Tutorial · Instagram

🐘 PHP Step-by-step

How to scrape Instagram comments
with PHP.

Extract comments data from Instagram. Real code, real responses, real production patterns — paste it into your project and ship.

All tutorials Instagram API ~15 min read

Overview

Learn how to scrape Instagram comments using PHP. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process, from setup to implementation.

What You'll Learn

  • • Setting up your development environment
  • • Installing the required HTTP client
  • • Authenticating with the ScrapeCreators API
  • • Making requests to Instagram
  • • Handling responses and errors
  • • Best practices for production use

What You'll Get

  • • Access to comments data
  • • JSON formatted responses
  • • Real-time data access
  • • Scalable solution
  • • Error handling patterns
  • • Performance optimization tips

Prerequisites

1. API Key

First, you'll need a ScrapeCreators API key to authenticate your requests.

Sign up at app.scrapecreators.com to get your free API key with 100 requests.

2. Development Environment

Make sure you have the following installed:

  • • PHP and its dependencies
  • • A code editor (VS Code, Sublime, etc.)
  • • Basic understanding of API requests
  • • Command line interface access

Step 1: Install HTTP Client

Guzzle is a PHP HTTP client that makes it easy to send HTTP requests

composer
composer require guzzlehttp/guzzle

Step 2: API Implementation

Now let's make a request to the Instagram API using PHP. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key.

PHP
<?php
require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY';
$client = new Client(['base_uri' => 'https://api.scrapecreators.com']);

function scrape() {
    global $client, $apiKey;

    try {
        $response = $client->request('GET', '/v2/instagram/post/comments', [
            'headers' => [
                'x-api-key' => $apiKey,
                'Content-Type' => 'application/json'
            ],
            'query' => [
                'url' => 'https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOq6eV6iIgD',
                'cursor' => 'eyJjYWNoZWRfY29tbWVud...',
                'include_replies' => 'true'
            ]
        ]);

        $data = json_decode($response->getBody(), true);
        echo 'Response: ';
        print_r($data);
        return $data;
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        echo 'Error: ' . $e->getMessage();
        return null;
    }
}

// Usage
$result = scrape();

Step 3: Testing Your Code

API Parameters

This endpoint accepts the following parameters:

urlRequired(string)

The URL of the post or reel to get comments from

Example: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOq6eV6iIgD

cursorOptional(string)

The cursor to get more comments. Get 'cursor' from previous response.

Example: eyJjYWNoZWRfY29tbWVud...

include_repliesOptional(boolean)

Set to true to include replies for every returned comment. This always costs 15 credits because each comment requires a separate Instagram replies request. You will still be charged 15 credits if no replies are returned. This is much slower and may time out at 29 seconds.

Example: true

Run Your Code

Execute your script to test the API connection. You should see a JSON response with Instagram comments data.

✅ Success: You should receive a structured JSON response containing the requested data.

Expected Response

Here's an example of the JSON response you'll receive:

Sample Response
{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 33929114,
  "credits_charged": 15,
  "comments": [
    {
      "id": "18051843701642870",
      "text": "\"...but who wants to know people who don't love animals anyway?\". ❤️",
      "created_at": "2025-09-16T17:03:04.000Z",
      "comment_like_count": 0,
      "child_comment_count": 0,
      "replies": [],
      "replies_cursor": null,
      "has_more_replies": false,
      "user": {
        "is_verified": false,
        "id": "46773599357",
        "pk": "46773599357",
        "is_unpublished": null,
        "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/542013919_18051324464559358_4060586438619554592_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s150x150_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby4xMDgwLmMyIn0&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QEVOAPWq7DXE6cVfhoMQb0GTMvPo_vizELP9TUgQylvA5jBW1WSonDzvjeTQpAGJ3w&_nc_ohc=b__bzrMG6kYQ7kNvwGXM67R&_nc_gid=oDBffhoPbGLAq2tbCGpGKg&edm=AKp6CbIBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AflThVwZ86n6DiACA5-zJCNFQZWBwHfaG6AXZclgea57BA&oe=695A3139&_nc_sid=d62176",
        "username": "catherina_thijs",
        "fbid_v2": "17841446780736699"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "18111838858552963",
      "text": "What a lovely lady, I'm with her who wants to know anyone who doesn't love animals ❤️👏",
      "created_at": "2025-09-16T19:53:21.000Z",
      "comment_like_count": 0,
      "child_comment_count": 0,
      "replies": [],
      "replies_cursor": null,
      "has_more_replies": false,
      "user": {
        "is_verified": false,
        "id": "45139684051",
        "pk": "45139684051",
        "is_unpublished": null,
        "profile_pic_url": "https://scontent-dfw5-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-19/131041534_206071521057900_4698154526741005751_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s150x150_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InByb2ZpbGVfcGljLmRqYW5nby40NTMuYzIifQ&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=100&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QEVOAPWq7DXE6cVfhoMQb0GTMvPo_vizELP9TUgQylvA5jBW1WSonDzvjeTQpAGJ3w&_nc_ohc=235kWnXbjA4Q7kNvwGllJXn&_nc_gid=oDBffhoPbGLAq2tbCGpGKg&edm=AKp6CbIBAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AfnV5mP6h6-wQ_Jy4mM5vjCuZ-5vbGiAUEw-dtjcjpiWAA&oe=695A1D02&_nc_sid=d62176",
        "username": "yvonne.tate.3",
        "fbid_v2": "17841445241532460"
      }
    }
  ],
  "cursor": "AQHSpoi6HyDbzYRMzrD........."
}

Verify Response Structure

Check that your response includes the expected fields:

  • ✓success(boolean)
  • ✓credits_remaining(number)
  • ✓credits_charged(number)
  • ✓comments(object)
  • ✓cursor(string)

Best Practices

1

Error Handling

Implement comprehensive error handling and retry logic for failed requests. Log errors properly for debugging.

2

Caching

Cache responses when possible to reduce API calls and improve performance. Consider data freshness requirements.

3

Security

Never expose your API key in client-side code. Use environment variables and secure key management practices.

Performance Tips

Batch Requests

When scraping multiple comments, consider batching requests to maximize throughput while staying within rate limits.

Async Processing

Use asynchronous processing in PHP to handle multiple requests concurrently and improve overall performance.

Common Use Cases

Market Research

Analyze Instagram comments to understand market trends, competitor analysis, and audience insights.

Content Analytics

Track performance metrics, engagement rates, and content trends across Instagram comments.

Lead Generation

Identify potential customers and business opportunities throughInstagram data analysis.

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

401 Unauthorized

Check your API key is correct and properly formatted in the x-api-key header.

402 Payment Required

You ran out of credits and need to buy more.

404 Not Found

The resource might not exist or be private.

500 Server Error

Temporary server issue. Implement retry logic with exponential backoff.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to scrape Instagram comments?

ScrapeCreators offers 100 free API calls to get started. After that, pricing starts at $10 for 5k requests with volume discounts available.

Is it legal to scrape Instagram data?

Scraping publicly available data is fair game, and we only collect public data. So anything that you can see in an incognito browser is what we collect.

How fast can I scrape Instagram comments?

There is no rate limit! So you can scrape as fast as you want!

What data format does the API return?

All API responses are returned in JSON format, making it easy to integrate with any programming language or application.

Can I use this with other PHP frameworks?

Yes! This tutorial focuses on core PHP HTTP concepts that work with any framework. The API calls remain the same regardless of your specific PHP setup.

How do I handle large datasets?

For large datasets, implement pagination, use streaming responses where available, and consider storing data in a database for efficient querying.

Related Tutorials

All Tutorials

Browse all available scraping tutorials for different platforms and languages.

Free Tools

Try our free online tools to test scraping without writing any code.

Ready to ship?

Get the API key. Run the code.

100 free API calls. No credit card. Same endpoint, same response shape.

Start free — 100 credits View documentation →

Same endpoint, different language

Pick another stack.

⚡️ Node.js 🌐 JavaScript 🐍 Python 💎 Ruby ☕ Java 🎯 C# 🚀 Go 🦀 Rust 📘 TypeScript 🍎 Swift 📱 Kotlin 📊 R