Instagram Followers API

Get just the totals: follower_count and following_count for an Instagram account, plus its id, name, avatar and profile link, for $0.56 per 1,000 calls.

Instagram Followers reads the audience size of one public account from its username and returns a single record with follower_count and following_count, plus the account's id, handle, display name, avatar and profile link. It answers how many people follow an account, for marketers sizing creators before a campaign, brands benchmarking their account against competitors, and analysts tracking audience growth.

The recommended input is the bare handle, such as nasa, without an @ and not as a full profile URL. Each call reflects the counts at the time of the request, so call on a schedule and store each value with its date to build a trend. A null count means the figure was not disclosed, which is not zero. The capability returns counts only; to list the accounts themselves, use the Instagram Follower list or Instagram Following list capability.

No charge for failed or empty results
No Instagram login needed
Totals only, no list of accounts

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1Request

POST /api/v1/social
{
  "platform": "instagram",
  "action": "followers",
  "params": {
    "username": "nasa"
  }
}

2JSON response

{
  "results": {
    "username": "nasa",
    "name": "NASA",
    "follower_count": 104336071,
    "following_count": 89,
    …
  }
}

3Fields
username name follower_count following_count
nasa NASA 104336071 89
4CSV
instagram-followers-sample.csv id,username,url,name,avatar_url,follower_count,following_count,platform

username	name	follower_count	following_count
nasa	NASA	104336071	89

A request with username goes in, and one JSON object comes back with follower_count and following_count, listed as a field table and a CSV file.

What data you get

The table shows a real call for nasa, captured September 26, 2026 at 08:56 (UTC), that returned one object; gray bars mark removed personal information (••• in the CSV). Your own calls return these fields as listed in the field reference.

id	username	url	name	avatar_url	follower_count	following_count	platform
	nasa	instagram.com/	NASA		`104336071`	`89`	instagram

Download sample CSV Response fields ↓

Use cases

Check many creators
Read follower_count for each handle and compare it with the number the creator reports.
Log follower growth
Read on a schedule, store follower_count with the read time, and subtract one reading from the next.
Benchmark competitors
Read follower_count and following_count for your account and a competitor's, then compare.
Size up before a list
Read follower_count first, then decide whether to call followers_list.

Instagram Graph API vs EveryInfra

Both Instagram's official Graph API and EveryInfra followers give follower totals; here they are compared on count fields, which accounts and access.

Compared	Instagram Graph API	EveryInfra
Count fields	Field `followers_count`: "Total number of Instagram users following the user." Field `follows_count`: "Total number of Instagram users the user follows."	`follower_count` and `following_count`, plus `id`, `username`, `url`, `name` and `avatar_url`. It returns totals only, not the accounts.
Which accounts	Business Discovery: "You can use the Instagram API with Facebook Login to get basic metadata and metrics about other Instagram professional accounts." "Data about age-gated Instagram professional accounts will not be returned."	The account named in `username`, as a handle without the @ symbol or a full profile URL.
Access you need	Access token: "Required. App user’s User access token."	One EveryInfra API key in the `Authorization: Bearer` header. No Instagram login or Instagram access token is needed.

Quotes are from Meta's developer documentation, checked 2026-11-09. Official sources: IG User (updated 2026-04-22) · Business Discovery (updated 2026-08-12)

Limits and gotchas

username is required: a handle without the @ symbol or a full profile URL.
The response has totals only; followers_list and following_list return the accounts.
follower_count and following_count are null when the account does not disclose them; null is not 0.
Counts are the values at the moment of the call, with no history; to see a trend, call on a schedule and store the results.
avatar_url is an image link, and a sized CDN link can expire.
One call reads one account and returns one object.

Pricing

You pay $0.000556 per call, and one call reads one account. Failed calls and empty results are not charged.

Calls	Cost
10,000	$5.56
100,000	$55.56
1,000,000	$555.56

Totals use the list price per call.

Code samples

bash

curl -X POST 'https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/social' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EVERYINFRA_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "platform": "instagram",
  "action": "followers",
  "params": {
    "username": "nasa"
  }
}'

OpenAPI definition (JSON)Samples read the key from the EVERYINFRA_API_KEY environment variable; copied code never contains your key.

API reference

See the parameters, response fields, errors and billing for followers, and copy the page or open it as Markdown for an AI assistant.

POST

AI prompt

Please help me write a data collection script with the EveryInfra Instagram Followers endpoint (instagram/followers).

How the endpoint works:
- Request: POST https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/social with the header Authorization: Bearer <API key>. Read the key from the EVERYINFRA_API_KEY environment variable and never hard-code it.
- In the request body, set platform to instagram and action to followers, and put the parameters inside params.
- Required parameters:
  - username: Identifies an Instagram account handle without the @ symbol or as a full profile URL. Used by profile, persona, user_posts, and reels to fetch account data.
- Returns one object. Main fields: id, username, url, name, avatar_url, follower_count, following_count.
- Example request body:
{
  "platform": "instagram",
  "action": "followers",
  "params": {
    "username": "nasa"
  }
}
- Price: $0.56 per 1,000 requests; failed and empty results are not charged.
- For dozens or hundreds of targets, add "mode": "async" to the body: you get a job_id at once and poll GET https://api.everyinfra.com/api/v1/jobs/{job_id} for the result.
- On 422, fix the request using the suggested parameter names and allowed values in the error; on 429 or 503, wait for Retry-After and try again.

Before writing code, ask me which targets I need, how many, which fields, and what output format I want; then confirm the plan and the rough cost with me.

Request parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Default	Description
`Authorization`	header	`string`	Yes	-	Bearer followed by your API key. Create it in the console; never put it in a URL or a code repository.
`platform`	body	`string`	Yes	`instagram`	Platform identifier, fixed value.
`action`	body	`string`	Yes	`followers`	Capability identifier, fixed value.
`username`	body.params	`string`	Yes	-	Identifies an Instagram account handle without the @ symbol or as a full profile URL. Used by profile, persona, user_posts, and reels to fetch account data. The followers action returns only total follower counts, whereas followers_list and following_list return account lists.

Response example

json

{  "id": "req_…",  "platform": "instagram",  "action": "followers",  "results": {    "id": "•••",    "username": "nasa",    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/•••",    "name": "NASA",    "avatar_url": "https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/•••",    "follower_count": 104336071,    "following_count": 89,    "platform": "instagram"  },  "billing": {    "charged": …,    "charged_usd": …,    "balance_after_usd": …,    …  },  "quota": { … }}

Response fields

Business data is in results. The table lists the fields a record can contain; values the platform does not show are never made up.

Field	Meaning
`id`	The record's unique ID on the platform. Unique only within one platform; IDs can repeat across platforms.
`username`	Username (@handle).
`url`	Link to the record on the platform.
`name`	Name of the object itself, for account, product and business capabilities.
`avatar_url`	Avatar image link. Some platforms return sized CDN links that can expire.
`follower_count`	Followers. null means not disclosed, not 0.
`following_count`	Accounts followed. null means not disclosed, not 0.
`platform`	Source platform identifier, the same as platform in the request (for example xiaohongshu, tiktok).

Errors and billing

401: Missing or invalid key.
402: Insufficient balance. Top up first.
422: Invalid parameter name or value. Fix it using the suggestions in the error. No charge.
429: Per-minute request limit reached. Wait for Retry-After, then try again.
503: Could not complete. The held charge is returned to your balance. If the outcome is unknown, verify it before you retry.
200 empty: No data. No charge.

Errors

FAQ

How do I check an account's follower count with code?

Make one call to Instagram Followers with the handle as username, for example nasa, and read follower_count from the record that comes back; following_count sits next to it. For several accounts, make one call per handle and save each result with a timestamp, so later readings can be compared with earlier ones.

Does Instagram Followers return the list of followers?

No. It returns counts, not accounts. The Instagram Follower list and Instagram Following list capabilities take the same username and list the accounts on each side. When audience size is all you need, the counts here are enough and keep your stored data to aggregate figures.

What does a null `follower_count` mean?

That the number was not disclosed in this response; it does not mean the account has no followers. Leave such rows out of averages and rankings instead of counting them as zero, and read the account again later if you need the figure. A null following_count works the same way.

How do I get an Instagram follower count with an API?

Call followers with the handle as username, for example nasa, and read follower_count from the object that comes back. following_count sits next to it. For several accounts, make one call per handle.

How many accounts does one call read?

One. username takes a single account and the response is a single object, so there is no limit and no paging.

How much does it cost?

It costs $0.000556 per call, or $0.56 per 1,000 calls. Failed calls and empty results are not charged.

Do I need an Instagram login?

No. You send one EveryInfra API key in the Authorization: Bearer header. The request carries only username; no Instagram login or Instagram access token is needed.

What is the difference between `followers` and `followers_list`?

followers returns one object with follower and following counts only. followers_list returns the accounts that follow the user, one row per account. If you only need the number, use followers.

You can call the other Instagram endpoints with the same EveryInfra API key.