When it comes to scheduling content for Instagram there are so many options it can become overwhelming! Depending on your needs here are the top three Instagram Schedulers I recommend – Planoly, Facebook Creator Studio, and The Preview App!
Planoly
Best for agencies and freelancers who work with multiple clients!
Planoly is one of my favorite Instagram schedulers to use for my clients. One of the biggest reasons I trust Planoly is because it is an official Instagram partner so I’m not concerned about any Instagram accounts being flagged for using it. I want to make sure the platforms I’m using for my clients’ accounts are approved by Facebook and Instagram since their Terms and Service are always being updated.
Another great feature of Planoly is that it allows you to plan out your Instagram grid before it goes live, you can drag and drop pictures, video, gifs and rearrange them in your desired grid. You can create draft folders of different content, create hashtag groups, and if you need your posts to be approved by a client or manager before they go live Planoly offers a Share feature that creates a link to the scheduled content! Auto-scheduling is an option for videos and one-post images (you do have to manually post stories and carousels, but you can schedule them and receive an alert on your phone for that time!) Planoly also gives you the option to auto-share each post to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Another cool feature is being able to auto-post the first comment. This is useful for when you don’t want your hashtags to show up in your caption or want to share more about the post in that first comment. Also, if you need help managing comments, Planoly provides an easy-to-use social inbox to efficiently respond to your community!
From my research, I found that Planoly is one of the more affordable scheduling tools especially if you are running more than one Instagram account. For those that only have one account, Planoly is free and includes basic analytics. For more than one Instagram account and advanced analytics, pricing starts at $7 a month. You can access Planoly both on its app for Android and Apple as well as on your desktop. We use Planoly for five different Instagram accounts and pay $49 a month, which is much cheaper than most Instagram schedulers for multiple Instagram accounts!
Facebook Creator Studio
Best for non-profits or small businesses on a budget.
For those that might not need as many features, such as planning out your Instagram grid beforehand, or if you post a lot of the same content on both Facebook and Instagram then Facebook Creator Studio is a great option. Everyone with a Facebook page can access Creator Studio. For more information on Creator Studio check out Facebook’s FAQ.
You’ll need to confirm your Facebook Page is connected to Instagram to use the scheduling tools, but it allows you to auto-post pictures and carousels; most scheduler tools do not allow auto-posting more than one picture to Instagram! You’ll have access to Instagram’s basic analytics, a content calendar, and Brand Collab Manager. For each post, you can add hashtags, a location, and pictures. Plus it is free to use! You can access Creator Studio on your desktop.
The Preview App
Perfect for influencers and small business owners that focus on gorgeous imagery!
The Preview App is a newer scheduling tool, but I had a chance to use it for a year with a client and I loved the different features it offers. I would recommend Preview for someone who is super focused on creating an aesthetically pleasing Instagram grid and might not always know what to post! They offer multiple themed photo filter options which can create a gorgeous, influencer-worthy grid. They also offer similar features as Planoly like a content calendar, arranging your grid before posting, analytics, and scheduling posts. If you pay for the premium version, their caption finder offers thousands of caption ideas, quotes, suggestions, and more! Their hashtag finder is just as useful and contains handpicked hashtags based on different categories. Preview makes it effortless to plan your content quickly and in advance! They also offer the ability to add team members, another straightforward way to review posts before they go live.
Preview is free for one user and basic features. For the Premium Version, which has the caption and hashtag suggestions, it is $12.50 a month and you’ll have access to the desktop version instead of only the app!
Whatever Instagram scheduling tool you go with remember Instagram will always be updating and changing what its third-party apps have access to and they might eventually allow us to schedule directly from their app one day – hopefully!