Are you tired of manually publishing every post, interrupting your workday to get on the platform, and struggling to keep track of your engagement? Then it’s time to invest in an Instagram planner.
Instagram planners are apps that enable you to plan out and schedule your Instagram posts in advance. With these handy tools, you can save time, maintain content consistency, and keep your feed looking on-brand.
In this article, we’re reviewing the 6 best Instagram planners to help you streamline your Instagram marketing strategy, stay organized, and boost your presence on the platform.
From scheduling posts and tracking analytics to finding the best hashtags, these social media tools have you covered. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and get ready to elevate your Instagram game with an Instagram planner today.
Why use an Instagram planner?
Instagram is one of the most popular platforms to share content, engage with your target market, and build a brand. However, managing Instagram can become overwhelming without an Instagram organizer, especially if you have multiple accounts.
An Instagram planner is a great way to streamline your Instagram marketing and take advantage of the following features:
- Preview your grid: Instagram planners let you preview your Instagram grid to ensure that each post looks appropriate and fits your overall aesthetic.
- Post at optimal times: With an Instagram content planner, you can schedule posts, Reels, and Stories in advance. This ensures that your images and videos are shared exactly when they are most likely to be seen by your audience.
- Stay consistent: Because Instagram planners allow you to create a content calendar, it is much easier to stay consistent with your posting cadence.
- Track your analytics: With an Instagram post planner, you can track the performance of your posts over time, identify what works, and make adjustments to your Instagram strategy accordingly.
Planoly is a powerful Instagram content planner that helps businesses and individuals effectively plan and schedule their content. With features such as a drag-and-drop visual calendar, auto-publishing, and post-performance analysis, Planoly streamlines the Instagram marketing process and saves users time while improving their overall presence on the platform.
Its user-friendly interface and advanced features make Planoly a worthwhile option for anyone looking to boost their content marketing efforts using a planner for Instagram.
Unfortunately, Planoly lacks approval flows so it’s not the best choice if you’re working with a team to manage multiple social media accounts.
Pros
- Plan your Instagram aesthetic by scheduling content to be auto-posted in advance
- Explore advanced follower insights to better understand your audience
- Integrate your Canva and Unsplash accounts for seamless uploads
Nicole E.
I loved the visual feed on Planoly – it allowed me to batch content and map things out super easy. I also loved the ability to add placeholders. I’d usually drop all items into the feed at once in bulk, move things around where I wanted them, and work on each post as needed.
Cons
- The auto-scheduler can be unreliable, which can affect your grid layout
- No approval workflows available
Kaia S.
This app has caused me so much stress for my page. I use the scheduler because I am asleep when I want to reach my audience on the other side of the world, but half the time it doesn’t post even though it has been scheduled without any error messages. Sometimes it’s because a certain image size isn’t supported, sometimes it’s for no apparent reason at all. Planoly has caused me to miss important deadlines for campaign posts for this reason!
Preview is an intuitive Instagram scheduling app that helps businesses and individuals create and plan their content with ease.
This Instagram post planner is the only choice on our list that offers a completely free membership tier. Although it’s limited to only one device and one social media account, Preview is a great choice for solopreneurs and those just getting started with Instagram.
With a paid subscription, users can upload an unlimited amount of content and use this Instagram planner’s visual scheduling calendar to assemble a cohesive look. The app also offers photo editing capabilities, making it a powerful solution for those looking to streamline their Instagram strategy.
However, this Instagram organizer’s user interface can sometimes be challenging to navigate. And without a responsive customer support team, these difficulties can often result in frustration and wasted time.
Pros
- Unlimited number of photo, carousel, and video uploads
- Rearrange and preview your Instagram feed before posting
- Edit your photos directly in the app with more than 100 filter options
Sidharth B.
The flexibility this app provides in arranging and ordering your feed is phenomenal. Their design ideas are impeccable.
Cons
- Difficult to reach customer support
- One account per membership
Jolley M.
I’m shocked at how clunky the interface is. It took 3 hours for me and Preview tech support to connect to 1 IG account. And, tech support isn’t the one that figured it out…
Later is an efficient Instagram planning and scheduling tool, perfect for businesses and individuals that need to up their social media marketing game. It offers a visual calendar, bulk upload, and seamless scheduling options, saving you time and allowing you to focus on creating great content.
With Later, you can easily plan, schedule and analyze your Instagram performance, making it one of the best Instagram planner app choices in the market.
On occasion, however, this planner for Instagram suffers from bugs and brief outages. These can stand in the way of your scheduling efforts or result in content not being posted at the appropriate time.
Pros
- Drag, drop, and rearrange content on the scheduling calendar
- Discover the optimal time to post and get personalized hashtag suggestions
- Use Later’s link in bio tool to drive more traffic and sales
Raine B.
There are many functional features, such as post scheduling across all different social media platforms, being able to monitor all of your communications (direct messaging, comments, etc.), being able to check your Analytics, best posting times, and posts with the most engagement.
Cons
- Suffers from occasional bugs and outages
- The cluttered UI can make it difficult to navigate
Verified User
One, the system has grown to be too many things for too many people and platforms. It has become difficult to stay on top of what the system offers and how best to benefit from its features. Two, as social media platforms increase their baked-in features (e.g. you can now post to Instagram directly from your computer), the value of Later decreases
Hootsuite is a popular social media management platform that includes a planner feature included in it. With Hootsuite, users can schedule and publish posts, track performance, and engage with followers on multiple social media platforms, including Instagram.
Hootsuite’s extensive feature set makes it a valuable tool for businesses and individuals that want to enhance their social media presence. But because Hootsuite strives to be everything for everyone, their pricing is much more expensive than other Instagram planners.
Pros
- Visualize campaigns and easily fill content gaps with the social media calendar
- Edit images and videos in the platform, and auto-resize posts for each network
- Collaborate with team members in real-time and with approval workflows
Vuyile M.
What I like best about Hootsuite is that I can schedule a post and then I don’t have to worry about it being shared on all my social media accounts, it just happens. Hootsuite is a very efficient platform for handling multiple social media platforms.
Cons
- The vast number of tools and functions can make the platform overwhelming
- Expensive relative to other Instagram planners
Emily J.
It takes a while to set up because it’s almost too customizable for each social platform and figure out which monthly and daily reports you want. Also not clear how to duplicate posts in an easy way from platform to platform. AND THE COST! To have something that really works well, you’re paying lots more than other platforms.
Iconosquare is a comprehensive Instagram management tool designed to help users elevate their social media performance. The Instagram content planner offers a content calendar, an in-app photo editor, and standard scheduling capabilities.
Whether you’re looking to grow your personal brand or manage multiple business accounts, Iconosquare provides the tools you need to optimize your Instagram strategy and achieve greater engagement and reach.
Unfortunately, some users report trouble with Iconosquare’s autopost features. These momentary glitches on this planner for Instagram can often cause disruptions in Instagram grid design, which can negatively impact their brand image.
Pros
- Crop images, leave a first comment, and tag people and geolocations
- Reporting includes engagement insights and community analytics
- Easily cross-post content to other social media platforms
Peyton D.
Easy to use, streamlined analytics, IG/FB/TT all in one place. It is super user friendly and I didn’t have to spend a bunch of time on the platform learning how to do things.
Cons
- Uploading videos and downloading reports can be slow
- Autoposting to Instagram and Facebook stories can be glitchy
Verified User
I am finding slight inconsistencies in the numbers presented in Iconosquare compared to the numbers shown in Instagram’s app. It seems that when Iconosquare loses connection to the app, there is a loss of accurate data collection and so results can be skewed, which has been a bit frustrating in our efforts to ensure accurate reporting. I also wish Iconosquare had more insight offered into Instagram stories
Conclusion
Instagram planners are a productivity unlock for social media marketers everywhere. The right planner will save you time, help you strategize, and give you detailed insights into your Instagram marketing efforts. Our list of the 6 best Instagram planners covers all the major features, pros, and cons so you can find the best Instagram management tool for your business.
With options ranging from free to premium and solutions that support all team sizes, there’s sure to be an Instagram content planner that fits your needs.
But overall, SocialPilot is the best Instagram planner for individuals and businesses looking to streamline their social media marketing efforts. It’s a powerful tool that offers a wide range of scheduling time-saving features at an affordable price.
Happy planning!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Instagram planner is best?
The overall best Instagram planner app is SocialPilot. The social media scheduling app enables users to customize content, add captions, and schedule posts in advance. With the Calendar view, users can even drag and drop posts to configure their Instagram grid for a consistent aesthetic. SocialPilot also provides detailed analytics, so users can track their Instagram performance over time and make data-driven decisions.
Is there a planner for Instagram?
There are many planners for Instagram that enable social media marketers to save time without sacrificing their Instagram presence. Some of the best Instagram planners include SocialPilot, Planoly, Later, and Hootsuite. While each Instagram post planner has its own unique set of features, all of them help Instagram professionals manage their Instagram content and optimize performance.
How do you use an Instagram planner?
Using an Instagram post planner is straightforward. First, choose the Instagram planner that’s best suited for your social media needs. Then, design and upload content to your calendar and begin scheduling posts for the dates and times your audience is most active. Finally, use the Instagram planner’s analytics to track your Instagram performance, and make changes to your Instagram marketing strategy as needed.
Are Instagram planners free?
Most Instagram planners offer a free trial or a more limited free tier. For a complete free Instagram planner, try Preview which offers a 1-user and 1-device package with basic analytics. For a more full-featured solution, SocialPilot offers a 14-day free trial Professional plan which can be used to manage up to 10 social media accounts at once.
About the Author
SocialPilot
SocialPilot is the best Instagram planner app on the block. With bulk scheduling, team collaboration, and advanced analytics, SocialPilot makes it easy to manage multiple social media accounts, including Instagram, in one place.
Now we know what you’re thinking — biased much? But hear us out!
SocialPilot’s bread and butter is social media scheduling and we have many Instagram organizer features You can create posts, Reels, and Stories, schedule them in advance, and automate your content calendar. Plus, our Instagram content planner helps you better understand your audience with a robust analytics dashboard and respond to both comments and messages from the app.
Let’s dive into some of SocialPilot’s Instagram planner based features to help you streamline your social media management.
Features
What People Say About Us
Laura W.
Social Pilot makes it super easy to schedule posts across multiple platforms, and it’s something I can trust to work with my clients. No hesitation on my end when signing up new organizations!.