insta-dl-gui¶
A simple desktop app to download Instagram posts, reels, stories and highlights — no Instagram login required.
Powered by HikerAPI, built with Tauri 2 + Vue 3. Downloads run through the HikerAPI cloud instead of a logged-in Instagram session, so there is no account ban risk — unlike tools that drive your own account (instaloader, gallery-dl).
Quick start¶
- Install the app for your platform.
- Grab a free HikerAPI token — the first 100 requests are on the house.
- Paste it into the app, then download away.
What it can download¶
| Target | Input | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Single post / reel / carousel | instagram.com/p/… or /reel/… link |
1 request |
| Profile feed (posts) | @username → check Posts |
1 request per ~12–18 posts |
| Reels only | @username → check Reels |
1 request per clips page |
| Active stories | @username → check Stories |
2 requests |
| Highlights | @username → check Highlights |
2 requests + 1 per highlight reel |
| HD avatar | @username → check Avatar |
included with profile fetch |
Explore loads current Stories automatically for every public profile, which costs 2 requests. Its All action fetches a complete category and may spend additional requests; Shown and Selected use the exact items already loaded and do not fetch more pages.
Highlights¶
- No login, no ban risk — a HikerAPI token is the only credential
- Incremental archives — already-downloaded files are skipped on re-runs
- Original timestamps — file mtime is set from
taken_at, so Photos/Finder sort correctly - JSON metadata sidecars — caption, like/comment counts and owner saved next to every post
- Live Queue — per-job start and finish times, progress, byte counters and cancellation; completed jobs open the exact saved-file list with previews and system file actions
- Explore first — start on profile discovery, browse labeled photos/videos/carousels/stories, filter Posts by media type, select exact cards, and use one Download · All · Shown · Selected control
- Profile relationships — browse and search paginated Followers and Following lists for public profiles, then open any result directly in Explore
- Useful previews — copy a Post or Reel description or its canonical Instagram link
- Exact Queue jobs — each Shown or Selected snapshot becomes one job; snapshots support up to 500 items, with All as the complete-archive fallback
- Local media Library — search, filter and inspect existing downloads without changing archive files
- Automatic recovery — transient network and CDN server errors retry automatically, and partial jobs report only saved files
Links¶
- Source: github.com/subzeroid/insta-dl-gui
- CLI sibling: insta-dl (same output layout, terminal-based)
- Get a token: hikerapi.com
Disclaimer¶
insta-dl-gui is not affiliated with, authorized, maintained, or endorsed by Instagram or Meta. It downloads only publicly accessible content via a third-party API service. Respect creators' rights and local law; you are responsible for how you use it.