Instagram Transcript Scraper

What is Instagram Transcript Scraper?

Instagram Transcript Scraper turns Instagram reels into text. Paste usernames, profile links or reel links, click Start, and get one row per reel with everything that was said in it: the full transcript, the transcript in timed parts (start and end second of each sentence) and the spoken language, next to the reel's caption, length, likes, comment count and posting time. Download it as Excel, CSV or JSON, or schedule it to transcribe new reels every day.

• 🗣️ Full transcripts: every word spoken in the reel, as one text and in timed parts
• 🌍 Many languages: the spoken language is detected for each reel: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and more
• 👤 Whole profiles or single reels: the latest reels of any public profile, or any reel by its link
• 🎵 Music-only reels are free: a reel with no speech is saved and marked, and you are not charged for it
• 🔓 No login: no Instagram account, cookies or API key needed
• 💸 Pay per transcript: you pay only for the reels that have speech

What can Instagram Transcript Scraper do?

• Transcribe the latest reels of many profiles in one run, up to the number you choose per profile
• Transcribe single reels from their links
• Find out what creators say, not just what they write in the caption
• Get timed transcripts to make subtitles, clips or quotes
• Keep only reels posted after a date, or skip pinned reels
• Export to Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML, or send the results to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier and more

What data can you get from Instagram reels?

🗣️ Transcript	⏱️ Timed transcript parts	🌍 Spoken language
🎬 Reel URL and ID	✍️ Caption	#️⃣ Hashtags and 📢 mentions
⏱️ Length in seconds	❤️ Likes	💬 Comments count
📹 Video URL	🎧 Audio track URL	🖼️ Cover image
🎵 Music: artist, song, original audio	👤 Owner username, name, ID, verified	🕒 Posted time

How to get the transcript of Instagram reels

1. Create a free Apify account (no credit card needed).
2. Open Instagram Transcript Scraper.
3. Paste one or more usernames, profile links or reel links, one per line.
4. Choose how many reels per profile you want transcribed.
5. Click Start, then download the results as Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML.

How much does it cost to transcribe Instagram reels?

You pay per reel with speech. The transcript price includes the first 3 minutes of each reel; a longer reel also pays an extra minute for every started minute past the third. Higher Apify plans pay less:

Apify plan	Per 1,000 transcripts	Per 1,000 extra minutes
Free	$4.50	$1.50
Starter (Bronze)	$4.00	$1.25
Scale (Silver)	$3.50	$1.00
Business (Gold) and higher	$2.50	$1.00

So a 5-minute reel is 1 transcript and 2 extra minutes. Platform usage is included in these prices, so you pay nothing else for the run. There is no start fee.

Example: 1,000 one-minute reels cost $4.00 on Starter, $3.50 on Scale and $2.50 on Business and higher.

Never charged:

• reels with no speech (music only or silence) and reels with no sound,
• photo posts, private profiles, and usernames or links that do not exist,
• reels whose sound could not be downloaded or transcribed,
• extra minutes of any reel that a Free plan run cut to its first minute, and reels the run reached after its free minute was used.

Every Apify account gets $5 of free usage each month.

On the Apify Free plan, transcripts made from the audio use a lighter, slower method, so expect lower accuracy (more wrong words, most of all in songs and noisy reels), and a run transcribes up to 1 minute of audio: a longer reel gets its first minute, and reels past that minute are saved as not transcribed and are not charged. Keep the default 1 GB memory: with less, a Free plan run transcribes no audio. Paid Apify plans get full-accuracy transcripts with no such limit.

⬇️ Input

Each line can be a username (hubermanlab), @hubermanlab, a profile link (https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/ or https://www.instagram.com/natgeo/reels/), a profile ID (787132) or a reel link (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeTUk4sDSp-/). Mix them freely.

Setting	What it does
Usernames, profile links or reel links	What to transcribe, one per line
Reels per profile	The most reels to transcribe from each profile, newest first (default 10)
Only reels newer than	A date like 2026-09-01 or an age like 7 days, 2 weeks, 3 months
Skip pinned reels	Leave out the reels a profile pinned to the top of its grid
Spoken language (optional)	A two-letter code such as en or es when every reel is in that language. Leave empty to detect each reel's language

Example:

{
  "username": ["hubermanlab", "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/", "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeTUk4sDSp-/"],
  "resultsLimit": 10,
  "onlyPostsNewerThan": "30 days",
  "skipPinnedPosts": false
}

The input uses the same field names as popular Instagram reel scrapers, so you can switch without changing your integration.

⬆️ Output

You get one row per reel. View them as a table in Apify Console or download them as Excel, CSV, JSON, HTML or XML.

{
  "inputUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeuH0dDFGcg/",
  "id": "4012178708962240288",
  "type": "Video",
  "shortCode": "DeuH0dDFGcg",
  "caption": "There's a lot of ground to cover when you're building a Moon Base.\n\nWe're sharing the latest details on the vehicles that will help pave the way for an enduring human presence near the lunar South Pole. Check @NASA's link-in-bio for the full update.",
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": ["NASA"],
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeuH0dDFGcg/",
  "commentsCount": 491,
  "dimensionsHeight": 1280,
  "dimensionsWidth": 720,
  "displayUrl": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/858994525_18660374401049152_3463301113379866293_n.jpg",
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQNVoUntep4zsMecgTtfYBkHyodFVbezkELNXy5WMP-TsL8XUSP3r22EGSJURxYSlLN5tyEf_xXPHDG_Rne9PpLgWqPYwgjGHVa-Wss.mp4",
  "audioUrl": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m78/AQOSyXh1xgEZyBBV4XxQw7D8Tqc_QMrP_Kt8kBw-E2-5Rd8u5g0QHsCxMfYCkaM1mj3mEgaNKKgT1IQzogifYzJXpRs_FqJNrSoLpq4.mp4",
  "alt": null,
  "likesCount": 62100,
  "likesHidden": false,
  "videoDuration": 45.824,
  "timestamp": "2026-10-20T15:10:43Z",
  "ownerFullName": "NASA",
  "ownerUsername": "nasa",
  "ownerId": "528817151",
  "ownerVerified": true,
  "isPinned": false,
  "productType": "clips",
  "paidPartnership": false,
  "sponsors": [],
  "taggedUsers": [{"id": "1104426670", "username": "nasaartemis", "full_name": "NASA Artemis", "is_verified": true, "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/670016304_n.jpg"}],
  "coauthorProducers": [{"id": "1104426670", "username": "nasaartemis", "full_name": "NASA Artemis", "is_verified": true, "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-19/670016304_n.jpg"}],
  "musicInfo": {"artist_name": "nasa", "song_name": "Original audio", "uses_original_audio": true, "should_mute_audio": false, "audio_id": "29906171498985608"},
  "locationName": null,
  "locationId": null,
  "isCommentsDisabled": false,
  "transcriptStatus": "transcribed",
  "transcriptLanguage": "en",
  "transcript": "Think about hundreds of square miles where we have different assets. Definitely mobility systems. There's a lot of people spend a lot of time making sure every detail is right and it's really specific to the job it needs to do. Viper very much acts as a scout for Moonbase. We've already ticked through a couple of important milestones. We've already built three mockups, actually two of them within three weeks. This is really about going to stay to learn how to live on the Moon. There are a lot of steps that has to launch. We have to land, but I'm certainly most interested in seeing the rover explore and understand all the secrets about the South Pole of the Moon. Our goal is to enable humans to be operating on the surface of the Moon on a permanent basis.",
  "transcriptSegments": [{"start": 0.08, "end": 7.08, "text": "Think about hundreds of square miles where we have different assets. Definitely mobility systems."}, {"start": 7.08, "end": 14.08, "text": "There's a lot of people spend a lot of time making sure every detail is right and it's really specific to the job it needs to do."}],
  "fetchedAt": "2026-11-01T00:46:24Z"
}

transcriptStatus tells you what happened with each reel:

Status	Meaning	Charged
transcribed	Speech (or sung words) was found; transcript has it	Yes
no_speech	Instrumental music, sounds or silence only; transcript is empty	No
no_audio	The reel has no sound, or the link is a photo post (not_a_video)	No
audio_unavailable	The reel's sound could not be read this time; run it again later	No

Instagram media links (videoUrl, audioUrl, displayUrl) expire after a few days, so download the files you need soon after the run. Each run also saves a short report: how many reels had speech, and any username or link that does not exist.

How can I use Instagram reel transcripts?

• Content research: read what top creators in your niche actually say, hook by hook
• Repurposing: turn your own reels into blog posts, newsletters, captions and subtitles
• Brand monitoring: find reels that mention your brand or product out loud, not only in the caption
• Search and analysis: load transcripts into spreadsheets, databases or search tools to compare creators and topics
• Influencer vetting: check what a creator talks about before you work with them

Use it from your code

Run the actor from your own code with the Apify API or the Python and JavaScript clients:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("automly/instagram-transcript-scraper").call(run_input={
    "username": ["hubermanlab", "nasa"],
    "resultsLimit": 10,
})
for reel in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(reel["url"], reel["transcriptLanguage"], reel["transcript"])

🤖 Use with assistants and agents (MCP)

Connect any MCP-compatible assistant or agent to the Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com (sign in with your Apify account), and it can find this actor, fill in the input and read the results by itself. Ask in plain words, for example "Get the transcripts of the last 10 reels of hubermanlab", and the agent runs automly/instagram-transcript-scraper with an input like {"username": ["hubermanlab"], "resultsLimit": 10}. Agent runs cost the same as runs you start yourself.

❓FAQ

How accurate are the transcripts?

Clear speech in the main languages comes out close to word for word. Accuracy drops with loud background music, several people talking at once, strong accents and rare languages. If all your reels are in one language, set Spoken language to its code (for example es) for the best result.

Which languages are supported?

The spoken language is detected for each reel, and the transcript is in that language (it is not translated). English, Spanish, Portuguese and French come out best; other common languages work too, with more mistakes in less common ones.

Is the transcript the same as the caption?

No. The caption is the text the creator wrote under the reel. The transcript is what is said in the reel's audio. You get both.

What happens with music-only reels?

Reels with only instrumental music, sound effects or silence are saved with transcriptStatus set to no_speech and an empty transcript, and you are not charged for them. Words sung in a song are transcribed like speech.

How many reels can I transcribe from one profile?

As many as the profile shows on its grid. Set Reels per profile to the number you want; the newest come first, after any pinned reels.

How long does it take?

Most reels are transcribed in a few seconds each, and several reels are transcribed at the same time. Long reels take longer.

Does it work for private accounts?

No. Reels of private accounts are not public. A private profile is listed in the run's report as not available, and you are not charged for it.

What happens with a username or link that does not exist?

It is skipped and listed in the run's report as not found. The run still finishes successfully and you are not charged for it.

Do I need an Instagram account?

No. You don't need an Instagram account, cookies or an API key.

Can I connect Instagram Transcript Scraper to other tools?

Yes. Start runs and download results with the Apify API or the Python and JavaScript clients, send results to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets or Slack with Apify integrations and webhooks, or let agents run it through the Apify MCP server at mcp.apify.com.

Is it legal to transcribe Instagram reels?

This tool only processes reels that people chose to show publicly. It does not collect private data such as email addresses or phone numbers. Reels and their transcripts can still contain personal data, which may be protected by laws such as GDPR, and reels are protected by copyright, so use the transcripts for a legitimate reason such as research, and ask a lawyer if you are unsure. You can read more in Is web scraping legal?

Instagram Transcript Scraper is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Instagram or Meta.

Something isn't working. What should I do?

Open the Issues tab and tell us the username or link and what you expected. We usually reply within a day.

Scrape more Instagram data

Actor	What you get
Instagram Comments Scraper	Every comment on a post or reel, newest first
Instagram Posts & Reels Scraper	A profile's posts and reels together, plus its profile info
Instagram Profile Scraper	Full profiles: bio, every bio link, exact post count, highlights

⭐ Your feedback

Ideas, missing fields or problems: open the Issues tab and we'll take a look. If Instagram Transcript Scraper saved you time, a short review on the Reviews tab helps other people find it.