There's no single best time to post on Instagram, but four large 2026 studies overlap most on weekday afternoons and early evenings, roughly 3–7 p.m. Monday to Wednesday. Buffer's top slot is Thursday at 9 a.m., while Later's data favours 5 a.m. Every one of these times is in your audience's local time, so post at their 3 p.m., not yours.
Below: each study's times for every day of the week, where they agree and disagree, how to convert the times when your audience lives in another time zone, and how to find your own best time in Instagram's Insights. Updated October 2026.
To convert any of these windows to your own clock, use our free best time to post finder.
The best time to post on Instagram, by study
These are the four largest current studies we could verify on each publisher's own page. They measure different things on different samples, so we show each one separately rather than averaging them.
| Study | Published | Sample | Measures | Time zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Sep 2026 | 9.6 million Instagram posts, Jan 2024 – Dec 2025 | Median engagement rate | Audience's local time |
| Sprout Social | Mar 2026 | Nearly 2 billion engagements, 307,000 profiles (all networks), 27 Nov 2025 – 27 Feb 2026 | Peak engagement windows | Audience's local time |
| Hootsuite | Jul 2026 | Over 1 million posts (all networks), 118 countries | Engagement | Audience's local time |
| Later | Apr 2026 | 6 million+ Instagram posts, Jan – Oct 2024 | Engagement rate | Audience's local time |
All four say their times are in the audience's local time. Sprout Social: "All optimal posting times are listed in Local Time." Buffer: "normalized the times so they apply to any timezone." Later: "When we say 5 AM is the best time to post, we mean 5 AM wherever your followers are located."
Best times to post on Instagram for every day of the week
Each cell is the study's own wording, in the audience's local time.
| Day | Buffer | Sprout Social | Hootsuite | Later |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 7 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m. | 2–4 p.m. | 3–9 p.m. | 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 7 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. | 1–7 p.m. | 5–8 a.m. and 3–7 p.m. | 5 a.m. |
| Wednesday | 12 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 a.m. | 12–9 p.m. and 11 p.m. | 5 p.m. | 3 a.m., strong until 5 a.m. |
| Thursday | 9 a.m., 8 a.m., 7 a.m. | 12–2 p.m. | 4–5 p.m. | 4–5 a.m. |
| Friday | 10 p.m., 9 p.m., 6 a.m. | No time given | Around 4 p.m. | 3–6 a.m. |
| Saturday | 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 8 p.m. | No time given | 11 a.m. and around 5 p.m. | 5 a.m. |
| Sunday | 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 8 p.m. | No time given | 12–3 p.m. | 12 a.m., 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. |
Best time to post on Instagram on Monday
Monday is one of the clearest days. Three of the four studies point to the afternoon or evening, and they overlap from 6 to 9 p.m. Later's early-morning slot is the outlier.
- Buffer: 7 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.
- Sprout Social: 2–4 p.m.
- Hootsuite: 3–9 p.m.
- Later: 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Where at least two studies overlap: 3–4 p.m. and 6–9 p.m.
Best time to post on Instagram on Tuesday
Tuesday has the widest agreement of the week: Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite all include the 3–7 p.m. stretch.
- Buffer: 7 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m.
- Sprout Social: 1–7 p.m.
- Hootsuite: 5–8 a.m. and 3–7 p.m.
- Later: 5 a.m.
Where at least two studies overlap: 5–6 a.m. and 3–7 p.m.
Best time to post on Instagram on Wednesday
Buffer calls Wednesday the best day of the week, and Sprout Social's Wednesday window runs from noon to 9 p.m.
- Buffer: 12 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 a.m.
- Sprout Social: 12–9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
- Hootsuite: 5 p.m.
- Later: 3 a.m., strong until 5 a.m.
Where at least two studies overlap: 12–1 p.m. and 5–7 p.m.
Best time to post on Instagram on Thursday
Thursday is where the studies split. Buffer's best slot of the whole week is Thursday at 9 a.m., Sprout Social says midday and Hootsuite says late afternoon.
- Buffer: 9 a.m., 8 a.m., 7 a.m.
- Sprout Social: 12–2 p.m.
- Hootsuite: 4–5 p.m.
- Later: 4–5 a.m.
No hour on this day is flagged by more than one study.
Best time to post on Instagram on Friday
Friday is weak in most of the data. Buffer counts it among the worst days, and Sprout Social gives no Friday time at all. If you post on a Friday, Buffer's late-evening slots and Hootsuite's 4 p.m. are the options with data behind them.
- Buffer: 10 p.m., 9 p.m., 6 a.m.
- Sprout Social: no recommended time
- Hootsuite: Around 4 p.m.
- Later: 3–6 a.m.
No hour on this day is flagged by more than one study.
Best time to post on Instagram on Saturday
Buffer and Sprout Social both rank weekends low. Buffer's best Saturday hours are in the evening, from 8 to 11 p.m.
- Buffer: 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 8 p.m.
- Sprout Social: no recommended time
- Hootsuite: 11 a.m. and around 5 p.m.
- Later: 5 a.m.
No hour on this day is flagged by more than one study.
Best time to post on Instagram on Sunday
Sunday has no agreement between studies. Buffer favours 8–11 p.m., Hootsuite midday and Later late night and early morning. Treat Sunday as a day to test rather than a day to rely on.
- Buffer: 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 8 p.m.
- Sprout Social: no recommended time
- Hootsuite: 12–3 p.m.
- Later: 12 a.m., 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.
No hour on this day is flagged by more than one study.
Best time to post Instagram Reels
Only one of the four studies gives Reels their own times. Later analysed more than 975,000 Reels and found the best time to post them is 12 a.m., with Monday the best day and high engagement between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. Buffer suggests Reels "may follow slightly different peak windows" and recommends testing early morning and midday on top of its evening slots. If Reels are most of what you post, test both and keep whichever wins in your own Insights.
If you're filming Reels, our Instagram Reels safe zone template shows where captions and buttons will cover your video.
Why the studies disagree
- Different samples. Buffer studies posts sent through its own scheduling tool; Sprout Social counts engagements across its customers' profiles; Hootsuite analysed posts from businesses in 118 countries; Later analysed more than 6 million feed posts.
- Different measures. Engagement, engagement rate and "peak engagement windows" reward different things. A 5 a.m. post can have a high engagement rate because fewer accounts are posting then, even if fewer people are awake.
- Different periods. Later's data is from January to October 2024; Sprout Social's is from November 2025 to February 2026.
- Different accounts. A creator with a global audience and a local café get different results from the same clock time.
So the useful reading is where several studies overlap (weekday afternoons and early evenings) and which slots only one study supports (Later's 5 a.m., Buffer's Thursday morning). Both are worth testing.
Converting the times when your audience is somewhere else
Because every study uses the audience's local time, a creator in London with mostly US followers should post at US times, converted to London time. Here's Buffer's top slot, Thursday at 9 a.m., converted:
| Audience in ↓ / you post from → | New York | London | Mumbai | Manila | Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Thu 9 a.m. | Thu 2 p.m. | Thu 7:30 p.m. | Thu 10 p.m. | Fri 1 a.m. |
| Los Angeles | Thu 12 p.m. | Thu 5 p.m. | Thu 10:30 p.m. | Fri 1 a.m. | Fri 4 a.m. |
| London | Thu 4 a.m. | Thu 9 a.m. | Thu 2:30 p.m. | Thu 5 p.m. | Thu 8 p.m. |
| Mumbai | Wed 10:30 p.m. | Thu 3:30 a.m. | Thu 9 a.m. | Thu 11:30 a.m. | Thu 2:30 p.m. |
| Manila | Wed 8 p.m. | Thu 1 a.m. | Thu 6:30 a.m. | Thu 9 a.m. | Thu 12 p.m. |
| Sydney | Wed 5 p.m. | Wed 10 p.m. | Thu 3:30 a.m. | Thu 6 a.m. | Thu 9 a.m. |
These conversions are for mid-November, after the US and UK clocks change and while Sydney is on daylight time. The gaps shift by an hour for a few weeks each spring and autumn. If your audience is in Canada, use the New York row for Toronto and the Los Angeles row for Vancouver. The best time to post finder handles daylight saving and split audiences for you.
How to find your own best time on Instagram
The studies are a starting point. Your own followers are the real answer, and Instagram shows you when they're online.
- Use a professional account. Insights are available on creator and business accounts.
- Open Insights and tap Total followers. Instagram shows follower trends, including "times they're most active on Instagram", once you have at least 100 followers.
- Check Most active times by hour and by day. Note your top two or three windows.
- Compare them with the studies above and pick a short list of times to test.
A simple four-week test:
- Weeks 1–2: post at the windows where the studies agree (for example, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons).
- Weeks 3–4: post the same kinds of content at your own most active times.
- Then compare reach, saves and shares per post, not just likes. Keep the format and length similar so the time is the main thing that changes.
If you schedule posts, Meta Business Suite also offers Active times: recommended slots "based on when followers were most active on Facebook and Instagram over the past 7 days".
Best times to post on other platforms
Each platform has its own studies and its own patterns:
- Best time to post on TikTok
- Best time to post on YouTube
- Best time to post on Facebook
- Best time to post on LinkedIn
- Best time to post on X (Twitter)
- Best time to post on social media: every platform in one place
Common questions
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
There isn't one time that suits every account. Across Buffer, Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Later, the most agreement is on weekday afternoons and early evenings, about 3–7 p.m. from Monday to Wednesday, in your audience's local time. Buffer's single best slot is Thursday at 9 a.m.
What is the best day to post on Instagram?
Buffer names Wednesday the best day; Later says Monday; Hootsuite points to Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Buffer and Sprout Social both rank weekends lowest.
What time zone are these times in?
Your audience's local time. All four studies say so on their own pages. If your followers are in New York, post at New York times, whatever your own time zone.
What is the worst time to post on Instagram?
Buffer says Friday and Saturday are the worst days. Later's worst slots are Thursday at 3 a.m. and Saturday at 11 p.m. Hootsuite says early mornings before 8 a.m. and late nights after 10 p.m., which shows how much the studies differ.
Does posting time still matter on Instagram?
It matters less than the content itself, but early engagement still helps a post get shown to more people. Use the studies to pick times to test, then let your own Insights decide.
Make your posts pay
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Sources
Checked October 2026. We summarise each study's findings; see the publisher's page for its full charts.
- Buffer: Best time to post on Instagram, data from 9.6 million posts (updated September 2026)
- Sprout Social: Best times to post on Instagram in 2026 (updated March 2026)
- Hootsuite: The best time to post on Instagram
- Later: Best time to post on Instagram in 2026
- Instagram Help Centre: About Instagram insights
- Meta Business Help Centre: Create and manage posts in Meta Business Suite
