The Cheapest Instagram API for Developers

# Profile only
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/social/instagram/profile?username=natgeo" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# Profile + the recent-post grid — SAME rate as the line above
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/social/instagram/profile?username=natgeo&include_posts=true" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# Adds per-post likes, comments and the engagement averages — $4.00/1K band
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/social/instagram/profile?username=natgeo&include_post_details=true" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests

KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
handles = ["natgeo", "nasa", "bbcnews"]

for h in handles:
    p = requests.get(
        "https://apiserpent.com/api/social/instagram/profile",
        headers={"X-API-Key": KEY},
        params={"username": h, "include_post_details": "true"},
    ).json()

    # null means NOT MEASURED, never zero. postsSampled tells you which.
    if p["postsSampled"] == 0:
        print(h, "- no posts carried counts, skipping")
        continue

    print(
        h,
        f"{p['followersCount']:,} followers",
        f"ER {p['engagementRate']:.2f}%",
        f"over {p['postsSampled']} posts",
        f"last post {p['daysSinceLastPost']}d ago",
    )

const KEY = process.env.SERPENT_KEY;

// include_posts costs nothing extra, so take the grid every time —
// posting cadence is the context that makes a follower delta readable.
async function snapshot(handle) {
  const res = await fetch(
    `https://apiserpent.com/api/social/instagram/profile` +
    `?username=${handle}&include_posts=true`,
    { headers: { "X-API-Key": KEY } }
  );
  if (res.status === 404) return null;   // no such public profile
  const p = await res.json();

  return {
    day:       new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10),
    handle:    p.username,
    followers: p.followersCount,
    posts:     p.postsCount,
    verified:  p.isVerified,
    grid:      p.recentPosts.length,        // always an array, never absent
    lastPost:  p.daysSinceLastPost,
  };
}

console.log(await snapshot("natgeo"));

{
  "username": "natgeo",
  "fullName": "National Geographic",
  "biography": "Experience the world through the eyes of National Geographic photographers.",
  "profilePicUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/.../natgeo.jpg",
  "followersCount": 283000000,
  "followingCount": 156,
  "postsCount": 32500,
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "accountType": "business",
  "externalUrl": "http://visitstore.bio/natgeo",
  "engagementRate": null,
  "avgLikesPerPost": null,
  "avgCommentsPerPost": null,
  "postsSampled": 0,
  "followerFollowingRatio": 1814102.56,
  "lastPostDate": null,
  "daysSinceLastPost": null,
  "isActive": null,
  "recentPosts": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "shortcode": "Dbqme5HGFMd",
      "mediaType": "IMAGE",
      "caption": null,
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
      "permalink": "https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbqme5HGFMd/",
      "timestamp": "2026-08-19T09:20:00.000Z",
      "likeCount": null,
      "commentCount": null
    }
  ],
  "accessLevel": "full"
}