Instagram Post Scraper

Instagram Post Scraper: one row per post or reel, from links you already have

Paste Instagram post, reel or IGTV links and get one row each: the full caption, the like and comment counts, the exact publish time, every image and video URL including all the frames of a carousel, the owner, the hashtags, the mentions and the tagged users. Bare shortcodes work too, so a messy list is fine.

Two things are missing on purpose, and it is better to know now: there is no comment text, and videoViewCount is usually null, because Instagram does not publish the play count to a logged-out reader. Likes and comments are there on both posts and reels.

🔍 What Instagram Post Scraper does

You give it links, it gives you rows. instagram.com/p/<code>/, /reel/<code>/, /tv/<code>/, a link copied from a profile grid, or just DbtErSrlB2J on its own. Mix them freely in one run.

Carousels come back whole. images and videos hold every frame in carousel order, childPosts holds one object per frame with its own shortcode and dimensions, and childPostsCount tells you how many there were. A reel fills in videoUrl and videoDuration and carries type: "Video" with productType: "clips".

Duplicate links are removed before anything is charged, including the same post supplied once as a URL and once as a bare code. A link that is dead, deleted or on a private account comes back as a free labelled row rather than a charge.

📥 What you give it

{
  "postUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/p/DbtErSrlB2J/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcCH2ZygIiP/",
    "DbwWBxpDm_0"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}

Hand it no links at all and it writes one labelled sample row, free, so you can see the shape before spending anything.

📤 What you get back

A real row from a real run. The caption is cut short in the middle, the media links are trimmed, and the eight carousel frames are shown as two:

{
  "ok": true,
  "charged": true,
  "recordType": "post",
  "inputUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DbtErSrlB2J/",
  "id": "3957840214710558089",
  "shortCode": "DbtErSrlB2J",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DbtErSrlB2J/",
  "type": "Sidecar",
  "productType": "carousel_container",
  "isReel": false,
  "isSponsored": false,
  "caption": "Where in the (Martian) world is Curiosity?\n \nOur Curiosity Mars rover has started its climb up a Martian valley called Valle Grande. ...\n \n#NASA #Mars #CuriosityRover",
  "hashtags": ["NASA", "Mars", "CuriosityRover"],
  "mentions": [],
  "likesCount": 284607,
  "commentsCount": 1759,
  "videoViewCount": null,
  "likesAndViewCountsDisabled": false,
  "isCommentsDisabled": false,
  "timestamp": "2026-08-06T15:49:01.000Z",
  "displayUrl": "https://scontent-mia3-3.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/766074877_...",
  "videoUrl": null,
  "videoDuration": null,
  "images": [
    "https://scontent-mia3-3.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/766074877_...",
    "https://scontent-mia5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/766287913_..."
  ],
  "videos": [],
  "childPosts": [
    { "id": "3957839638910891589", "shortCode": "DbtEi6bPnZF", "type": "Image", "displayUrl": "https://scontent-mia3-3.cdninstagram.com/..." }
  ],
  "childPostsCount": 8,
  "dimensionsWidth": 495,
  "dimensionsHeight": 292,
  "alt": null,
  "ownerId": "528817151",
  "ownerUsername": "nasa",
  "ownerFullName": "NASA",
  "ownerIsVerified": true,
  "ownerIsPrivate": false,
  "ownerProfilePicUrl": "https://scontent-mia5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/...",
  "ownerProfileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/",
  "coauthorProducers": [],
  "coauthorProfiles": [],
  "taggedUsers": [],
  "sponsorProfiles": [],
  "locationName": null,
  "locationId": null,
  "musicArtist": null,
  "musicTitle": null,
  "source": "graphql",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-21T01:45:41.661Z"
}

🧾 Reading the output

Three kinds of row land in your dataset, and one flag separates them.

Filter on charged == true and you have your posts. Read that flag as the marker that separates a real row from a sample or a diagnostic, not as a receipt.

A diagnostic row never fails the run and is never billed.

▶️ How to run it

1. Open Instagram Post Scraper and click Try for free. 2. Paste your links into Post or reel links, one per line. 3. Set Maximum posts while you are testing, since you pay per post. 4. Click Start. 5. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or pull it from the Apify API.

💰 How much does it cost?

$0.18 per 1,000 posts. Flat on every Apify plan, no volume tiers.

You pay per post row delivered. Duplicate links are collapsed before the run starts, so the same post is never charged twice. The sample row, every diagnostic row, and links that were never valid Instagram links cost you nothing.

Facebook counts, if you tick them: $1.40 per 1,000 posts checked, from 12 October 2026, on top of the post price. Every post checked is charged, whether or not Facebook numbers come back for it, and the option needs a paid Apify plan.

💡 What people use it for

• Turning a list of links from a brief into a table of captions, counts and media, in one run.
• Pulling every frame of a competitor's carousels for a creative review.
• Logging the like and comment counts of the same posts weekly to see how they age.
• Collecting reel video files and durations for a cut-down or a highlights reel.

🚧 What it does not do

• No comment text. The count is there, the comments are not. That is a separate actor, linked

below.

• It will not walk a profile grid. Give it links. If you want everything an account has posted,

use the profile-level actor below.

• Nothing private. A post on a private account comes back NOT_FOUND, and no input reaches it.
• videoViewCount is usually null. Instagram does not publish the play count to a logged-out

reader. Likes and comments are there.

• A long list of dead links stops early. After 40 consecutive failures with nothing parsed, the

run writes a NO_RESULTS row and stops rather than burning the rest of your list.

• If the run hits its deadline, the next 25 unread links get a TIME_BUDGET row each and the

rest get no row at all.

• Media links expire. They are signed, short-lived links, so download anything you want to keep.
• Facebook numbers are not on every shared post. They exist only for posts the account also shared

to Facebook, and Instagram does not show the Facebook side on every check. When it holds it back, the row says facebookCountsFound: null and the check is still charged.

• Counts are a snapshot at read time, not at publish time.

🧭 Which Instagram scraper do you need?

❓ Questions people ask

Do I need an Instagram account? No. Public posts are read logged out, and that covers the vast majority of links.

Does a carousel cost more than a photo? No. One row, one charge, however many frames are in it.

What if I paste the same post twice? It is fetched and charged once. That includes the same shortcode supplied once as a URL and once on its own.

Can I get the comments? Not here. Use the comments actor linked above.

Is scraping Instagram legal? This reads public posts only, never private accounts or messages. Results can still contain personal data, which GDPR and similar laws cover, so have a reason for collecting it. Apify's write-up on the legality of web scraping is a good starting point, and we are not lawyers.

Can I run it on a schedule? Yes. Re-running the same links is safe and gives you a fresh snapshot of the counts.

🆘 If something breaks

Open the Issues tab on the actor page. Include one of the links that failed and the run ID, and the log is enough for us to see what happened.