Instagram API
8 endpoints read Instagram: posts, hashtags, users, comments. From $0.0020 a call. No Instagram login and no cookie; a failed call is free.
One call, as it came back
A recorded call, fields already tidied up: ready for an AI or a spreadsheet.The first 7 rows of a response recorded 2026-10-12 19:14 UTC.
Run it in the Playground · $0.0020{
"code": "ok",
"request_id": "00bd07a2-f76e-4b07-bfda-f6718c7081ce",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"id": "DqngThTYDyZ",
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DqngThTYDyZ/",
"type": "video",
"text": "Three things nobody tells you about weekend hiking.",
"published_at": "2026-09-15T13:01:48.000Z",
"author": {
"id": "54770162770",
"username": "priya.reads",
"name": "Priya R.",
"avatar_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/429975025_15741728840577477_n.jpg",
"verified": true
},
"metrics": { "likes": 1402, "comments": 954, "views": 130750 },
"images": [
"https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/460701643_16163828761625834_n.jpg"
],
"is_pinned": true
},
// … 11 more
]
},
"page": {
"next_cursor": "c1.Myhw7819N8URcJWSe98N8d0G7SRkW_mKgw9Fmj0N",
"cursor_expires_at": "2026-10-12T20:14:56.000Z",
"has_more": true,
"returned": 12
},
"warnings": [],
"meta": {
"capability": "instagram.users.posts.list",
"result_status": "complete",
"fetched_at": "2026-10-12T19:14:56.000Z",
"cached": false,
"replayed": false,
"unavailable": {
"title": "platform",
"lang": "capability",
"author.followers": "capability",
"metrics.shares": "capability",
"metrics.favorites": "capability",
"metrics.reposts": "capability",
"hashtags": "capability",
"mentions": "capability",
"post_id": "platform",
"parent_id": "platform",
"root_id": "platform"
},
"billing": {
"amount": "0.002",
"currency": "USD",
"balance_after": "9.998"
}
}
}From a response recorded 2026-10-12 19:14 UTC. Names, text and IDs are examples, and so are the links: none is the recorded one (the page shows no one's personal data); the figures are as recorded. Long lists are cut. The request ID, cursor and balance are made up.
What you can get
Each row is an endpoint: what it returns and what one call costs.
What people build with it
Ready-made tasks your AI can run on Instagram data. Each is a few calls under a spending cap.
Comments and word of mouth
“What are people praising and complaining about under this post?”
Competitor account monitoring
“What did competitors post this week, and which post took off?”
Account check-up
“How is this account doing?”
Ask about Instagram right inside Claude or Cursor
Add the DataXAPI MCP server and the AI finds the Instagram endpoint it needs and calls it; answers link back to the source. You pay for the calls it makes.
https://api.dataxapi.com/mcpStart in three steps
The call shown here is Instagram user posts. Every other Instagram endpoint is called the same way and answers in the same envelope.
Get a key
Sign in with an emailed code or Google. Free trial, no card needed.
Call it, or let your AI call it
One GET from your code. Or paste this prompt into your agent with your key in it: it sets itself up, then finds and calls these endpoints by itself.
Read the same shape every time
Items are in data.items (one object in data.item), the next page in page.next_cursor, the charge in meta.billing.amount. A failed call is not charged.
curl -G "https://api.dataxapi.com/v1/instagram/users/posts/list" \ --data-urlencode "username=nasa" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $DATAXAPI_API_KEY"
from dataxapi import DataXAPI dx = DataXAPI() # reads DATAXAPI_API_KEY result = dx.instagram.users.posts.list(username="nasa") print(result["data"]["items"])
import { DataXAPI } from "@dataxapi/sdk";
const dx = new DataXAPI(); // reads DATAXAPI_API_KEY
const result = await dx.instagram.users.posts.list({ username: "nasa" });
console.log(result.data.items);dataxapi call instagram.users.posts.list username=nasa
{
"mcpServers": {
"dataxapi": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.dataxapi.com/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer ${DATAXAPI_API_KEY}"
}
}
}
}Add this to your MCP client, then ask your agent to call instagram.users.posts.list.
Edge cases
What the Instagram endpoints do at their edges, and what to check when a call does not return what you expected.
- Page sizes
- A list returns 12 to 50 items a page, depending on the endpoint. 4 of the 5 lists go on to a next page:
page.next_cursor, passed back ascursor, each page a call of its own. The others return one page only. - Fields it cannot give
- 8 of the 8 endpoints cannot fill every field of the object they return. Each endpoint's page lists which, and every answer repeats them in
meta.unavailable: a missing field is never a silent zero. - A missing object that reads as empty
- Instagram user posts: an object that does not exist cannot be told from one with nothing under it, so the answer is an empty result, not a 404, and is charged as an empty result is.
- Posts by shortcode
- A post or reel is named by its shortcode, the part of its link after /p/ or /reel/. Comment replies take the comment's ID and that shortcode.
- Accounts by handle
- Profiles and an account's posts take the handle without the @. The profile does not give a post count.
- When the handle does not exist
- Asked for every post, a handle nobody has comes back empty and is charged as an empty result; asked for reels only, it answers with a source error that is not charged.
- Comments carry less
- Comments and replies come without the commenter's display name and without naming their post; replies have no like count.
- Transcripts: two minutes at most
- A video over two minutes is refused as invalid input; a reel in which nothing is said reads as not found. Neither is charged.
Questions about the Instagram API
Short answers. The details are on each endpoint's page.
How is the Instagram API priced?
Per call, no subscription. From $0.0020 to $0.0040 a call; each endpoint's page shows its own price. You are charged when data comes back; a failed call costs nothing.
Do I need a Instagram account or a cookie?
No. One DataXAPI key is all you hold: no Instagram login, no cookie, no device to keep alive. The endpoints return publicly visible data only.
Is the data live?
A call fetches from Instagram at that moment, and meta.fetched_at says when. A result is kept for 24 hours, so a retry with the same Idempotency-Key is not charged again.
Is an empty result charged?
A list that comes back empty is charged its price: the search was run. Reading one object that does not exist answers not_found and is free.
What happens when Instagram changes something?
A call that fails is not charged, whatever the reason. An endpoint that is paused answers capability_paused, also free, and GET /v1/catalog/status says what is up right now.
Related
Call Instagram with one key.
Free trial on sign-up: up to 50 calls at $0.0020. No card. No Instagram login, no cookie, no subscription. A failed call is free.