A faster HikerAPI alternative for Instagram data

Under a $100 balance, HikerAPI charges $20 per 1,000 calls

Calls

10k10,000100k100,000500k500,0001M1,000,000Instagram profiles

HikerAPI

$100$100$345$600

StandardStandardBusinessUltra

LurkAPI

$9$59$225$450

Starter packGrowth packScale pack2 × Scale packs

$91 less for the same 10,000 Instagram profiles$41 less for the same 100,000 Instagram profiles$120 less for the same 500,000 Instagram profiles$150 less for the same 1,000,000 Instagram profiles

HikerAPI's $1 per 1,000 needs $100 on your balance, and you have to switch to it yourself. LurkAPI starts at $9 for 10,000 calls and stays cheaper at every HikerAPI tier: a million calls cost $450 here and $600 there.

hikerapi.com

3.4× faster on Instagram profiles

HikerAPI's own status page puts its median at 1.43 s. A LurkAPI Instagram profile answers in 0.42 s, and 19 in 20 within 0.98 s, still faster than HikerAPI's median.

HikerAPI's: a median of 1.43 s on its Mobile API over the last 24 hours, from its status page. Ours: the median of successful calls in production over the 7 days to October 26, 2026, for the call nearest theirs.

1. 

   LurkAPI

   $59Growth pack

   Instagram profiles, posts, reels and comments at 1 credit each, plus TikTok, YouTube and 13 more platforms on the same key.

2. 

   ScrapeCreators

   $1884 × $47 packs

   Credit packs that never expire, with Instagram among its 20 platforms.

3. 

   Apify

   $200/moScale plan

   Ready-made scrapers you can schedule, each run saved as a dataset.

4. 

   EnsembleData

   $400/moSilver plan

   Monthly plans with a daily allowance, for tracking the same accounts on Instagram, TikTok and six more networks.

Each price is the cheapest published buy of 100,000 Instagram profiles (3 units each on EnsembleData), as of October 31, 2026.

Questions before you switch

How much does HikerAPI cost?

It's prepaid: $0.02 a request until $100 is on your balance, then $1 per 1,000, $0.69 from $300 and $0.60 from $599. The balance never expires.

Is there a cheaper alternative to HikerAPI?

Yes. 100,000 Instagram calls cost $59 on LurkAPI and $100 on HikerAPI, and LurkAPI stays cheaper at every HikerAPI tier.

Is HikerAPI free?

It gives 100 free requests on signup; email signups activate them through a Telegram bot. LurkAPI gives 100 free credits, no card.

Does HikerAPI support TikTok?

No, HikerAPI is Instagram only; its TikTok API, LamaTok, is a separate product with its own account. One LurkAPI key covers both.