Instagram Highlights Scraper

Instagram highlights scraper

Paste usernames and get every highlight with every story inside — title, photo or video link, time, mentions, links and music. Highlights are where brands keep their FAQs, reviews, product demos and offers.

• 🗂️ All highlights, all stories — up to 200 highlights per profile, with each highlight's title and cover image.
• 💸 Pay per story — $0.38 per 1,000 highlight stories on Starter: a brand with 10 highlights of 15 stories costs about $0.06. Profiles without highlights cost nothing.
• 🔗 Links and mentions of every story, ready to analyze.
• 🎯 One highlight by link — paste instagram.com/stories/highlights/… instead of a username to get just that highlight.
• 💾 Links that don't expire — turn on Save photos and videos and every story file goes to your run's storage, with a permanent link in mediaStoredUrl (kept as long as your Apify plan keeps the run's storage). No extra charge from us.
• 🔓 No login; usernames that don't exist are free.

Try it: press Start — the prefilled glossier returns its highlights with every story inside.

Why scrape Instagram highlights?

• Archive a brand's highlights: FAQs, products, reviews, every story inside.
• Research how competitors use highlights to sell.

What data can I scrape from Instagram highlights?

Data	What it is
Username	Instagram username (handle)
Highlight	Highlight name on the profile
Posted	When it was posted (UTC, ISO 8601)
Media	photo or video
Video	Direct link to the video file — it expires, see mediaUrlsExpireAt
Image	Direct link to the image — it expires, see mediaUrlsExpireAt

Up to 43 fields per row in total — the Output tab lists every one of them.

How to scrape Instagram highlights

1. Paste usernames or links into the input, one per line.
2. Press Start — rows stream into the Output tab while the run goes.
3. Download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or get them through the API.

Works with any public profile on Instagram — no login, no cookies, no Instagram account of yours.

No input at hand? Press Start with an empty input — you get a 3-row sample.

Input example

{
  "usernames": [
    "glossier"
  ],
  "maxHighlights": 50,
  "saveMedia": false
}

Output example: Instagram highlights data

{
  "type": "highlight",
  "username": "natgeo",
  "ownerId": "787132",
  "ownerFullName": "National Geographic",
  "ownerVerified": true,
  "id": "4017148054599751925",
  "storyUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/stories/natgeo/4017148054599751925/",
  "takenAt": "2026-10-28T07:43:06Z",
  "expiresAt": "2026-10-29T07:43:06Z",
  "mediaType": "video",
  "durationSec": 15,
  "videoUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/…mp4",
  "mentions": [
    "natgeotravel"
  ],
  "links": [
    "https://on.natgeo.com/…"
  ],
  "music": {
    "title": "Original audio",
    "artist": "natgeo"
  },
  "hasPoll": false,
  "mediaUrlsExpireAt": "2026-10-29T19:00:00Z",
  "highlightId": "18023864549864045",
  "highlightTitle": "BOTW 2027",
  "highlightCreatedAt": "2026-10-20T13:19:00Z",
  "highlightUpdatedAt": "2026-10-26T14:04:53Z",
  "highlightPinned": false,
  "highlightPosition": 1
}

Each row has up to 43 fields — the Output tab describes every one of them. Fields Instagram doesn't show come as null, never as a fake 0.

Limits

• Media links expire after a few days — download the files you want to keep.
• A big highlight takes a few requests.
• Free Apify plan: the first 20 results of each run (looking through up to 15 pages of Instagram), up to 300 results a month across our Actors, from a daily free pool shared by all free users. Any paid Apify plan gets every result — no cap.

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram highlights?

Pay per event: you pay for the rows you get, plus $0.0005 per run. No subscription to this Actor.

Apify plan	Per 1,000 highlight items	What $5 of free credit gets you
Free	$0.42	≈ 11,900 highlight items
Starter	$0.38	—
Business and higher	$0.29	—

Every event of this Actor on the Starter plan:

Event	What it is	Price
Highlight item	Each story inside a highlight	$0.38 per 1,000

Typical jobs on Starter:

• A brand with 10 highlights of 15 stories = 150 ≈ $0.06

Always free: profiles without highlights and usernames that don't exist. Set Maximum cost per run in the run options to cap any run.

Chain it with other Actors

Use the rows of an earlier run as the input: paste its dataset ID into Or: dataset from another run. For example, run Instagram Followers Scraper on a brand, then give its dataset to Instagram Email & Phone Scraper — you get the emails of the brand's followers. Works with the datasets of Apify's own Instagram Actors too.

Instagram highlights API: Python, n8n, Make, Zapier and AI agents

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("instagram-data-api/instagram-highlights-scraper").call(run_input={'usernames': ['glossier'], 'maxHighlights': 50, 'saveMedia': False})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)

n8n, Make, Zapier or any HTTP client: one request runs the Actor and returns the rows — POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/instagram-data-api~instagram-highlights-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN with the input JSON as the body.

AI agents (MCP) — your agent gets this Actor as a tool:

• Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=instagram-data-api/instagram-highlights-scraper"
• Claude, Cursor, VS Code, n8n: add https://mcp.apify.com?tools=instagram-data-api/instagram-highlights-scraper as a remote MCP server and sign in to Apify.
• Ask it: “Archive all highlights of @glossier.” · “What is inside the FAQ highlight of this brand?”

FAQ: scraping Instagram highlights

How do I download Instagram highlights? Paste usernames and press Start. Each story row has videoUrl or imageUrl — the original file — and the highlight's cover in highlightCoverUrl. Download the files before mediaUrlsExpireAt.

Can I view highlights without an Instagram account? Yes — you never log in or connect an account; you paste usernames and get the highlights of public profiles.

Do media links expire? Yes — Instagram's links expire; each row has mediaUrlsExpireAt, so download the files before then. Or turn on Save photos and videos: we save the files to this run's storage, and mediaStoredUrl keeps working for as long as your Apify plan keeps the run's storage.

Can I take only some highlights? Set Max highlights per profile — highlights are taken in the order they appear on the profile.

What about live stories? Use Instagram Stories Scraper — one price per profile, all live stories included.

Do I need an Instagram account or cookies? No. You only paste usernames, links or keywords. Nothing to log in, nothing to install, and your own Instagram account is never involved.

What am I charged for — and what's free? Only the events in the pricing table, plus $0.0005 per run. Rows with an error field are free, and duplicates are never returned or charged. Each run's SUMMARY record shows results and free rows.

Can I try it for free? Yes. On Apify's free plan you get the first 20 results of every run (up to 300 a month across our Actors), paid from the monthly free credit Apify gives every account. Paid plans get every result, with no cap.

Can I cap what a run costs? Yes. Set Maximum cost per run in the run options — the run stops at your limit and SUMMARY shows stoppedAtChargeLimit: true.

Can I use it from n8n, Make, Zapier or an AI agent? Yes, like any Apify Actor: REST API, webhooks, the n8n, Make and Zapier integrations, and the Apify MCP server for Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other MCP clients. Short timeout in your workflow or agent? Set Return what's ready after (seconds): the run stops on time with what it has collected, and you pay only for that.

For AI agents

Actor:   instagram-data-api/instagram-highlights-scraper
Does:    Download Instagram story highlights: every story in each highlight, photo or video saved with a permanent link. No login.
Input:   {"usernames": ["glossier"], "maxHighlights": 50, "saveMedia": false}
Output:  one JSON row per result, up to 43 fields; main: username, highlightTitle, takenAt, mediaType, videoUrl, imageUrl
Free:    profiles without highlights and usernames that don't exist
Price:   event "highlight-item" $0.38 per 1,000 on Starter + $0.0005 per run
Run:     POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/instagram-data-api~instagram-highlights-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=APIFY_TOKEN

More Instagram Actors from us

Content	People	Stories
All-in-one Instagram Scraper · Reels · Posts · Post details · Reel views checker · Hashtags · Search · Transcripts · Tagged posts · Audio · Locations · Hashtag stats	Profiles · Followers count · Account age · Emails & phones · Similar accounts · Similar accounts with profiles · Followers · Comments · Likers · Engagement rate · Username checker · User ID · Follower checker	Stories · Highlights

What changed and when — see the Changelog tab.