How to Scrape TikTok Profiles and Posts: 5 Proven Methods for 2026

How to scrape TikTok profiles and posts with 5 tools: 1. BrowserAct 2. TikTok Research API 3. TikTokApi (Python) 4. BeautifulSoup + requests 5. Selenium --- Ever wondered how marketing agencies build databases of thousands of TikTok creators overnight? Or how competitor analysis tools track viral trends before they hit the mainstream? TikTok has become the world's most downloaded app, with over 1.5 billion monthly active users. For marketers, researchers, and brands, the platform is a goldmine o

Method 1: BrowserAct — The No-Code TikTok Scraper (Best for Beginners)

BrowserAct is a no-code browser automation platform that lets you scrape TikTok profiles, posts, and engagement data without writing a single line of code. Its pre-built TikTok Influencer Scraper template extracts comprehensive creator and video data using AI-powered extraction—just describe what you need in plain English.

What makes BrowserAct different from traditional scrapers is its real-browser infrastructure. Instead of sending HTTP requests that TikTok's anti-bot systems easily detect, BrowserAct runs actual browser sessions with stealth browsing, built-in residential proxies, and CAPTCHA handling. This means you can access TikTok pages that block conventional scrapers, and the AI automatically adapts when page structures change—no selector maintenance required.

Steps to Scrape TikTok with BrowserAct

Instead of manually choosing selectors, start with a clear prompt. BrowserAct will open TikTok in a real browser, test the scrolling path, and return a structured table.

1. Sign up first: Create a free BrowserAct account, but do not start clicking around yet. The next step is to copy the prompt so you can paste it directly into the Dashboard Agent box.
2. Copy this prompt: Use the full prompt below as your starting instruction. Edit the target URL, keyword, location, or result limit before running if needed.

Go to https://www.tiktok.com/search/user?q=fitness and collect creator profiles related to fitness.

 

Continue scrolling until no additional profiles load or until 100 unique profiles are collected.

 

For each creator profile, extract:

Display name

Username

Profile URL

Bio

Follower count

Following count, if visible

Like count, if visible

Verification status

Recent video titles or captions, if visible

Recent video URLs, if visible

 

Requirements:

Open profile pages when needed to collect complete public details.

Do not follow, like, comment, message, or interact with creators.

Remove duplicate profiles based on username and profile URL.

Return the results as a structured table.

If a field is unavailable, leave it blank rather than guessing.

Include the total number of unique profiles collected.

3. Paste it into Dashboard: Open BrowserAct Dashboard, paste the prompt into the main Agent input, and run it.
4. Handle login only when asked: If the site shows login, CAPTCHA, or 2FA, BrowserAct pauses so you can complete it manually in the live browser. Then resume the Bot.
5. Review, dedupe, and export: Check the structured table, remove bad rows if needed, and export CSV, JSON, Markdown, or a Google Sheets-ready table.

Once the table looks right, save the Bot and rerun it for any TikTok keyword, hashtag, or creator niche.

What Data Can You Extract?

The TikTok Influencer Scraper template extracts both creator profile data and video analytics in a single run:

• Creator Profiles: Username, handle, profile URL, real-time follower count, following count, total likes, bio description, verification status (✓), account type (Personal/Business/Creator), external links (Instagram, YouTube, website), and privacy status (Public/Private).
• Video Analytics: View count, likes, comments, shares, video title, description, hashtags, posted date, video duration, sound/music information, user mentions, engagement rate, and Duet/Stitch availability.

Outputs are available in formats like JSON, CSV, XML, or Markdown, making it easy to integrate scraped data into existing analytics pipelines, CRM systems, or AI model training workflows.

Pros

• No coding required—describe what you need in plain English
• Real browser sessions with stealth browsing and residential proxies
• AI-powered extraction that adapts to page changes automatically
• Pre-built template ready in minutes (30-60 credits per run)
• Flexible export formats: CSV, JSON, Google Sheets, Webhook
• Built-in scheduling and integration with Make, n8n, Zapier

Cons

• Credit-based pricing may add up for very large-scale extraction (10,000+ profiles)
• Cloud-based—no offline execution

Ready to try it? Sign up for BrowserAct's free trial and start scraping TikTok profiles today!

Method 2: TikTok Research API (Official and Compliant)

TikTok offers a Research API for academic researchers who need structured access to public TikTok data. This is the most compliant method available, but it comes with strict eligibility requirements and rate limits.

Steps to Scrape TikTok with the Research API

1. Check eligibility: The Research API is currently limited to academic researchers affiliated with accredited universities. You'll need to submit an application describing your research objectives, institutional affiliation, and data handling practices.

1. Apply for access: Visit the TikTok Research API portal and submit your application. Approval typically takes 1-2 weeks, and not all applications are accepted.

1. Set up authentication: Once approved, register your application to receive client credentials. Implement OAuth 2.0 authentication to obtain access tokens for API calls.

1. Query the API: Use the API endpoints to search for videos by hashtag, username, or keyword. Each endpoint returns structured JSON with fields like video ID, view count, like count, comment count, share count, and creator username.

1. Handle rate limits and pagination: The Research API enforces strict rate limits (typically 1,000 requests per day for most endpoints). Implement proper pagination using cursors and respect the daily quota to avoid being throttled.

import requests
 
# Authenticate
auth_response = requests.post(
    "https://open.tiktokapis.com/v2/oauth/token/",
    data={
        "client_key": "YOUR_CLIENT_KEY",
        "client_secret": "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
        "grant_type": "client_credentials",
    }
)
access_token = auth_response.json()["access_token"]
 
# Search for videos by hashtag
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {access_token}"}
response = requests.post(
    "https://open.tiktokapis.com/v2/research/video/query/",
    headers=headers,
    json={
        "query": {
            "and": [
                {"operation": "IN", "field_name": "hashtag_name", "field_values": ["ai"]}
            ]
        },
        "max_count": 20,
        "fields": ["id", "view_count", "like_count", "comment_count", "share_count", "username"]
    }
)
 
videos = response.json()["data"]["videos"]
for video in videos:
    print(f"@{video['username']}: {video['view_count']} views, {video['like_count']} likes")

Pros

• Fully compliant with TikTok's terms of service
• Structured, reliable JSON responses
• No risk of IP bans or CAPTCHAs
• Official documentation and support
• Access to engagement metrics not available via web scraping

Cons

• Restricted to academic researchers—commercial use not permitted
• Strict daily rate limits (1,000 requests/day)
• Limited to video data; no creator profile fields (follower count, bio, etc.)
• Application approval process takes 1-2 weeks

Method 3: TikTokApi Python Library (Open-Source)

TikTokApi is an unofficial Python library that reverse-engineers TikTok's internal API endpoints to extract data. It's popular among developers who need more flexibility than the official API offers but don't want to build a scraper from scratch.

Steps to Scrape TikTok with TikTokApi

1. Install the library: Run pip install TikTokApi to install the package. You'll also need a Playwright browser installation: python -m playwright install chromium.

1. Configure browser context: TikTokApi uses Playwright to generate the necessary headers and tokens for API requests. Initialize a browser context with appropriate user-agent and proxy settings.

1. Scrape user profiles: Use the user module to extract profile data including follower count, following count, total likes, bio, and verification status.

1. Scrape user videos: Use the user.videos() method to paginate through a creator's video posts, extracting view counts, likes, comments, and shares for each video.

1. Handle anti-bot detection: Rotate proxies, add random delays between requests, and use the library's built-in verification token generation to avoid being blocked.

from TikTokApi import TikTokApi
import asyncio
import json
 
async def scrape_tiktok_profiles():
    async with TikTokApi() as api:
        await api.create_sessions(
            num_sessions=1,
            sleep_after=3,
            headless=True,
            browser="chromium",
            proxy="http://user:pass@proxy:8080"
        )
 
        # Scrape a user profile
        user = api.user("chefboyrc")
        user_info = await user.info()
        print(f"Username: @{user_info['userInfo']['user']['uniqueId']}")
        print(f"Followers: {user_info['userInfo']['stats']['followerCount']}")
        print(f"Total Likes: {user_info['userInfo']['stats']['heartCount']}")
        print(f"Bio: {user_info['userInfo']['user']['signature']}")
 
        # Scrape their videos
        async for video in user.videos(count=10):
            print(f"Video: {video.as_dict['desc']}")
            print(f"  Views: {video.as_dict['stats']['playCount']}")
            print(f"  Likes: {video.as_dict['stats']['diggCount']}")
            print(f"  Comments: {video.as_dict['stats']['commentCount']}")
 
asyncio.run(scrape_tiktok_profiles())

Pros

• Free and open-source (MIT license)
• Access to both profile data and video metrics
• Active community and regular updates
• Supports hashtag search, sound search, and trend discovery
• Built-in proxy and session management

Cons

• Breaks frequently when TikTok updates its internal API
• Requires proxy rotation to avoid IP bans
• Playwright dependency adds complexity to deployment
• No guarantee of data completeness or accuracy

Method 4: BeautifulSoup + Requests (Lightweight and Customizable)

For developers who want maximum control over what data to extract, using Python's requests and BeautifulSoup libraries to parse TikTok's HTML is a lightweight approach. However, TikTok's heavy reliance on JavaScript rendering means this method has significant limitations.

Steps to Scrape TikTok with BeautifulSoup

1. Install dependencies: Run pip install requests beautifulsoup4 lxml to install the required packages.

1. Inspect TikTok's page structure: Open a TikTok profile page in your browser's developer tools. You'll notice that most data is loaded dynamically via JavaScript—initial HTML contains minimal structured data.

1. Extract embedded JSON data: TikTok embeds some initial data in a