All questionsInstagram

How do I get a competitor’s Instagram engagement rate?

Read the public profile for metrics.followers, then the profile posts endpoint for the last 12 or so posts. Engagement rate is likes plus comments, averaged over those posts, divided by followers. Two calls with Openhandle. No account link, no Graph API.

Use only what is public. Reach, impressions, and saves live in the owner’s insights. A vendor that shows a competitor’s reach is estimating.

Checked September 2026 · request and response run against the API · no affiliate links

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GET /v1/instagram/profiles/@username/posts

curl "https://api.openhandle.dev/v1/instagram/profiles/@northstar_forge_test/posts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENHANDLE_API_KEY"

TypeScript SDK

import { OpenHandle } from '@openhandle/sdk';

const openhandle = new OpenHandle({ apiKey: process.env.OPENHANDLE_API_KEY! });
const profile = openhandle.instagram.profile('northstar_forge_test');
const [{ data: account }, page] = await Promise.all([profile.get(), profile.posts.list()]);

const posts = page.data.filter(post => post.metrics.likes !== null);
const perPost = posts.reduce((sum, post) => sum + post.metrics.likes! + post.metrics.comments!, 0) / posts.length;
console.log((perPost / account.metrics.followers!) * 100); // percent

200 OK

{
  "platform": "instagram",
  "resource": "post",
  "capturedAt": "2026-09-18T11:52:18Z",
  "source": "live",
  "data": [
    { "id": "910100000001", "metrics": { "likes": 840, "comments": 5, "views": 12000 } },
    { "id": "910100000002", "metrics": { "likes": null, "comments": 5, "views": 12700 } },
    { "id": "910100000003", "metrics": { "likes": 900, "comments": 5, "views": 13400 } }
  ],
  "meta": { "cursors": { "next": "b3BhcXVlLWN1cnNvcg" } }
}

Trimmed to metrics. The second post has hidden likes and returns null. Skip it, do not count it as zero. The example is a Test profile.

Define the rate before you compute it

—Per follower. (likes + comments) per post, averaged, divided by followers. The common benchmark. Depends on follower count, so compare accounts of similar size.
—Per view, for reels. (likes + comments) divided by metrics.views. Better for video-first accounts and not skewed by dead followers.
—Window. Last 12 posts is the usual window. Skip the newest post if it is less than a day old, it has not settled.

What is public, and what is not

Metric	Public	Where
Likes	Yes, unless hidden	`metrics.likes`, `null` when hidden
Comments	Yes	`metrics.comments`
Reel plays	Yes	`metrics.views`, `null` for images
Shares and saves	Sometimes	`metrics.shares`, `metrics.saves` where Instagram shows them
Reach, impressions	No	Owner insights only

Track it over time

Run the two calls once a week, store the rate with capturedAt, and chart it. Use freshness=live so each row is a fresh read. Store the profile id, not the handle, so a rename does not break the series.

When this does not work

These answers are definitive. Store them, do not retry them.

Situation	Status	Code
The account is private	403	PROFILE_PRIVATE
The account is deleted, banned, or never existed	404	PROFILE_NOT_FOUND

403 Forbidden

{
  "error": {
    "code": "PROFILE_PRIVATE",
    "message": "This profile is private.",
    "requestId": "req_01j8…",
    "retryable": false
  }
}

An account that hides likes on every post has no likes-based rate. Use comments per post, or the per-view rate on reels, and say which one you used.

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