Scrape Instagram profiles and follower counts
Send a handle, or a hundred of them, and get each account's followers, following, posts, engagement rate, bio and the links in its bio as JSON. Nothing logs in to Instagram, and each profile costs 1 credit.
Updated 2026-11-02
In their own words
Real comments from Reddit, quoted as written. Usernames are left out.
“Look beyond follower count and focus on creators whose style, audience, comments, and content quality genuinely match your brand.”
“…follow-for-follow tends to tank your engagement rate, which is the main thing brands look at when deciding to work with creators”
“I'm using it to track posts of influencers and their post engagement stats/comment on product we are doing cobranding with.”
What you get for each account
Private accounts return their profile too, without an engagement rate.
- Followers, following, posts: The counts, as Instagram shows them.
- Engagement rate: The average likes and comments of about the last 12 posts, as a share of followers.
- Last posted: When the account last posted, so you can drop the ones that went quiet.
- Account type: Whether it's verified, private or a business account, and the business's category.
- Bio: The name, the bio, the website and every link in the bio.
What you don't get
The list of who follows an account, or who it follows. You get the counts, not the names.
If a tool offers follower lists, ask how it gets them. It usually means signing in with an Instagram account, and that account is the one that gets locked.
Checking hundreds or thousands of accounts
A small agency came to us with about 3,500 Instagram accounts. Before choosing who to work with, they needed each one's follower count and engagement rate, and they didn't want anything that leaned on Meta's own API.
One run takes up to 100 handles or profile links, and each comes back as its own record. That list is 35 runs and about 3,500 credits. Save a run with a daily schedule and each day's counts are kept as a run of their own, so you can chart how an account grows.
From Python, or anything else
It's a plain HTTPS API, so any language works. Below is one profile from its link in curl, JavaScript and Python. Put up to 100 links in links to fetch them all in one run.
Instagram profile from a link
POST /api/v1/quick-run
{
"links": ["https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/"]
}Questions people ask
Can I scrape an Instagram account's followers?
You get the follower and following counts. You don't get the list of who follows the account.
How is the engagement rate worked out?
It's the average likes and comments of about the account's last 12 posts, divided by its followers.
Can I scrape private Instagram accounts?
You get a private account's profile and counts, but not its posts or an engagement rate. Nothing logs in, so only what's public is read.
How many profiles can I check at once?
Up to 100 in one run, each as its own record. Start as many runs as you need.
Can I do it in Python?
Yes. It's one HTTPS request with your key in a header; the Python example is above.
What does it cost?
1 credit per profile. A new workspace gets a 7-day free trial.