How to Scrape Snapchat Profiles and Compare Creator Activity

Q: Will maxVideos return a creator's complete Spotlight history?

No. maxVideos caps the videos and story snaps collected per profile, but Snapchat typically exposes only about 30 recent Spotlight videos on the web. Schedule repeat runs if you need an ongoing history.

A subscriber count alone does not tell you whether a Snapchat creator fits a campaign. You also want to see what the public profile says about them and what they have posted recently.

Our Snapchat Profile Scraper takes usernames, profile URLs, or search keywords and exports public profile data alongside recent Spotlight videos and live story snaps. Profile rows can include the display name, bio, category, website, subscriber count, and related accounts. Video rows can include posting date, views, shares, caption, comments, and a transcript when Snapchat provides one. The Actor needs no Snapchat login, but it cannot retrieve private content or a creator's complete historical feed.

Snapchat public profile and Spotlight data cards around the Snapchat logo

Start with one public creator

Open the Actor on Apify. An Actor is a tool you run on Apify; you can use its Input form without writing code. Add nba under Usernames, set Max videos per profile to 5, and turn Include transcripts off for a quick first pass. Click Start, then open the run's Dataset.

Or switch the Input form to JSON and paste:

{
  "usernames": ["nba"],
  "maxVideos": 5,
  "includeTranscripts": false
}

maxVideos is a per-profile cap on Spotlight videos and story snaps. It does not limit the number of profiles. The dataset uses type: "profile" for a creator and type: "video" for each collected video or snap. Video rows use source to distinguish Spotlight from stories.

Our Actor documentation includes this abbreviated, historical profile example:

{
  "type": "profile",
  "username": "nba",
  "displayName": "NBA",
  "isPublicProfile": true,
  "bio": "30 teams, 1 goal.",
  "subscribers": 3618500,
  "category": "business-group",
  "spotlightCount": 29
}

These values are a snapshot from the documentation, not a result from the five-video input above. Subscriber counts and video views may differ when you run it.

Snapchat Spotlight dataset showing NBA video titles, views, comments, dates, and URLs

This screenshot shows eleven visible nba video rows from a separate, larger run on October 4, 2026. The profile row is outside the crop; the five-video input above is a smaller starting sample.

The Snapchat Profile Scraper Node.js example runs the five-video input above and reads the resulting dataset with apify-client.

Build a shortlist you can actually review

Export the Dataset as CSV or JSON. Keep one row per username from the profile records, with the public bio, category, website, and subscriber count. Then look at that creator's type: "video" rows for recent dates, topics, and visible engagement. Read or watch a few posts before deciding whether the content fits your brief; do not rank creators by subscribers alone.

If you do not have usernames yet, put a topic such as skincare under Search queries instead. The Actor scrapes public profiles Snapchat returns for that keyword, but search is discovery, not an exhaustive directory. Review the returned handles before adding them to a shortlist.

Some fields will be missing. A hidden subscriber count, absent transcript, or unavailable comment is not zero. Snapchat generally shows only about 30 recent Spotlight videos per profile on the web, even if you set a higher maxVideos value. Stories disappear after roughly 24 hours, and direct media and transcript URLs can expire. Save any source material you need while the links work, and follow the platform's rules and the creator's rights when using it.

Pricing

Pricing as of October 4, 2026 is $0.002 per returned public profile plus $0.001 per returned video or story snap. An Actor-start event costs $0.00005 per GB of allocated memory, minimum one event. At the default 1 GB, one profile with five video rows would be $0.00705 in Actor events. The actual charge depends on how many rows are returned; Apify platform usage may be billed separately under your plan. See live pricing before a larger run.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Snapchat account to run the scraper?

No. Our Actor reads information Snapchat shows publicly on the web. It does not access private account content.

Will maxVideos return a creator's complete Spotlight history?

No. maxVideos caps the videos and story snaps collected per profile, but Snapchat typically exposes only about 30 recent Spotlight videos on the web. Schedule repeat runs if you need an ongoing history.