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Instagram Similar API

Returns the accounts Instagram suggests as similar to a given user, each with username, display name, avatar URL, verification status, and URL.

GET /v1/instagram/similar

Last updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

When to use the Instagram Similar API

Use it to find accounts comparable to one you already know; it returns a single fixed list and cannot be paged.

From the API reference

Returns a list of Instagram accounts similar to a given user: the related accounts Instagram surfaces as suggestions. Each account includes username, display name, avatar URL, verification status, and profile URL. Pass either handle or user_id. Passing user_id is faster because no username lookup is needed. This is a suggestion list, so on a plain call the per-account metrics are null on every row: author.followers, author.following, author.posts_count and author.bio. Send include=profile and every row is joined, in the same call, to the profile lookup that carries them: exact follower and following counts plus the bio land on each row. author.posts_count lands only on a row the lookup's backup source answered, so it is null on most rows; GET /v1/instagram/profile returns the lifetime post count for any single account. Cost: 5 credits for the list plus 1 credit per row filled from a fresh lookup; rows already in cache are free, unfilled rows are refunded, and a repeat within the cache window is 0. With include=profile the list is its top 20 accounts unless you pass limit (1 to 80), so the default hydrated call is at most 25 credits (the same as limit=20&include=profile) and limit=80&include=profile, the full roster, is at most 85. Time: a plain call is 2 to 3 seconds; with include=profile allow 3 to 6 seconds more for 20 rows (the lookups run in parallel and the call waits for the slowest, never more than 12 seconds) and about four times that for all 80, which run as four waves of 24. The response carries a hydration block itemising rows, lookups, cache hits, credits and milliseconds. author.likes_count stays null: Instagram publishes no account-level like total. The list is a single fixed window: it is not paginated and returns no cursor.

Searching 69 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
Instagram API

What can you do with the Similar API?

The Similar endpoint gives you structured Instagram data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

# GET /v1/instagram/similar: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 28: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 28 --retry 3 -o response.json \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar?handle=mrbeast" && cat response.json
# GET /v1/instagram/similar: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid

import requests

API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 28  # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar"


def backoff(attempt):
    # Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
    return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)


def socialcrawl(params):
    # One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
    idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
    for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
        try:
            res = requests.get(
                URL,
                params=params,
                headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
                timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
            )
            body = res.json()
        except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
            # A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
            if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
                raise
            time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
            continue
        if body["success"]:
            return body
        error = body["error"]
        # Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
        if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
            return None  # refunded: nothing to read
        retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
        # SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
        permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
        if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
            raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
        # Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
        time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))


params = {
    "handle": "mrbeast",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
    print(body["data"])
// GET /v1/instagram/similar: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 28_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;

type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
  | { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
  | { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };

const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);

async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
  // One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
  const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
  for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
    let res: Response;
    let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
    try {
      res = await fetch(url, {
        headers: {
          "x-api-key": API_KEY,
          "Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
        },
        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
      });
      body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
    } catch (error) {
      // A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
      if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
      await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
      continue;
    }
    if (body.success) return body;
    // Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
    if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
    const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
    // SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
    const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
    if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
      throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
    }
    // Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
    await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
  }
}

const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar");
url.searchParams.set("handle", "mrbeast");

const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
handleNoInstagram username without the @ symbol.
user_idNoInstagram numeric user ID. Use this for faster responses.
includeNoSet to `profile` (one token only) to fill `author.followers`, `author.following` and `author.bio` on every row in this one call, plus `author.posts_count` where the lookup has an exact total. The hydrated list is its top 20 accounts unless you pass `limit` (1 to 80). Holds 1 credit per row and keeps only the rows filled from a fresh lookup; rows already in cache and rows that could not be filled are refunded, so the most a call can cost is 5 + rows (25 by default, 85 with `limit=80`) and the usual bill is lower. Adds 3 to 6 seconds for 20 rows (never more than 12) and about four times that for 80, and nothing when the accounts are already cached; read `data.hydration` for the rows, the credits held and kept, and the time. (profile)
limitNoTake the top N accounts of the list (1 to 80). With `include=profile` the list defaults to its top 20 (at most 25 credits) and `limit` caps both the rows and the extra credits: `limit=80&include=profile` buys the full roster for at most 85 credits. Without `include=profile` the full list is returned unless you cap it.
Example Response

What does the Instagram Similar API return?

Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.

Example response
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "instagram",
  "endpoint": "/v1/instagram/similar",
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "author": {
          "id": "user_ec1f5d",
          "username": "user_00d85c",
          "display_name": null,
          "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_1fb763.png",
          "bio": null,
          "verified": true,
          "followers": null,
          "following": null,
          "posts_count": null,
          "likes_count": null,
          "url": "https://example.com/user_e4123b"
        }
      },
      {
        "author": {
          "id": "user_230dd0",
          "username": "user_a9ff1f",
          "display_name": null,
          "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_56fdf6.png",
          "bio": null,
          "verified": true,
          "followers": null,
          "following": null,
          "posts_count": null,
          "likes_count": null,
          "url": "https://example.com/user_7e5711"
        }
      }
    ],
    "total": null,
    "dropped": 0
  },
  "credits_used": 5,
  "request_id": "req_example000000",
  "cached": false,
  "pagination": {
    "next_cursor": null,
    "has_more": false,
    "page_size": 2
  },
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "source": "captured",
  "captured_at": "2026-10-02T13:07:38.450Z",
  "redacted": true
}

Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.

API Details

How does the Instagram Similar API work?

Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.

Method

GET

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for Instagram Similar data?

We handle the complexity of Instagram data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
    params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
    headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 69 platforms
FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

Contact us
How do I get Instagram's suggested similar accounts via API?
Send a GET request to /v1/instagram/similar with a handle or user_id. SocialCrawl returns the related accounts Instagram surfaces for that user as a JSON array with username, display name, avatar URL, verified status, and profile URL.
Where do the similar accounts come from?
They are the related or suggested profiles Instagram itself associates with the target account, the same set shown in the app's suggested-for-you panel, normalized into the unified schema.
Can I use user_id for the similar accounts lookup?
Yes. Pass user_id instead of handle. Using user_id is faster because no username-to-ID resolution step is needed before the request runs.
How much does the similar accounts API cost?
Each request costs 5 credits on the advanced tier. New accounts get 100 free credits with no credit card, so you can map account clusters before paying.
What is this endpoint good for?
Similar accounts map competitive sets and niches: expand an influencer shortlist, discover competitors near a brand, or build lookalike audiences for outreach.

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