RepostitBest Time to Post on Instagram (2026 Data)
· 3 min read
The best time to post on Instagram is weekday afternoons, Tuesday to Thursday, roughly between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. local time. That’s where three large 2025–2026 studies overlap. Weekends, Friday and the early hours (1–5 a.m.) perform worst. The best time for your account depends on when your followers are online, so use these windows as a starting point and test.
Best times to post on Instagram (2026 studies)
Times are your audience’s local time. The three studies used different data and methods, so they don’t match exactly. Where they agree is your safest bet.
| Day | Sprout Social | Buffer (top slot) | Hootsuite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 2–4 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 3–9 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 1–7 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 5–8 a.m., 3–7 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 12–9 p.m. | 12 p.m. | 5 p.m. |
| Thursday | 12–2 p.m. | 9 a.m. | 4–5 p.m. |
| Friday | no clear peak | 10 p.m. | around 4 p.m. |
| Saturday | avoid | 9 p.m. | 11 a.m., around 5 p.m. |
| Sunday | avoid | 9 p.m. | 12–3 p.m. |
Best days: Wednesday, then Tuesday and Thursday (Buffer and Sprout Social agree). Worst: weekends (Sprout Social), Friday and Saturday (Buffer), and 1–5 a.m. any day (Buffer).
Buffer’s overall top three: Thursday 9 a.m., Wednesday 12 p.m. and Wednesday 6 p.m.
About the data
- Buffer (published September 2026): 9.6 million Instagram posts from 200,000+ accounts, January 2024 to December 2025, ranked by median engagement rate.
- Sprout Social (March 2026): nearly 2 billion engagements across about 307,000 social profiles, November 2025 to February 2026. Note: the data covers six networks together, not Instagram alone.
- Hootsuite (updated October 2026): over 1 million social posts from businesses, localised across 118 countries.
Sources: Buffer, Sprout Social, Hootsuite.
How to find your own best time
- Switch to a professional account (free) to unlock Insights.
- Open Insights → Total followers and scroll to Most active times, by day and by hour.
- Schedule 30–60 minutes before your followers’ peak, so the post has early engagement when most people arrive.
- Test two or three slots for 2–3 weeks and compare reach and engagement. Our free engagement rate calculator makes the comparison easy.
Audience in several time zones? Aim for the largest group, or post twice using different formats.
Best time for Reels vs posts
None of the three studies publishes separate Reels-only times, so use the same windows. Reels are shown to non-followers too, so timing matters a little less than for feed posts; the first hour still helps.
Post at the right time without being online
Schedule in the Instagram app (up to 75 days ahead) or with a tool. See how to schedule Instagram posts. If you also post to TikTok and YouTube, Repostit’s Post planner schedules one post to all of them, or reposts every new Reel automatically. Also see the best time to post on TikTok.
FAQ
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
Weekday afternoons, especially Tuesday to Thursday between about 12 and 6 p.m. local time. Buffer’s single best slots are Thursday 9 a.m. and Wednesday 12 p.m.
What is the best day to post on Instagram?
Wednesday, according to both Buffer and Sprout Social, followed by Tuesday and Thursday.
What is the worst time to post on Instagram?
Between 1 and 5 a.m., and on Friday and Saturday (Buffer) or weekends (Sprout Social).
Does posting time really matter on Instagram?
It helps, but less than the content itself. A good post at an average time beats a weak post at the perfect time.
