Instagram Reels Transcript API
Turn any Instagram Reel into text with real AI speech recognition.
Instagram has no public transcript feature, and Reels rarely carry captions burned into metadata. This API pulls the Reel's audio and transcribes it with AI speech recognition, returning clean timestamped text for any public Reel.
Great for creator research (what hooks are top Reels using?), brand monitoring, and feeding spoken content into LLM workflows.
Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Russian
Call it from code
The API runs on Apify's platform — one HTTP call starts a run and returns the dataset. Get a free API token by signing up (includes $5/month free usage).
# curl — synchronous run, returns transcript items directly
curl -X POST \
"https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ethereal_wool~instagram-reels-transcript-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"videoUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAcbzHVJEyx/"]}'# Python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("ethereal_wool~instagram-reels-transcript-scraper").call(run_input={
"videoUrls": ["https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAcbzHVJEyx/"],
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
print(item["transcript"])
for s in item["sentences"]:
print(s["beginTime"], s["text"])Pricing
No subscription, no minimum. Runs that return nothing are never billed.
Frequently asked questions
What input does it take?
Any public instagram.com/reel/ or /p/ URL, or the bare shortcode (e.g. DAcbzHVJEyx).
Does it work on Reels without captions?
Yes — transcription runs on the audio track itself, so captions are not required.
What does it cost?
$0.025 per minute of video. A typical 30-second Reel costs about $0.0125.
Do I need an Instagram session or cookies?
No — public Reels are fetched server-side with no login required on your part.
What's returned besides text?
Timestamped sentences, plus Reel metadata: author, caption, play count, duration, and thumbnail.
Other platforms
TikTok
Turn any TikTok video URL into clean, timestamped text with real AI speech recognition.
Douyin (抖音)
Turn any Douyin (抖音) video into text — best-in-class Mandarin speech recognition.
Xiaohongshu (小红书 / RedNote)
Turn any 小红书 video note into text — Mandarin-optimized speech recognition.
Bilibili (B站)
Turn any B站 video into text — handles long-form content, BV/av IDs, and b23.tv links.
YouTube
Fetch YouTube transcripts at scale — by URL, video ID, or search keyword.
Any URL
One endpoint for TikTok, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Instagram Reels — paste any link, get text.