# Instagram Follower Scraper (`wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper`) Actor

Easily extract Instagram followers for research, marketing, or account management. Fast, cheap, reliable.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Wilcode](https://apify.com/wilcode) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation, Lead generation
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 62 total users, 1 monthly users, 97.0% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## 🚀 Instantly Scrape Any Instagram User’s Followers

Want to know exactly **who follows any Instagram account**?\
Perfect for **growth hackers, researchers, developers, founders** who need fast, scalable, and reliable follower data.

No limits. Just drop a profile URL and get the complete follower list with all metadata.\
⚡ Scrape thousands of followers in minutes — structured, clean, and ready to use.

### 📊 Scraper Data

- 👤 **Full name**
- 🔗 **Username**
- 📈 **Followers count** – Number of people following this user
- 📊 **Following count** – Number of accounts this user follows
- 🖼️ **Posts count** – Total number of posts
- ✅ **Verified** – Whether the account is verified
- 🔒 **Private** – Whether the account is private or public
- 🖼️ **Profile picture** – User’s profile image

### 💥 Why This Scraper Is Different

- 🔄 **Continue From Last Run** – Supports resuming exactly where the last scrape stopped (no wasting resources)
- ⚙️ **Plug & Play** – Input profile link/username and cookies, hit run, get data
- ⚡ **Crazy Fast** – Up to 1,000 followers in under a minute.
- 📊 **Rich Metadata** – Full name, username, **counts** (**followers**/**following**/**posts**), verified, private, and profile picture
- 💸 **Pricing** – Fixed monthly subscription with unlimited scraping

### 📦 Output Format

Every follower is returned in raw JSON with standardized fields:

```json
{
  "follower_name": "Jane Doe",
  "follower_username": "janedoe",
  "follower_count": 2450,
  "following_count": 400,
  "post_count": 30,
  "is_verified": false,
  "is_private": false,
  "profile_pic_url": "https://..."
}
```

#### Key Parameters

- **continue_from_last**: `true` Resume where the last run stopped → **never lose progress**
- **fetch_detailed_info**: `true` Fetch detailed user information (follower, following, and posts count). Disabling this will make scraping faster but these details will not be retrieved.
- **instagram_cookie**: (Required) Your Instagram cookies
- **target_username**: Profile link or username of the account you want to scrape
- **max_followers_to_scrape**: Limit how many followers to collect
- **start_from_position**: Start at a specific index if you want partial runs

### 💡 Use Cases

- **Influencer Analysis** – Discover who follows niche creators
- **Lead Generation** – Pull leads directly from competitor or community followers
- **Audience Mapping** – Build social graphs of who-follows-who
- **Market Research** – Identify rising stars and hidden players
- **CRM Enrichment** – Push structured data directly into your systems

### 🏆 Why You’ll Love It

- ✅ Smart resume from last run → save time and costs
- ✅ Fetch detailed user information (follower, following, and posts count)
- ✅ Works for **any Instagram user**
- ✅ Exports **clean JSON**, ready for automation
- ✅ Scales to **tens of thousands** of followers with ease

### 🚀 How to Start

1. Copy your Instagram cookies
2. Paste the cookies into the actor input
3. Enter the target profile
4. Set your scraping limit (`max_followers_to_scrape`)
5. Run and get your follower data, ready to use

Please choose a proxy from the same country as your account so the actor can run more smoothly without triggering security warnings from the account.

### 🔑 How to Import Cookies

1. **Install** the extension **"Export cookie JSON file for Puppeteer"** → [![Add to Chrome](https://img.shields.io/badge/Add%20to%20Chrome-blue?logo=google-chrome\&logoColor=white)](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/export-cookie-json-file-f/nmckokihipjgplolmcmjakknndddifde)
2. **Log in** to your Instagram account in Chrome
3. Click the extension icon and select **“Export cookies as JSON”** → this will download a JSON file
4. **Open the file**, copy all contents
5. **Go back to the actor** and paste the JSON directly into the `instagram_cookie` input field

### ➡️ Video Tutorial

[![Watch the tutorial](https://img.youtube.com/vi/55WNErMMOz8/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WNErMMOz8)

👉 Your fastest and safest way to scrape **followers of any Instagram account**.

# Actor input Schema

## `target_username` (type: `string`):

Instagram username for extracting follower list.

## `continue_from_last` (type: `boolean`):

Enable this to resume scraping from the previously saved position. The scraper will continue from where it last stopped.

## `fetch_detailed_info` (type: `boolean`):

Enable this to fetch detailed information (follower, following, and posts count). Disabling this will make scraping faster but these details will not be retrieved.

## `start_from_position` (type: `integer`):

Start scraping from a specific position (follower number). Leave empty to start from beginning. This will be ignored if 'Continue from last scrape' is enabled.

## `max_followers_to_scrape` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of followers to scrape in this run. Leave empty to scrape all available followers.

## `instagram_cookie` (type: `array`):

Insert your instagram cookie here. Please read the description on how to get a cookie.

## `proxySettings` (type: `object`):

Select proxies to be used by your crawler. Prioritize using proxies from the same country as the registered Instagram account for better performance.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "target_username": "bbbbyyyhhh1",
  "continue_from_last": false,
  "fetch_detailed_info": true,
  "start_from_position": 0,
  "max_followers_to_scrape": 1000,
  "instagram_cookie": [
    {
      "name": "test",
      "value": "0",
      "domain": ".instagram.com",
      "path": "/",
      "expires": 1764923760.811145,
      "httpOnly": false,
      "secure": true
    }
  ],
  "proxySettings": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "target_username": "bbbbyyyhhh1",
    "start_from_position": 0,
    "max_followers_to_scrape": 1000,
    "instagram_cookie": [
        {
            "name": "test",
            "value": "0",
            "domain": ".instagram.com",
            "path": "/",
            "expires": 1764923760.811145,
            "httpOnly": false,
            "secure": true
        }
    ],
    "proxySettings": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "target_username": "bbbbyyyhhh1",
    "start_from_position": 0,
    "max_followers_to_scrape": 1000,
    "instagram_cookie": [{
            "name": "test",
            "value": "0",
            "domain": ".instagram.com",
            "path": "/",
            "expires": 1764923760.811145,
            "httpOnly": False,
            "secure": True,
        }],
    "proxySettings": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "target_username": "bbbbyyyhhh1",
  "start_from_position": 0,
  "max_followers_to_scrape": 1000,
  "instagram_cookie": [
    {
      "name": "test",
      "value": "0",
      "domain": ".instagram.com",
      "path": "/",
      "expires": 1764923760.811145,
      "httpOnly": false,
      "secure": true
    }
  ],
  "proxySettings": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wilcode/instagram-follower-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/pZqp9eQuPPfKJd6Vj/builds/r2eBxF34dexLPyLu4/openapi.json