Instagram Transcript API

Instagram Transcript API —
Reels to JSON.

POST any Reel, video post, or IGTV URL — /reel/, /p/, or /tv/ — and get back a JSON array of plain-text lines. Built for content repurposing pipelines, influencer research, and brand monitoring.

POST /api/instagram/transcript
JSON response Cache hits are free 1 credit per call No scraping
Supported

What the API handles.

Every Instagram URL format below resolves to the same JSON response shape — no branching logic needed in your client code.

01
Reels
15–90 second vertical videos at instagram.com/reel/…. The highest-volume use case — hook research, repurposing, trend tracking.
02
Video posts
Feed videos at instagram.com/p/… — from 3 seconds to multi-minute product demos, interviews, or testimonials.
03
IGTV
Legacy long-form video at instagram.com/tv/…. Instagram has folded IGTV into the feed but the URL form still resolves.
04
Public-only
All formats must point to publicly viewable content. Private accounts, Stories, and Close Friends posts are not supported. Carousels with video slides work — POST the per-item URL.
Reference

Full docs at docs.transcriptmagic.com.

Per-platform response schemas, language-specific code samples (cURL, Python, JavaScript, Go, PHP), error catalog, and rate-limit headers all live on the docs subdomain. Built for both humans and agents.

Pricing

One credit per call.

Every successful API request uses 1 credit — whether it's a 15-second Reel or a 10-minute video post. View the full plan breakdown and annual pricing on the pricing page.

Use cases

What devs build with it.

Real pipelines shipping real revenue. If you're doing something new, email us — we love hearing what teams are building.

Reel repurposing pipelines
Feed the transcript into an LLM to produce TikTok scripts, YouTube Shorts captions, and LinkedIn posts from one source.
Influencer research
Transcribe a creator's Reels catalog, cluster by topic and brand mention to build creator-comparison tools.
Brand monitoring
Ingest mentions of your brand from Instagram video — not just captions. Catch reviews and critiques buried in spoken audio.
Ad creative analysis
Transcribe competitor Reel ads, surface winning patterns, and inform your own paid creative without manual watching.
Internal content libraries
Build searchable indexes of your own posted Reels and video content. Pair with an LLM for topic and theme tagging.
Creator dashboards
Give creators a view of what they said on each Reel — useful for testimonials, topic tagging, and description drafting.
FAQ

Questions devs ask.

The short answers. For anything else, email [email protected] — same-day reply.

Which Instagram URLs does the API accept?

Reels (instagram.com/reel/…), video posts (instagram.com/p/…), and IGTV (instagram.com/tv/…). Stories are not supported because they expire and don't have stable URLs.

Does it work on private accounts or Stories?

No. The API can only access public content. Private accounts, Stories (which expire), and Close Friends posts aren't reachable.

What about videos with just music or no speech?

The API transcribes spoken audio. If a Reel uses a music-only trending sound with no voiceover, the upstream may report no captions and the API returns a 404 (no charge).

Does the API handle non-English content?

Yes. Instagram is used worldwide and the API returns whichever language the creator spoke. To normalize to one language, run the transcript through an LLM translation step after fetching.

Can I use short share links (instagr.am)?

Yes. Share-link redirects are auto-resolved. You can also use web URLs grabbed from the three-dot menu — both formats work.

Why no per-line timestamps in the response?

Instagram's caption source is delivered as plain text — there's no per-line timing metadata exposed upstream. If you need millisecond-precision timing, use the YouTube endpoint instead.

Related

Other platforms & references.

Ship your Instagram pipeline — today.

Free credits included. No credit card required. Same auth as every other platform endpoint.

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