Instagram Similar API
Scrape Instagram Similar data with one API call. 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, and `author.posts_count` where the lookup has an exact total (accounts with fewer than 12 posts on the web source). 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.
Last updated September 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
Returns the accounts Instagram suggests as similar to a given user, each with username, display name, avatar URL, verification status, and URL.
Use it to find accounts comparable to one you already know; it returns a single fixed list and cannot be paged.
Searching 65 platforms in parallel
TikTok·Instagram·
YouTube·
Facebook·
X·
LinkedIn·
Reddit·
Threads·
Pinterest·
Twitch·
Truth Social·
Snapchat·
Kick·
Bluesky·
Kwai·
Rumble·
Spotify·
Apple Music·TikTok Shop·
Amazon Shop·
Google Shopping·
Trustpilot·
TripAdvisor·
Yelp·
Linktree·
Komi·
Pillar·
lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·
Finance·
Polymarket·
Tavily·
Hacker News·
GitHub·
Perplexity·
Naver·
Utility·
Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·Apple Music·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Yelp·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·Utility·Universal SearchWhat 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
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar?handle=mrbeast"import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar",
params={
'handle': 'mrbeast',
},
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
data = response.json()const response = await fetch(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/instagram/similar?handle=mrbeast",
{
headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
},
);
const data = await response.json();Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| handle | No | Instagram username without the @ symbol. |
| user_id | No | Instagram numeric user ID. Use this for faster responses. |
| include | No | Set 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) |
| limit | No | Take 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. |
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": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/search/users",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"author": {
"id": "6780262640079193090",
"username": "cookingwithhel",
"display_name": "Cooking with Hel",
"avatar_url": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-alisg-avt-0068/e1547b843ed71ccc69e199147854f489~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:100:100:q70.heic?biz_tag=musically_user.user_cover&dr=8835&idc=useast8&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=7f24701a&s=SEARCH&sc=avatar&shcp=c1333099&shp=30310797&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=bLp06YEEM1DEDR6nG%2BZt3lhGWx4%3D",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 4214875,
"following": 1,
"posts_count": 2341,
"likes_count": 62731828,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
},
{
"author": {
"id": "7352666564073833515",
"username": "cooking_recipescr",
"display_name": "cooking_recipescr",
"avatar_url": "https://p19-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-useast5-avt-0068-tx/7352667004160966699~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:100:100:q70.heic?biz_tag=musically_user.user_cover&dr=8835&idc=useast8&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=6df0f827&s=SEARCH&sc=avatar&shcp=c1333099&shp=30310797&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=ysLi7%2FLtH4t5ebZnGzJXSfgYhnU%3D",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 1780390,
"following": 1,
"posts_count": 995,
"likes_count": 10060260,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
},
{
"author": {
"id": "6829580668634694662",
"username": "felizcooking",
"display_name": "Feliz Cooking",
"avatar_url": "https://p16-common-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com/tos-maliva-avt-0068/179d2c1fe2dc5523974abdaf232e8554~tplv-tiktokx-cropcenter-q:100:100:q70.heic?biz_tag=musically_user.user_cover&dr=8835&idc=useast8&ps=87d6e48a&refresh_token=97c11cfd&s=SEARCH&sc=avatar&shcp=c1333099&shp=30310797&t=223449c4&x-expires=1783202400&x-signature=aCkp4jy6AxdG2R9otN52rtXzHNc%3D",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 338243,
"following": 374,
"posts_count": 464,
"likes_count": 2140124,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
}
],
"next_cursor": "30",
"total": 30,
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "sc.eyJ2IjoyLCJjIjoiMzAiLCJwIjoiY3Vyc29yIn0",
"has_more": true,
"page_size": 30
}
}Example captured from the TikTok API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Instagram Similar response has the same fields.
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
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 65 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 65 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(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I get Instagram's suggested similar accounts via API?
Where do the similar accounts come from?
Can I use user_id for the similar accounts lookup?
How much does the similar accounts API cost?
What is this endpoint good for?
Ask AI about SocialCrawl
Ready to scrape Instagram Similar data?
Get your API key and start pulling Instagram data in under 60 seconds.