Instagram Hashtag API. Send a hashtag or its link.
Exact post count, tag ID and restricted status. We handle the proxies, blocks and platform changes.
Instagram Hashtag API at a glance
Returns an Instagram hashtag's exact post count, or that Instagram restricts it, from its name or link. You also get its name, page link and Instagram's numeric tag ID.
GET /v1/instagram/hashtag
- 1 credit per request, $0.75–$1.97 per 1,000 requests
- 9 typed fields null when unknown
urlis all it needs, e.g.https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/- 100 credits free when you sign up, no card, so you can build before you spend
Send one request. Get 9 fields back.
Copy the request in your language, or hand it to your agent. Sign up for an API key and your first 100 credits are free.
$ npm install socialtapurl = https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/const params = new URLSearchParams({
url: "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag?${params}`, {
headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY ?? "" },
});
const body = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.error.code}: ${body.error.message}`);
const { data, meta } = body;
console.log(data, meta.credits_charged);import os
import requests
res = requests.get(
"https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag",
params={"url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/"},
headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"]},
)
body = res.json()
if not res.ok:
raise RuntimeError(f"{body['error']['code']}: {body['error']['message']}")
data, meta = body["data"], body["meta"]
print(data, meta["credits_charged"])require "json"
require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form('url' => 'https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/')
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = ENV.fetch("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY")
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: uri.scheme == "https") { |http| http.request(req) }
body = JSON.parse(res.body)
raise "#{body["error"]["code"]}: #{body["error"]["message"]}" unless res.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
pp body["data"]
puts body["meta"]["credits_charged"]<?php
$query = http_build_query([
'url' => 'https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/',
]);
$ch = curl_init('https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag?' . $query);
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['x-api-key: ' . getenv('SOCIALTAP_API_KEY')],
]);
$body = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
if (curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE) >= 400) {
throw new RuntimeException($body['error']['code'] . ': ' . $body['error']['message']);
}
print_r($body['data']);
echo $body['meta']['credits_charged'], PHP_EOL;package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"log"
"net/http"
"net/url"
"os"
)
func main() {
q := url.Values{}
q.Set("url", "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/")
req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag?"+q.Encode(), nil)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"))
res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer res.Body.Close()
var body struct {
Data json.RawMessage `json:"data"`
Meta map[string]any `json:"meta"`
Error *struct {
Code string `json:"code"`
Message string `json:"message"`
} `json:"error"`
}
if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&body); err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
if body.Error != nil {
log.Fatalf("%s: %s", body.Error.Code, body.Error.Message)
}
fmt.Println(string(body.Data), body.Meta["credits_charged"])
}curl -G 'https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag' \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/' \
-H "x-api-key: $SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"{
"data": {
"approximate_fields": [],
"description": null,
"id": "cooking",
"metrics": {
"post_count": 74151425
},
"name": "cooking",
"platform": "instagram",
"platform_specific": {
"instagram": {
"is_restricted": null,
"is_trending": null,
"tag_id": "17843688610006755"
}
},
"thumbnail_url": null,
"unknown_fields": [],
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/"
},
"meta": {
"request_id": "req_3f9c2a7d1e8b4c6a9f0e2d4b6a8c0e1f",
"platform": "instagram",
"source": "api",
"is_cached": false,
"credits_charged": 1,
"latency_ms": 393,
"fetched_at": "2026-10-25T12:00:00Z",
"input": {
"kind": "hashtag",
"id": "cooking",
"url": "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/"
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"client_request_id": null,
"warnings": []
}
}import { SocialTap } from "socialtap";
const client = new SocialTap(); // apiKey defaults to process.env.SOCIALTAP_API_KEY
const res = await client.instagram.hashtag.get({ url: "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/" });
console.log(res.data);
console.log(res.credits.charged, res.meta.request_id);import java.net.URI;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
String query = "url=" + encode("https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/");
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create("https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag?" + query))
.header("x-api-key", System.getenv("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"))
.GET()
.build();
HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient()
.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
// An error is {"error": {"code", "message", ...}}; success is {data, meta}, meta.credits_charged its price.
if (response.statusCode() >= 400) throw new RuntimeException(response.body());
System.out.println(response.body());
}
static String encode(String value) {
return URLEncoder.encode(value, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
}
}using System.Text.Json;
using var http = new HttpClient();
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY"));
var query = string.Join("&",
"url=" + Uri.EscapeDataString("https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/"));
var res = await http.GetAsync("https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag?" + query);
using var body = JsonDocument.Parse(await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
if (!res.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var error = body.RootElement.GetProperty("error");
throw new Exception($"{error.GetProperty("code")}: {error.GetProperty("message")}");
}
Console.WriteLine(body.RootElement.GetProperty("data"));
Console.WriteLine(body.RootElement.GetProperty("meta").GetProperty("credits_charged"));// Cargo.toml: reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["blocking", "json"] }, serde_json = "1"
use std::env;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
let res = reqwest::blocking::Client::new()
.get("https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtag")
.query(&[("url", "https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/")])
.header("x-api-key", env::var("SOCIALTAP_API_KEY")?)
.send()?;
let ok = res.status().is_success();
let body: serde_json::Value = res.json()?;
if !ok {
return Err(format!("{}: {}", body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"]).into());
}
println!("{} {}", body["data"], body["meta"]["credits_charged"]);
Ok(())
}200 OK · GET https://socialtap.dev/v1/instagram/hashtagDocs One schema on 2 platforms.
The response reference lists every field, its type and when it is null. See the full schema.
Null means unknown
A field Instagram doesn't show is null, never zero or an empty string, so a real zero always means zero.
What it accepts
An Instagram hashtag page link (instagram.com/explore/tags/cooking/), the page such a link opens logged out (instagram.com/popular/cooking/), or the hashtag itself with or without the # (cooking, #cooking).
Write one parser
Instagram and TikTok answer in these fields, so the code that reads one reads them all.
platformstring- Platform ID (tiktok, instagram, …).
idstring- Platform-native hashtag ID (TikTok's challenge ID, Threads' tag ID); on platforms whose public pages key a hashtag by its name (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X), the name lowercased.
namestring- The tag without #, as the platform shows it (case kept). Threads tags may contain spaces ("book club").
urlstring- Canonical hashtag page URL (for a multi-word Threads tag, its tag search page).
descriptionstring- The hashtag's description as its page shows it; null when it has none.
thumbnail_urlstring- The hashtag's own picture (not one of its posts' images); null when it has none. Platform CDN URLs can expire.
metricsobject- Counts at fetch time; null = hidden or not exposed, 0 = zero.
approximate_fieldsstring[]- JSON paths of values rounded by the platform or parsed from display text ("36M videos": metrics.post_count). [] when all exact.
Live data from 33 platforms.
What teams build with the Instagram Hashtag API.
Size a hashtag before a campaign
Track a hashtag's post count over time
Compare candidate hashtags for a post
Check whether Instagram restricts a hashtag
Good to know before you build.
- The post count is Instagram's exact all-time count. For the very largest hashtags Instagram stops counting at a cap, and approximate_fields lists the count.
- A restricted hashtag (one Instagram hides as sensitive) returns is_restricted true with no count or tag ID. One Instagram doesn't have, or hides without notice, returns not_found.
- is_restricted is null for a listed hashtag, because Instagram doesn't say whether a listed hashtag's posts are limited.
- A few one- or two-character hashtags (#a) are crowded out of Instagram's hashtag search by longer ones, so they return upstream_error rather than not_found.
- description and thumbnail_url are null: Instagram shows neither logged out.
- Hashtags match exactly except for case, so #fitness and #cooking are hashtags of their own, not #fitness or #cooking.
1 credit per request. Failed requests are free.
Buy credits once and spend them on any endpoint, on any platform.
| Source | Price per successful request | Per 1,000 requests |
|---|---|---|
| Any source | 1 credit | $0.75–$1.97 |
- Cache hits are free.
- Credits from packs and top-ups never expire.
- A monthly plan's credits are spent first, and what is left of them ends at each renewal.
- Prices exclude tax: sales tax is added at checkout where it applies.
- Outside the US, plans and packs are sold to businesses: checkout asks for your VAT, GST or other business tax ID.
Questions about the Instagram Hashtag API.
More in the API reference.
How do I check whether a hashtag is banned on Instagram?
How much does the Instagram Hashtag API cost?
Try it on a link you already have.
Paste it in the playground, or copy the request into your code.
- No credit card
- Failed requests are free
- Works on all 218 endpoints