Attention all Instagram marketers!
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 content planner, especially if you have multiple accounts.
These Instagram planner apps not only help manage all the content being published on multiple accounts, they also allow you to maintain consistency with their posts, analyze the results, and monitor their audience growth.
An Instagram planner is a great way to streamline your Instagram marketing and take advantage of the following features:
- Preview your grid: Instagram grid, which is the at-a-glance representation of all your posts in one space, is the first thing any visitor to your profile would see. Hence it is vital that the appearance of the feed hold a certain aesthetic appeal. Manually planning a proper grid view for your profile takes a lot of time and effort. An Instagram feed planner tool, also called an Instagram grid planner, lets you readily preview your Instagram grid before publishing your posts. This helps you 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.
The tool also has Instagram grid planner features. This enables users to see how their posts would look in the grid view of their profiles and move them around before scheduling. This helps maintain the overall theme and appearance of the profile.
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
- Explore advanced follower insights to better understand your audience
- Integrate your Canva and Unsplash accounts for seamless uploads
- Plan your profile’s aesthetic by previewing and scheduling your posts in grid-view using Planoly’s Instagram grid planner feature
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. This Instagram feed planner 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 profile view before posting using Instagram’s feed planner feature
- 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…
Best for:
Creators, freelancers, agencies, social media managers and small businesses.
About Later
From starting as an Instagram scheduling tool to evolving into a dynamic social media marketing software, Later has changed significantly. In 2022, the tool joined forces with Mavrk, an enterprise-level influencer marketing platform. But, above all else, the tool is a visual marketing platform. Later provides its users with an all-in-one dashboard where they can plan their social media content from start to finish for six different platforms.
Later, has been explicitly designed to simplify social media management for creators, agencies, social media managers, and growing businesses. The user-friendly UI of this tool makes Later an ideal choice to take care of all aspects of your social media efforts with ease.
The tool helps its users achieve their business objectives, guiding them to the best time for maximum engagement. But its focus has always been facilitating Instagram marketing, designated features just for the platform.
The streamlined software is ideal for the use of individual social media managers or creators, but Later lacks any structured approval workflows for larger teams.
Pricing:
Later presents three subscription choices, each accompanied by a 14-day complimentary trial period. The system presents a no-cost option, followed by paid levels starting with Starter, valued at $25, Growth at $45, and the final choice, the Advanced option, priced at $80.
Key Features:
- Scheduling Hub:Centralize your social media content planning, creation, and management in one efficient platform. Later also facilitates user-generated content (UGC) scheduling for your profiles.
- Social Inbox: Easily consolidate incoming comments, messages, and brand mentions from multiple channels to boost engagement and response effectiveness.
- Robust Analytics:Dive deep into extensive data on engagement rates, impressions, follower growth, and click-throughs across your diverse social profiles.
- Linkin.bio Page Integration:Create a compact landing page and link it to your TikTok and Instagram bios, enhancing profile visibility and driving conversions.
- AI-Powered Captions:Harness Later’s AI-driven assistance for rapid and impactful social media caption crafting with just a few clicks.
We’ve compiled numerous genuine user opinions of Later from G2 and Capterra, conducting a thorough examination focused on crucial features relevant to practical application. From this examination, we’ve extracted the following observations.
Pros
- Later’s scheduling features have garnered an overall positive response from its user base, with 67% stating that it streamlines their daily social media activities.
- Efficiency in workflow, particularly in scheduling and rescheduling posts from dashboards, has been attributed to the automation capabilities by three-quarters of all users.
- Almost 83.3% of users have praised bulk scheduling as one of the top features, citing the ability to schedule a month or more worth of posts as a key reason.
- A quarter (25%) of the entire user base perceives Later as a cost-effective scheduling option compared to other tools.
- The drag-and-drop functionality facilitating easy content uploading has led 66.5% of current Later users to commend the platform for its high ease of use.
Cons
- The regular disconnection of social media accounts leads to interruptions in platform connectivity, a concern raised by 66.7% of reviewers who express the need to reconnect their accounts continually.
- Technical issues preventing the posting of carousels and Instagram Stories have been voiced by a significant majority of users, precisely 81.4%.
- Dissatisfaction arises in 66% of users due to the limitations on connecting additional accounts imposed by pricing tiers.
- The interface of Later is considered lacking in intuitiveness by more than 50% of users.
- Some users openly mention that the basic plans lack advanced functionalities, compelling them to upgrade to a higher plan that proves to be unaffordable.
Best for:
Professionals, Small teams, Small-medium businesses, and Enterprises.
About Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a versatile social media tool, catering to the marketing needs of businesses of all kinds. It integrates multiple social media platforms into one dashboard for its users, making it convenient for them to oversee it all without any hassle.
Marketing agencies and enterprises, in particular in streamlining and overseeing the management of multiple social channels. The tool has also proved to be highly effective in planning content strategy for multiple Instagram accounts. The majority of Hootsuite users cover industries like education, finance, government, and healthcare helping brands establish a consistent presence on social channels.
The tool’s feature-extensive dashboard helps in keeping a constant eye on the conversations happening on their pages. However, the design of its UI often proves to be difficult for users to grasp in comparison to other Instagram planners.
Pricing:
Hootsuite offers five pricing tiers after a 30-day trial, ranging from $99/month to $249/month, catering to different social account and user needs.
Key Features:
- Instagram Scheduling: Schedule and publish multiple posts simultaneously at your preferred times.
- Audience Engagement: Effortlessly manage conversations on Instagram with followers and leverage AI chatbots for automated responses.
- Social Listening: Stay updated on trends, monitor brand mentions, keywords, and hashtags for valuable insights into public sentiment.
- Social Media Ads: Manage Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn ad campaigns within Hootsuite’s intuitive dashboard.
- Analytics: Access comprehensive analytics data from connected profiles across various platforms, conveniently displayed in a centralized dashboard.
- Collaboration: Enhance teamwork by assigning clear roles for efficient workflow and project management.
- AI Writer: Use AI-powered writing tools to streamline the creation of engaging Instagram post captions for faster and more effective content generation.
We went through a hundred user reviews for Hootsuite, gathered from trusted review platforms like G2 and Capterra. After carefully analyzing each of them in respect to all the features of the tool, we have gathered these insights.
Pros
- A majority of users find Hootsuite’s content publishing capabilities on multiple platforms quite useful.
- According to 58.44% of the opinions, advanced scheduling made it easy for people to readily plan and post their content promptly and consistently. This saved a lot of their time.
- Hootsuite’s content calendar proved to be very effective in visualizing strategy and easily rescheduling posts from one date to another.
- 64.71% of users agreed that the visual content editing capabilities of the tool proved to be assets for content creation on the platform.
- When it came to managing platform-specific limitations, 43.86% users said that Hootsuite does a good job.
Cons
- Almost half of the user reviews have expressed their dissatisfaction about the steep pricing for the advanced publishing features of Hootsuite.
- 41.56% people faced difficulties in using the tool due to the complex scheduling process involved.
- 88.9% of Hootsuite users have regularly encountered bugs and faced errors while publishing content through the tool.
- Around 9.09% of users have had a difficult time while using the mobile application of Hootsuite to schedule posts.
- According to 39.47% people, the management of platform-specific limitations by Hootsuite leaves a lot to be desired.
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
Best for:
Businesses, Publishers, Non-profits, Mid-stage startup teams, Higher education, Solopreneurs, E-commerce, and Sports teams.
About Buffer
In the competitive landscape, Buffer stands apart as one of the user-friendly options. The tool seamlessly caters to the demands of businesses of all shapes and sizes. The tool has a user base spanning the realms of e-commerce, NGOs, educational institutions, and sports entities. Buffer assists these industries in driving social media growth organically.
Due to multiple functionalities like content management, engaging with the audience, or analytics monitoringcoming together under Buffer, users don’t need any other tool.
Buffer provides a free plan for managing up to 3 social accounts, but full access to all features requires payment per connected account. This pricing model can be challenging for budget-conscious businesses with numerous accounts to manage.
Pricing:
Buffer provides a range of four pricing options along with a 14-day trial period for each. There is a free plan for beginners. Paid plans range from $6 a month for one account to a monthly $120 for 10 accounts.
Key Features:
- Content Scheduling: Create customized posts and utilize Buffer’s scheduling capabilities to automate their publishing.
- Performance Analytics: Access in-depth analytics and generate comprehensive, shareable reports for each linked social profile.
- Audience Engagement: Manage audience messages and comments effortlessly, prioritizing impactful interactions via Buffer’s advanced social inbox.
- Collaborative Workflow:Seamlessly collaborate with your entire team and involve clients in the social media content approval process.
- Start Page Creator: Harness the Start Page feature to craft visually appealing yet straightforward landing pages, effectively converting social media traffic into sales.
- AI-Powered Assistance: Buffer streamlines the creation of social media captions with its AI Assistant, making content generation faster and more efficient through user prompts.
After sifting through numerous user reviews of Buffer sourced from reputable platforms such as G2 and Capterra, we meticulously examined each one, considering all aspects of the tool. From this thorough analysis, we’ve compiled the following insights.
Pros
- Approximately 20% of Buffer users found that maintaining social media consistency became more manageable with the tool’s content scheduling capabilities.
- A majority, accounting for 60% of users, appreciate the bulk scheduling capability, enabling the planning and scheduling of numerous posts across various social accounts simultaneously.
- The post-publishing dashboard in Buffer was lauded by 36.4% of reviewers for its ease of use, requiring minimal training.
- The ability to preview social media posts before publishing, aiding content visualization, received praise from 18.20% of users.
- Nearly 40% of users value the analytical insights provided by Buffer for effective social media strategy planning.
Cons
- Some of the users, around 14.30% of them, have faced time zones and timing-related issues when scheduling posts for audience in disparate time zones.
- At least 30% of the reviews have pointed out the content management abilities to be limited and in need to improvement.
- Content editing becomes difficult once it has been uploaded or scheduled through Buffer. This has been raised as a concern by 20% of users.
- Every one out of three Buffer users faced difficulties in content recycling and reporting older posts.
- 33% of users have mentioned the lack of real-time analytics for them creates obstacles in staying updated on their social media performance.
If you’re looking for a social media management tool that strikes a perfect balance between premium features and affordable pricing plans, Loomly is the way to go.
Loomly’s clients range from solo content creators to small businesses/agencies as well as large enterprises. The tool’s core functionalities are developed keeping in mind the different pain points that social media managers face in their day-to-day activities.
From publishing and post analysis to enhancing audience engagement, Loomly provides an all-in-form platform with access to some standout features that help optimize a brand’s social media management strategies.
In spite of its effectiveness, Loomly loses a few points on account of its user interface which is slightly tricky to get used to. Brave the learning curve and you have a great tool on your hands.
Key Features:
- Seamless Scheduling: Loomly helps you plan your content in advance with its ability to automate social media posting. Schedule your posts all at once and let the tool do the rest for you.
- Centralized Content Hub: A central Content Library lets you store all your photos, videos, links, or post templates in advance ready to use whenever you need them.
- Feature-rich post creator: Craft effective social media content with the help of UTM parameters, Hashtag manager, and optimization tips as well as integrations like Unsplash, Giphy, and more.
- Effective Collaboration Features: Review processes are a breeze on Loomly with easy approval workflows. Comment functionality helps team members communicate easily on all your content.
- Optimize Engagement: Build a strong relationship with your user base by engaging with them. Respond consistently to messages, comments, and reactions across all the different platforms.
- Measure Success With Insights: Make the best of detailed insights available for your content to gauge the success of your social media marketing activities.
Pros
- The platform-specific customization of content allows your posts to get a better reach and earn engagement from the audience.
- The Instagram grid view planner enables users to create and maintain a aesthetic view of their profiles.
- Loomly’s labeling system for posts helps in finding past content pieces which have been published and repost them.
Sara B.
I love that Loomly allows you to start with generic content, and then customize it for each social media channel. Each channel has its own unique nuances so being able to adjust the content and photos for each channel in on place is really nice. It’s easy to use and has a lot of features packed in. The metrics being all in once place is really great too.
Cons
- Loomly poses limitations for image and video, not allowing them to post them in their full sizes.
- Instagram posting with Loomly can be complicated if there are profile or image tags involved.
- Loomly has very basic analytical insights compared to its competitors.
Melissa M.
The analytics reporting could be more in depth. As an agency it would be more benficial to have a more in depth comaprison between months. More options to schedule to more than one Pinterest board at a time.
Best for:
Mid-sized businesses, mid-sized agencies, and some enterprise brands.
About Sendible
Sendible has positioned itself as a recognized solution for contemporary social media management, primarily serving brands and agencies. The platform aids in efficiently managing social media tasks on a large scale, empowering clients to connect with their audience seamlessly from a unified hub.
With a diverse user base encompassing small to mid-sized enterprises and digital marketing agencies, Sendible delivers a robust feature set for swift solutions. This makes it one of the go-to for Instagram planning.
Whether an individual striving to establish your social media presence or a comprehensive social media team aiming to optimize processes, Sendible provides a centralized and user-friendly platform, enhancing your social media management endeavors.
The only downside? Sendible doesn’t quite reach the mark in terms of affordability, and the quality of customer support may not meet all expectations.
Pricing:
Sendible provides four paid plan options, and instead of offering a free plan, it provides a 14-day free trial period. The plans range from Creator, priced at $29, Traction for $89, White Label for $240, to the last plan, White Label+ plan, which is priced at $750.
Key Features:
- Content Posting:Sendible handles content scheduling needs on Instagram and other major social channels, allowing you to craft and plan posts to automate the content creation flow.
- Analytical Insights: Gain an understanding of your content’s performance and receive information on audience interactions through comprehensive analytics for all your posts.
- Team Collaboration:Enhance task management by collaborating efficiently with your team and clients, paving the way for smooth workflows and approval procedures.
- White Label:Boost your earnings with entirely adaptable tools for social media management that can be customized for your clients.
We have gathered multiple authentic Sendible user reviews from G2 and Capterra and meticulously analyzed them in regard to the major features important in terms of use case. Based on this study, we have gleaned the following insights.
Pros
- Nearly 78% of Sendible users have admired the tool’s advanced content scheduling features, allowing them to streamline their everyday social media tasks.
- Approximately three-quarters of Sendible users find content-management features such as the content library, content calendar, and visual content editor extremely valuable for centralizing their workflow for social media management.
- 6% of users have praised Sendible’s ability to recycle content, assisting them in utilizing high-quality content while maintaining a consistent approach.
- Among the highlighted advantages in the content automation section, 13% of users acknowledged bulk scheduling as one of the most crucial features.
- A notable 20% of users emphasized that the user-friendly design of the content calendar simplifies the planning and monitoring of their content strategy.
Cons
- Almost 24% have encountered hindrances in crafting posts.
- Live posting failures, a concern raised by 57% of reviewers, have caused disruptions in their planned schedules.
- Content customization has received critiques from 23.10% of users, who express that it lacks depth and flexibility.
- Bulk scheduling, while deemed effective by some, is flagged by 20% of Sendible users for needing substantial improvements, particularly in the content uploading process.
- Users note discrepancies in the visual content calendar, suggesting it requires refinement for enhanced strategy visualization.
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
What is the best Instagram planner app?
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.
Is Instagram planner 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 content planner features. You can create posts, Reels, and Stories, schedule them in advance, and automate your content calendar. Plus, the Instagram planner app 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 SocialPilot
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!.