Evenings are the safest bet
Every study puts Instagram's strongest hours after work: people scroll Reels and carousels on the sofa, not at their desks. 18:00 to 21:00 is the one stretch all 4 name.
Sprout starts the window earlier, around midday, because it counts when likes and comments arrive rather than when the post went out. A post at 18:00 still collects engagement through the evening.
Tuesday to Thursday, weakest on Saturday
Midweek leads in 3 of 4 studies. Buffer and Metricool both rank Saturday among the weakest days, and Sprout says weekends trail weekdays overall.
Buffer's best weekend window is Sunday from 20:00 to 22:00, which suits a brand whose customers plan their week on Sunday night.
Where the studies disagree: the morning
Buffer's single best slot is Thursday at 9:00, while Metricool and Sprout don't rate mornings at all. Hootsuite's team adds that brand accounts tend to do better early and personal accounts later, around 20:00 to 21:00.
So run both: evenings as your base, and one or two 9:00 posts a week to see whether your followers are morning people.
- BufferBest daysWed, ThuBest hours9:00, 12:00, 18:00 to 23:00Top slotThursday 9:00
- Sprout SocialBest daysMon to ThuBest hours12:00 to 21:00Top slotNone named
- HootsuiteBest daysMon, Tue, ThuBest hours5:00 to 8:00, 15:00 to 21:00Top slotNone named
- MetricoolBest daysTue, WedBest hours18:00 to 21:00Top slotTuesday 20:00
How often to post on Instagram
Buffer's study of 2 million posts from over 100,000 accounts found the biggest jump comes from going from 1 or 2 posts a week to 3 to 5: around 12% more reach per post. Posting more keeps helping, but 3 to 5 a week is a pace you can hold.
Sources and method
Every window in this guide is what a study's own page says, read on the date beside it. Where a study's overview and its page for one platform disagree, we used the platform page, which is newer and narrower.
The charts count how many of the studies name each hour or day. They show where the studies agree, not how much engagement an hour gets: no study publishes its raw numbers.
Buffer, The Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2026
52 million posts from over 200,000 accounts, 2024 and 2025. Median engagement rate by the hour a post went out. Read 8 November 2026.
Sprout Social, Best times to post on social media in 2026
Nearly 2 billion engagements across about 307,000 profiles. When engagement happens, hour by hour. Read 8 November 2026.
Hootsuite, Best time to post on social media
Over 1 million posts in 118 countries, with Critical Truth. Engagement by the hour a post went out. Read 8 November 2026.
Metricool, Best time to post on social networks
Per-network studies of professional accounts, such as 24.4 million Instagram posts from 375,118 accounts. Read 8 November 2026.