insta-dl

Async command-line downloader for Instagram. Profiles, posts, reels, stories, highlights, hashtags, and comments — saved to disk with the original timestamps preserved.

pip install instagram-dl           # pip
pipx install instagram-dl          # or as an isolated CLI app

export HIKERAPI_TOKEN=your_token
insta-dl instagram

Or run it without installing Python at all:

docker run --rm -v "$PWD/out:/data" -e HIKERAPI_TOKEN \
    ghcr.io/subzeroid/insta-dl:latest instagram

Grab a free HikerAPI token at hikerapi.com — first 100 requests are free, no credit card. One request ≈ one post or one page of a feed.

insta-dl

• downloads profiles, hashtags, single posts, reels, stories, highlights, and comments,
• preserves the original taken_at timestamp as file mtime so Photos/Finder sort correctly,
• writes a JSON metadata sidecar next to every post (caption, like count, location, owner),
• supports incremental updates with --fast-update and --latest-stamps,
• accepts profile names, #hashtag, post shortcodes, and full instagram.com URLs,
• ships two pluggable backends: a paid commercial API (HikerAPI, no Instagram session, no ban risk) out of the box, and an opt-in private-API library via pip install 'instagram-dl[aiograpi]' (your own login).

insta-dl [--backend hiker|aiograpi]
         [--dest DIR] [--fast-update] [--latest-stamps FILE]
         [--stories] [--highlights] [--comments]
         profile | "#hashtag" | post:SHORTCODE | https://instagram.com/...

📖 Full documentation — installation, CLI reference, backends comparison, Python API, troubleshooting.

How insta-dl compares to other Instagram downloaders

When to pick insta-dl — you want an Instagram archive without losing your account. The default HikerAPI backend uses no Instagram session, so there's nothing for Instagram to flag, ban, or 2FA-challenge. instaloader and gallery-dl both drive scraping through your own logged-in cookies, which works until Instagram raises the rate-limit floor again.

When to pick instaloader — you don't want any external service in the loop and you have a throwaway Instagram account you don't mind burning. Battle-tested, huge user base, more granular --filter expression language.

When to pick gallery-dl — you want one tool for many platforms (Twitter, TikTok, DeviantArt, etc.) and Instagram is just one of them. Less Instagram-specialised but covers a much wider catalogue.

Related projects: instaloot (Python, less maintained), instagram-php-scraper (PHP, login-based), aiograpi (the async Instagram private API library that powers the optional [aiograpi] backend here).

How to download an Instagram profile

export HIKERAPI_TOKEN=$(cat ~/.config/hikerapi-token)
insta-dl --dest ./out instagram

This grabs every post, names files 2026-04-21_16-04-15_DXZlTiKEpxw.mp4, and writes a metadata sidecar next to each.

How to keep a local archive in sync

insta-dl --fast-update --latest-stamps ./stamps.ini --dest ./out instagram

--fast-update stops at the first post that's already on disk; --latest-stamps records the newest taken_at per profile so even a deleted local copy can be resumed.

How to download a single post or reel

insta-dl post:DXZlTiKEpxw
insta-dl https://www.instagram.com/p/DXZlTiKEpxw/
insta-dl https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXZlTiKEpxw/

How to download a hashtag

insta-dl '#sunset' --dest ./out

Pulls the recent feed for the tag into ./out/#sunset/.

How to grab stories and highlights

insta-dl --stories --highlights --dest ./out instagram

Stories and highlights land under <dest>/<username>/stories/ and <dest>/<username>/highlights/<id>_<title>/.

How to save comments alongside posts

insta-dl --comments --dest ./out instagram

Each post gets a ..._comments.json sidecar streamed to disk.

Backends

Pick the one that matches how you want to authenticate.

Switch with --backend:

insta-dl --backend hiker --hiker-token TOKEN instagram
pip install 'instagram-dl[aiograpi]'   # aiograpi's deps are opt-in
insta-dl --backend aiograpi --login USER --password PASS --session ./session.json instagram

Detailed comparison and auth setup: see the backends documentation. For how insta-dl stacks up against instaloader, yt-dlp, and gallery-dl, see compared to alternatives.

Output layout

<dest>/<username>/
    2026-04-21_16-04-15_DXZlTiKEpxw.mp4
    2026-04-21_16-04-15_DXZlTiKEpxw.json           # metadata sidecar
    2026-04-21_16-04-15_DXZlTiKEpxw_comments.json  # with --comments
    stories/
        2026-04-21_18-30-00_178290.jpg             # with --stories
    highlights/
        17991_Travel/                              # with --highlights
            2025-10-12_19-20-30_4011.jpg

Hashtag downloads land under <dest>/#<tag>/; single-post downloads use the post owner's username (or owner_pk fallback).

Status

This is alpha. Both backends (hiker, aiograpi) are functional end-to-end (278 tests, 96% coverage). aiograpi ships behind the [aiograpi] extra so its Rust deps don't bloat default installs. CLI flags and output layout are stable; Python API may still shift.

What's not yet implemented:

• :feed and :saved targets (account-bound, would need session reuse from aiograpi backend)

See the changelog for what landed when, and contributing for how to help.

Contributing

Bug reports, fixes, and backend implementations welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md. Tests: pip install -e .[dev] && pytest.

Disclaimer

insta-dl is not affiliated with, authorized, maintained, or endorsed by Instagram or Meta. Use at your own risk and respect the rights of content creators. Licensed under MIT.