What is the Instagram Post Scraper?
The InsightSocial Instagram post scraper is a free Chrome extension that exports the posts of any public Instagram profile to CSV, Excel, or JSON: caption, likes, comment count, video views, hashtags, mentions, tagged users, location, post type, media URLs, and the post's link and timestamp. Turn on Posts and Comments and it also exports the comment thread under each post, so one run gives you both what an account published and how people answered.
A profile page shows you a grid. This turns the grid into a table you can sort. Sort by likes to see what actually landed, filter by post type to compare Reels with carousels, or read the comments under a competitor's last ten launches side by side.
Each run captures the profile too: bio, follower, following, and post counts, category, bio links, and the public email or phone when the account publishes one. You don't need a second tool to know whose posts you are looking at.
Who is it for?
- Marketers benchmarking a competitor's content: what they post, how often, and which posts carry the engagement
- Agencies auditing a brand's or creator's history before a pitch, a report, or a campaign
- Content creators working out which formats and topics perform for accounts in their niche
- Brand teams reading the comments under a rival's launches for the questions and objections their own buyers have
- Influencer teams vetting a creator on engagement across their posts, not one viral outlier
- Researchers building post and comment datasets from public accounts without an API application
Key Benefits
- The whole grid, not the first screen: up to 500 posts from one profile in a single run
- Comments under every post: up to 200 per post, with replies when you want them
- Engagement on every row: likes, comments, and video views next to the caption that earned them
- Profile in the same file: no second export to know who posted
- No API: works in your own logged-in Instagram session, no Meta developer app or token
Two ways to scrape a profile
Profile and User Posts
The default. It captures the profile and then walks the grid, newest first, until it reaches your target: 12, 50, 100, or 500 posts. Twelve is one screen of the grid and finishes in seconds. Five hundred is most accounts' full recent history. If the account has fewer posts than you asked for, the run stops when the grid runs out.
Turn on Fetch play counts to add view counts and durations for video posts.
Posts and Comments
Everything above, plus each post's comment thread. Pick 10, 25, or 50 posts; the scraper then collects up to 200 comments per post: commenter username and profile picture, comment text, likes on the comment, reply count, and timestamp. Turn on Include replies to add the replies under each comment, linked to the comment they answer.
This mode is slower, because each post's comments are a separate lookup. A busy post takes around 20 seconds; posts with few comments finish much faster. Keep the tab open while it runs.
Every comment row carries the post it belongs to, so a file of 3,000 comments across 25 posts still reads as 25 conversations.
How to Use the Instagram Post Scraper
Step 1: Install the Extension
Add InsightSocial from the Chrome Web Store and pin the icon to your toolbar. It works inside the Instagram session you are already logged into and never asks for your Instagram password.
Step 2: Open the Profile
Go to the profile whose posts you want: instagram.com/username. Creators, brands, and business accounts all work.
Step 3: Open the Sidebar
Click the InsightSocial icon. The sidebar recognises the profile and lists what it can collect.
Step 4: Choose a Mode and a Count
Pick Profile and User Posts for the grid, or Posts and Comments for the grid plus its conversations, then choose how many posts.
Step 5: Start Scraping
Click "Start Scraping". Posts appear in the live preview as they are captured, with their engagement already filled in.
Step 6: Export
Click "Export" and choose CSV, Excel, or JSON. Open the CSV in Google Sheets or Excel, or load the JSON into a script.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many posts can I export from one profile?
Up to 500 posts per run with Profile and User Posts, and up to 50 posts with their comments with Posts and Comments. Scraping is unlimited on every plan. Only the rows you export are metered, at one credit per row:
- Free plan: 500 export credits per month
- Pro monthly: 10,000 export credits per month for $9.99/mo
- Pro yearly: 10,000 export credits per month for $95.88/year (works out to $7.99/mo)
Can I export the comments on every post?
Yes, with Posts and Comments: up to 200 comments per post, each its own row with the commenter, the text, likes, reply count, time, and the post it belongs to. For a single post or Reel, the Instagram Comment Scraper is the faster route.
Does it include the profile's details?
Yes. Every run captures the profile: username, full name, bio, follower, following, and post counts, category, verified and business flags, bio links, and the public email or phone when the account publishes one.
Can I scrape a private account?
Only what Instagram shows you while logged in. For a private account you don't follow, that is the profile header, not the posts.
Does it download the photos and videos?
It exports post metadata and media URLs, not the media files themselves. You get direct links you can use separately.
Is scraping Instagram posts legal?
Extracting publicly available data for research, competitive analysis, or legitimate business purposes is generally permitted. Review Instagram's Terms of Service for your use case, and handle any personal data in line with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA.
What else can I scrape on Instagram?
Working the same account from another angle? The Instagram Followers Scraper exports who follows it, the Instagram Reels Scraper covers the Reels tab, and the Instagram Hashtag Scraper finds posts and authors around a hashtag.