Snapchat Scrapers for Public Profiles and Spotlight

November 8, 2026

Snapchat is mostly private by design. Friends' snaps and chats are not public, and no tool should try to reach them. What is public is the creator and business side: Public Profiles, their Stories and Spotlight videos. This guide covers the ways to collect that public data in 2026 and how to use it for creator research.

What is public on Snapchat

• Public Profiles: display name, username, bio, category and, when shown, subscriber count.
• Public Stories: visible for a limited time, so they must be captured while live.
• Spotlight: short videos with views, shares and comments, each with its own share URL.

The official route: Snap's Public Profile API

Snap has a Public Profile API inside its Marketing API. Its getting started page is clear that access is restricted: "The Public Profile API is currently allowlist only." The steps are:

1. Create a business account in Ads Manager.
2. Create the OAuth app from Business Details. Snap says not to use the Developer Portal for this.
3. Send only the client ID to your Snap contact, who coordinates allowlisting.

Public endpoints return a subset of public profile data without the owner's authorization. Richer endpoints need the creator to authorize your app or opt in to sharing. The overview says creators who opt in get a wider range of metrics and audience insights. If you are a brand or agency with a Snap relationship, this is the best source. If you are not, you likely cannot get in.

Other options

Bright Data's Snapchat page lists Spotlight fields such as post ID, profile name and handle, comments, shares and views, and profile fields such as name, username, description and image. EnsembleData's Snapchat API page describes profile, story, follower and search data.

A creator vetting checklist for Snapchat

1. Subscribers. Your floor for reach. Note that some profiles hide the count.
2. Median Spotlight views. Take the median of the last 10 to 20 Spotlights, not the best one.
3. View rate. Median views ÷ subscribers. Above 1 means Spotlight is pushing the creator beyond their subscribers.
4. Comments per 1,000 views. A rough read on whether the audience cares or just scrolls.
5. Posting rhythm. Count Spotlights per week. Brands want creators who post steadily.
6. Category and bio. Check fit and look for an existing brand deal or management contact.
7. Read the comments. Ten minutes of reading catches problems a number will not.

Practical notes

• Public Stories expire. If they matter, schedule a daily pull and keep your own copy of the metadata.
• Snapshot the same creators on the same weekday each week. Spotlight views climb for days, so mixed timing makes creators look better or worse than they are.
• Keep a short list of 50 to 100 creators per campaign and refresh it weekly, rather than pulling thousands once.
• Spotlight URLs are the stable key. Store them with the date you collected the stats, since views keep climbing.
• Stay on public content. Do not try to read private accounts, friends' snaps or chats. This is not legal advice; check Snap's terms for your use.

Doing it with ScrapeIO

Use the Snapchat profile API for name, bio, subscribers and category, the Snapchat Spotlight API to read a Spotlight video's stats from its link, and the Spotlight comments API for the comment check. Not-found and private profiles are not charged. See the Snapchat endpoints.

curl "https://scrapeio.com/v1/snapchat/profile?handle=USERNAME" -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY"

Sources

Checked on 8 November 2026 from each vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change; follow the links before you decide.

• https://developers.snap.com/marketing-api/Public-Profile-API/GetStarted
• https://developers.snap.com/marketing-api/Public-Profile-API/Introduction
• https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/snapchat
• https://ensembledata.com/snapchat-api
• https://ensembledata.com/pricing
• https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/supportedsites.md