Best Instagram scraper APIs in 2026
Seven ways to get Instagram data in 2026, compared on pricing model, list prices, free tier, platforms and limits: Scrape Everything, ScrapeCreators, SociaVault, EnsembleData, Apify, Bright Data and Meta's official Instagram API.
By the Scrape Everything team · · Updated · 7 min read
Instagram data powers influencer vetting, competitor tracking, social listening and CRM enrichment. Meta's official API is built for accounts that connect to your app, so for public data about everyone else, most teams pick a third-party scraper API. The market is crowded, and vendors price in incompatible units, which makes a straight comparison hard.
This roundup puts seven options side by side using only what each vendor publishes. We have not run a benchmark, so there are no speed or success-rate claims here. What you get is the pricing model, the free tier, coverage, the limits we know about, and an honest note on when each option is the right pick.
How we selected and compared
- Instagram coverage. Profiles at minimum; ideally posts, reels and comments too.
- Public pricing. Only figures from the vendor's own pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
- Pricing model. Credit packs, subscriptions, per-result and per-record pricing suit different workloads.
- Free tier. Whether you can test real requests before paying.
- Breadth. Other platforms on the same account.
- Stated limits and policies. Including how failed requests and repeat reads are billed, where the vendor states it.
The comparison table
| Option | Pricing model | List price per 1k (units differ by vendor) | Free tier | Platforms | Notable limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrape Everything | One-time credit packs, never expire | $1.56 (Builder) to $0.90 (Scale) per 1,000 credits | 100 credits | 9 platforms | Comments: 15 newest top-level; posts and reels cost 2 credits; no Instagram transcripts; crypto payment only |
| ScrapeCreators | Pay-as-you-go credit packs, never expire | $1.88 (25k pack) to $0.99 (500k pack) per 1,000 credits | 100 credits | 38+ APIs incl. LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads | Entry pack is $47; failed-request policy not stated on pricing page |
| SociaVault | One-time credit packs, never expire | ~$4.83 (6k pack) to ~$2.00 (200k pack) per 1,000 credits | 50 credits | 25+ platforms and services | Failed-request and cache policies not stated on pricing page |
| EnsembleData | Monthly subscription, daily units | Not per 1k: from $100/month for 1,500 units/day | 50 units/day | TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, Reddit, Twitch, Twitter, Snapchat | Allowance is per day; monthly commitment |
| Apify Actors | Monthly platform plan plus per-Actor pricing | Varies by Actor | $5 usage/month | Many websites (95,000+ Actors in Apify Store) | Actors are often third-party, each with its own pricing and output |
| Bright Data | Pay as you go per record, or monthly plans | $1.50 per 1k records (PAYG); $1.30 extra on Scale | 5,000 records/month | Many websites plus datasets | Monthly Scale plan is $499; no charges for failed deliveries (their pricing page) |
| Instagram API (Meta) | Free, subject to Meta's review and rate limits | n/a | n/a | Requires Instagram professional accounts; built for accounts that authorize your app |
Product names are trademarks of their owners; we are not affiliated with them. A credit, a unit and a record are not the same thing, and credits per call differ between vendors, so per-1k list prices only help you shortlist. On Scrape Everything, an Instagram profile costs 1 credit, a posts or reels feed costs 2 and a reels search costs 3. Our pricing comparison walks through how to estimate a real workload.
The options, one by one
1. Scrape Everything
Our API covers nine platforms (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X (Twitter), Facebook, Telegram, Spotify, Pinterest and Twitch) with one key and one response format. For Instagram there are seven synchronous JSON endpoints: profile, recent posts (up to 60), single post, single reel with an MP4 link, comments, reels tab (up to 50) and reels search by keyword. Packs are one-time (Builder $39 for 25,000 credits, Growth $119 for 100,000, Scale $449 for 500,000), credits never expire, failed requests are refunded and cache hits are free.
The limits: we return what logged-out Instagram shows, so comments are capped at the 15 newest top-level comments. We do not have an Instagram transcript endpoint, and payment is crypto only, via 2328.
Choose Scrape Everything if you need public profiles, posts, reels and engagement numbers for accounts that are not your users, your volume is irregular, and you want failed requests refunded automatically.
2. ScrapeCreators
ScrapeCreators offers 38+ APIs, including LinkedIn, Reddit and Threads, plus an MCP server for AI agents. Its Instagram API page lists 20 endpoints, including profile, posts, reels, post and reel info, comments and comment replies, user tagged posts, reels search and a transcript endpoint. Credits never expire and cache hits cost 0 credits, as stated on their site. Packs run from $47 for 25,000 credits ($1.88 per 1,000 credits) to $497 for 500,000 ($0.99 per 1,000 credits).
Choose ScrapeCreators if you need Instagram transcripts, comment replies or tagged posts, or Instagram together with LinkedIn, Reddit or Threads. See Scrape Everything vs ScrapeCreators.
3. SociaVault
SociaVault sells one-time packs for an API covering 25+ platforms and services. For Instagram, its site lists profiles, reels, hashtags and comments. Packs are $29 for 6,000 credits, $79 for 20,000, $199 for 75,000 and $399 for 200,000; credits never expire, and new accounts get 50 free credits.
Choose SociaVault if you need Instagram hashtag data, or a platform on their list that we do not cover. See Scrape Everything vs SociaVault.
4. EnsembleData
EnsembleData is subscription-based: the Wood plan is $100 per month for 1,500 units per day, and plans go from $200 to $1,400 per month for 5,000 to 50,000 units per day. The free tier gives 50 units per day with no card, and their pricing page states that failures caused by internal errors are not charged.
Choose EnsembleData if you refresh a fixed set of Instagram accounts every day and want a predictable monthly bill, or you also need Threads, Reddit or Snapchat. See Scrape Everything vs EnsembleData.
5. Apify Actors
Apify is a general scraping platform where Instagram scrapers are Actors in its store, many by third parties, each priced on its own. The free plan includes $5 of usage per month; paid plans are Starter at $19, Scale at $199 and Business at $999 per month. Scheduling, storage and integrations come built in.
Choose Apify if Instagram is one of many websites you scrape, or you want runs scheduled and results stored for you. Check the Actor's own pricing and output before committing. See Scrape Everything vs Apify.
6. Bright Data
Bright Data's Web Scraper API is $1.50 per 1,000 records pay as you go, or $499 per month for 384,000 records on the Scale plan with $1.30 per 1,000 after that. The free tier is 5,000 records per month without a card, and their pricing page states there are no charges for failed deliveries. It also sells ready-made datasets and proxies.
Choose Bright Data if you need enterprise contracts, historical datasets or proxy infrastructure for your own scrapers. See Scrape Everything vs Bright Data.
7. Meta's official Instagram API
Meta's Instagram Platform is the official route. Its overview states that app users must have an Instagram professional account, meaning a business or creator account. It is the right tool for publishing, reading insights, moderating comments and handling messages for accounts that authorize your app. Lookups of other accounts through Business Discovery are limited to what Meta exposes and are subject to its platform rate limits.
Choose the official API if your users connect their own professional accounts and you act on their behalf. No scraper replaces it for insights, publishing or DMs. Our Graph API vs scraper API post covers the split in detail.
How to test any of these in 10 minutes
- Pick a handful of accounts you know: one large, one small, one business account and one handle that does not exist.
- Sign up for two or three free tiers from the table.
- Request the same profiles from each and save the JSON.
- Check the fields you need (follower counts, bio links, business category), the error for the missing handle, and the credits charged.
For Scrape Everything, sign in, create an API key (100 free credits, no payment details needed) and run:
curl -X POST https://api.scrapeeverything.com/v1/instagram/profile \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SCRAPEEVERYTHING_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"username": "nasa"}'Then try /v1/instagram/photos with the same body for recent posts, or /v1/instagram/post with {"url": "..."} for one post. Every response carries meta.credits_charged. Field lists are on the Instagram scraper pages, and our profile scraping guide has Node.js and Python examples.
FAQ
Can I use the official API to read any public account?
Not in general. Meta's API works with professional accounts that authorize your app. For public data about accounts that are not your users, teams usually use a scraper API.
Can a scraper API access private accounts or insights?
No. Scraper APIs return only what Instagram shows publicly. Private profiles, insights and DMs require the account owner's authorization through Meta.
How do the prices compare?
At the 25,000 and 500,000 credit pack sizes, Scrape Everything lists a lower list price per 1,000 credits than ScrapeCreators (as of October 22, 2026), but a credit is not necessarily one call on either side, and feed endpoints cost more credits than profile lookups with most vendors. Estimate with your own mix of endpoints, cache hits and failure policy.
Why do comment counts differ between vendors?
Vendors read Instagram in different ways. We read the logged-out view, which exposes the 15 newest top-level comments; others may return more. Test with posts you know.
Is scraping public Instagram data legal?
It depends on your jurisdiction, the data and its use. See our overview of the legal questions (not legal advice).