Instagram Followers API

Q: 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.

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See how many followers an Instagram account has and how many accounts it follows, by username, along with its ID, display name, avatar and profile link. It returns totals, not who the followers are; followers_list lists the accounts.

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.

Price $0.56 per 1,000 requests ($0.000556 per call). Failed calls and empty results are not charged. Synchronous. For slow jobs add "mode": "async" to the body, take the job_id and poll.

AI prompt

Paste this into your AI assistant. It already holds this endpoint's parameters, response fields and an example request, so the assistant can ask what you need and then write the scraper.

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

Endpoint contract:
- 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	Not declared	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.

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.

Response example

Real response

Captured September 26, 2026 at 08:56 (UTC) by calling this API with the parameters in the code sample above. results and count are that call's real response with personal information (names, handles, avatars, profile links, contact details) removed. id, billing and quota differ on every call, so only their shape is shown.

json

{
  "id": "req_…",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "action": "followers",
  "results": {
    "id": "（已隐去）",
    "username": "nasa",
    "url": "https://www.instagram.com/（已隐去）",
    "name": "NASA",
    "avatar_url": "https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/（已隐去）",
    "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).

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.

Errors and billing

401: Missing or invalid key. Authentication runs before parameter checks, so unauthenticated requests never see the parameter schema.
422: Wrong parameter name or value. The error lists the parameters and allowed values this capability accepts and the closest match; it happens before any charge.
402: Insufficient balance. Top up first.
429: The account's per-minute request limit was reached (all of its API keys count together; a key's own lower limit applies first). Wait for Retry-After and try again; a rate package in the console raises the limit.
503: Could not complete right now. Any charge for the call goes back to your balance automatically, and the billing receipt in the response states the actual outcome, including when it is not yet known. Do not resend blindly.
200 empty: The request completed without data and is not charged (billing.reason = empty_result_refunded).