# Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List (`simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper`) Actor

📱 Instagram Following Scraper extracts the full list of accounts a profile follows — handles, names, bios, IDs & profile links. ⚡ Fast, reliable export to CSV/JSON for competitor research, influencer discovery, CRM enrichment & audience analysis. 🔍 Perfect for growth & outreach.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [SimpleAPI](https://apify.com/simpleapi) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Social media
- **Stats:** 9 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$19.99/month + usage

To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period. You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#rental-actors

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

### Instagram Scraper — Shared Network, Reach and Business Category

Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List maps the shared network behind a set of Instagram accounts — it pulls each seed's Following list, scores every followed account by how many of your seeds also follow it, and surfaces the influencers, partners, agencies, and tools a niche is collectively plugged into. Optionally enrich the top shared accounts with follower reach and business category. It's built for competitive intelligence teams, agencies mapping a market's ecosystem, and researchers studying which accounts a category collectively relies on.

### What is Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List?

Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List is an Apify Actor that pulls the Following list for a set of seed Instagram profiles and scores every followed account by how many of those seeds follow it in common. A valid Instagram `sessionid` cookie is required — the Following list is login-walled, so the run returns nothing without one. Key capabilities:

- Pull the Following list for two or more seed profiles in a single run
- Score every followed account by `seedFollowedByCount` — how many of your seeds follow it
- Surface which specific seeds follow each shared account via `followedBySeeds`
- Optionally enrich the most-shared accounts with follower count, business category, verified status, and a follower/following ratio
- Exclude known accounts (your own brand, obvious giants) so results highlight new discoveries
- Automatic proxy escalation (direct → datacenter → residential) when Instagram gets restrictive

### What data can I extract with Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List?

| Field | Example Value | Use Case |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `username` / `full_name` | `"agency_creative_co"` / `"Creative Co Agency"` | Identify the shared/followed account |
| `seedFollowedByCount` | `3` | The core score — how many of your seed profiles follow this account |
| `followedBySeeds` | `["nike", "adidas", "puma"]` | See exactly which seeds follow this account |
| `sourceProfile` | `"nike"` | The seed this specific row was collected from before scoring |
| `followersCount` / `followsCount` / `postsCount` | `84200` / `310` / `1200` | Reach signals (enrichment only) |
| `followerFollowingRatio` | `271.6` | A quick influence proxy (enrichment only) |
| `isBusinessAccount` / `businessCategoryName` | `true` / `"Advertising/Marketing"` | Segment shared accounts by business type |
| `metricsEnriched` | `true` | Confirm whether this row actually received enrichment |
| `is_verified` / `is_private` | `true` / `false` | Filter to verified or public-only accounts |
| `profileUrl` | `"https://www.instagram.com/agency_creative_co/"` | Direct link to the account |
| `scrapedAt` | `"2026-07-26T14:02:11+00:00"` | Record when the row was collected |

#### Shared-network scoring

`seedFollowedByCount` and `followedBySeeds` come from a real, computed grouping across every seed's own Following list — the Actor collects each seed's followed accounts, groups by username across all seeds, and counts how many distinct seeds follow each account. Rows are sorted by `seedFollowedByCount` descending, so the most collectively-followed accounts surface first. This is not a similarity guess; it's a direct tally of real Following-list membership, and `followedBySeeds` lets you verify exactly which seeds contributed to any given account's score.

#### Reach enrichment for shared accounts

When `includeProfileMetrics` is on, the most-shared accounts (spent first, per `maxEnrichedAccounts`) get one extra profile fetch to pull `followersCount`, `followsCount`, `postsCount`, `isBusinessAccount`, `businessCategoryName`, and a computed `followerFollowingRatio`. Enrichment is capped and spent on the highest-scored accounts first, since those are the ones worth understanding in depth.

### Why not build this yourself?

Instagram's Graph API only exposes a Business/Creator account's own following list to that account's own access token — there's no endpoint for pulling an arbitrary profile's Following list, and Instagram now requires a logged-in session even to read that data for third-party access. Building an equivalent tool yourself means maintaining a session-cookie-based authentication flow, handling Instagram's mobile-web following-list pagination, and writing the cross-seed grouping and scoring logic to turn multiple raw following lists into a ranked shared-network table. All of that is already implemented in this Actor's source.

### How to use data extracted from Instagram?

#### Competitive intelligence and market mapping

Feed several competitors' profiles as `seedProfiles` to see which agencies, tool vendors, or influencers they're all collectively plugged into via `seedFollowedByCount` — a high score across multiple competitors is a strong signal of an important player in that market's ecosystem worth investigating further.

#### Agencies mapping a client's category

Run a client's key competitors as seeds and use `excludeUsernames` to drop already-known giants, letting `seedFollowedByCount` surface newer or less obvious shared connections the client might not already be tracking.

#### Market and ecosystem research

Enable `includeProfileMetrics` and compare `followerFollowingRatio`/`businessCategoryName` across the top shared accounts to understand whether a niche's shared network skews toward established influencers or smaller service providers.

#### AI agents and automated pipelines

An agent can call this Actor to pre-map a competitive landscape before triggering deeper research — filtering the returned dataset on `seedFollowedByCount` to focus only on accounts multiple relevant seeds have in common.

### 🔼 Input sample

| Parameter | Required | Type | Description | Example Value |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `seedProfiles` | No | array | Seed profile URLs or `@handles`; add 2+ for meaningful overlap scoring | `["https://www.instagram.com/nike/", "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"]` |
| `maxFollowingPerProfile` | No | integer (min 0) | Cap on following accounts collected per seed; `0` = no cap | `200` (default) |
| `includeProfileMetrics` | No | boolean | Enrich the most-shared accounts with reach metrics | `false` (default) |
| `maxEnrichedAccounts` | No | integer (min 0) | Cap on accounts enriched, spent on the most-shared first | `50` (default) |
| `excludeUsernames` | No | array | Usernames/handles/URLs to exclude, matched by username | `["@nike"]` |
| `sessionId` | No (functionally required) | string (secret) | Instagram `sessionid` cookie; the login-walled Following list returns nothing without it | `"(your session cookie)"` |
| `proxyConfiguration` | No | object | Proxy settings; auto-escalates on repeated blocks | `{"useApifyProxy": true}` |

```json
{
  "seedProfiles": ["https://www.instagram.com/nike/", "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/", "https://www.instagram.com/puma/"],
  "maxFollowingPerProfile": 300,
  "includeProfileMetrics": true,
  "maxEnrichedAccounts": 30
}
```

**Common pitfall:** the schema marks `sessionId` as optional, but Instagram's Following list is login-walled — without a valid `sessionid` cookie, the run will return zero results rather than a partial list.

### 🔽 Output sample

Output is typed, normalized JSON — one row per shared/followed account, ranked by `seedFollowedByCount` descending (exportable as JSON, CSV, or Excel).

```json
{
  "username": "agency_creative_co",
  "full_name": "Creative Co Agency",
  "seedFollowedByCount": 3,
  "followedBySeeds": ["nike", "adidas", "puma"],
  "sourceProfile": "nike",
  "followersCount": 84200,
  "followsCount": 310,
  "postsCount": 1200,
  "followerFollowingRatio": 271.6,
  "isBusinessAccount": true,
  "businessCategoryName": "Advertising/Marketing",
  "metricsEnriched": true,
  "is_verified": true,
  "is_private": false,
  "profileUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/agency_creative_co/",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-26T14:02:11+00:00",
  "type": "related_profile",
  "pk": "5551234567",
  "pk_id": "5551234567",
  "id": "5551234567",
  "fbid_v2": "",
  "third_party_downloads_enabled": 0,
  "strong_id__": "5551234567",
  "profile_pic_id": "",
  "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/...",
  "has_anonymous_profile_picture": false,
  "account_badges": [],
  "latest_reel_media": 0,
  "is_favorite": false,
  "followed_by": null
}
```

All 30 fields shown above are the Actor's real dataset columns — this is the full output shape, not a subset.

### How do you filter and target specific profiles?

`seedProfiles` is the core scope control — add 2 or more competitor or category profiles so the shared-network scoring has something meaningful to compare. `excludeUsernames` is the closest thing to a quality filter here, letting you drop accounts you already know (your own brand, obvious industry giants) so the output highlights genuinely new discoveries instead of accounts everyone already follows. Volume and depth are controlled by `maxFollowingPerProfile` (how deep into each seed's Following list to go) and, when enrichment is on, `maxEnrichedAccounts` (how many of the top-scored accounts get reach data) — both matter because deeper collection and enrichment both add request volume per seed.

```json
{ "seedProfiles": ["nike", "adidas"], "maxFollowingPerProfile": 500, "includeProfileMetrics": true, "maxEnrichedAccounts": 25 }
```

```json
{ "seedProfiles": ["nike", "adidas", "puma", "underarmour"], "excludeUsernames": ["@nike", "@adidas"], "maxFollowingPerProfile": 300 }
```

```json
{ "seedProfiles": ["https://www.instagram.com/nike/", "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"], "maxFollowingPerProfile": 0 }
```

### ▶️ Want to try other Instagram scrapers?

| Scraper Name | What it extracts |
| --- | --- |
| Instagram Followers Scraper & Related Profile Expansion | Follower collection plus suggestion-based related-profile audience scoring |
| Instagram Related Person Scraper With Profile Enrichment | Related/lookalike networks for a single given account |
| Instagram Followers: With Bot Profile checker | Follower/following lists with quality/authenticity scoring |
| Instagram Followers Count Scraper | A lightweight follower-count-only lookup |
| Instagram Profile Scraper & Account Privacy Checker | Full profile details plus privacy-status checking |
| LinkedIn Company Employees Scraper With Growth Tracker | Comparable network/composition data for LinkedIn companies |

### How to extract Instagram data programmatically

Every run is a standard Apify Actor call — one API request with your token, JSON input, JSON results back.

#### Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN>")

run_input = {
    "seedProfiles": ["https://www.instagram.com/nike/", "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"],
    "maxFollowingPerProfile": 300,
    "includeProfileMetrics": True,
}

run = client.actor("<YOUR_USERNAME>/instagram-following-scraper-related-profiles-list").call(run_input=run_input)

for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row["username"], row["seedFollowedByCount"], row["followedBySeeds"])
```

#### Export to spreadsheets or CRM

Export the dataset directly as CSV or Excel, then map `username`/`profileUrl` to your CRM's contact fields and `seedFollowedByCount`/`businessCategoryName` to a prioritization column for competitive-mapping review.

### Is it legal to scrape Instagram following lists?

Usernames, full names, and follower/following counts for individual creators are personal data, so GDPR and CCPA obligations apply to storing and using this data. Public Instagram following lists are visible to any logged-in visitor viewing the profile, but downstream storage for competitive-research purposes should follow applicable data-protection rules. Consult legal counsel for commercial applications involving bulk storage of personal data.

### ❓ FAQ

#### How is seedFollowedByCount actually computed?

It's a real tally, not an estimate: the Actor collects each seed's own Following list, groups the results by username across all seeds, and counts how many distinct seeds follow each account. `followedBySeeds` lists exactly which seeds contributed, so the score is fully verifiable.

#### Do I need to be logged into Instagram to use this?

Yes — the Following list is login-walled, and a valid Instagram `sessionid` cookie is required for the run to return any results at all, unlike some other Instagram data surfaces that work logged-out.

#### How many accounts can I get per run?

`maxFollowingPerProfile` (default 200, `0` = no cap) controls depth per seed; `maxEnrichedAccounts` (default 50) separately caps how many of the top-scored accounts get reach enrichment.

#### Does enrichment cost extra requests?

Yes — each enriched account is one additional profile fetch beyond the base Following-list collection, and enrichment is always spent on the most-shared accounts first (per `maxEnrichedAccounts`), not spread evenly.

#### Does Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List work with Claude, ChatGPT, and AI agent frameworks?

It has no dedicated MCP server registration in this Actor's current setup, but it is callable as a standard Apify API endpoint by any agent framework that can make an authenticated HTTP request and parse JSON.

#### How does this compare to other Instagram network-mapping scrapers?

No independently verifiable competitor listing could be confirmed at the time of writing, so no specific comparison is made here. This Actor's distinguishing feature is scoring accounts by real cross-seed Following-list membership rather than Instagram's own suggested-profile algorithm.

#### Can I exclude accounts I already know about?

Yes — `excludeUsernames` accepts handles, plain usernames, or profile URLs, matched by username, so already-known accounts (your own brand, obvious giants) don't clutter the shared-network results.

#### What happens with only one seed profile?

The Actor will still run, but `seedFollowedByCount` becomes meaningless with only one seed (every followed account would trivially score 1) — add at least two seeds for the overlap scoring to surface anything useful.

### Conclusion

Instagram Following Scraper: Related Profiles List turns multiple competitors' Following lists into a single ranked map of the shared network behind them — real, computed overlap counts, not a guessed similarity score, optionally enriched with reach and business-category data. It's built for competitive intelligence teams, agencies, and researchers who need to see exactly which accounts a market collectively relies on. Start a run with two or more seed profiles and a valid session cookie to map the shared network behind them.

# Actor input Schema

## `seedProfiles` (type: `array`):

✅ Full profile links, `@handle`, or plain `handle` all work.
✅ Add **2+** seeds so shared-network scoring is meaningful.

💜 *Example:* `https://www.instagram.com/nike/`

## `maxFollowingPerProfile` (type: `integer`):

🔢 Cap the following accounts collected **per seed**.

✨ `0` = no cap (full list)
🧪 Start with **200–500** for a fast overlap map.

## `includeProfileMetrics` (type: `boolean`):

✅ ON → fetch followersCount, followsCount, postsCount, isBusinessAccount, businessCategoryName + follower/following ratio for the top shared accounts.

⏱️ Each enrichment is one extra request — capped below.

## `maxEnrichedAccounts` (type: `integer`):

🔢 Cap how many accounts get metric enrichment (spent on the MOST-shared first). Only used when enrichment is ON.

## `excludeUsernames` (type: `array`):

✅ `@handle`, `handle`, or profile URL — matched by username.

💡 *Example:* `@nike`

## `sessionId` (type: `string`):

📌 **Required.** Copy the `sessionid` value from your Instagram cookies in a browser where you are logged in, and paste it here.

🙈 Kept private to your run — the field is masked.

⚠️ Without it the login-walled Following list returns nothing.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

🎛️ Default: direct. Enable Apify Proxy (residential recommended) for the most reliable results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "seedProfiles": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"
  ],
  "maxFollowingPerProfile": 200,
  "includeProfileMetrics": false,
  "maxEnrichedAccounts": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All scraped items in the Actor's default dataset.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

A single JSON record written once the run finishes: seeds requested/succeeded/failed, per-seed following counts, unique shared accounts found, enrichment stats, and excluded-username count.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "seedProfiles": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
        "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"
    ],
    "maxFollowingPerProfile": 200,
    "maxEnrichedAccounts": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "seedProfiles": [
        "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
        "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/",
    ],
    "maxFollowingPerProfile": 200,
    "maxEnrichedAccounts": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "seedProfiles": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/nike/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/adidas/"
  ],
  "maxFollowingPerProfile": 200,
  "maxEnrichedAccounts": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,simpleapi/instagram-following-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hXhyPCiBJR9F5XHqX/builds/nygELrelGRgiVR9Yv/openapi.json