first, pinned flagged), hashtags and keywords (Instagram's public keyword page) and single posts or reels by URL.
• Views and plays, both: videoViewCount next to videoPlayCount on every video and reel, plus playsPerFollower and engagementRate.
• Reel growth tracking: with monitorDelivery: "changes" a scheduled run returns only the reels whose plays, likes or comments moved, with the deltas.
• Latest comments with one switch, the audio-only audioUrl of each reel, every image rendition, carousel items with their own tagged users.
• No login, cookies or Instagram API key: the actor reads only what Instagram shows a signed-out visitor.
• Filters: date window, content type, minimum likes or plays, keyword, tagged place, pinned posts; pay-per-result with no start fee.
• Export anywhere: JSON, CSV, Excel; schedules, webhooks, Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets; the API and MCP for AI agents, with compact rows.

What data can you get from Instagram?

🔗 Post URL and shortcode (`url`, `shortCode`)	📝 Caption, hashtags, mentions	📅 Publish date (`timestamp`)
❤️ Likes (`likesCount`)	💬 Comments count and latest comments	▶️ Reel plays (`videoPlayCount`)
👁️ Video views (`videoViewCount`)	📈 Engagement rate, plays per follower	📊 Play, like and comment deltas between runs
🖼️ Image URLs in every size (`displayUrl`, `images`)	🎬 Video URL, audio-only URL, duration	🎵 Sound: song, artist, original audio, trending
🏷️ Tagged users with positions	🤝 Co-authors and paid-partnership sponsors	📍 Location name, id, city, coordinates
🧩 Carousel items (`childPosts`)	📌 Pinned, type, product type (reel / feed / carousel)	👤 Owner username, name, id, verified, avatar, followers

On a live run of 4 profiles × 25 reels (2026-10-20) every one of the 100 reels had a caption, date, plays, views, likes, comments, video URL and duration; 98% had the audio-only URL and the sound, 71% tagged users, 42% co-authors and 18% a location.

How to scrape Instagram with Instagram Scraper

1. Create a free Apify account - $5 of monthly credit, no card needed.
2. Open Instagram Scraper and click Try for free.
3. Paste usernames into Profiles, hashtags into Hashtags or keywords, or links into Post or reel URLs. For a creator's reels set Content to Reels.
4. Set Max posts per profile or hashtag and click Start. Rows stream into the dataset as pages are read.
5. Open the Storage tab and Export as JSON, CSV or Excel - or let a schedule run it for you.

⬇️ Input

Parameter	Type	Description
🔍 What to scrape
usernames	List	Usernames or profile URLs: nasa, @natgeo, https://www.instagram.com/instagram/. Default: ["nasa"] when nothing else is given
hashtags	List	Hashtags or keywords: travel, #foodie, https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/travel/. Read from Instagram's public keyword page
postUrls	List	Post or reel URLs or shortcodes: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd9RyBWBVih/, Dd9RyBWBVih
postType (Content)	Select	all, reel, video, image, carousel. reel reads each profile's Reels tab; on hashtags and URLs it keeps reels only. Default: all
dataDetailLevel	Select	detailedData (caption, date, media, sound, tags + counts) or basicData (counts, cover and URL only, about 30× less data). Applies to Reels-tab and hashtag rows. Default: detailedData
🎯 Filters (decide how far back a profile is read)
onlyPostsNewerThan	String	2026-09-01, 7 days, 3 weeks, or a day count. Paging stops when a whole page is older
onlyPostsOlderThan	String	Upper bound of the window, same formats
skipPinnedPosts	Boolean	Leave out posts and reels pinned to the top of the grid or Reels tab. Default: false
✂️ Refine results
minLikes	Integer	Keep only posts with at least this many likes. Default: 0
minPlays	Integer	Keep only reels with at least this many plays. Default: 0
keywordFilter	String	Keep only posts whose caption, hashtags, tagged users, place, sound or owner contain the word(s); comma = any. Needs detailed data
withLocationOnly	Boolean	Keep only posts tagged with a place. Default: false
➕ Extra data
includeVideoViewCount	Boolean	Adds videoViewCount to every video and reel (one extra page per video, free). Default: true
includeLatestComments	Boolean	Adds latestComments (newest 12-15) and firstComment to every row with comments (one extra request per row, free). Default: false
includeProfileSummary	Boolean	Adds one Profile row per scraped profile - charged as profile-summary at $0.001 per profile
🔁 Monitoring
monitorMode	Boolean	Return only posts not delivered by previous runs; pair with a daily schedule
monitorDelivery	Select	new (new posts only) or changes (new posts + posts whose plays, likes or comments moved, with deltas). Default: new
monitorStoreName	String	Name of the key-value store holding the monitor memory. Default: instagram-posts-monitor
📦 Output
resultsLimit	Integer	Max posts per profile or hashtag after filters. Default 50; 0 = everything Instagram serves
maxItems	Integer	Hard cap for the whole run. Default 0 = no total cap
compact	Boolean	Core fields only, sized for AI agents and MCP
⚙️ Advanced
proxyConfiguration	Object	Apify proxy settings. Default: Apify datacenter proxies, which serve every request this actor makes
maxConcurrency	Integer	Parallel per-post requests (details, views, comments, URLs). Default 4

Input JSON

A creator's reels from the last 30 days with plays, views and comments, plus a keyword and one reel URL:

{
  "usernames": ["natgeo"],
  "hashtags": ["travel"],
  "postUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dd9RyBWBVih/"],
  "postType": "reel",
  "onlyPostsNewerThan": "30 days",
  "resultsLimit": 50,
  "includeLatestComments": true
}

Use Content = Reels when you want a creator's reels

The profile timeline mixes photos, carousels and the reels that are in the grid. Reels reads the profile's Reels tab instead: only reels, newest first (pinned reels first), including reels that are not shown in the grid, and the play count comes on every row from the same request. Do: natgeo in Profiles + Content Reels · Don't: Content All posts with a reels-only filter in mind (you would pay for reading photos you then drop).

Basic reel data for counting, detailed for everything else

basicData delivers each reel from the Reels tab or keyword page as it is: plays, likes, comments, cover, URL and owner id. It needs no extra request per reel, so 1,000 reels of a profile took 84 seconds and 85 requests in testing. It has no caption, date, media links or sound; use detailedData (the default) for those, and for keywordFilter.

Schedule it: new posts once, or reel growth with deltas

onlyPostsNewerThan: "1 day" on a profile reads one page and stops; with monitorMode on, a daily schedule delivers each post exactly once. With monitorDelivery: "changes" each run re-reads the newest reels (up to resultsLimit) and delivers only those whose plays, likes or comments moved, with playCountDelta, likesDelta, commentsDelta. In testing a run one minute after the first delivered 11 of 24 reels; the 13 that had not moved cost nothing. Pair it with basicData for the cheapest hourly tracker.

Hashtags are Instagram's public keyword page, not the signed-in hashtag feed

Signed-out visitors get a keyword page of popular reels for a term, 12 per page, in Instagram's ranking. It exists for many terms (travel, foodie, street food) and not for others (sunset, coffee, nasa returned no posts in testing); an empty term delivers nothing and says so in the run status.

⬆️ Output

Every post or reel becomes one dataset item. Here is the table view of a run for nasa, travel and one reel URL:

One reel from the 2026-10-20 Reels-tab run, as JSON (long text and media links shortened):

{
  "id": "4011412284387978903",
  "type": "Video",
  "shortCode": "DerZjgilW6X",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DerZjgilW6X/",
  "caption": "From Oscar®-winning filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (@chaivasarhelyi) and @jimmychin, discover an intimate portr...",
  "mentions": ["chaivasarhelyi", "jimmychin"],
  "timestamp": "2026-10-19T16:00:04.000Z",
  "likesCount": 27608,
  "commentsCount": 101,
  "engagementCount": 27709,
  "engagementRate": 0.01,
  "videoPlayCount": 1119792,
  "videoViewCount": 189070,
  "playsPerFollower": 0.0042,
  "videoDuration": 60.011,
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-hou1-1.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "audioUrl": "https://scontent-hou1-1.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "productType": "clips",
  "isPinned": false,
  "paidPartnership": false,
  "taggedUsers": [{ "id": "4721025", "username": "jimmychin", "fullName": "Jimmy Chin", "position": [0, 0] }],
  "musicInfo": { "audioType": "original_sounds", "songName": "Original audio", "artistName": "natgeo", "audioId": "28274177888930642", "usesOriginalAudio": true, "isTrendingInClips": false, "originalAudioOwner": "natgeo" },
  "ownerUsername": "natgeo",
  "ownerFollowersCount": 268324349
}

A changes monitor row (basic data) adds what moved since the last delivery:

{
  "shortCode": "Deu3BoCBbDP",
  "videoPlayCount": 844221,
  "playCountDelta": 6712,
  "likesCount": 19598,
  "likesDelta": 91,
  "commentsCount": 239,
  "commentsDelta": 2,
  "previousScrapedAt": "2026-10-21T00:49:33.000Z",
  "dataDetailLevel": "basicData"
}

Fields

Fill is measured on live runs: Reels = 100 detailed reels from 4 profiles; Posts = a 12-post timeline (6 images, 3 carousels, 3 reels).

Field	What it is	Reels	Posts
id, pk, shortCode, url, type, productType	Media id, shortcode, URL (/reel/ for reels); Image / Video / Sidecar; feed / clips / carousel_container	100%	100%
caption, hashtags, mentions	Caption with hashtags and @mentions parsed	100% / 69% / 77%	100% / 58% / 58%
timestamp, captionCreatedAt	Publish time and caption time (ISO 8601)	100%	100%
likesCount, commentsCount, engagementCount	Likes (null when hidden), comments, their sum	100%	100%
engagementRate, playsPerFollower	(likes + comments) / followers, percent; plays / followers (the profile's own posts; collab posts belong to the co-author)	75%	75% / 17%
videoPlayCount (= igPlayCount), videoViewCount	Reel plays; video views, Instagram's separate counter (median 30% of plays here)	100%	25% (every video)
videoUrl, audioUrl, videoDuration, hasAudio	Video and audio-only (m4a) links, seconds, audio flag	100% / 98% / 100% / 98%	25%
musicInfo	audioType, songName, artistName, audioId, usesOriginalAudio, isExplicit, isTrendingInClips, shouldMuteAudio, originalAudioOwner	98%	25%
displayUrl, images, dimensionsWidth, dimensionsHeight (= originalWidth, originalHeight)	Largest image and every rendition (signed links, they expire)	100%	100%
isPinned, isInProfileGrid, paidPartnership, sponsors	Pinned, shown in grid, paid partnership and its sponsors	100% (sponsors 2%)	100% (sponsors 0%)
taggedUsers, coauthorProducers	Tagged accounts with positions; collaborators	71% / 42%	42% / 42%
locationName, locationId, locationCity, locationLat, locationLng	Tagged place	18%	0%
childPosts	Carousel items with their own media and tags	-	25% (every carousel)
latestComments, firstComment	Newest comments with author, verified flag, time, likes, replies (includeLatestComments)	100% / 88% (26 reels)	-
playCountDelta, likesDelta, commentsDelta, previousScrapedAt	Change since the last delivery (monitorDelivery: "changes")	100% (11 reels)	-
ownerUsername, ownerFullName, ownerId, ownerIsVerified, ownerProfilePicUrl, ownerFollowersCount	The account that posted	100% (followers 75%)	100% (followers 75%)
inputUrl, searchTerm, searchSource, scrapedAt, dataDetailLevel	Where the row came from (profile, reels, hashtag, url); basicData on rows from the Reels tab or keyword page alone	100%	100%

Basic rows (1,000 reels): ids, URL, plays, likes, comments, cover and owner id 100%; owner username, followers, engagementRate, playsPerFollower 88% (the profile's own reels).

A Profile row (add-on) carries username, fullName, biography, externalUrl, bioLinks[], followersCount, followsCount, postsCount, isPrivate, isVerified, isBusinessAccount, isProfessionalAccount, businessCategoryName, businessAddress, profilePicUrl, profilePicUrlHD, hasActiveStory, highlightReelCount, hasClips, threadsBadge, fbid.

How can I use Instagram posts and reels data?

• 🎯 Influencer and creator vetting - pull a creator's last 100 reels, read videoPlayCount, playsPerFollower, engagementRate, paidPartnership and coauthorProducers to see real reach and how often they run sponsored content.
• 📈 Reel performance tracking - schedule a profile hourly with monitorDelivery: "changes" and basicData; each run returns the reels that moved with their play, like and comment deltas.
• 📊 Competitor and brand monitoring - schedule the competitor profiles daily with monitorMode and get every new post, its format and its first-day likes and comments.
• 🔎 Trend and sound research - read the keyword page for travel or street food, rank reels by videoPlayCount, pick the sounds in musicInfo that trend.
• 📍 Local marketing and venue research - withLocationOnly keeps posts tagged with a place; group them by locationName and locationCity.
• 🤖 AI and research teams - feed caption, hashtags, alt, latestComments and the counts to an LLM with compact: true.

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram?

Instagram Scraper is pay-per-result: $0.40 per 1,000 posts or reels, no start fee. One result is one post or reel written to the dataset; views, latest comments and change deltas are included. The optional profile row is $0.001 per profile.

Rows	Cost
10	$0.004
100	$0.04
1,000	$0.40
10,000	$4.00

There is nothing else to pay: Apify platform usage (compute, proxy) is included in these prices. Runs measured on 2026-10-20 (256 MB, no browser): 12 posts from a profile in 7-30 seconds depending on the proxy exit; 100 detailed reels from 4 profiles with views in 80-250 seconds depending on the proxy exit; 1,000 basic reels from one profile in 84 seconds; a monitor run with nothing new delivers nothing and costs nothing.

Integrations, API, scheduling & MCP

• Schedules: run Instagram Scraper hourly, daily or weekly from the Schedules tab; combine with monitorMode or onlyPostsNewerThan to get only new or changed posts.
• Webhooks: fire a URL when a run finishes - push rows to your CRM, Slack or a sheet.
• No-code: Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack via Apify integrations.
• API: call it from Node.js or Python with apify-client - code on the API tab and the Apify API reference.
• MCP / AI agents: connect Claude, Cursor or any MCP client through the MCP tab and ask for Instagram posts in plain language.

More TopApi scrapers

🎵 TikTok Scraper - videos by profile, hashtag or URL with stats, sound and transcript

⭐ Google Maps Reviews Scraper - every review of a place with owner replies and dates

🧭 All TopApi actors - social media, reviews and lead-gen scrapers built for scheduled runs

Limits & empty runs

• Per page: 10 timeline posts, 12 Reels-tab or keyword-page reels; resultsLimit and the date window are the cost controls.
• Speed: each videoViewCount is one ~210 KB page (about 3 s, 8 in parallel); switch it off or use basicData for the fastest runs.
• Not available signed-out: share counts, reels by sound, postsCount, followers of accounts seen only on a keyword page. Keyword pages exist for some terms only.
• Basic rows have no caption, date, media links or sound; their date window uses the upload time in the reel id.
• Media links expire within hours. Private accounts give no posts.
• Empty dataset: private or unknown profiles, a keyword without a public page, or filters removed everything; the run status names which. Nothing is charged for any of these.

FAQ

How many Instagram posts can Instagram Scraper collect in one run?

As many as the cap allows: 10 per timeline page, 12 per Reels-tab or keyword page, one request per post URL. A run reads pages until resultsLimit, maxItems, the date window or the end of the profile is reached. The default 50 per profile is 5 pages; set 0 to read a whole profile.

Can I scrape Instagram reels with Instagram Scraper?

Yes. Set Content (postType) to reel: profiles are read from their Reels tab with plays, likes and comments on every reel, keyword pages and /reel/ URLs keep reels only. basicData returns counts only, fastest; detailedData adds caption, date, video and audio links, sound, tags and location.

How do I track reel views over time?

Schedule the profiles with monitorMode: true and monitorDelivery: "changes". Each run delivers the reels whose plays, likes or comments changed since the last delivery, with the deltas, so a dataset of runs is a time series of each reel.

Can I run Instagram Scraper on a schedule to get new Instagram posts automatically?

Yes. Save your input as a task, open Schedules, pick the cadence and turn on monitorMode: each run remembers the posts it delivered per profile or keyword. On a profile it stops at the last run's newest post; on a keyword page it walks past the posts it already delivered and returns the next ones up to your cap. A run with nothing new delivers nothing.

Does it return share counts?

No. Instagram shows share counts only to signed-in users, and this actor never logs in. Plays, views, likes and comments are all there.

Can I use Instagram Scraper with the API, other apps or an MCP server?

Yes. Use apify-client for Node.js or Python, connect Make, Zapier, n8n or Google Sheets via Apify integrations, or connect Claude, Cursor or any MCP client through the MCP tab and turn on compact.

Do I need an Instagram account, cookies or an API key?

No. Instagram Scraper reads only what Instagram shows publicly to a signed-out visitor; you pass usernames, hashtags or URLs and nothing else.

Why did my Instagram Scraper run return no results?

In order of frequency seen in testing: the keyword has no public page (try a broader term), the account is private or misspelled, or the date window and filters removed every post. The run status message names the cause.

How is Instagram Scraper different from other Instagram scrapers?

It runs without a browser on 256 MB; it reads a profile's whole Reels tab with plays on every row, ships views and plays side by side, playsPerFollower, engagementRate, trending-sound flags, the audio-only link and every image rendition; it tracks reel growth with change deltas; and it filters by date window, content type, likes, plays, keyword, place and pinned posts.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram data?

Instagram Scraper extracts only publicly available Instagram posts; it does not log in or collect private data. Results may still contain personal data, which is regulated (for example by GDPR). Make sure you have a legitimate purpose before you use it.

Your feedback

We keep improving Instagram Scraper. Found a bug or missing a field? Open an issue on the Issues tab - we answer within one business day.