Social Media Growth Services in 2026: What the Numbers Show
What 38 growth sites charge, how much bulk saves, which names closed or moved in 2026, what ScamAdviser says about 49 domains, and the FTC's rule.
Social media growth services sell followers, likes and views, or run your account for a monthly fee. We measured the parts we can check. On October 22, 2026, our price database held 960 package prices from 38 sites. The median for 1,000 Instagram followers was $14.90, and the same 1,000 ran from $4.05 to $49. Managed plans cost far more: Kicksta charged $69 a month. Several known names closed or now forward to other shops. And the law has caught up. Since 2024, an FTC rule bars selling fake followers, and buying them to look bigger for business.
We read each site's own pages through our server and kept the prices in our competitor database. We didn't buy anything. We run Hclout, a growth service too, so we left it out of every table here.
What are social media growth services?
They come in three main kinds, and each works in its own way:
- Packages. You pay once and give a public username or post link. A set number of followers, likes or views arrives. All 38 sites in our price database sell this way.
- Managed plans. You pay every month, and the service works on your account to win follow-backs. Kicksta, for one, needs your Instagram password.
- Free tools. Small amounts on a timer, like 10 or 25 followers every 12 hours. They usually sit next to a paid offer.
How much do growth services cost?
| Package | Sites | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 Instagram followers | 29 | $14.90 |
| 1,000 Instagram likes | 30 | $13.00 |
| 1,000 TikTok followers | 28 | $21.99 |
| 10,000 TikTok views | 26 | $9.45 |
Our competitor database, one price per site from each site's own buy page, most read October 22, 2026. We left Hclout out of this table.
The spread is wide. The same 1,000 Instagram followers cost $4.05 at the cheapest site and $49 at the dearest, 12 times as much. TikTok's pricier. On the 23 sites that sell both, 16 charged more for 1,000 TikTok followers than for 1,000 on Instagram.
Size matters more than the site:
| Instagram package | Median | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 100 followers | $2.50 | $24.95 |
| 1,000 followers | $14.90 | $14.90 |
| 10,000 followers | $99.50 | $9.95 |
Our competitor database, October 22, 2026. Between 24 and 29 sites list each size.
Buying 10,000 costs 60% less per follower than buying 100. Our guides to cheap Instagram followers, cheap likes and cheap TikTok followers have the full tables.
Managed plans sit in another price range. Kicksta charged $69 or $129 a month on October 22, 2026, or $39 and $79 a month paid yearly. One managed seller in Google's results prices its own plans at "$99 to $299 a month." Our guide to the best Instagram growth services compares seven of them, and our Kicksta review reads one set of terms closely.
How long do growth services last?
Names come and go fast. These are the changes we confirmed in 2026:
| Name | What we found |
|---|---|
| Growthoid | Forwards to SidesMedia by July |
| TokUpgrade | Forwards to SidesMedia by September |
| TokSocial | Forwards to SidesMedia |
| Media Mister | Its Instagram pages go to its homepage |
| SidesMedia | Its Instagram page goes to its homepage |
| Stormlikes | The .net site is now a research site |
Internet Archive copies and our server's checks, read October 22, 2026.
Lists don't keep up. One forum list in Google's results for "tokupgrade alternative" still ranks TokUpgrade and Growthoid, though both addresses now forward to SidesMedia. Our pages on Growthoid alternatives and TokUpgrade alternatives have the dates.
What do outside checks say?
Trustpilot is where most shoppers look, but its site rules don't let our reader in. So we don't give Trustpilot averages. Other review sites quoted Trustpilot's removal notice for four shops in 2026: likes.io, buzzoid.com, twicsy.com and sidesmedia.com. The notice says the business "goes against our guidelines" and gives no reason.
ScamAdviser lets our reader in, so we checked it for every growth site this blog covers.
| ScamAdviser verdict | Domains |
|---|---|
| Very Likely Unsafe | 17 |
| Likely Unsafe | 6 |
| Caution Recommended | 9 |
| Likely Safe | 7 |
| Very Likely Safe | 10 |
ScamAdviser's reports for 49 growth-service, panel and free-tool domains, read October 22, 2026. Three more showed no verdict.
They're one automatic signal, so treat them that way. A free tool that hides its services behind a captcha got "Very Likely Safe." A shop that names its company and its refill rules got "Very Likely Unsafe." And a verdict can't tell you how long followers stay.
What do the platforms say?
Instagram, TikTok and YouTube all say they remove engagement they find to be fake.
- Instagram said in 2018 it would remove "inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity." Its Terms of Use, as Google shows them, rule out "accessing or collecting information in an automated way without our express permission."
- TikTok says: "If we detect accounts or content with inauthentic metrics, we'll remove fake likes, followers, or other inflated signals."
- YouTube says "Page traffic found to be artificial will not be counted on YouTube and can lead to strikes on your account."
That's why bought numbers can drop after delivery, whichever site you use.
What does the law say?
In the US, it started with one company. On January 30, 2019, New York's Attorney General settled with Devumi, a seller of fake followers. Its office called the deal the first finding by a law enforcement agency that "selling fake social media engagement and using stolen identities to engage in online activity is illegal."
On October 21, 2019, the FTC settled what it called its "first-ever complaint challenging the sale of fake indicators of social media influence." The order set a $2.5 million judgment against Devumi's owner, suspended once he paid $250,000.
Now it's written into a federal rule. Since August 2024, 16 CFR 465.8 has covered both sides. It's unfair or deceptive to sell fake indicators of influence that the seller "knew or should have known to be fake," if they can be used to misrepresent influence for a commercial purpose. Buying them is covered too, when they "materially misrepresent" your influence "for a commercial purpose." Our guide on whether buying TikTok followers is illegal covers what that means for you.
Why are "best growth service" lists hard to trust?
Many are written by sellers, and they don't always say so. Five of Google's top 10 US results for "social media growth services" on October 22, 2026 were growth services' own pages. One list ranks its own author first. Another seller calls itself the "#1 Instagram Growth Service" without saying by what measure. A third says "other Instagram growth services use bots."
Others sit on sites with nothing to do with social media. In Google's top 10 for "cheap tiktok followers," three results were spam uploads on unrelated sites. For "tokupgrade alternative," four sat on forums or an engineering firm's site.
How do you check a growth service?
- Read the terms. Look for what they say about refunds, refills and whether followers are real. Kicksta's terms say it doesn't guarantee they'll be "real individuals."
- Think hard before giving a password. Instagram has said accounts that keep using third-party apps "may see their Instagram experience impacted."
- Type the address yourself. Several known names now forward to other shops.
- Compare per 1,000, at the size you'll really buy.
- Check more than one outside source, and note the date you read it.
What does Hclout offer?
We run Hclout, so weigh this the way you'd weigh any seller. Hclout sells one-off packages and never asks for a password. Our free tier gives 12 free Instagram likes and 100 free TikTok views on the free page.
Frequently asked questions
What are social media growth services?
They're sites that sell followers, likes or views as packages, or run your account for a monthly fee. Some also give small free amounts on a timer.
How much do social media growth services cost?
On October 22, 2026, 1,000 Instagram followers had a median of $14.90 across 29 sites. Kicksta's managed plans cost $39 to $129 a month.
Is it legal to buy followers?
In the US, an FTC rule bars buying fake indicators of influence that "materially misrepresent" your influence "for a commercial purpose." Platforms also remove fake engagement they find.
Are social media growth services safe?
ScamAdviser rated 23 of the 49 domains we checked as unsafe on October 22, 2026, and 17 as safe. Platforms say they remove what they detect, so bought numbers can drop.
How long do growth services last?
Some run for years, and others don't last. By October 2026, Growthoid, TokUpgrade and TokSocial all forwarded to SidesMedia.
How do I check a growth service before paying?
Read its terms, compare prices per 1,000, type its address yourself and check more than one outside source.
Sources
- Hclout competitor database, 960 package prices from the buy pages of 38 sites, read October 22, 2026 (our check)
- Kicksta, pricing page and Terms of Service, read October 22, 2026
- Internet Archive copies and our server's checks of growthoid.com, tokupgrade.com, toksocial.com, mediamister.com, sidesmedia.com and stormlikes.net, October 22, 2026
- ScamAdviser, reports for 49 growth-service domains, read October 22, 2026
- Virallized and HowSociable, quoting Trustpilot's removal notices in 2026, read October 22, 2026
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Devumi press release, October 21, 2019, read October 22, 2026
- New York State Attorney General, Devumi settlement, January 30, 2019, read October 22, 2026
- 16 CFR 465.8 (89 FR 68077, August 22, 2024), read October 22, 2026
- Instagram, "Reducing Inauthentic Activity on Instagram," November 19, 2018, and YouTube's fake engagement policy, read October 22, 2026
- Instagram Terms of Use and TikTok Community Guidelines, as Google showed them on October 22, 2026
- Google results for "social media growth services," US, October 22, 2026 (our read)
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