Buy credits once and use them when you need them. There are no monthly tiers, and credits do not expire.
Instagram API Instagram Search API for creator and market discovery
Use SocialListeningAPI to find public Instagram users, hashtags, and places around a product or topic. Fetch public profiles by username to qualify relevant accounts. Search returns discovery results, not posts, reels, or comments.
- Discover creators and accounts around a niche
- Check public profile signals before outreach
- Search users, hashtags, and places with one API key
{
"success": true,
"platform": "instagram",
"endpoint": "/api/v1/instagram/search",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"id": "25025320",
"platform": "instagram",
"type": "user",
"name": "Instagram",
"username": "instagram",
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/instagram/",
"image_url": "https://example.com/instagram.jpg",
"verified": true,
"count": null,
"ext": {
"position": 0
}
}
]
},
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": null,
"has_more": false,
"page_size": 1
},
"raw": {
"success": true,
"credits_remaining": 99,
"credits_charged": 1,
"data": {
"query": "instagram",
"users": [],
"hashtags": [],
"places": [],
"keywords": [],
"rank_token": "example-rank-token"
}
},
"request_id": "req_example123",
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 99
}What does the Instagram Search API do?
The Instagram Search API accepts a username, hashtag, place, or keyword and returns one page of
public discovery results. A normalized item includes its result type, ID, name, URL, image,
verification state, count when available, and Instagram-specific fields in ext.
Search results can contain users, hashtags, and places. This route does not return matching
Instagram posts. It also has no cursor, date, language, region, or content-type filters. The Set raw to true when you need provider fields outside the normalized schema. Raw data is excluded
by default.
Use the profile endpoint when you already know the username. It can return the public bio,
profile image, verification state, follower and following counts, post count, external URL,
privacy state, business category fields, and profile-specific data in ext.
Instagram API endpoints and current limits
Search: /api/v1/instagram/search accepts one query
and returns users, hashtags, and places. It has no pagination or extra filters.
Profile: /api/v1/instagram/profile accepts one public
username and returns a normalized profile.
Both routes accept GET and POST, cost 1 credit after a successful request, and include the raw provider payload. Failed requests use no credits.
Try the Instagram Search API
Choose cURL, Axios, or fetch. Add your API key, change the query, and send the request.
curl --get 'https://api.sociallisteningapi.com/api/v1/instagram/search' \
--data-urlencode 'query=social listening' \
--data-urlencode 'raw=true' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'Fetch an Instagram profile
Pass a public Instagram username to receive a normalized profile. Set raw to true when you need the provider response.
curl --get 'https://api.sociallisteningapi.com/api/v1/instagram/profile' \
--data-urlencode 'username=instagram' \
--data-urlencode 'raw=true' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'Why use SocialListeningAPI for Instagram?
Search Instagram discovery results and fetch public profiles with the same API key, credit balance, response envelope, and raw field used across SocialListeningAPI.
Each API returns the same core response shape, so you do not need separate parsing code for every source.
Search public social posts, videos, profiles, Google results, and Discourse forums with one API key.
Failed requests do not use credits. A successful response uses the endpoint's listed credit cost.
Keep available post URLs beside results for review, citations, and follow-up work.
Use normalized fields in your app and inspect the raw provider response when you need more detail.
Playbooks
Use Instagram discovery in a practical workflow
Follow a playbook to find niche creators, build a UGC shortlist, or research possible co-marketing partners.
Choose the right route
SocialListeningAPI vs Instagram's official API
SocialListeningAPI fits developers who need simple public discovery and profile lookup without an Instagram OAuth flow. Meta's official API fits apps that can use Instagram professional accounts, required permissions, and Meta's account model.
SocialListeningAPI
Search public Instagram discovery results or fetch a profile with one API key.
- Search users, hashtags, and places with one query
- Fetch public profile fields by username
- Request the raw provider response when needed
- Pay 1 credit for each successful request
Instagram's official API
Meta's Business Discovery API gets metadata and metrics for other Instagram professional accounts.
- Set up a Meta app and request the required Instagram permissions
- Use an Instagram professional account for Business Discovery queries
- Look up another professional account by username
- Use the official route when your app fits Meta's account and permission model
MCP integration
Give social listening powers to your chat app
Connect SocialListeningAPI to Claude or ChatGPT. Ask a question in plain language, get actual, realtime results from social media platforms, forums and serps - with source links.
Use it to get brand mentions, scope out competitors, find leads and more - all from within your chat app.
See how the MCP worksClaude · SocialListeningAPI connected
MCP toolsearch_social_posts
reddit · "social listening API cost"Public posts returned with source URLs · 1 credit
1 credit per successful request
Buy a one-time credit pack and use it across every API. Credits do not expire. Instagram search and profile requests each cost 1 credit when successful.
Starter
$20one time
5,000 credits A simple pack for testing the API and smaller projects.
- $0.0040 per credit
- Use credits across every API endpoint
- Credits never expire
Growth Best value
$100one time
40,000 credits More credits at a lower cost for apps making regular calls.
- $0.0025 per credit
- Use credits across every API endpoint
- Credits never expire
Instagram Search API questions
Make your first Instagram API request
Create an account, copy your API key, and use 100 free credits to test Instagram search and profile lookup.