Instagram Public Data API
Look up or find public profiles and collect follower-list records, following relationships, authored posts, profile-tagged posts, hashtag results, Reels, transcripts, comments, account counts, engagement metrics and media metadata through one asynchronous workflow.
Available Instagram APIs
Choose a focused endpoint for known-profile lookup, profile discovery, follower-list collection, following-relationship collection, account metrics, authored posts, profile-tagged posts, hashtag discovery, Reels, transcripts or comments. Every endpoint uses the same SocQ authentication and task-result pattern.
instagram/posts
Posts0.34 credits / result
instagram/post-info
Posts0.5 credits / result
instagram/hashtag-posts
Search0.5 credits / result
instagram/reels-search
Search0.5 credits / result
instagram/story-highlights
Posts0.5 credits / result
instagram/tagged-posts
Posts0.5 credits / result
instagram/transcript
Posts0.7 credits / result
instagram/audio-reels
Posts0.5 credits / result
instagram/comments
Comments0.3 credits / result
instagram/followers-count
Profiles0.52 credits / result
instagram/profiles
Profiles0.6 credits / result
instagram/followers-list
Profiles0.3 credits / result
instagram/following-list
Profiles0.3 credits / result
instagram/reels
Posts0.52 credits / result
instagram/search
Search0.54 credits / result
instagram/highlight-items
Posts0.5 credits / result
instagram/trending-reels
Posts0.5 credits / result
What Instagram data can you retrieve?
SocQ normalizes public Instagram results into stable JSON records so product teams do not need to maintain separate browser automation and response-cleanup pipelines.
Profiles and discovery
Look up known usernames or search public accounts, returning usernames, display names, biographies, profile URLs, avatars, verification status and visible account signals.
Follower and account counts
Retrieve visible follower, following and post counts for public usernames or profile URLs.
Public follower-list records
Collect visible follower profiles by source username with normalized identity, profile imagery, visibility flags, relationship context, observed position and collection time.
Public following relationships
Collect publicly visible profiles followed by one or more source accounts, with identity, visibility, source, relationship, position, and available account-count context.
Authored and tagged posts
Collect posts published by selected usernames or posts that tag selected profiles, with captions, authors, media, tag context, timestamps and visible engagement.
Hashtag post discovery
Find public posts for one or more hashtags with optional time-window and Reels filters, plus matched-hashtag context.
Public Reels
Collect Reel captions, media references, play and engagement counts, duration, hashtags, mentions and audio metadata when available.
Post and Reel transcripts
Extract transcript text, language, format and source context from public post or Reel URLs; media without speech may return no record.
Public comments
Collect comment text, author fields, timestamps, post references and visible like or reply counts from public Instagram post URLs.
SocQ vs Instagram Graph API
The two products solve different integration problems. SocQ is designed for normalized public-data collection; Meta's official API is designed primarily for authorized professional accounts and platform actions.
| Capability | SocQ | Instagram Graph API |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Public profile, follower-list, following-relationship, content and comment data collection | Manage authorized Business and Creator accounts |
| Customer OAuth | SocQ API key; no customer Instagram OAuth | Meta app setup and account authorization |
| Publishing | Not supported | Supported for eligible professional accounts |
| Private content | Not supported | Only data granted through authorized permissions |
| Response format | Normalized across SocQ endpoints | Native Meta Graph response shapes |
How the Instagram API works
All Instagram endpoints follow the same asynchronous workflow, which keeps long-running collection outside your request thread.
1. Submit a task
Send a POST request with a query, usernames, hashtags, or public profile and content URLs, plus an optional results limit.
2. Poll task status
Use the returned task ID until the task succeeds or fails. Apply backoff instead of tight retry loops.
3. Read normalized results
Fetch result items, store stable IDs and follow next_cursor when more records are available.
Authenticate with a SocQ API key. This example starts a public Instagram profile search; known-profile lookup, follower lists, following relationships, authored or tagged posts, hashtag discovery, Reels, transcripts, comments and account counts use the same task workflow.
curl -X POST "https://api.socq.ai/v1/instagram/search" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCQ_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"sustainable travel","results_limit":25}'
# Poll GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}
# Read GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}?limit=50Common Instagram API use cases
Creator discovery
Find relevant public profiles, then enrich selected accounts with posts, Reels and visible follower metrics.
Follower-list research
Sample publicly visible follower profiles, compare overlap across selected source accounts, and queue chosen usernames for profile enrichment.
Content monitoring
Track authored posts, posts that tag selected profiles, hashtag results, Reels, transcript records and selected public comments for campaigns, competitors, creators or recurring content formats.
Analytics enrichment
Add visible social identity and engagement fields to internal dashboards, data warehouses and reporting systems.
Research directories
Build reviewable public-account and content datasets with stable URLs, IDs and collection timestamps.
Limits and public-data policy
SocQ is scoped to publicly available Instagram results. Availability can change as accounts, content and public source responses change.
- Private, restricted, removed or login-only content is outside the supported boundary.
- Follower-list results are public samples rather than guaranteed complete exports, and the same profile can appear under multiple submitted source accounts.
- Some public records may omit counters, comment fields, media references, biographies or audio fields.
- Use conservative request rates, cursor pagination and backoff after rate-pressure responses.
- Do not use the API to publish, edit or delete Instagram content.
Instagram API frequently asked questions
Is this the official Instagram Graph API?
No. SocQ provides normalized access to supported public Instagram results. Use Meta's Graph API when you need authorized account management or publishing.
Do users need to connect their Instagram account?
No customer Instagram OAuth is required for the supported public-data endpoints. Requests use a SocQ API key.
Can the API access private profiles?
No. Private, restricted and login-only Instagram content is not supported.
How is usage priced?
Each endpoint displays its current per-result credit price. Billing is based on normalized result records returned by the task.
Combine data across platforms for more complete business insights
Bring public profiles, content, and engagement data from different platforms into one workflow to track brands, creators, and topics and run cross-platform monitoring and analysis more efficiently.
TikTok API
Collect supported public TikTok profiles, direct video metadata, top-level comments, video search results, and videos for specified hashtags through one normalized asynchronous workflow.
YouTube API
Collect supported public YouTube channel profiles, video details, channel videos, comments, Shorts, keyword and hashtag results, and available transcripts through one normalized asynchronous workflow.
X API
Collect public profiles, follower and following relationships, posts, replies, quotes, retweeters, search results, and current trends. Use consistent results for research and monitoring.
Facebook API
Collect public Facebook Page profiles, posts, group posts, comments, keyword-matched events, and available video transcripts with normalized identity, content, source, format, place, media, reaction, attendance, and engagement fields.
Google Ad Library API
Discover public advertisers, collect creatives for a company, or retrieve one known Transparency Center creative by URL for research and review.
Google Maps API
Discover public places, retrieve normalized details for known Maps URLs, and collect public reviews with source-linked place and author context.