Top 17 Instagram Scheduling Apps and Tools to Automate Your Posts in 2024

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If you’re a casual social media user, it’s easy enough to make your posts directly within your social media accounts. This is particularly so if you just have one account. If you’re somebody who takes a casual shot which you share via Instagram, you can easily enough arrange this directly in the Instagram app.

However, if you have more heavy-duty needs, you will probably find it much easier to use a social media management app. This is particularly the case if you schedule multiple social accounts, or where you like to schedule your posts to be delivered to set times of the week.

Initially, most of the social media management apps restricted themselves to Facebook and Twitter, perhaps also adding LinkedIn. More recently, however, many of these apps have discovered the popularity of Instagram and added it to their roster. Thanks to Instagram’s API, it is not always as simple to schedule Instagram posts from within an app as it is others, particularly Twitter. But some of these social media managers seem to have made the process much more straightforward than others.

The main reason why some of these apps face difficulties with Instagram publishing is that Facebook (the company) now gives very close scrutiny to all applications to use the Instagram Content Publishing API. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, however, they have put this process on hold. Apps that went through the process before this decision have a clear advantage over companies who had not reached the top of the queue.


Best Instagram Scheduling Apps & Tools:

Top
instagram scheduling apps tools
2024

1. Brandwatch Social Media Management

Brandwatch Social Media Management

Brandwatch is a social media listening, publishing, advertising, measurement, and customer data management platform. The company operates globally, with offices in New York, Berlin, Budapest, Sofia, Melbourne, and Chennai.

Brandwatch offers a unified calendar that provides a view of all scheduled content. It shows posts scheduled by date and clearly identifiable by social platforms. You will easily be able to distinguish your upcoming Instagram posts from your next YouTube video or the series of tweets you intend to send.

If you are part of a larger team, Brandwatch’s Campaign Planner helps you develop social campaigns in collaboration with team members. Brandwatch handles permissions by having a set of roles, approval processes, and an audit trail to boost quality. It also provides access to agencies to smooth your collaborative processes.

Brandwatch supports a variety of post types, including images, videos, and Instagram Stories. It stores content centrally in a Content Pool. 

You can promote posts through Facebook and Instagram ads within Publish, a clean and intuitive tool that manages all ads in one place.

Brandwatch provides in-depth analytics, particularly for Facebook and Instagram, tracking over 600 metrics. 

If you subscribe to the Full Suite, you have access to Brandwatch’s social listening tools. They give you a clear picture of what’s happening and who’s involved. You can use them to track trends, monitor your brand, create custom queries, track sentiment across multiple languages, filter extensively, identify influencers, and much more.

Brandwatch also helps with social engagement. You can design a centralized inbox, including multiple feeds, labels, and filters.

Key features:

  • Unified calendar for viewing scheduled content.
  • Campaign Planner for team collaboration.
  • Role-based permissions.
  • Agency collaboration.
  • Support for various post types: images, videos, and Instagram Stories.
  • Centralized Content Pool for storing content.
  • Facebook and Instagram ad promotion within the Publish tool.
  • In-depth analytics tracking.
  • Access to social listening tools.
  • Centralized inbox for social engagement.

Pricing:

Brandwatch offers customized solutions for:

  • Researchers and Analysts
  • Social Media Managers
  • Influencer Marketers

By arranging a meeting, users get a detailed price breakdown.

Brandwatch Social Media Management
4.8 out of 5 stars
A consumer intelligence platform, a social media marketing platform, and an influencer marketing platform were all acquired and forced to play well with each other—and they do!
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
5.0
Ease of Use
4.5
Support
5.0
Overall Score
4.8
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Social Media Monitoring
Hashtag Tracking
Sentiment Analysis
Reputation Management
Social Media Management
Price on request
Pros and Cons
Consumer Intelligence product uses social listening to help brands understand what people want
Audience tools give deep insights into the aggregate AND individuals
Newly added TikTok support goes further than you’d expect
Confusing array of products and services from three different companies
No multi-channel posts; you have to add a post to a channel one at a time
Best for: Mid to Large-sized Businesses
Brandwatch Social Media Management
4.8 out of 5 stars
A consumer intelligence platform, a social media marketing platform, and an influencer marketing platform were all acquired and forced to play well with each other—and they do!

2. Loomly

Loomly

Loomly has a mission to make social media management a more structured and less complex feat for social media managers. It operates with five pricing tiers, ranging from $26 per month up to $269/month (with custom pricing for the top Enterprise tier). Even the Basic plan is useful for those with those operating ten or fewer social accounts.

You begin by setting up a calendar, including a time zone and industry. Loomly gives you the option of scheduling posts directly from the application or working with Buffer for scheduling purposes (although the latter suffers from some limitations).  You then attach your social accounts. Loomly does not yet allow native Instagram automated post publishing, so you must use a third-party app. Once Loomly has worked through access issues with Instagram’s API, they will be improving their Instagram offerings.

Loomly has a strong emphasis on workflows. If you have more than one team member, the typical workflow is:

  • Draft
  • Pending Approval
  • Requires Edits
  • Approved
  • Scheduled
  • Published

The standard practice for a new post (unless you set otherwise) is:

  1. Set Post Details
  2. Select Social Channels
  3. Define Generic Content
  4. Fine-Tune Each Channel

Key features:

  • Calendar setup with time zone and industry categorization.
  • Direct post scheduling or integration with Buffer for scheduling.
  • Workflow emphasis: Draft, Pending Approval, Requires Edits, Approved, Scheduled, Published.
  • Multi-step post creation: Set Post Details, Select Social Channels, Define Generic Content, Fine-Tune Each Channel.
  • Non-native Instagram automated post publishing (requires third-party app).

Pricing:

Loomly provides yearly billing with monthly rates that begin at $26/mo (equivalent to $312/year) and extend to $269/mo (totaling $3,228/year). They also offer an Enterprise package upon inquiry.

Loomly
4.5 out of 5 stars
This cloud-based marketing solution works best for freelancers, influencers and social media managers looking to best manage content on social media platforms.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.1
Ease of Use
4.6
Support
4.7
Overall Score
4.5
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Customer Targeting
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Customer Engagement
Multi-User Collaboration
Reporting/Analytics
Price starting at:$32
Pros and Cons
Intuitive management tool
Inexpensive
Easy to learn platform
Requires additional integrations for some social publishing
Too many bots may bother users
Calendar function may be hard to access
Best for: Agencies, freelancers, startups, non profit organizations, influencers & individuals
Loomly
4.5 out of 5 stars
This cloud-based marketing solution works best for freelancers, influencers and social media managers looking to best manage content on social media platforms.

3. Sendible

Sendible

Sendible’s approach to social media management is a little different compared to most; they make use of Services. Services are like channels or profiles that you create within your Sendible account. They allow you to select which features you need from a social platform.

Sendible allows you to work with all the main social networks and blogging platforms, offering different features for each channel. You can use Sendible to publish photos and videos directly to Instagram Business Profiles, and to schedule carousel posts with in-app notifications and monitor hashtags and analytics.

In includes various integration. One useful one for Instagram users is that you can create social media graphics with Canva and schedule them to your profiles and pages without leaving Sendible.

Sendible includes a Priority Inbox, which is a combined inbox with all your important messages. However, messages must be set up as alerts to appear in your Priority Inbox.

Key Features:

  • Services feature to customize features needed from a social platform.
  • Direct publishing to Instagram Business Profiles, carousel scheduling, hashtag monitoring, and analytics.
  • Integration with Canva for graphic creation and scheduling.
  • Priority Inbox for aggregating important messages (with setup alerts).

Pricing:

Sendible has three plans: Creator at $29/mo for freelancers, Traction at $89/mo for startups with 4 users, and a White Label option at $240/mo. Each includes a 14-day free trial.

Sendible
4.8 out of 5 stars
Sendible’s ease of use and social scheduling capabilities make the platform ideal for businesses of all sizes, from sole traders to enterprises and agencies. No matter who you are, you will find a plan suitable for your needs, with each plan including all you need to manage your social accounts but scaling to add those additional features needed by larger organizations.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.6
Ease of Use
5.0
Reporting
4.9
Overall Score
4.8
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Price starting at:$25
Pros and Cons
Excellent social scheduling features
Smart queues ensure you always have evergreen content to share
Centralized social engagement platform
Canva and other useful integrations
Value for money
Pricing tiers can be confusing
Best for: Businesses of all sizes and agencies
Sendible
4.8 out of 5 stars
Sendible’s ease of use and social scheduling capabilities make the platform ideal for businesses of all sizes, from sole traders to enterprises and agencies. No matter who you are, you will find a plan suitable for your needs, with each plan including all you need to manage your social accounts but scaling to add those additional features needed by larger organizations.

4. Iconosquare

Iconosquare

Iconosquare is a robust social media management platform with a strong emphasis on Instagram scheduling. It offers automatic posting for single-image posts, videos, stories, carousels, and reels. The platform ensures that you can plan, organize, and analyze your Instagram content effectively.

To enable automatic posting, users need to be both an Admin or Editor of the linked Facebook page and an Admin or Manager of the Iconosquare account. Once set up, scheduling posts is straightforward.

Iconosquare also offers a media library, allowing users to store, organize, and easily access their content. The platform supports first comment scheduling, post-approval, and collaboration, ensuring a streamlined content posting process.

One of the platform’s strengths is its analytics. Once your post is live, you can access detailed analytics to gauge its performance.

Key Features:

  • Media library.
  • First comment scheduling.
  • Cross-posting.
  • Post-performance insights.

Pricing:

Iconosquare offers three pricing tiers. The Pro plan is priced at $49/month, the Advanced plan at $99/month, and the Enterprise plan at $179/month.

Iconosquare
4.4 out of 5 stars
Manage your social media and your analytics all in one place with Iconosquare. Businesses and agencies can easily manage the performance of their content as well as analytics, posting, and more. The platform supports Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.4
Ease of Use
4.4
Support
4.4
Overall Score
4.4
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Social Media Management
Price starting at:$29
Pros and Cons
Evolving functionality
Industry benchmarks
Competitive analysis features
Excellent automated posts
Customer support may not be helpful
Some features may glitch
Some platforms are not included
Best for: Brands and Agencies
Iconosquare
4.4 out of 5 stars
Manage your social media and your analytics all in one place with Iconosquare. Businesses and agencies can easily manage the performance of their content as well as analytics, posting, and more. The platform supports Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.

5. Agorapulse

Agorapulse

AgoraPulse is a fully-featured social media management program with an extremely user-friendly interface. It has an easy set-up process, even for the potentially tricky Instagram.

The heart of AgoraPulse is its Inbox. It shows your comments, mentions, conversations, and reviews relating to each of your social accounts.

AgoraPulse provides a variety of ways to publish content. The Publishing tab takes you to a calendar, showing the current period with the social messages you have scheduled, queued, published, sent to approval, had assigned to you, or failed. You can schedule a post simply by clicking on the appropriate time slot.

The app includes a social listening function that works similarly to the Inbox. You clearly see your backlog items in both your Inbox and Social Listening modules each time you open the software.

It has even more power when you use the bulk publish feature. This lets you import a series of posts from a CSV file, a website using RSS feeds, or as a group of pictures to transform into posts. You can then use these to create a queue.

You can upload images and make posts from these. This is particularly useful if you’re active on Instagram.

Key Features:

  • User-friendly interface with easy set-up.
  • Centralized Inbox showing comments, mentions, conversations, and reviews.
  • Publishing tab with a calendar overview of social messages’ status.
  • Post scheduling by clicking on the time slot.
  • Social listening function integrated with the Inbox.
  • Bulk publishing feature using CSV files, RSS feeds, or group of pictures.
  • Ability to upload images and create posts, particularly for Instagram.

Pricing:

Agorapulse’s annual plans range from $49 to $119 per user/month, with custom options for unique business requirements.

Agorapulse
4.5 out of 5 stars
Agorapulse is a social media management platform stocked full of features for individuals, businesses, and enterprises. Their added listening tool helps users monitor brand mentions. Features include a variety of ways to publish content, reporting, analytics, and more.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.0
Ease of Use
4.6
Support
4.8
Overall Score
4.5
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Content Management
Conversion Tracking
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Reporting/Analytics
Social Media Monitoring
Competitive Analysis
Scheduling
Social Media Calendar
Social Media Management
Team Workflow & Collaboration
Social Media Listening
Price starting at:$49
Pros and Cons
Easy social media management
Simple platform
Makes it easy not to double reply etc
Lack of post editing features
Limited third party integrations
Engagement platform can be difficult to use
Best for: Mid-sized agencies, mid-sized businesses and some enterprise brands.
Agorapulse
4.5 out of 5 stars
Agorapulse is a social media management platform stocked full of features for individuals, businesses, and enterprises. Their added listening tool helps users monitor brand mentions. Features include a variety of ways to publish content, reporting, analytics, and more.

6. PromoRepublic

PromoRepublic

PromoRepublic’s point of difference is its strong design focus. You can design beautiful posts without leaving the app, with no need to open any separate graphics software. You can use it to schedule and share posts with all the major social networks, including Instagram.

You can set a posting schedule for different types of posts. You organize your posting schedules across a centralized calendar. 

Post ideas are at the heart of PromoRepublic.  It comes with 100,000 post ideas, and these cover a wide range of topics. Most of these post ideas come pre-designed, with eye-catching graphics that you can easily modify and customize their post ideas to suit your business.

The inbuilt graphics editor allows you to select the appropriate dimension for what you want to create with a single click, including the ideal size for Instagram posts and Instagram Stories. If you prefer, however, PromoRepublic offers a design service, where you can buy 20 custom templates for your business.

You can separate your content across different workspaces. You can also set up flows, making it easy to work with a team, incorporating any approvals where necessary.

Key Features:

  • Strong design focus with in-app post creation.
  • Centralized calendar for posting schedules.
  • Library with post ideas.
  • Inbuilt graphics editor with dimension options for various post types.
  • Design service.
  • Separation of content across different workspaces.
  • Team collaboration with content flows and approval processes.

Pricing:

PromoRepublic’s plans begin at $49/mo for single-location businesses, $79/mo for agencies, with custom rates for multi-location firms. Annual billing offers up to a 25% discount.

PromoRepublic
4.4 out of 5 stars
PromoRepublic is an all-in-one marketing platform for global businesses and marketers. The easy-to-use platform helps improve visibility, boost sales, and eliminate inconsistent communication.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.0
Ease of Use
4.6
Support
4.5
Overall Score
4.4
Features & Pricing
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Brand Tracking
Multi-User Collaboration
Reporting/Analytics
Price starting at:$49
Pros and Cons
Excellent automation for scheduling
Saved post functionality
Free educational resources
No bulk upload feature
Lack of third party plugin and app integration
No collaboration feature for clients
Best for: Franchise and Multi-Location Brands, Direct Sales Organizations, Marketing Agencies, Small Business Owners, Marketers.
PromoRepublic
4.4 out of 5 stars
PromoRepublic is an all-in-one marketing platform for global businesses and marketers. The easy-to-use platform helps improve visibility, boost sales, and eliminate inconsistent communication.

7. HeyOrca

HeyOrca

If optimizing your Instagram content strategy is your goal, you’ll find HeyOrca to be a tool tailored to your unique needs. With its visual scheduling interface, you can plan, preview, and directly schedule your Instagram posts, ensuring that what you see is exactly what your audience will get.

HeyOrca eliminates the need for third-party scheduling apps through its direct publishing feature, streamlining your workflow and allowing you to maintain a consistent posting schedule on Instagram. You’re empowered to work effectively with features that enable your team and clients to provide immediate feedback and approvals within the scheduling calendar, improving communication and project turnaround times.

You can manage multiple client accounts with ease, thanks to HeyOrca’s dedicated calendars and settings for each brand you handle. This is particularly beneficial when managing a diverse client base, as it provides a structured and precise approach to content management.

Key features:

  • A collaborative environment for building client trust.
  • Automated reporting capabilities for visual social media reports.
  • Social media community management from one place.

Pricing:

HeyOrca’s pricing begins with Starter at $29/mo per calendar, with discounts for multiple calendars and a 15% savings on annual plans. Plans scale up to Pro at $149. A free 30-post trial is available. 

HeyOrca
4.5 out of 5 stars
HeyOrca is a social media scheduling platform built for teams. It permits unlimited users on all pricing plans. You can plan, schedule, and publish posts directly to Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Reels, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, & Pinterest, and indirectly to TikTok and Instagram Stories. In addition, you can use it to manage multiple brands, giving each a dedicated social media calendar, media library, and user permissions.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.2
Ease of Use
4.9
Reporting
4.5
Overall Score
4.5
Features & Pricing
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Multi-User Collaboration
Reporting/Analytics
Team Workflow & Collaboration
Content Calendar
Facebook Ads Moderation
Price starting at:$50.15
Pros and Cons
Excellent collaboration and approvals system
Integration with Canva for post designs
Simple interface that shows scheduled posts at a glance
No bulk upload feature or way to reshare others' posts
No engagement-related features (although these are reportedly coming soon)
Limited paid post tracking
Best for: Agencies and teams
HeyOrca
4.5 out of 5 stars
HeyOrca is a social media scheduling platform built for teams. It permits unlimited users on all pricing plans. You can plan, schedule, and publish posts directly to Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Reels, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, & Pinterest, and indirectly to TikTok and Instagram Stories. In addition, you can use it to manage multiple brands, giving each a dedicated social media calendar, media library, and user permissions.

8. Later

Later

Although Later allows you to post to your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest accounts, its main emphasis is on Instagram. It focuses on the visual. Unlike the rest of these social media management apps that start with a social message and then allow you to add an image, Later requires you to start a post by uploading an image. You then add suitable text to the image.

It can be a little challenging to set up the Instagram interconnectivity, but once completed, it is straightforward to use. It even has a Stories button you can use to schedule content for your Instagram Stories.

Later lets you store your graphic images in a Media Library. This allows to show quite some detail about each image you’ve used, add media notes, and even distinguish your used media from you unused media.

You need a Business Profile for your Instagram account if you want to fully use Later’s features – another limitation caused by Instagram’s API rules.

Later includes Conversations in its higher plans. This allows you to manage your Instagram comments directly inside Later.

Key features:

  • Emphasis on Instagram posting with support for Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
  • Visual-first approach: starts with an image followed by text.
  • Scheduling for Instagram Stories.
  • Centralized Media Library for storing and detailing graphic images.
  • In-app Instagram comments management with Conversations feature.
  • Requirements for a Business Profile on Instagram to utilize all features.

Pricing:

Starter, Growth, and Advanced plans are priced at $25, $45, and $80 monthly, with discounts to $16.67, $30, and $53.33 respectively when billed annually.

Later
4.3 out of 5 stars
Later is a calendar-focused social media scheduling platform with a drag-and-drop interface. Their planning and scheduling tools make it easy to visualize your social media management. Features include photo editing, publishing for stories, and more.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.0
Ease of Use
4.5
Support
4.3
Overall Score
4.3
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Reporting/Analytics
Price starting at:$16.67
Pros and Cons
Easy to use, simple interface and media gallery
Competitive pricing plans
"Best time to publish" feature
You need business accounts on social
Limited features compared to competition
Free version has basic features
Best for: Businesses of all sizes
Later
4.3 out of 5 stars
Later is a calendar-focused social media scheduling platform with a drag-and-drop interface. Their planning and scheduling tools make it easy to visualize your social media management. Features include photo editing, publishing for stories, and more.

9. Buffer

Buffer

Buffer makes sharing content extremely easy. Once you’ve hooked up your social accounts, including Instagram, you can easily create a new post within the app. It lets you select the social accounts you want to use. With higher plans, you can content from other sources, such as your favorite blog.

Connecting your Instagram account can be slightly convoluted (thanks to Instagram’s restrictions), but Buffer makes this easier than much of the competition. If you want to schedule to your Instagram account in a similar way you do to your other profiles, you need to have an Instagram Business Profile. If you only have an Instagram Personal Profile, Buffer simply reminds you when to make the posts yourself.

Posting schedules are essential for Buffer to work. You set up a publishing schedule for each of your social accounts, so you won’t need to think about post dates and times when you create posts. Buffer automatically places new posts at the right place in the queue. You can create your own posts inside Buffer, add content with the Buffer browser add-on, or uploading posts from appropriate RSS feeds.

Key Features:

  • Easy content sharing across connected social accounts.
  • Simple post creation process with the ability to select target social accounts.
  • Integration of content from external sources like blogs in higher plans.
  • Requirements for an Instagram Business Profile for similar scheduling as other platforms.
  • Publishing schedule setup for automated post timings.
  • In-app post creation, content addition with Buffer browser add-on, and RSS feed upload capability.

Pricing:

Buffer offers a free plan, Essentials at $6/channel/month, Team at $12/channel/month, and Agency at $120 for ten channels/month. Extra channels incur additional costs.

Buffer
4.4 out of 5 stars
Buffer is one of the most popular social media scheduling platforms. This software helps drive engagement and traffic on social media with the help of their scheduling, engagement, and analytics tools.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.0
Ease of Use
4.6
Support
4.5
Overall Score
4.4
Features & Pricing
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Reporting/Analytics
Price starting at:$5
Pros and Cons
Simple cross-posting
Straightforward calendar view
Integrates with almost every social platform
Buffer Analyze may be too basic for some
Buffer may glitch with Instagram
Arbitrary character limits for Facebook, Twitter
Pay-as-you-go packaging
Best for: Publishers, mid-stage startup teams, non-profits, higher education, sports teams, e-commerce, solopreneurs, businesses
Buffer
4.4 out of 5 stars
Buffer is one of the most popular social media scheduling platforms. This software helps drive engagement and traffic on social media with the help of their scheduling, engagement, and analytics tools.

10. Meet Edgar

Meet Edgar

Meet Edgar offers just one plan. It is not as fully featured as some others in the market, but Meet Edgar is excellent for businesses that simply want to concentrate on queuing and delivering content.

Meet Edgar involves you scheduling different categories of posts across your social networks. You begin this process by defining categories. There are default categories (General, My Blog Posts, Promotions & Specials, and Recommended Reads). However, you can add to or adapt these categories to fit the way you run your social accounts. 

You create a weekly recurring schedule for each of your social accounts. You can decide on the category of post you wish to share in any slot, or you can tell Edgar to select posts randomly.

You can either create your own posts within Meet Edgar or import external content. When you create a post, you can choose from all your connected accounts, although there are some combinations not permitted. You give each post a category and then enter its content, including any images or videos you want to share. You can import content either by connecting an RSS feed for your favorite blog or importing a CSV spreadsheet containing multiple posts.

You manage your content in Edgar’s Library. Once you approve enough content, Edgar creates a queue for the next two weeks. It matches your queue to your schedule and categories. It takes relevant posts from the library and places it in your queue in the correct slot for its category.

You currently need the Meet Edgar mobile app to be able to work with Instagram. Once you’ve connected the mobile app with your Instagram account, Edgar allows you to schedule Instagram Stories and feed posts for Instagram from your desktop, much like you schedule content for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Key Features:

  • One-plan offering focused on content queuing and delivery.
  • Scheduling based on predefined or customizable categories.
  • Weekly recurring schedule setup for each social account.
  • Content creation or external content import (RSS feed or CSV).
  • Content management in Edgar’s Library with automated queuing.
  • Instagram Stories and feed posts scheduling via the mobile app.

Pricing:

Meet Edgar presents two pricing tiers: The “Eddie Monthly Plan” for $29.99/month tailored for beginners and side hustlers, accommodating 5 social accounts among other functionalities. For a more comprehensive range of services, the “Edgar Monthly Plan” is available at $49.99/month.

Meet Edgar
4.4 out of 5 stars
This cloud-based social media management platform helps users manage multiple social acocunts in one platform. MeetEdgar specializes in recycling evergreen posts and content. Features include automation, a stacked content library, image and video support, email updates, link tracking and more.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.2
Ease of Use
4.4
Support
4.6
Overall Score
4.4
Features & Pricing
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Multi-User Collaboration
Price starting at:$24.91
Pros and Cons
Easy post recycling options
"Best time to publish" feature
Expensive price points
User interface can be difficult to use
Lack of platform integration
Best for: Businesses of all sizes
Meet Edgar
4.4 out of 5 stars
This cloud-based social media management platform helps users manage multiple social acocunts in one platform. MeetEdgar specializes in recycling evergreen posts and content. Features include automation, a stacked content library, image and video support, email updates, link tracking and more.

11. Sprout Social

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is one of the more professional social media management platforms, but it lacks a free or cheap plan. It clearly targets larger organizations with more heavy-duty needs.

It features a Smart Inbox that collects all your social messages. You can opt to combine all your inboxes into one or keep them separate. You can select the types of messages you want to show here.

Amongst other things, you can use the Feeds tab to monitor your chosen Instagram hashtags.

You can easily create content for all your social accounts, adding graphics, links, and other material as needed. The calendar shows all the social posts you’ve made and scheduled.

You can set up the entire approval process, making team management a seamless process.

Sprout Social includes a social listening module to uncover trends, analyze sentiment, and extract actionable insights from social conversations to better inform your marketing strategy.

Sprout Social provides an extraordinary range of reports – everything from cross-network paid performance, to comparing your Twitter profiles with your competitors to see how you stand up, to analysis of your Instagram performance.

Key Features:

  • Smart Inbox for collecting all social messages.
  • Feeds tab for monitoring selected Instagram hashtags.
  • Content creation with graphics, links, etc., and a calendar overview.
  • Approval process for team collaboration.
  • Social listening module for trend analysis and insights.
  • Comprehensive reporting, including competitor analysis and platform-specific insights.

Pricing:

Sprout Social provides social media plans starting at $249/mo, with higher tiers at $399/mo and $499/mo. A 30-day free trial is available, and custom pricing for Enterprise needs can be discussed. Additional user fees apply to all plans.

Sprout Social
4.4 out of 5 stars
Sprout Social is a popular social media management platform that offers schedule, analytics and engagement tools. Manage your social media from one place with their all-in-one platform and get insights to understand your audience and your KPIs. Data-driven ingiths help businesses improve responsiveness.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.5
Ease of Use
4.4
Support
4.3
Overall Score
4.4
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Content Management
Conversion Tracking
Customer Targeting
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Brand Tracking
Reporting/Analytics
Social Media Monitoring
Price starting at:$249
Pros and Cons
Easy to navigate interface
User-friendly publishing calendar
Robust reporting
Competitive analysis features
Expensive price tag
Support can be slow
Lack of native support for some social networks
Best for: Brands and organizations of all sizes
Sprout Social
4.4 out of 5 stars
Sprout Social is a popular social media management platform that offers schedule, analytics and engagement tools. Manage your social media from one place with their all-in-one platform and get insights to understand your audience and your KPIs. Data-driven ingiths help businesses improve responsiveness.

12. Crowdfire

Crowdfire

Crowdfire is designed to assist you by discovering, curating, and scheduling content, plus managing your social accounts in a single place. Through the app, you can search for articles and images that your audience will appreciate and then share them effortlessly to all your social media profiles, which will keep your timelines always updated.

Creating beautiful posts as quickly as possible is another benefit of using Crowdfire. With the app, you can monitor the updates from your blog, website, or online shops and then publish content that you can share with ease on all your social media profiles. Thanks to Crowdfire’s scheduling feature – you can also prepare your posts in advance and schedule them to get published automatically at the most optimal time.

Crowdfire also makes it simple for you to curate articles and images for your accounts. Using thousands of sources from across the web, the app will curate articles for you, giving you more time to perfect your content strategy. 

For images – Crowdfire is the only social media management tool that recommends images that you can use to curate photos that you can share on Instagram.

The app’s analytics tool is nothing to sneeze at either. Crowdfire comes with a report builder designed to help you build and share custom reports that contain the data points that you want to emphasize. You also have access to advance and competitor analytics tools, which will help you understand your ROI thoroughly and use the information to fine-tune your strategies.

Key Features:

  • Content discovery, curation, scheduling, and account management.
  • Article and image search for audience-targeted content.
  • Quick post creation with automatic scheduling at optimal times.
  • Content curation from thousands of web sources.
  • Image recommendations for Instagram.
  • Customizable analytics reports with advanced and competitor analysis tools.

Pricing:

The service offers a free trial, with subsequent tiers priced at $7.48/mo for solo-preneurs and small businesses, $37.48/mo for medium businesses, and $74.98/mo for agencies and larger enterprises.

Crowdfire
3.8 out of 5 stars
Crowdfire works to make your social media maangement simple. This tool lets you discover and schedule content in your niche as well as manage all your social accounts from one platform. Think of them as your marketing sidekick!
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
3.2
Ease of Use
4.3
Support
4.0
Overall Score
3.8
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Brand Tracking
Customer Engagement
Multi-User Collaboration
Reporting/Analytics
Price starting at:$7.48
Pros and Cons
Automated scheduling suggestions
Tailor posts to each platform in one view
Manage multiple accounts
Not easy to link accounts
Some processes can take time to set up
Best for: Social Media Managers, agencies, brands, individuals, enterprises and startups
Crowdfire
3.8 out of 5 stars
Crowdfire works to make your social media maangement simple. This tool lets you discover and schedule content in your niche as well as manage all your social accounts from one platform. Think of them as your marketing sidekick!

13.  SocialBee

 SocialBee

Make your hectic Instagram life a lot easier with SocialBee. SocialBee lets you schedule images, videos, Stories, and Carousels to your Instagram account (the last two can be done using the mobile app).

Here’s what you can do with your posts using SocialBee – you can schedule them for publishing, re-queue them to be published again in the future, and arrange for your posts to run as long as you like. You can also set your posts to expire based on the date or number of times posted.

One of the best parts about SocialBee is that the support is not limited to just Instagram. You can also use the tool to schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business.

Another commendable thing about SocialBee is that you get to access every single feature, whether you’re an agency, small business, or a solo entrepreneur. SocialBee doesn’t hide features under the more expensive plans. The differences between each plan (there are three of them, starting at $5 a month) are the number of profiles, workspaces, scheduled posts, and categories.

Key Features:

  • Schedule images, videos, Stories, and Carousels for Instagram.
  • Options to re-queue, set post expiry by date or frequency.
  • Schedule posts for multiple platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
  • Uniform feature access across different plans (varying in profiles, workspaces, posts, categories).

Pricing:

SocialBee pricing plans start from $29/mo ($290/year), and go up to $449/mo ($4,490/year).


14. Tailwind

Tailwind

Scheduling on Instagram is a breeze when you use Tailwind, which is designed as a “tool that feels like a marketing team.” And indeed, that’s how Tailwind functions. Like AgoraPulse and SocialBee, this tool allows you to schedule postings of single images and videos directly or do the same for Carousel and Stories using push notifications.

But unlike the two, Tailwind is equipped with SmartSchedule, which automatically singles out the times when audience engagement is at its peak. Using the feature over time will make the tool discover more about your audience engagement, which it can use to optimize your scheduling further.

The scheduling feature enables you to optimize your queueing, set specific times to publish, or place intervals between your postings. It also lets you maximize the most relevant and popular hashtags so your page will get discovered by the right followers.

Tailwind also has a simple drag-and-drop calendar that you can use to plan and arrange your scheduled posts.

Key Features:

  • Schedule posts, Carousels, and Stories for Instagram (push notifications for some).
  • SmartSchedule for peak audience engagement times.
  • Queue optimization, specific publishing times, and intervals.
  • Hashtag optimization for better discoverability.
  • Drag-and-drop calendar for scheduling.

Pricing:

Pro is $12.99/mo ($155.88/yr) with features for 3 platforms; Advanced at $19.99/mo ($239.88/yr) supports 6 accounts; Max is $39.99/mo ($479.88/yr) for unlimited access; and a Free Forever option is available.


15. SocialPilot

SocialPilot

Social Pilot is aimed at a broad audience, with pricing options aimed at everything from small businesses to large enterprises. There are no feature restrictions—nearly anything you can do at the highest level can also be done at the lowest. You just do it on a smaller scale.

The management of accounts is done cleanly and efficiently, as you can organize each account into relevant groups, e.g., by channel or client).

Unfortunately, there’s no direct publishing of content with Instagram yet. But Social Pilot has announced that they are in the process of getting extended API access. Currently, Social Pilot uses push notifications in their mobile app to remind you when to make your Instagram posts.

Unfortunately, until Instagram gives the API access, you can’t get analytics or even view post histories for Instagram posts. This is unlike Facebook, where Social Pilot lets you manage and respond to all your FB comments and messages, across all accounts and pages.

Key Features:

  • Broad audience targeting with varying pricing scales.
  • Organize accounts into groups by channel or client.
  • Push notifications for Instagram post reminders (due to lack of direct publishing).
  • Manage and respond to Facebook comments and messages.

Pricing:

SocialPilot offers a 14-day free trial. Plans range from the Professional tier at $25.50/month to the Agency+ at $170/month, with annual billing discounts available.

SocialPilot
4.5 out of 5 stars
SocialPilot centralizes your social media management to help improve efficiency. The tool features an automated post schedule, easy integration with Canva, marketing tools, and other unique features to propel your social strategy.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.1
Ease of Use
4.7
Support
4.7
Overall Score
4.5
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Content Management
Conversion Tracking
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Price starting at:$22.50
Pros and Cons
Excellent value for money
Canva integration makes creating beautiful posts simple
Easy-to-navigate dashboard
No automated TikTok posting
Lacks advanced features that would attract large businesses and enterprises
Doesn’t offer a lot of third-party apps or integrations
Best for: Digital marketing agencies and SMBs
SocialPilot
4.5 out of 5 stars
SocialPilot centralizes your social media management to help improve efficiency. The tool features an automated post schedule, easy integration with Canva, marketing tools, and other unique features to propel your social strategy.

16. Hootsuite

Hootsuite

With Hootsuite, publishing to Instagram, engaging with your followers, and reporting become a whole lot easier. Though, in order to take advantage of all the functionality available in Hootsuite, you’ll need to add an Instagram Business profile. 

In addition to publishing and scheduling, it also offers a few advanced options. You can, for example, use it to promote a post to boost it on Instagram, link your post with one of your brand’s campaigns, upload images from your content library, or apply a tag. 

Thanks to its integration with Panoramiq Multiview, Hootsuite is a great app to use if you post on Instagram a lot. While this add-on app doesn’t really help with scheduling, it’s great for managing interactions on Instagram. Whether you have only one Instagram account or multiple accounts, Multiview makes it easy to keep track of and reply to comments, mentions, and photo-tags. Plus, you can also use the analytics to make sense of your interactions on the platform.

Key Features:

  • Publish, engage, and report for Instagram (requires Business profile for full functionality).
  • Advanced post options like promoting, linking with brand campaigns, and tagging.
  • Integration with Panoramiq Multiview for managing Instagram interactions.
  • Track and reply to comments, mentions, and photo-tags; analytics for interactions.

Pricing:

Hootsuite offers a starting rate of $99/month for its Professional package, catering to 1 user with 10 social accounts. As the number of users and accounts grow, the cost rises, with the Team plan at $249/month and the Business plan at $739/month, each offering enhanced features. An Enterprise plan with custom pricing is also on offer.

Hootsuite
4.6 out of 5 stars
One of the first platforms designed to streamline social media management, Hootsuite continues to be one of the market leaders.
Ratings
Features & Pricing
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Features
4.8
Ease of Use
4.8
Reporting
4.3
Overall Score
4.6
Features & Pricing
Analytics
Automated Publishing
Contact Management
Content Management
Conversion Tracking
Customer Targeting
Keyword Filtering
Multi-Account Management
Post Scheduling
Brand Tracking
Customer Engagement
Multi-User Collaboration
Reporting/Analytics
Social Media Monitoring
Price starting at:$99
Pros and Cons
Customizable feeds show you all the social posts you need to see—no filler
Highly flexible post composer and scheduler, with a bulk option, drastically simplifies the most challenging part of the job
Inbox consolidated every message, comment, and mention—you’ll never miss a conversation
No demo- or psychographic data for the audience
Best for: Small, Medium, and Large Businesses
Hootsuite
4.6 out of 5 stars
One of the first platforms designed to streamline social media management, Hootsuite continues to be one of the market leaders.

17. AiSchedul

AiSchedul

AiSchedul is an Instagram scheduling tool that goes beyond mere post scheduling. It’s designed to be a full-fledged Instagram marketing toolkit, ensuring that every post you make on Instagram counts. With AiSchedul, you can not only schedule your posts but also enhance your overall Instagram marketing strategy.

The platform offers an intelligent post scheduling system, allowing you to design feed and story posts using a desktop-enabled editor. The Grid View feature lets you preview your page, ensuring a consistent and appealing look. It supports various post types, including Carousels, IGTV, and Reels, and you don’t need to log in through the app.

One of the standout features is the ability to convert YouTube or IGTV videos and post them directly to your Instagram feed. This is a game-changer for content creators who want to repurpose their video content.

AiSchedul also offers social monitoring tools. You can monitor hashtags, mentions, and even global events, ensuring you’re always in the loop. The platform even lets you save content for future use.

For those looking to drive sales, AiSchedul’s MyUrls page builder is a powerful tool. It allows you to create a custom page with links to your feed posts, stories, eCommerce pages, and more.

The platform also offers unique features like a contest builder and bulk post deletion, making it a versatile tool for Instagram marketers.

Key Features:

  • Intelligent post scheduling.
  • Social monitoring tools.
  • URK page builder.
  • Contest builder.
  • Bulk post deletion.

Pricing:

AiSchedul offers a free plan with basic features. For more advanced features, the Essentials plan is priced at $9/month, and the Pro plan is available for $29/month.


Frequently Asked Questions

Is it easy to schedule Instagram posts?

Overall, it is more difficult to schedule Instagram posts compared to other platforms like Twitter. Though, there are a few social media managers that can make this process a lot simpler. That being said, the primary reason why not all of these apps can successfully simplify scheduling on Instagram is because Facebook (the company that owns Instagram) now closely scrutinizes all the applications that use the Instagram Content Publishing API.

Is Agorapulse easy to use?

The interface of Agorapulse is easy to understand and use. It is also easy to set up, even if you plan on using it to schedule Instagram posts which can be potentially challenging. With regards to publishing content, this fully featured social media management program offers a variety of ways to publish content. You can schedule a post simply by clicking on the most suitable time slot.

What makes PromoRepublic good?

One of the features that set PromoRepublic apart from other Instagram scheduling tools is its strong focus on design. With PromoRepublic, you can design beautiful posts without even having to leave the app or use a separate graphics software. It also focuses a lot on post ideas. It offers 100,000 post ideas that cover a wide range of topics. The majority of these post ideas are also pre-designed with graphics that you can modify and customize to suit your industry.

Is Sprout Social a good choice for a smaller business?

No. Sprout Social clearly targets bigger businesses with more heavy-duty requirements. It also does not offer a cheap (or free plan). Smaller businesses can instead check out a tool like Social Pilot which is aimed at a broader audience with pricing options aimed at small as well as large businesses. With Social Pilot, there are also no feature restrictions. You can practically do all the same things with its cheaper plan (just on a smaller scale).

What makes Later a good app for scheduling Instagram posts?

Later is one of the best Instagram scheduling tools. Although you can use Later to post on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook too, its main focus is on Instagram. The reason for this is that it takes a more visual approach to posting. Unlike other social media management apps that begin the process with a social message before you can add an image, Later requires you to start a post by uploading an image first. Only after you have uploaded your image can you add text.

About the Author
With over 15 years in content marketing, Werner founded Influencer Marketing Hub in 2016. He successfully grew the platform to attract 5 million monthly visitors, making it a key site for brand marketers globally. His efforts led to the company's acquisition in 2020. Additionally, Werner's expertise has been recognized by major marketing and tech publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, BBC and Wired.