While there are many social media networks out there these days, Instagram remains the top one for businesses, brands, creators, influencers, and many more. The unique tools that Instagram offers to reach and connect with people are invaluable.
Because of the opportunities that lie within Instagram’s platform, there is an extreme amount of competition on the platform and it can be tough to gain the amount of popularity and interaction needed to grow at a continual pace. For this reason, many tools and companies have emerged to try and help.
If you try to take your follower growth into your own hands, it can be a long and tiring process. What’s more, getting engagements is even more difficult and requires a lot of time spent on Instagram interacting.
These time-consuming interactions often distract from other important tasks such as content planning and creation, caption creation, as well as hashtag strategy, to name a few. If you want to optimize your workflow and keep growing, you’ve got to be sure to use the right tools to help you do so.
One of the most popular tools emerged a few years ago, and this tool is known as an Instagram bot, or Instagram automation. While this was a very popular method for growth in the past, it has since become controversial and heavily regulated by Instagram.
In order to keep your account safe, it’s important to understand a variety of points, which this article will cover:
• What is an Instagram bot
• Whether or not Instagram bots still work
• How Instagram controls bots
• Alternatives to Instagram bots
• Top 15 Instagram bots
After reading, you’ll know exactly why people are straying from bot use and leaning more towards other Instagram growth options available.
Let’s get started!
What is an Instagram Bot?
An Instagram bot is a program, service, or application that takes basic Instagram functions and automates them, including likes, comments, post scheduling, DMs, story views, and more. This is the basic function of an Instagram bot.
While it seems like this would be no problem and would make your life a whole lot easier, Instagram implemented a variety of rules about how people use Instagram bots and how third party apps and companies work with the Instagram platform.
Instagram bots became very popular for follower growth a few years ago, and to understand the trajectory of Instagram bots and how they work today, we’ve got to go back a bit and take a look at the history.
How Did Instagram Bots Get Started?
The first way that people started to get help with their Instagram follower growth was to buy Instagram followers; this became very popular and people thought that follower count was the main indicator of success.
Not long after, though, users and Instagram alike began to realize that many people, even many hot celebrities, had bought Instagram followers and their popularity wasn’t genuine. This is when many of these companies were put out of business and Instagram tightened up policy.
What followed this was Instagram bots and automation. People thought that if they could interact with as many users as possible on Instagram and spam their posts with comments and inboxes with DMs, they’d get more followers.
This worked for a while, but Instagram then realized that it was seriously hurting the user experience and overloading the platform with spam. Instagram then implemented a variety of terms of use changes to basically ban the use of Instagram bots for follower growth as well as changed the algorithm.
The Instagram algorithm now favors engagement, which means that having a high follower count isn’t the most important thing— you have to not only have followers, but followers that engage with your content through likes, comments, etc.
People want to use bots because it’s mindless and they don’t have to do anything, but unfortunately nothing comes so easy on social media, and services that claim that their bots can boost your profile to stardom may not be telling you the whole story.
Let’s take a look at whether or not Instagram bots still work.
Do Instagram Bots Still Work?
This answer isn’t as cut and dry as it may appear. Do bots still work on Instagram? Yes and no.
Ultimately it comes down to what kind of bot you are using and what actions the bots are going to take on your account. There are many different kinds of Instagram bots and not all of them are going to bring you the results you are hoping for.
Front End Automation Vs. Back End Automation
The two types of bots can be understood in these two categories: front end automation and back end automation. Once you understand the difference, you can understand whether or not a bot or automation service will be worth your time and money.
Front end automation is when a bot automates any actions that are user-facing, for instance comments, likes, follow/unfollow, messages, shares, views, etc. If a user sees what the bot does, this is considered front end.
Back end automation is anything that happens behind the scenes such as auto posting and analytics. Back end automation is used only by the profile owner and no users will ever come into contact with this automation.
As you may have already guessed, front end automation is the one that Instagram frowns upon and heavily regulates. You can use back end automation without problem as it is not against the Instagram terms of use and can, in fact, make your workload a lot easier and more effective.
It’s very difficult to find an Instagram bot that actually works if it engages with users or affects their experience in any way; Instagram has many different policies in place to curb the use of front end Instagram bots, and using them can get you into some trouble.
How Instagram Controls Bot Use
Instagram is continuously making changes to their platform in order to discourage the use of bots and make their services ineffective. For that reason, many of the most popular and well-known Instagram bot companies are a thing of the past.
When you understand how Instagram is combatting bot use, you can understand which services may actually work as they are supposed to and which ones are simply trying to get the money out of your pocket with little results in return.
These are a few of the ways that Instagram curbs bot use:
• Capping engagement: one of the principal ways that Instagram makes bots ineffective is by putting limits on engagement. These limits are not disclosed and depend specifically on your particular account history. Bots worked because they engaged with thousands and thousands of users, but since Instagram has now placed random limits and caps on how many engagements can be perpetuated without being flagged, bots have to lower their threshold incredibly, making them virtually ineffective. If you surpass this number of interactions, you won’t be allowed to engage any more on the platform for a period of time, which could be hours or even days. If this keeps up, you can face consequences. This can vary depending on your account, and the numbers aren’t the same for everyone. Some average engagement thresholds include: 300-500 daily likes of accounts that you follow, 10 DMs hourly, 30 comments daily, and 140 daily follows. These are rough figures just so you can get an idea.
• Sending warning messages: Instagram will warn you if you’ve been flagged as using automation on your profile. This is common especially if your engagement surpasses the threshold that IG has set for your account. They will either remove the followers gained or warn you that your account is compromised. You will have to change your profile, disconnecting you from the bot service. It gets very tedious and annoying to consistently go through this and it severely hinders the effectiveness of a bot. You are likely to see little to no results, and you may even lose any progress you’ve made.
• Blocking your account: If you’re a repeat offender of bot use, you will receive a notification that you have been blocked for violating the terms of use and using a bot service. It’s usually a block that lasts for a week or so, but even still, this can also cause huge snags in your Instagram strategy and ability to continue growing and interacting with your followers, which is vital.
• Shut down companies: Instagram has and continues to threaten to sue any companies that are violating the terms of use of Instagram and for this reason many of the most popular companies of the past are no longer in business.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways that Instagram hinders the use of bots on Instagram, so if you are trying to use front end Instagram automation to grow your followers and engagement, you are probably setting yourself up for failure.
Time is money on Instagram, so don’t waste either trying to use Instagram automation on the user-facing side.
There are plenty of other tools out there that have been designed to help you in more practical ways; these alternatives won’t get you banned or blocked from Instagram and keep your profile in line with their terms of use.
Alternatives to Instagram Bots
While it’s unfortunate that Instagram bots simply aren’t what they used to be, the good news is that many companies have been changing things up and reinventing the wheel with new services and tools for Instagram growth.
There are two principal types of services that can help you get a boost for your Instagram account and before we get into our top 15 list of Instagram bot alternatives, we’re going to give you a quick breakdown of what each one is and how it works for your Instagram growth.
Managed Organic Instagram Growth
If you’re looking for the most natural and effective way to get more Instagram followers and engagement, organic Instagram growth is the option for you. While this option takes a bit longer, the results are much better and actually translate into real-world success.
When you try to grow your Instagram yourself through engagement with new users on the platform, you are taking part in organic Instagram growth. The good news is that there are a handful of companies that have created services to take over for you and be in charge of your organic growth.
We’ll discuss these services more in detail on our list, but when you work with an organic Instagram growth service you are giving yourself the best chance to generate interest in your profile from users in your target audience, increasing the likelihood of sustainable Instagram followers and engagement levels.
Bulk Follower Packages
Another option to get your Instagram growth moving is to buy Instagram followers and engagement in bulk packages. This is a valid way for a quick surge of followers, likes, comments, etc., but doesn’t quite constitute a long-term Instagram growth strategy.
You must also review very carefully the companies and fully understand the services that they provide; many companies are simply looking to take advantage of users desperate for Instagram help and if you don’t keep your wits about you, you may fall victim to a scam or to low-quality followers and engagement.
The only way to keep your Instagram growing is to increase the numbers of real followers, so you want to make sure you know what the company is offering you and how they provide their services.
We’ll discuss a few of those on our list below so you have a reputable base from which to begin looking.
Best Instagram Bots
On our top 15 list we will include a variety of services, including organic Instagram growth services, bulk follower services, as well as Instagram bots for back end automation.
All of the services on this list will help your Instagram strategy exponentially and help you not only to increase your numbers, but also to increase your profitability, reputation, content reach, and more.
We’ll also include a few Instagram automation tools on the list, but use at your own risk.
Let’s explore each of these companies and get familiar with what to expect when you use their services.
1. Growthoid
Growthoid is the true star of Instagram follower growth and they have reinvented the wheel, helping to replace the hole that bots left in many users’ hearts. Growthoid offers its clients a fully-managed Instagram growth service that will boost both your followers as well as engagement.
When you work with Growthoid, you will complete a quick and easy signup process; once that’s done, you’ll be asked to provide your targets for your account manager. Your account manager is the one that will be taking over your growth and engaging with the right accounts.
Not only is Growthoid fully managed, they also use advanced targeting to engage with the right people; bots also claimed to do this, but it was never accurate and often caused a lot of problems for users.
Since Growthoid has an account manager to handle your growth, the targeting has a personal touch and the accounts can be better identified through the expertise of the account manager. This will avoid gaining unwanted followers and will bring more of your target audience on board.
Because your account manager will be interacting with targeted users, your followers will be interested in your account and will not only get your follower count up but will also engage with your content. This is the true benefit of Growthoid— you get not only more followers, but also more engagement.
It doesn’t get much better than that. With flexible no-contract plans and the best support team around, Growthoid is an optimal choice for all of your Instagram growth needs. Check them out and see what you think; they’ve got tons of happy clients and if you aren’t happy, their service is backed up by a 14-day money-back guarantee.
2. Growthsilo
If you like the sound of Growthoid, then Growthsilo will be right up your alley as well. With some of the most advanced targeting available in the Instagram growth market, Growthsilo is sure to boost your real followers and engagement in no time.
You will receive fully-managed, organic Instagram growth through the services that Growthsilo provides. Nothing is better than getting the attention of your target audience and that is exactly what Growthsilo will help you to do.
When you have real followers that are connected to your niche, you will also see boosts in engagement, allowing you to get more natural reach through the Instagram algorithm.
Growthsilo offers two monthly plans— regular and pro. Both options are no contract and are affordable options. You can finally stop spending hours interacting with users on Instagram and leave that up to Growthsilo.
Working with a service like Growthsilo helps to get your focus realigned and keep delivering more top quality content, captions, and hashtag strategy. After all, the better your content is, the better an organic growth service will work for you.
3. More Likes
Having more Instagram followers is great, but keep in mind that engagement is the true metric that matters on Instagram. While an Instagram like is just a small, simple engagement, it can have huge implications for the success of your profile.
If you have a healthy number of Instagram likes on your content, you will be seen as more reputable, giving your content and identity an authority in your niche. This allows you to compete with bigger profiles in your industry.
More Likes is one of the only two services out there at the moment that can help you to get more real Instagram likes as soon as your content goes live. It’s truly revolutionary what they’ve come up with and it helps your content performance exponentially.
When you post a new piece of content, More Likes will detect this content and will deliver you real likes as soon as you post. How? They have spent time developing a huge network of in-house users that work to like your content.
This means your account won’t be in jeopardy at all because these likes are generated by real users of Instagram. You won’t have to worry about them disappearing or dinging your credibility.
You can select how many likes you want delivered to each post when you choose your plan; you can get anywhere from 50 to 1,500 likes per post and you are covered for up to four new posts per day.
Give your content the competitive advantage with likes right out of the gate— buy Instagram auto likes from More Likes with complete confidence.
4. Grab Likes
As you know, Instagram likes are very powerful and can help take your profile to new heights. When your content already has likes, it gets more likes. That’s how social proof works.
If you have been struggling to get your likes where you need them or you just want to get a boost on your content, Grab Likes can help. When you work with Grab Likes, you’ll receive real Instagram likes to all of your newly posted content.
Since it can take some time to get likes on new content, having an auto-likes service gets users to like your content for you is invaluable; when you have low likes on your posts, you get less likes overall.
Grab Likes helps you get likes right from the beginning; if you don’t want them to be delivered immediately, you can even select your speed.
Grab Likes has a variety of quantities for their auto-likes services; choose the one that best fits your current profile and watch your likes increase in a valuable way.
5. SidesMedia
If you need a quick infusion of followers, SidesMedia has you covered. SidesMedia has been in social media growth for years and can offer you not only real Instagram followers and likes, but also followers and engagements for other social media networks including TikTok, YouTube, and more.
SidesMedia has a network of users that they will call on to help provide the quantity of followers, likes, etc. that you need for your Instagram account. Their website is very simple to use and you can easily select the number of followers or likes that you need. They’ll then deliver the real likes with a natural delivery time frame.
When you need a quick boost of real followers or likes for your Instagram or other social media networks, SidesMedia is an excellent, safe option that gives you great value for the price.
6. Nitreo
Nitreo is an Instagram bot that claims to help you grow your Instagram followers through automation. As we mentioned before, Instagram bots are not as effective as they used to be, but sometimes they can still work depending on the engagement levels that you set for them.
Nitreo has a very quick setup process and also comes with a 14-day guarantee so if you aren’t happy with the way the bot is working for you, you can discuss it with their support team.
While bots aren’t the safest or most effective way to get more Instagram followers, Nitreo has been a popular option that has managed to stay in business without much problem from Instagram itself.
7. Stellation Media
While most Instagram bots are focused on follow/unfollow and likes, Stellation Media has expanded their service to include the ever-popular Instagram stories. You can gain more real followers and generate exposure for your account through their mass story viewer.
They offer other automations as well, claiming to be able to get you some of the highest quantities of followers of any service out there. They are very confident in their services and what they provide their customers because the price of their monthly options is quite high in comparison to other services.
If you’ve got a bit extra to spend and you want to see how Instagram stories can help you to grow your account, check out Stellation Media.
8. Upleap
Upleap is a bit of a fusion between a bot and a managed Instagram service. The good thing is that Upleap provides you with an overseeing manager that monitors your bot numbers, helping to keep your account safer.
While no bot is completely safe on Instagram, having human oversight is definitely a plus that not all companies can provide. Upleap also offers a very user-friendly website and really easy services to use.
Services like Upleap will try to prevent you from being flagged through evaluating the speed at which the bot engages, but sometimes this has to be so low that you won’t see any results at all. If they can get the magic spot, you’ll be good.
9. Ingramer
Advertised as a marketing tool for Instagram, Ingramer is a bot that will keep activity going 24/7 on your account and can employ a chatbot to immediately help clients. This is geared towards businesses or other people who need to have a quick response time with their prospects.
Ingramer’s bot tries to replicate human behavior as closely as possible so as to keep your account secure and free from bans. While it can’t prevent it 100%, they do their best to avoid it.
Geared towards businesses and creators looking to expand their client base, Ingramer claims to be able to help you get the attention you need automatically. Check them out and see if they have something that may suit your needs.
10. Jarvee
If you’re a Windows user and you want to try out automation for yourself, Jarvee has a downloadable platform service that you can use to get more Instagram followers and automate different elements of your Instagram account.
Their services are optimized for Windows, but if you are a Mac or Linux user, you can also follow their tutorials or support to help get the service started for you. Jarvee has been around for quite a while so they have been a reliable option and a fairly consistent Instagram bot that helps with automation.
10. SocialMeep
If you are looking for a bot that will help perpetuate organic-style engagement, SocialMeep is one of the popular options on the market. While it won’t get you as accurate results as a real organic service will, it comes pretty close.
SocialMeep also has a team of experts that aim to keep your account safe and free of Instagram bans or flagging. Nothing is worse than having your account be blocked or frozen for a while, so working with a service that tries to prevent that is one of the best things that you can do.
There are two plans that you can choose from when you use SocialMeep, offering you a few different options based on your needs and budget.
11. Instazood
If you need a tool that has a few different options for you, Instazood could be a good fit. You will be able to do things like schedule posts and automate your engagement to gain more real followers.
Instazood is one of the cheaper options out there, so they don’t offer much in terms of a user interface and customer service, but if you’re on a budget and want to work with a service that tries to keep your engagements under the limit set by Instagram, Instazood is an option you may want to consider.
The speed settings on Instazood are automatic, and they offer automatic services for likes, comments, follows, unfollows, viewing stories, DMs, and posts. There is a 5 day trial available as well.
12. Media Mister
One of the oldest social media growth companies around, Media Mister has a competitive edge due to its experience providing clients with real Instagram followers, likes, and much more. In fact, when it comes to options, Media Mister pretty much beats the rest.
They also service almost every social media platform imaginable, so if cross-platform growth is what you’re after, you can get most everything from Media Mister. They offer packages of set followers and likes which can help get your account a quick boost.
Media Mister takes your safety seriously and will only send followers and engagements over a safe time period. This is important because you always want to work with a company that keeps your safety a priority.
13. Instamber
A popular option for social media marketing, Instamber offers a variety of tools that help you to establish your brand and manage your accounts. You can also analyze your growth and schedule content.
Instamber offers bots for Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. They also have other services available including an Instagram auto direct messenger, Instagram post manager, Instagram comment manager, Instagram search tool, and more.
There are a variety of options here, but use with caution when automating front end interactions on Instagram and other social media networks. Also, Instamber doesn’t offer these services as one package so you’ll have to pay separately. They also don’t offer pricing directly on their website, which is a bit inconvenient when trying to compare service options.
14. Later
If you’re looking for an Instagram bot that can help you with auto-posting, content planning and visualizing, analytics, user-generated content and much more, Later is probably for you. Don’t underestimate the power of professional and organized Instagram posting.
You must post at consistent times in order to get optimal likes and engagement, so using an auto-post bot like Later can ensure that you do that. What’s more, the visual schedule planner is the best on the market, helping you to understand the final product and what your Instagram home page is going to look like once your content is live.
With a variety of other functions and features, Later is one of the top comprehensive Instagram bot tools to help you excel.
15. Social Sensei
If you need Instagram followers and you don’t have much of a preference about follower quality, who they are, or what region they’re from, Social sensei can help you get that. Their services aren’t cheap, however, so you’re going to have to fork out a bit of cash.
They work through campaigns and promotions to provide you with real followers from around the globe. This is at least an option to keep your account safe and grow your follower count if that’s all you’re after.
The good thing is that Social Sensei keeps your account relatively safe; you won’t risk being flagged or suspended; they use real users and real accounts to bring you the followers you need.
If you want targeted followers that are geared toward your location or niche, you’ll probably want to look at a different organic service listed above.
Conclusion: Best Instagram Bots
So, what’s the best Instagram bot? There really isn’t one— there are many other tools out there that can help your follower and engagement growth on Instagram without having to automate anything.
Some bots try to operate in spite of the rules set forth by Instagram, and while they can work sometimes, it’s really a hit or miss. Since there are other services and options available, it’s better to work with a service that can provide results without the risk.
If you’re looking for bots that will automate your back end tasks such as posting or analytics, there are plenty out there that are very user-friendly and effective. You can see them on this list and if you use those Instagram automation services in conjunction with the other tools we’ve mentioned for followers and engagement, you are setting up a strong long-term strategy.
You’ve got to have a game plan and you’ve got to have a long-term strategy if you really want to compete with bigger, more established accounts in your niche. Everyone wants a quick and easy solution to social media fame, but it simply doesn’t exist.
Instagram bots as we knew them are a thing of the past, but don’t miss out on all of the amazing tools that have been created to support and assist Instagram users in increasing their popularity, conversion, and exposure.
