The free and paid Instagram analytics apps you need

Every time I open Instagram, I’m reminded of two things: (1) it’s endlessly entertaining — and (2) it’s one of the most powerful marketing platforms out there. That is … if you’re using the right Instagram analytics tools to guide your efforts.

Instagram isn’t just for sharing pretty photos anymore. It’s now the #2 most effective platform for researching prospects and their businesses, and it’s one of the top three social channels overall — right alongside YouTube and TikTok.

And with 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, your audience is almost guaranteed to be there. The challenge is knowing what’s actually working, and that’s why Instagram analytics tools are mission critical.

I’ve found them invaluable for spotting whether we’re leaning into the right content or just tossing ideas into the void (trust me — you don’t want to be a void poster!). Analytics tools show you what’s working, what’s not, and where to double down.

There are plenty of Instagram analytics tools out there — and it can be tough to sort through them all. I’ve tested the options and pulled together the best — both free and paid — to help you cut through the noise and focus on what drives results.

Table of Contents

• Paid Instagram Analytics Tools
• Free Instagram Apps

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Free Instagram Apps

Sometimes you get what you pay for. Actually, in my experience, if something is free, it’s rarely enough to get you across the finish line. But I found five great instagram analytics tools with free plans that are 100% worth it. Here’s my take on all of them.

1. Instagram Insights

Key specialty: Followers and mentions

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If you have a business account on Instagram, you automatically have access to their free analytics tool, Instagram Insights. And in my opinion, this data is some of the best out there — after all, it’s in Instagram’s best interest to give you solid data.

The built-in Insights tool shows you when your audience is on Instagram, which of your posts are most popular, and your account’s impressions and reach.

Need help figuring out how to use Instagram Insights? This post (by yours truly) walks you through the ins and outs of it!

2. Squarelovin

Key specialty: Follower insights

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Squarelovin’s free Instagram Insights tool gives you a high-level overview of how your last postings or stories performed. Otherwise, you need to upgrade to a paid plan, which starts at 9.90€/month.

I really like that Squarelovin can provide a quick snapshot of how my latest posts performed. It’s not flashy, but it helps me see trends in follower behavior and find the best times to post based on when your audience is most likely to be scrolling through Instagram.

3. Social Status

Key specialty: Paid and organic reporting

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Need full funnel data without juggling three (or more!) different dashboards? Take Social Status for a spin. It tracks everything from reach and impressions to Story views and follower demographics, and it even pulls in paid campaign results when you connect your ad account.

What I really appreciate is the reporting — speaking as someone who abhors manually compiling (and comparing) multiple data inputs that aren’t always apples to apples. Social Status makes that easy for you. For agencies or teams, this one dashboard can replace a lot of manual reporting with clean, client-ready exports.

Also, word to the wise — Social Status is one of the few analytics tools that offer a free forever plan. That means if it covers your needs, you can stick with it forever. And upgrading isn’t going to take a huge chunk of your marketing budget.

Price: Free; $29/month for the starter plan.

4. Pallyy

Key specialty: Monitoring and measuring campaign success

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Pallyy may have started out as a lightweight scheduler, but its analytics have gotten surprisingly strong, especially for a free-forever plan. With the free tier, you can track follower growth, engagement rates, and post performance across Instagram.

Want features like competitor benchmarking, in-depth reporting, and multi-platform analytics? You’ll need to upgrade for those, but I find that even the no-cost option is useful for solo creators or small brands who want a look at their baseline numbers.

What I like most is how visual Pallyy makes the data — simple charts that let you quickly see what’s working, without digging through complicated dashboards.

Price: Free; $25/month for the “Pay as You Go” plan.

5. Metricool

Key specialty: Comprehensive channel-by-channel overviews

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Metricool is hands-down my favorite social media analytics platform. When given the opportunity to have an opinion, I’ll tell you that it’s undeniably awesome (like I did in this article on social media monitoring tools).

Why’s that? It’s easy to set up, and the free plan is generous, covering up to five social accounts with reporting on posts, Stories, Reels, audience growth, and yes, hashtags. If you’re managing multiple brands or clients, the paid Starter Plan adds room for more profiles plus automatic reporting that saves serious time.

Beyond Instagram, Metricool covers TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and even blog/website traffic, which makes it a true “one dashboard” tool.

Price: Free for life plan; Starter plan begins at $18/month.

Paid Instagram Analytics Tools

1. HubSpot Social Inbox
2. NapoleonCat
3. Sprout Social
4. Hootsuite
5. Sotrender
6. Keyhole
7. HypeAuditor
8. Emplifi.io
9. Social Bee

Free tools are great when you’re starting out, but sooner or later you’ll hit their limits. If you’re managing multiple brands, need deeper reporting, or want competitor benchmarks, it’s time to upgrade. If you’ve fallen in love with one of the options above and want to upgrade to their paid plans — go forth and conquer.

There’s a reason some of them charge a premium — they can save time, prove ROI, and help you tie social performance back to real business results. But paid doesn’t always mean pricey. Some of my favorite budget-friendly options are below.

1. HubSpot Social Inbox

Key specialty: Post scheduling and social analytics

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I’ve used a lot of social dashboards over the years, and HubSpot is one of the few that truly connects the dots between content and conversions. That’s not bias talking, either. Social Inbox lets you publish across multiple platforms — including Instagram — and see which posts are most effective and driving engagement and ROI.

It’s just the data you need when putting together reports for leadership, clients, or the board of directors to justify your budget.

And that’s not all — I love that you can create custom keyword monitoring streams to keep track of conversations about your brand, so you know when and where to engage.

It’s not a lightweight tool, but if you’re already in the HubSpot ecosystem, the integration makes it a no-brainer. As does having one centralized location to track all of your efforts.

Price: Included with Marketing Hub Professional.

The 2024 Instagram Engagement Data Report

New data to help you shape your Instagram strategy

• Optimized content types
• Influencer marketing
• Posting volume
• And more!

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You're all set!

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2. NapoleonCat

Key specialty: Social inbox and analytics

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Need to manage multiple Instagram accounts without losing your mind? Been there, done that. Enter NapoleonCat’s social media management tool.

You can track the best-performing hashtags to find content ideas and reach people who are not following you yet. What really stands out to me is the social inbox. I love that it allows you to reply to DMs and comments across profiles in one place, and the analytics layer right on top.

But truthfully, the biggest win comes in the form of competitor monitoring. Seeing what you are posting, how often competitors are publishing, and what gets traction, can give you all kinds of ideas for smarter testing. It’s not the cheapest option, but it has the potential to save hours every week.

Price: 14-day free trial, then prices start from $79/month. The price depends on how many users and profiles you add.

3. Sprout Social

Key specialty: Post scheduling and hashtag analytics

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Sprout Social is one of those tools I recommend when a team (or agency) is ready to get serious about reporting. I’ve seen it used to track everything from Story performance to hashtag ROI, and the dashboards are both detailed and presentation-ready — which makes reporting to leadership a whole lot easier.

It’s definitely on the pricier side, but in my experience, the analytics depth justifies it if you need multi-platform coverage and competitive benchmarking. I especially like how easy it is to slice data by campaign, so you know which initiatives are pulling their weight.

Price: 30-day free trial. Standard is $199 per user/month.

1. Hootsuite

Key specialty: Post scheduling and team collaboration

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Hootsuite was one of the first analytics tools I ever used, and while the market’s crowded now, it still holds up. I like how customizable the dashboards are. You can set them up to show only the metrics that matter, rather than trying to sort through all of the data out there.

I think the biggest potential Hootsuite brings teams lies in workflows. Assigning tasks, building reports, and tracking who’s posting what can save so much time, stress, and back-and-forth. In other words, it’s your secret weapon to leave duplicate work and messy spreadsheets in the past. If you’re running a bigger social program, the collaboration features are probably worth considering the price tag.

Price: 30-day free trial. Standard plan is $99/month after that (which allows you to manage five different social media profiles).

5. Sotrender

Key specialty: Organic and paid analytics

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Sotrender is one of my go-tos when I need both organic and paid data side by side. I’ve seen it used effectively to compare ad performance against everyday content, which makes budget allocation much clearer.

What I appreciate most is the automated reporting. Instead of pulling screenshots at the end of the month, you can have clean reports emailed straight to you (or to your client). That alone is worth its weight in gold.

Price: 14-day free trial, $72/month for Essential.

6. Keyhole

Key specialty: Hashtag analytics

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Whenever I’m working with campaigns that lean heavily on hashtags, Keyhole is at the top of my list. And no surprise there — it’s a Muck Rack company, which means it’s created with … well, creators in mind.

I love that you can use it to track which tags are actually driving engagement — and which are just vanity. The influencer tracking is a bonus, especially if you need to show clients which partnerships moved the needle.

It’s more specialized than some of the all-in-one platforms, but when hashtag performance is critical, I firmly believe that Keyhole’s insights are 100% worth exploring.

Price: 7-day free trial; pricing hidden behind a demo.

7. HypeAuditor

Key specialty: Influencer metrics

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Influencer marketing continues to grow and be profitable — when you do it right. But it can also feel like a huuuuuuuge gamble. Enter data and analytics to save the day. Fortunately HypeAuditor exists, and it helps cut out a lot of the uncertainty by helping you vet influencer audiences and engagement levels.

If you’re looking hard at influencer marketing or your past influencer campaigns have flopped big, take the time to get a demo and pricing here. The amount of saved heartache and budget might just be worth it.

Price: Pricing hidden behind a demo.

8. Emplifi.io (formerly Pixlee and Social Bakers)

Key specialty: Social reports

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Emplifi has acquired two tools that previously made this list: Pixlee and Socialbakers. It’s a customer experience and social analytics tool that’s perfect for influencer or user generated content (UGC) campaigns, delivering detailed performance reporting, campaign ROI tracking, and robust competitor benchmarking.

The biggest win for me lies in its extensive competitive benchmarking. There’s no replacement for being able to see how brands in the same space are performing. It’s not a free tool (pricing is gated behind demos), but if you’re managing multiple brands or markets, it’s one of the most complete analytics suites you can get

Price: Demo required.

9. SocialBee

Key specialty: Scheduling + analytics for small teams

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SocialBee is best known for its content scheduling, but its analytics have come a long way. You can track engagement, growth, and performance on Instagram (as well as other platforms), and then use those insights to recycle or re-queue your best content automatically.

What I like about SocialBee is that it’s approachable for small teams — you don’t need an enterprise budget to get useful reporting. The dashboards aren’t as deep as something like Sprout or Emplifi, but if your goal is to measure what’s working, refine your posting schedule, and keep campaigns consistent, it gets the job done without the learning curve.

Price: 14-day free trial; Bootstrap plan begins at $24/month.

Create, post, analyze ... repeat.

After testing and comparing these tools, “don’t post blind” sums up my advice. Sure, try lots of new things — but don’t keep chasing shiny objects when the data doesn’t support it. Without analytics you’ll never know if your content is driving real results or just filling a feed.

The good news? The effort is worth it. HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing Report shows Instagram is still one of the top three social channels, delivers the second-highest ROI from influencers, and leads the way in short-form video and image performance.

Pair that industry-wide ROI with your own analytics, and you’ll know exactly where to focus. That’s how you turn Instagram from “just another channel” into one of your most reliable growth engines. And that’s why it continues to stay at the top of the leaderboard — and can help you do it, too.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The 2024 Instagram Engagement Data Report

New data to help you shape your Instagram strategy

• Optimized content types
• Influencer marketing
• Posting volume
• And more!

Get Your Free Report Learn more Get Your Free Report

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

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