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Alternatives to Apify's Instagram and TikTok scrapers

String team · Published November 10, 2026 · Updated November 10, 2026

What are the alternatives to Apify's Instagram and TikTok scrapers?

There are three kinds of alternative. Social data APIs such as Bright Data, ScrapeCreators, EnsembleData and Data365 sell Instagram and TikTok records per request or per record. Site integrations on a fetch API, such as String's Instagram and TikTok actions, return typed rows and bill at the API's normal request rates. Official programs, Instagram's Business Discovery and the TikTok Research API, are free but narrow: one needs your own professional account, the other is for non-commercial researchers.

Pick a records vendor for volume with no code, an integration when the same pipeline fetches other sites too, and an official API when you qualify.

The alternatives at a glance

Prices are each vendor's published list prices, checked on November 10, 2026. A "result" or "record" is one post, profile, comment or video, and each vendor counts it its own way.

Option What it returns Published price Free start
Apify Instagram Scraper Posts, reels, profiles, places, hashtags, comments $2.70 per 1,000 results on the free plan, $2.30 on Starter, $1.50 on Business $5 of monthly credit
Apify TikTok Scraper Videos, profiles, hashtags, music $3.70 per 1,000 results on the free plan, $3.00 on Starter, $1.70 on Business, plus add-ons $5 of monthly credit
Bright Data Instagram and TikTok records $1.50 per 1,000 records pay as you go, or $499 a month for 384,000 5,000 records a month
ScrapeCreators Social profiles, posts and comments by endpoint $47 for 25,000 credits, $497 for 500,000 100 credits
EnsembleData Social endpoints billed in units $100 a month for 1,500 units a day, up to $1,400 for 50,000 50 units a day
Data365 One to seven social networks €300 a month for one network and 500,000 credits 14-day trial
String integrations Instagram profiles, posts and reels; TikTok profiles, videos, comments, hashtags and user search Each request bills at your plan's fetch rate 20,000 standard fetches
Instagram Business Discovery Metadata and metrics of other professional accounts Free Needs your own professional account
TikTok Research API Public TikTok data for research Free Approved academic and not-for-profit researchers only

What Apify's Instagram and TikTok scrapers cost

Apify's Instagram Scraper charges per result, as of November 10, 2026. A result is $2.70 per 1,000 on the free plan, $2.30 on Starter ($19 a month), $1.90 on Scale ($199 a month) and $1.50 on Business ($999 a month).

Apify's TikTok Scraper costs more per result and adds charges for options. A result is $3.70 per 1,000 on the free plan, $3.00 on Starter, $2.30 on Scale and $1.70 on Business. Filters, comments and video downloads each add $0.50 to $1.30 per 1,000 depending on the plan, and transcripts add $27 to $48 per 1,000.

Both Actors are maintained by Apify or its developers and run on its platform, with scheduling, storage and webhooks included. Teams usually look elsewhere for three reasons: the per-result price at volume, the add-on charges on TikTok, or the wish to call one API for social sites and every other site they collect.

Social data APIs priced per request

These vendors sell Instagram and TikTok data as an API, with no platform to run. Prices were checked on each vendor's own page on November 10, 2026.

  • Bright Data prices its Instagram and TikTok scrapers the same: $1.50 per 1,000 records pay as you go, or $499 a month for 384,000 records and $1.30 per 1,000 after that. The first 5,000 records a month are free.
  • ScrapeCreators sells credits that never expire: $47 for 25,000 and $497 for 500,000. One credit is one request for most endpoints, so a request that returns many posts counts once.
  • EnsembleData sells daily unit allowances, from 1,500 units a day for $100 a month to 50,000 for $1,400. Units reset each day at 00:00 UTC, and each endpoint costs a set number of units.
  • Data365 prices by network: €300 a month covers one network with 500,000 credits, and €850 covers three with 1,000,000. A post is one credit and a profile with its details is nine.

Compare them on a sample of your own accounts and hashtags. A per-request price and a per-record price only line up once you know how many records each request returns for your queries.

How String returns Instagram and TikTok data

String is a web data API for developers and AI agents that fetches, searches and maps any public site without getting blocked. For Instagram and TikTok it adds site integrations: typed actions that return rows in a published schema.

  • Instagram has three actions. profile returns follower, following and post counts, biography, verified and private flags and the bio link. post returns a post's caption, publish time, like count, location, tagged accounts and alt text. reels returns a profile's reels with play counts, 12 a page (Instagram docs).
  • TikTok has six actions. User search, profile, a profile's video feed, one video, a video's comments and a hashtag's feed. Videos come back with play, like, comment, share and collect counts, duration, music and hashtags (TikTok docs).
  • Both read what a logged-out visitor sees. The integrations use no account and no login.
  • There is no separate charge for an action. Each request an action makes bills at your plan's own fetch rate, and the response lists each request and its rate (integrations overview).
  • The same key fetches every other site. One balance covers social actions, /v1/fetch on any URL, and /v1/search.

Here is a profile read:

curl https://request.usestring.ai/v1/integrations/instagram/profile \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRING_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"handle": "nasa"}'

And a TikTok profile's newest videos:

curl https://request.usestring.ai/v1/integrations/tiktok/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRING_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"profile": "nasa", "pages": 1}'

The TikTok posts action returns up to 35 videos a page, newest first, and reads up to 5 pages a call. The first 20,000 standard fetches are free and need no card.

How often do scraping APIs get Instagram and TikTok pages?

Most scraping APIs got the social sites in our public test, but not all of them. In the October 30, 2026 run of String's Web Data Frontier Benchmark, 17 APIs loaded 8 social media sites five times each, and a request counted only when the real page content came back.

Site APIs that returned all 5 attempts, of 17 String Apify Web Fetch
instagram.com 13 5 of 5 5 of 5
tiktok.com 9 5 of 5 4 of 5
All 8 social sites Median API: 87.5% 100% 82.5%

Three APIs, Firecrawl, ScraperAPI and ZenRows, returned nothing from instagram.com. The Apify row in this test is its general Web Fetch Actor, not the Instagram or TikTok Scraper, which parse the platforms' data and were not tested. Eight providers ran below their current anti-bot setting: Scrapfly, Firecrawl, ScraperAPI, Zyte, ScrapingAnt, ScrapingBee, Scrapingdog and Nimble. The targets and the test code are open on GitHub.

What do Instagram's and TikTok's terms say about scraping?

Both platforms' terms forbid automated collection without their permission. This is a summary of the terms as of November 10, 2026, not legal advice.

  • Instagram: section 4.2 of the Terms of Use bars "accessing or collecting information in an automated way without our express permission". The current wording applies whether or not the collector is logged in.
  • TikTok: section 3.4 of the US Terms of Service, last updated July 15, 2026, bars extracting data from the platform with any automated system unless TikTok approves it in writing.
  • The Bright Data case: in January 2024 a federal court in California held that Facebook's and Instagram's terms then in force did not bar Bright Data's logged-off scraping of public data (Bright Data's summary). Meta dropped its remaining claim in February 2024. That ruling read the terms of that time, and they have changed since.

Profiles and comments are often personal data. In the EU and UK, the GDPR applies to them whoever collects them, and a vendor's "public data" label does not change that. Our pages on scraping personal data under GDPR and CCPA and whether web scraping is legal cover the general rules. Ask your counsel before you collect at scale.

When do the official APIs fit?

The official APIs fit when your use matches their narrow scope.

  • Instagram Business Discovery lets a professional account get "basic metadata and metrics" about other professional accounts (Meta docs). It does not cover personal accounts, and data about age-gated business accounts is not returned.
  • Meta Content Library is free for researchers at academic or not-for-profit organizations, and applications are reviewed independently (Meta).
  • TikTok Research API is for qualified researchers in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Brazil, who must be independent of commercial interests (TikTok).
  • TikTok Commercial Content API covers ads and advertisers, and for now only data from EU countries (TikTok).

A brand team tracking its own and its competitors' business accounts can often start with Business Discovery. A product that needs creator data at volume usually cannot qualify for any of them.

Where String fits

  • For: teams that collect Instagram and TikTok alongside other sites, and AI agents that need social data as one tool among others.
  • Not for: data behind a login, private accounts, or a use that one of the official APIs already serves.
  • Price: as of October 2026, Starter is $19 a month and Growth $99, each with that amount of usage included. A standard fetch is $0.25 per 1,000 on Starter and $0.16 on Growth, and a fetch on the premium proxy, used only when a page needs it, is $2.40 and $0.90 (pricing). Blocked requests are not billed.
  • Integrations: a REST API, an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT, n8n and Zapier, and String Actors in the Apify Store.
  • Limits: 15 requests a second on Starter and 30 on Growth, and up to 10,000 concurrent fetches (pricing).

For the wider field, see Apify alternatives and String vs Apify. Try the profile call above on an account you track, with a free key.

FAQ

What are the alternatives to Apify's Instagram and TikTok scrapers?

Social data APIs such as Bright Data, ScrapeCreators, EnsembleData and Data365; site integrations on a fetch API such as String's Instagram and TikTok actions; and the official programs, Instagram Business Discovery and the TikTok Research API. The official programs are free but limited to professional accounts or approved researchers.

How much does Apify's Instagram Scraper cost?

As of November 10, 2026, Apify's Instagram Scraper costs $2.70 per 1,000 results on the free plan, $2.30 on Starter, $1.90 on Scale and $1.50 on Business. A result is one post, reel, comment, profile, hashtag or place (Apify pricing).

How much does Apify's TikTok Scraper cost?

As of November 10, 2026, Apify's TikTok Scraper costs $3.70 per 1,000 results on the free plan, $3.00 on Starter, $2.30 on Scale and $1.70 on Business. Options such as date filters, comments and video downloads add charges per 1,000, and transcripts add $27 to $48 per 1,000 (Apify pricing).

Is there an official Instagram API for other people's posts?

Only for professional accounts. Business Discovery lets your own professional account read basic metadata and metrics about other professional accounts. It does not cover personal accounts. Researchers at academic or not-for-profit organizations can apply for the Meta Content Library.

Can I use the TikTok Research API for a commercial product?

No. TikTok says applicants must be independent of commercial interests, and eligibility is limited to academic institutions and certain not-for-profit research bodies in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Brazil.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram and TikTok?

Both platforms' terms forbid automated collection without permission. In January 2024 a US court held that the Facebook and Instagram terms then in force did not bar logged-off scraping of public data, and Meta later dropped the case, but the terms have changed since. Profiles and comments can be personal data under the GDPR. Ask your counsel.

Do I need an Instagram or TikTok login to get public data?

No, for public profiles and posts. String's Instagram and TikTok integrations read what a logged-out visitor sees and use no account. Logging in means accepting the platform's terms, and private accounts stay out of reach either way.

Which is cheaper per post, a records vendor or a fetch API?

It depends on how many posts each request returns. A records vendor charges per post. A fetch API charges per request, and one request to a feed returns a page of posts: 12 reels a page for String's Instagram reels action, and up to 35 videos for its TikTok posts action. Price a sample of your own queries both ways.

Sources

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