All comparisons

Instagram Graph API alternative for public profile and post data

November 7, 2026

Meta's Instagram Graph API is built for managing accounts you own: publishing, insights, comments on your posts. Reading other accounts is a narrow side feature.

  • Your app users need a professional (business or creator) account. Serving accounts you do not own needs Advanced Access, which means App Review and Business Verification. source
  • Business Discovery reads only other professional accounts: followers, media count and per-post metrics. Personal accounts and age-gated accounts are out of reach. source

Side by side

Instagram Graph APIScrapeIO
Accounts you can readYour own, plus other professional accounts via Business DiscoveryAny public account
SetupMeta app, professional account, App Review and Business Verification for Advanced AccessNone. Sign in, get a key
Reels play counts, comments, transcriptsFor your own mediaFor any public post or reel
SearchHashtag search, with limitsAccounts, posts, reels, hashtags and audio
PriceNo fee listedPacks: $47 for 25,000 credits ($1.88 per 1K) or $497 for 500,000 ($0.99 per 1K). Most calls cost 1 credit; list calls return a page of items
Other platformsInstagram only33 platforms: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest and more

When the Graph API is the better choice

For accounts you manage, it is the authoritative source: private insights, reach, story metrics, and publishing. No public-data API can give you those. Use ScrapeIO for everyone else's public posts, and the Graph API for your own.

See every Instagram endpoint on the Instagram API page.

Sources

Prices and limits checked on 7 November 2026 from each vendor's own pages. They change; follow the source links before you decide.

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