ScrapeCreators vs HikerAPI
Two pay-as-you-go Instagram APIs at around a dollar per 1,000 calls, both with balances that never expire. They differ on how much of Instagram they reach, what they bill for, and how much you know about who you’re buying from. ScrapeCreators is broader, clearer and safer for most Instagram work; HikerAPI is cheaper per request and the place for followers and stories, if you accept its risks.
Researched by Which Social API editorial teamLast reviewed 29 October 2026How we review
Which Social API uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative review methods, based on each provider’s documentation, published pricing and public user reviews. We never accept money in exchange for a higher ranking or a better review. Who runs this site
The quick answer
For most developers, ScrapeCreators. It covers the Instagram jobs most people have (profiles, posts, reels, comments, highlights, transcripts and search) behind one key that also works for TikTok, YouTube and about 30 other sources. Its pricing, billing rules and changelog are all public, and many “account unavailable” responses cost nothing. $47 buys 25,000 credits that never expire.
HikerAPI wins if you need what ScrapeCreators doesn’t sell: follower and following lists, live stories, likers and location feeds. It’s cheaper per request too, at $1 per 1,000 falling to $0.60. But it appears to rely on a pool of logged-in Instagram accounts, Trustpilot has withheld its rating over fake reviews, it names no legal entity, and it bills 400, 403 and 404 responses. Use it for data you can’t get elsewhere, not as your default.
Choose ScrapeCreators if
You need comments, search and transcripts as well as profilesYou want TikTok, YouTube or other platforms on the same keyYou need to know who you’re buying fromChoose HikerAPI if
You need follower or following listsYou need live stories, likers or location feedsPrice per request matters more to you than vendor riskHead to head
Our ratings from published docs, prices and track record. The longer bar is better, and the winner’s bar is in its colour.
For cost, the lower number gets the longer bar. How we review
Pricing compared
Both are pay as you go from a prepaid balance that never expires, with no subscription. HikerAPI is cheaper per request; ScrapeCreators is kinder about what it bills.
Features side by side
If you’re building on the API
ScrapeCreators is a plain REST API: a GET or POST, JSON back, an API key in a header, and the credits charged on every response. Its 20 Instagram paths sit in one OpenAPI spec of 197 across all platforms, and the docs spell out what every edge case costs. There’s no official SDK; you get an MCP server, a CLI and an llms.txt file instead.
HikerAPI mirrors Instagram’s own mobile, GraphQL and web APIs, so responses are Instagram-shaped objects and there are often several overlapping endpoints for the same data; 47 of its 167 paths are tagged legacy. It has official SDKs in Python, JavaScript, Go and PHP, reports the cost of each call in a response header, and caps paid plans at 15 requests a second.
ScrapeCreators API
- Endpoints
- 20 for Instagram
- Auth
- API key header
- Rate limit
- No account cap; under 500 concurrent advised
- SDKs
- None official; MCP server and CLI
- Changelog
- Public and dated
HikerAPI API
- Endpoints
- About 167, 47 tagged legacy
- Auth
- API key header
- Rate limit
- 15 requests a second on paid plans
- SDKs
- Python, JavaScript, Go, PHP; MCP server
- Changelog
- A page exists, with no entries shown
Where each falls short
ScrapeCreators
No live stories and no follower or following lists, which are exactly what HikerAPI is for. Comments with replies cost 15 credits, and ScrapeCreators itself says to expect about 90% success on them. Instagram search lost view counts in August 2026, and in October it changed Instagram error responses without notice, then apologised in its changelog. It’s a small team with no SOC 2.
HikerAPI
Its About page describes a managed account pool that recovers from Instagram’s login and challenge errors, which suggests requests go through logged-in accounts, outside what the Meta v. Bright Data ruling covered. Trustpilot has withheld its rating for a breach of its guidelines and removed fake reviews. The privacy policy says it’s based in Kazakhstan, but no legal entity or address is published. It bills 400, 403 and 404 responses, and doesn’t publish the thresholds for its cheaper rates. The same team runs LamaTok, a TikTok API.
Alternatives to both
See all 8 Instagram scraping APIs in our ranking
Questions
Is ScrapeCreators or HikerAPI better?
ScrapeCreators for most Instagram work: it covers profiles, posts, comments, search and transcripts, and you know who you’re dealing with. HikerAPI only if you need followers, stories or likers.
Which is cheaper?
HikerAPI per request: $1 per 1,000, or $0.60 at volume, against ScrapeCreators’ $1.88, or $0.99 on the $497 pack. HikerAPI also bills 400, 403 and 404 responses, so a list with many deleted or private accounts narrows the gap.
Can ScrapeCreators get Instagram followers or stories?
No. It has story highlights but not live stories, and no follower or following lists. HikerAPI, TikHub and some third-party Apify Actors sell those.
Does HikerAPI use logged-in Instagram accounts?
It doesn’t say so outright, but its About page describes a managed account pool that handles Instagram’s login and challenge errors, which points that way. ScrapeCreators doesn’t say whether it uses logged-in accounts on its side either. Neither asks for your own Instagram login.
Who runs HikerAPI?
The team behind instagrapi, the open-source Instagram library. Its privacy policy says it’s based in Kazakhstan, but it names no legal entity. The same team runs LamaTok, which we review in our TikTok ranking.