Best Time to Post on Instagram: What Four Studies Found
The best time to post on Instagram, from four 2026 studies of up to 9.6 million posts: where they agree, where they split, and what Instagram says.
There's no single best time to post on Instagram, and the biggest studies show why. Four of them looked at posts from 2024 to early 2026. They agree on midweek and split on the hour. Buffer's 9.6 million posts put Thursday at 9 a.m. first. SocialPilot's 7 million posts point to 7 to 9 a.m. Sprout Social's widest window is Wednesday from noon to 9 p.m. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in June 2026 that "There's no universal best time to post" and that you should check your insights.
We read each study and Adobe's guide on October 23, 2026. Mosseri's post and Instagram's Help Center come from Google's results that day.
What do the four studies say?
| Study | Sample | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer | 9.6M posts | 2024 to 2025 |
| SocialPilot | 7M posts | Feb 2025 to Jan 2026 |
| Sprout Social | 307K profiles | Nov 2025 to Feb 2026 |
| Hootsuite | 1M+ posts | 2025 |
Each study's own page, read October 23, 2026. Sprout Social's profiles span six networks. All four give times in your audience's local time.
Each one measured something a little different. Buffer used "median engagement rates" on posts from more than 200,000 Buffer accounts. Sprout Social counted nearly 2 billion engagements on about 307,000 customer profiles across six networks, Instagram among them. SocialPilot read posts from about 50,000 accounts connected to its tool. Hootsuite teamed up with a partner called Critical Truth.
Which days are best and worst?
| Study | Best days | Weakest |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Wed, Thu, Tue | Fri, Sat |
| SocialPilot | Tue, Wed, Thu | Sat |
| Sprout Social | Tue, Wed | Sat, Sun |
| Hootsuite | Mon, Tue, Thu | Not named |
| Adobe Express | Wed, Fri | Sun |
Buffer, SocialPilot, Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Adobe Express pages, read October 23, 2026.
Wednesday makes the best-day list in four of the five. Hootsuite's list is the odd one out. Saturday is the weak spot in three: Buffer calls it one of "the weakest" days, and Sprout Social says it "yields the lowest overall engagement of the week."
Where do the studies disagree?
Mornings. SocialPilot's best time is 7 to 9 a.m. Buffer found close to the opposite. In its data, "Morning hours (6 a.m. to 11 a.m.) are the worst times to post," with Thursday at 9 a.m. as the one exception. Hootsuite lists "early mornings (before 8 AM)" among the least effective times.
Evenings. Buffer says "Evening hours (6 p.m. to 11 p.m.) generate the strongest engagement on every weekday except Thursday." Adobe Express, which drew on other studies, says the worst weekday time is "after 7pm" instead.
Fridays. Adobe ranks Friday a best day. Buffer ranks it one of the two weakest. Sprout Social found "no significant peak engagement hours on Fridays."
Three of the studies measured accounts that use their own scheduling tool, over different months. So each answer fits that tool's users best. Your followers may keep other hours.
What does Instagram say about posting times?
Mosseri posted on June 16, 2026: "There's no universal best time to post. If you really want to optimize, check your insights to see when your followers are actually online." Google showed that post third for the search, with about 52,000 likes.
Shopify quotes him from an Instagram video. He said post timing "doesn't matter much," Shopify writes. He added that posting just before your followers come online helps, so your content is "available and also fresh before the most followers you have show up."
What's the best time to post on Instagram today?
Find today's row. Buffer gives one top slot per day, and Sprout Social gives a window.
| Day | Buffer | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 7 p.m. | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 7 p.m. | 1 to 7 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Noon | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| Thursday | 9 a.m. | Noon to 2 p.m. |
| Friday | 10 p.m. | No clear peak |
| Saturday | 9 p.m. | Lowest day |
| Sunday | 9 p.m. | Weak day |
Buffer, 9.6 million posts, and Sprout Social, about 2 billion engagements, read October 23, 2026. Local time.
What's the best time to post Reels?
The studies split here too. Buffer says Reels do best "in the evening, between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.," with Wednesday and Thursday strongest. It adds that it looked at all post types together, "so these aren't reels-only slots." SocialPilot did count Reels on their own. Its 250,000 Reels did best "between 8 am and 12 pm from Monday to Thursday." Sprout Social says Reels "mirror our overall top-performing windows."
If you test new Reels on people who don't follow you yet, our guide to Instagram trial reels covers how that works.
How do you find your own best time?
- Use a professional account. Instagram's Help Center says you can view Insights "after you convert to a business or creator account."
- Open your follower insights. They show "who your followers are, when they're online and more."
- Find your busiest hours. The Help Center lists the "Times they're most active on Instagram" among those insights.
- Post a little before that peak. That's Mosseri's advice, as Shopify quotes it.
- Compare your own posts. Insights cover "any time period within the past 90 days," so try two or three times and compare reach.
Can likes help a post's timing?
Timing gets a post in front of your followers when they're online. What happens next depends on the post. If you'd like a few extra likes on a public post, Hclout's free tier gives 12 free Instagram likes with no password, on the free page. Our guide to free Instagram likes compares the free offers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
Midweek, and the hour depends on the study. Buffer's top slot is Thursday at 9 a.m., SocialPilot's is 7 to 9 a.m., and Sprout Social's widest window is Wednesday from noon to 9 p.m. Your own Insights show when your followers are online.
What is the best day to post on Instagram?
Wednesday is a best day in four of the five sources we read, and Buffer ranks it first.
What is the worst time to post on Instagram?
Saturday is the weakest day in Buffer's, SocialPilot's and Sprout Social's data. For hours, Hootsuite names early mornings before 8 a.m. and late nights after 10 p.m.
Does posting time matter on Instagram?
A little. Mosseri says there's "no universal best time to post." Shopify writes that he called timing something that "doesn't matter much," though posting before your followers' peak can help.
What time zone do these times use?
Your audience's local time. All four studies turned their times into local time, so 9 a.m. means 9 a.m. where your followers live.
Sources
- Buffer, "Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2026: Data from 9.6 Million Posts," read October 23, 2026
- Sprout Social, "Best Times to Post on Instagram in 2026," March 31, 2026, read October 23, 2026
- Hootsuite, "The best time to post on Instagram [2026 data]," July 14, 2026, updated October 14, 2026, read October 23, 2026
- SocialPilot, "Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2026," February 13, 2026, updated March 17, 2026, read October 23, 2026
- Adobe Express, "The best time to post on Instagram," read October 23, 2026
- Adam Mosseri on Instagram, June 16, 2026, as Google showed it on October 23, 2026
- Shopify, "Best Time To Post on Instagram in 2026," read October 23, 2026
- Instagram Help Center pages on insights, as Google showed them on October 23, 2026
- Google results for "best time to post on instagram," US, October 23, 2026 (our read)
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