Work hours for some platforms, evenings for others
The platforms split by when people use them. X, Threads and Facebook are checked first thing, so their windows open between 8:00 and 9:00. LinkedIn is read at work and peaks later in the working day.
Instagram and TikTok are where people go to switch off, so both peak after work, from 18:00. Buffer draws the same line between daytime and evening platforms.
Midweek wins almost everywhere
Wednesday is the day the studies name most, with Tuesday and Thursday close behind. Weekends are the weakest days on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Threads.
TikTok is the exception, and the studies can't agree on it: Buffer ranks Saturday best and Sunday morning as its top slot, while Sprout ranks weekends worst.
Why the studies give different answers
They measure different things. Buffer and Hootsuite score posts by the hour they went out. Sprout counts when engagement arrives, hour by hour, which pulls its answers towards the afternoon: a post at 9:00 is still collecting likes at 14:00.
Each study also reads its own customers' accounts, and every one reports local time. Trust the hours where they overlap, and test the hours where they don't.
Does posting time still matter?
Less than it did. Instagram, TikTok and Threads rank most of the feed by interest, not by the minute a post went out. Buffer calls timing a head start, and names posting consistently as what matters more.
It still decides the first hour. A post that goes out while your audience is awake gets early likes and comments, and on TikTok and LinkedIn that first response shapes how far it travels. Posting steadily, week after week, matters more than the exact minute.
Post on your audience's clock
Every study reports local time, so 9:00 means 9:00 where your customers are, not where you are. A studio in Stockholm selling to New York posts at 15:00 Stockholm time to reach 9:00 in New York.
When your customers span time zones, pick the hours when most of them are awake at once, or give each region its own social set and its own clock.
How often to post
Buffer's frequency studies give a pace for each platform: 3 to 5 posts a week on Instagram (around 12% more reach per post than 1 or 2), 2 to 5 on LinkedIn, and 2 to 5 on TikTok (up to 17% more views per post). On Threads, Buffer finds daily posting goes with the fastest growth.
A pace you keep beats a burst you can't. 3 posts every week for a quarter teach you more about your best times than 10 in one week.
Find your own best time
The studies average millions of accounts. Yours is one, and once it has enough posts its own numbers beat any average.
- 1
Start on the overlap
Pick 3 to 5 slots a week on each platform from the windows above.
- 2
Keep the slots for a month
Post in the same slots for 4 weeks, so each slot holds several posts and one lucky post doesn't decide.
- 3
Compare engagement per post
Add up likes, comments, shares and saves for each post and compare slots by their average, not their total.
- 4
Move one slot at a time
Drop the weakest slot and try an hour next to your strongest. Wait for about 10 posts with engagement before you trust a result.
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.