Every count
Followers and following as plain numbers, such as 396 followers on the sample.
Instagram profile search API
Accounts for a name or keyword, from the Instagram pages a web search has indexed.
100 free credits. No card needed.
Each request1 credit
Fields in each profile20
A failed requestFree
A cached repeatFree
What you get for each profile
Pictures
Links to the profile picture.
Name
The display name, such as Incredible Fitness Coach.
Link
A link to the profile on Instagram.
Account flags
Whether the account is verified or private.
Handle
The handle, such as fitness_._coach.
What you can build with it
Accounts for a niche
Search a description like fitness coach and get accounts with their names and counts. The sample's second result, Daniel Wai, shows about 109,000 followers and 510 posts.
Influencer discoveryFields on result 2Sample
thestrongwai
109,000
510
Exact numbers on the first ten
enrich reads the first 10 accounts of a page through the profile endpoint for exact counts, bio, links and picture. fitness_._coach comes back with 396 followers and 657 following.
Fields on the first profileSample
fitness_._coach
396
657
false
A long list first, trimmed later
enrich=false keeps only what each search result states, with rounded counts flagged in extra.stats_approximate, a fast way to gather many names before reading the few worth a closer look.
Found for fitness coachSample
Incredible Fitness Coach
Daniel Wai | Fitness Coach
How it works
- 1
Get a key
Sign up and get 100 free credits. No card needed.
Your API key100 free credits - 2
Send a search
Pass
query(fitness coach).fitness coach - 3
Page through the results
Send back
cursoruntilhas_moreisfalse.Page 2Page 3
Request and response
1curl -G "https://api.socialscrape.dev/v1/instagram/search/profiles" \2 --data-urlencode "query=fitness coach" \3 -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"1import requests2 3r = requests.get(4 "https://api.socialscrape.dev/v1/instagram/search/profiles",5 params={"query": "fitness coach"},6 headers={"x-api-key": KEY},7)8profiles = r.json()["data"]["items"]1const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.dev/v1/instagram/search/profiles");2url.searchParams.set("query", "fitness coach");3 4const res = await fetch(url, {5 headers: { "x-api-key": KEY },6});7const { data } = await res.json();{ "ok": true, "credits_charged": 1, "data": { "items": [ { "name": "Incredible Fitness Coach", "handle": "fitness_._coach", "stats": { "followers": 396, "following": 657 }, "url": "https://www.instagram.com/fitness...", "kind": "unknown", ... }, ... ], "cursor": "eyJwIjoy...", "has_more": true } }
Use it from your AI agent
Ask in plain words
Ask your agent for Instagram profile search in plain words, and the SocialScrape MCP server makes the call.
Set up the MCP serverOne tool call
Instagram profile search, given a search.
Same price as the API
1 credit a call; a repeat within 30 days is free.
Runs on your machine
Your key stays in your agent's settings.
Pairs well with
Instagram hashtag suggestionsInstagram's own hashtag search for the words.Instagram popular topicExplore a topic through Instagram's public Popular...Instagram posts by hashtagPublic posts and reels for an exact hashtag that a...Instagram reel searchReels for a keyword or phrase from Instagram's...See all 18 Instagram endpoints
Pay only for data you get
A page of profiles1 credit
The same request within max_age_daysFree
A failed requestFree
Free credits for new accounts100
Starter
18,000 credits a month
GrowthMost popular
50,000 credits a month
Scale
150,000 credits a month
$27/mo
$73/mo
$209/mo
$1.50 per 1,000
$1.46 per 1,000
$1.39 per 1,000
Resets monthly
Resets monthly
Resets monthly
No rate limits
No rate limits
No rate limits
Over 1M credits a month? Talk to us. Or see full pricing.
Questions
Why did one Instagram account come back without a bio?
When reading an account fails, the result keeps what the search stated and extra.enrich_error says why: upstream_blocked on the sample's second result, whose counts stay rounded.
Is this Instagram's own account search?
No. Results come from the Instagram pages a web search has indexed, not Instagram's ranking, best effort and not a complete list. Look an exact username up with Instagram profile.
Is a failed Instagram profile search charged?
No. When the search provider is busy or asks for human verification on every try, the call fails, costs nothing and can be retried. The cursor cannot go past page 11.
What does it return?
DuckDuckGo's results, not Google's and not Instagram's own ranking, best effort and not a complete list. Each result states the account's name and rounded follower, following and post counts (extra.stats_approximate). The first 10 on a page are then read through the Instagram profile endpoint for exact counts, bio, links and picture (enrich, on by default; an account that no longer exists is dropped). The cursor is the next results page and cannot go past 11. When the search provider is busy or asks for human verification on every try the call fails, costs nothing and can be retried. Look an exact username up with profile. Each profile has up to 20 fields, and the sample fills id, handle, name, url, kind, bio, avatar_url and verified and 2 more.
What do I send?
query (required): Profile name, username or keywords.
enrich: Read the first 10 accounts of a page for exact counts, bio, links and picture (on by default). Off returns only what the search result states, much cheaper and faster. true if left out.
Which errors can it return?
invalid_params, not_found and upstream_blocked. None is charged, and the errors list says which to retry.
Is there an SDK call for it?
client.instagram.search_profiles(...) in Python and client.instagram.searchProfiles() in TypeScript.