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Ola Kozielska
|Tools and comparisons

Our Top 10 Picks for Instagram Schedulers in 2021


There are many Instagram schedulers available on the market that have the potential to streamline daily social media managers’ work. Which one is the best option, though?

Unfortunately, not all of them are suitable for Instagram scheduling. Although many of these tools work great as social media management tools, they do not have features ideal for Instagram scheduling specifically.

Our team tested them all out and created a list of our top 10 Instagram schedulers that will not let you down. 

If you want to know how to choose the best solution and see the ones that deserve your attention, keep reading.

Why do you need an Instagram scheduler?

Do you ever wonder what it will be like not to have to worry about posting to social media? Do you wish that you could schedule posts in advance and finally have every weekend free?

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source: giphy.com

If you answered “yes” at least once, it means that you definitely need an Instagram scheduling app. It’s a tool that works as your assistant, giving you relief in your daily work and helping you keep organized. (and finally, clean up all the content chaos)

Additionally, some of them have features that can simplify and streamline collaboration between team members. This way, agencies don’t need a separate tool for communication, task assignment, etc., and can reduce the number of tools to the bare minimum.

Need more convincing? Here are two more reasons why – firstly: if you need to manage more than one social media profile or platform, this eliminates the need to switch between them; secondly: it provides analytics and gives you insight into your social media performance. (much more than standard reports available on Instagram)

Are you already convinced? There’s only one thing left to do – find an Instagram post scheduler that suits your needs and expectations, and we’re going to help you!

How to pick the best Instagram scheduler for your brand?

Before you start looking for an Instagram scheduling app, you should prepare a list of needs and expectations.

When you get the answers to these questions, it will be much easier to narrow down the choices.

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source: giphy.com

And to make the decision even easier for you, we prepared a list of essential features and options you should look for in an Instagram scheduler. If you can tick them all off, it means that it’s a tool that should work well as your Instagram assistant.

What should you look for in a good app to schedule Instagram posts?

Direct Instagram scheduling: Critical feature – an Instagram scheduler won’t make your job easier without this option. It should cover the process from start to finish – you should be able to create, schedule, and publish the post directly from one interface.

Workflow boosters: If your team works on social media together, then features that streamline collaboration will save you a lot of time. Do not just look for communication features but also those that will help you organize all your tasks.

Live post preview (+Instagram feed preview): We all know how important it is to maintain consistent content on Instagram. This is why it is necessary to choose a tool that offers features that allow you to analyze the final appearance of the scheduled posts.

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source: instagram.com/jotex.se

Easy to use: It’s much easier for everyone when the tool is user-friendly, and you don’t need much time to get used to it.

Reporting and analytics access: When you use a tool that will allow you to dive deep into data more effectively, quicker, and intuitively, you won’t have to worry about Instagram analytics being a time-eater.

Intuitive calendar: A good Instagram scheduling app should have an easy-to-use calendar with a way to change the draft order, date, etc., in one click or drag.

Mobile app: If you wish to access your content calendar from anywhere and at any time, make sure that the scheduler you choose has a mobile app.

Free trial: From our point of view, you should have the possibility to try a tool before making a purchase. Is that not offered as an option? It’s better to run away.

Best apps to schedule Instagram posts

And now we’re at the point. Now you know what you should pay special attention to when making a decision. It’s not enough to just check reviews and look at the tool’s website. You need to do thorough research first.

Thankfully, we’ll simplify this process for you. The tools below are our picks for the best Instagram schedulers. Let’s take a closer look at them.

1. Kontentino

Kontentino covers all the must-have features that we’ve previously talked about. Not only that, but it offers even more. What is the biggest advantage? With Instagram, it makes a power couple. Kontentino allows you to schedule any Instagram post, including Instagram reels, carousel, stories.

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source: kontentino.com/blog

You can schedule posts directly to Instagram. (and do so on the web app or via its mobile application)

It’s also worth mentioning that the Kontentino content calendar is highly intuitive and user-friendly – you can quickly become familiar with its interface. There is no philosophy involved; you just drag and drop to change the post order. To add even more simplicity it is also possible to do this within the Instagram grid by dragging the tiles until you find a perfect fit.

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source: kontentino.com

And to top it all off, the tool has superpowers when it comes to collaborating with teammates and communicating with clients. Task assignment, labels, asset management, hashtag presets, notes, and we could go on and on. In short- it has everything to boost your Instagram management workflow.

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source: kontentino.com

How else does Kontentino differ from other tools? Their customer care team goes the extra mile to help you succeed. (and often their response time is less than 5 minutes)

If you’re looking for a tool that listens to user feedback and constantly develops, this is the one.

🥇  Top features:

  1. direct Instagram scheduling
  2. advanced content approval options
  3. exceptionally intuitive interface
  4. collaboration & workflow features
  5. live post and grid preview
  6. hashtag presets
  7. service that exceeds expectations

💵  Kontentino Pricing:

In contrast to other tools, you gain access to three users (in a starter pack) instead of one. The cost of Kontentino starts from $53.00 a month, but a 14-day free trial is also available. You can also choose from several add-ons and upgraded plans, as well as a tailor-made package for bigger teams.

2. Tailwind

Tailwind is a simple tool that focuses primarily on Instagram and Pinterest.

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source: g2.com

There are many features such as the hashtag finder to reach out to more people; or SmartSchedule, which automatically schedules your Instagram posts at times when your audience is most likely to engage with them.

This app also provides time-saving add-ons; an example of which would be user and location tagging.

Within this tool, you can also create branded landing pages to send traffic from your Instagram bio to wherever you want. 

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source: tailwindapp.com

Despite these many options, Tailwind does not include any features that would streamline collaboration. What’s more- even the highest plan available has a limit of 3 Instagram profiles. It might be a problem, especially for agencies that maintain multiple clients’ accounts at once.

🥇  Top features:

  1. caption templates
  2. hashtag finder
  3. SmartSchedule
  4. auto-updating bio links

💵  Tailwind Pricing:

Tailwind, apart from the free version, has three other plans available. The prices vary between $9.99-$39.99 per month. However, it is worth bearing in mind that the tool is limited to three active Instagram profiles.

3. Buffer

Buffer Publish is one of Buffer’s three products. It’s easy to use, and master, and doesn’t cause any difficulties, even for newcomers. It’s a tool that isn’t dedicated to Instagram specifically, but that doesn’t change that it’s doing well anyway as an Instagram scheduler.

Buffer Publish simplifies the planning process from beginning to end. You can schedule posts and stories there, as well as create and approve drafts.

Furthermore, Buffer Publish can be used to create a permanent link to your content and URLs that appears in your bio.

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source: buffer.com

🥇  Top features:

  1. Shop Grid- an Instagram-powered landing page
  2. Instagram First Comment
  3. location and users tags

💵  Buffer Pricing:

Buffer Publish is free up to 3 social media profiles; each extra one is additionally charged ($5.00 per social channel per month, with limited features). The free version offers a limited set of features (e.g., a content calendar is not available). Buffer provides a 14-day free trial.

4. Planoly

Planoly is one of the first Instagram partners and a well-known visual planning tool for Instagram grid and story posts. It’s focused on Instagram and Pinterest.

The tool enables you to tag products for simple checkout or link to your store, drive traffic back to your site and convert visitors into buyers.

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source: about.easil.com

However, every tool has its potential downsides, and Planoly is no exception. Poor customer service and frequent errors are common complaints. Considering its low ratings, we can’t ignore the fact that many users don’t rate this tool to their satisfaction. It cannot be used to post on IGTV either.

🥇  Top features:

  1. creating hashtag groups
  2. managing and responding to comments 
  3. splitter tool to split images into sets of multiple posts

💵  Planoly Pricing:

Planoly’s prices for two social media profiles vary between $9.00-$19.00 per month. Users who require more than two social media accounts can choose a custom plan starting at $23.00 per month paid annually.

5. Oktopost

Oktopost is a social media managing platform designed for those who are looking for a simple and easy-to-use solution. Offering various tools from scheduling posts, monitoring performance, and working within a group makes it a good app to schedule Instagram posts.

This app has a drag-and-drop calendar that displays all planned and published content across all networks, teams, and account types.

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source: g2.com

Oktopost doesn’t focus its activities on Instagram, but it still helps manage these social media accounts (however, it doesn’t support all IG formats).

It also provides some features to streamline post reviews and team collaboration,  allows contributors to leave comments and request changes.

 🥇  Top features:

  1. keeping up with the latest trends and discovering content ideas
  2. approval workflows
  3. media library to store images, GIFs, and PDFs
  4. crisis mode (if an emergency occurs, pauses or purges all social media activities)

💵  Oktopost Pricing:

Oktopost does not provide its pricing information on its website and only offers a demo upon request.

6. Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a tool for managing social media profiles. The software allows users to organize their content as well as listen to their social media accounts.

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source: g2.com

Agorapulse also provides content queue categories. You can use these queues to schedule posts on a particular theme, such as your blog content, product-related evergreen content, or curated content you find relevant. 

Despite being an all-in-one social media management tool, Agorapulse lacks many advanced features regarding Instagram scheduling, such as Instagram live grid preview. Instagram is not their primary functionality, so you shouldn’t expect any innovative solutions in this area.

🥇  Top features:

  1. organizing social media content into queue categories
  2. time zone scheduling
  3. video thumbnail customization and image cropper
  4. ability to schedule posts via mobile app

💵  Agorapulse Pricing:

Prices for Agorapulse range from $93.00 to $187.00 per month. For anyone just getting started, it offers a free (yet limited) plan. You can also try Agorapulse for free for 30 days without providing any credit card details.

7. Later

In terms of Instagram schedulers, Later is among the best-known. Because of its focus on visual aspects, it serves mainly as a tool for Instagram and scheduling visual assets.

Later learns when your followers are most engaged and suggest the best time for you to post. It also facilitates finding user-generated content by hashtags, mentions, and URLs.

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source: later.com

This Instagram scheduler also provides a hashtag tool. You can get hashtag suggestions, save captions, schedule your first comment, or additionally, have access to hashtag analytics.

🥇  Top features:

  1. insights
  2. Instagram hashtag tool
  3. integration with Linkin.bio to turn an Instagram feed into a clickable, shoppable page
  4. location and users tagging

💵  Later Pricing:

Later plans range from $15.00 to $40.00 per month and have a limited number of social media profiles. Only the highest plan has no limit to the number of posts you can publish per month. Additional users and social seats are also available as extra charged add-ons.

8. Falcon.io

Falcon.io is an easy-to-use social media scheduling tool that provides everything to manage social media accounts effectively – it lets you schedule, edit, preview, and publish posts.

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source: falcon.io

The content calendar helps you attract your audience with the right mix of channels and timing. This allows you to create a coherent and well-planned social media marketing campaign with less effort.

Falcon.io allows you to integrate with other third-party tools easily. It can be connected to (to list a few examples)HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, or Zendesk. 

How does it work as an Instagram scheduler? Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow the publication of multiple photos, and it doesn’t support all Instagram formats. This can mean it can be pretty cumbersome, especially if you have more than one Instagram profile on your mind.

🥇  Top features:

  1. Publishing and promoting posts on Instagram
  2. Falcon Content Pool – a library that stores published content and stock items or saved them for later use
  3. host of advisory services and real-time chat

💵  Falcon.io Pricing:

Falcon.io doesn’t provide many plans to choose from. Only one premade plan is available, which costs $108 per month per user (and it does not include all features). The demo is only provided upon request.

9. Sked Social

Sked Social (formerly Skedugram) is an all-in-one visual social media marketing platform for businesses, brands, and agencies. A content creator and Instagram scheduler built from the ground up to assist its users in creating and scheduling social media content online.

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source: skedsocial.com

Apart from the usual features that you can find in almost every social media scheduler, Sked Social provides an automatic queue feature.

Sked Social also features a simple editing tool and template generator. The template feature allows you to reuse content across multiple posts for your Instagram account.

Sadly, Sked Social has a limit on the number of profiles and users. So you won’t be able to use this tool if you need to maintain more than 10 Instagram profiles. It’s not a problem for individual users or companies, but it might be a determining feature for agencies.

🥇  Top features:

  1. media library for assets
  2. product, hashtags, user and location tags
  3. robust reporting for Instagram
  4. bulk uploading facility, and built-in photo editor
  5. automatic queue feature

💵  Skedsocial Pricing:

A Sked Social’s plan for one user and one Instagram account costs $25,00 per month. The most expensive plans range between $75.00 and $135.00 a month.

10. Creator Studio

Creator Studio is a tool that is primarily designed for conducting personal operations on social media. It used to be a Facebook-only tool, but it was expanded to include Instagram as well. The tool lets you manage your posts, measure their performance, and monetize content. There is only one way to obtain it though – you will need an Instagram Business Profile or Creator account.

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creator_studio_interface
source: business.facebook.com

You can create, add, and plan posts or IG Stories as well as track statistics there. The Content Library gives you access to all of your existing materials. Creator Studio also allows you to organize your inbox and reply to messages and comments from its interface. 

However, Creator Studio can’t be used as a calendar. The lack of a calendar view might make managing and organizing all of your content somewhat challenging. Furthermore, it does not provide any collaboration or team management features, so it may not be the best choice for agencies and marketing teams.

🥇  Top features:

  1. Inbox to respond to messages
  2. Management of all types of Facebook and Instagram posts
  3. Content library
  4. Monetization options

💵  Creator Studio Pricing:

It’s free to use.

So which Instagram scheduler will you choose?

Have you already made up your mind? Make sure you don’t make a hasty decision in the heat of the moment.

Make use of a free trial (if available) to try out your chosen app’s Instagram scheduler before making a purchase. You won’t know if the tool will really work for you unless you test it out first.

You can even test them all systematically, one by one. But with all that being said, why not start with Kontentino? The only “issue” is that you run the risk of not wanting to try any other tool!

Good luck!

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Ola Kozielska

Ola Kozielska

Social media enthusiast, marketing graduate. She put creativity and good research first. While not working, she is looking for new travel destinations to explore.