The Best Apps for Instagram

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When it comes to Instagram, visual content is king. With over one billion monthly active users, this social media platform is second only to Facebook, as far as engagement is concerned. It’s no wonder businesses are pouring time, effort, and resources into making their Instagram page shine. To help you improve your strategy even more, we’ve rounded up a list of the best apps for Instagram.

With such tight competition, getting audience attention and standing out from the crowd can be a bit difficult to accomplish on the platform. Fortunately, there are applications that can help make the job easier for marketers.

Here are the best free and premium apps to help you manage your brand’s Instagram account.

The Best Apps for Instagram

Apps for Photo Editing

Instagram is, first and foremost, a photo-sharing app, which means it’s almost mandatory to upload high-quality images. These photo editing apps will help you enhance your images like a pro — and you don’t even need access to your computer to do it. Get any of these on your smartphone or tablet and edit your photos whenever you need to.

Photoshop Express

The popular and powerful photo editing software’s portable little brother, Photoshop Express by Adobe is a great option for editing your images for Instagram. Available for both iOS and Android, this tool is convenient to have and easy to use.

Keep it on your smartphone or tablet and edit your photos anytime, anywhere.

Photoshop Express by Adobe is available for free with a few restrictions. You can unlock its other features by purchasing the premium version.

Canva

Canva can help you add flair to your photos and create beautiful quote graphics, infographics, and more. Available for web, iOS, and Android, this app is equipped with a wide variety of templates, pre-installed images, and various text options to help you build professional-looking content.

Canva is available for free with only a few restrictions. If you want to unlock other templates, graphics, or features, you can do so for as low as $12.95 per month per user.

VSCO

VSCO is another photo editing application available for iOS and Android. Like most editing applications, this product has powerful features like preset filters, frames, and other editing tools.

But, what makes this application stand out from the rest is its simple and minimal interface

VSCO comes with a free and a premium version. The free version already has the basic presets and standard editing tools, but you can opt for the premium version for additional features like film emulator presets and video coloring. 

They offer a free trial for the premium version so you can gauge its capabilities before you hit pay. Should you find it suitable for your needs, you can sign up as a VSCO member for only $19.99 per year.

instagram icon

Afterlight 2

Offering a wide range of photo filtering options and powerful editing tools, this application will help you touch up your photos with ease. Considered a full-featured photo editing app, Afterlight 2 has almost everything you need to professionally edit your images.

Afterlight 2 is considered one of the most affordable photo editing apps for iOS users.

PicMonkey

Great for touching up selfies and adding filters and effects to your images, PicMonkey is an excellent addition to the list of apps on your iOS or Android device. With artist-made templates and amazing adjustment features, this app enables you to enhance images easily and efficiently.

PicMonkey has three plans — Basic, which is available at $7.99 per month, Pro, which is available at $12.99 per month, and Team, which is priced at $33.99 per month. Lower prices may be available for annual billing.

Snapseed

Snapseed is a complete and professional photo editing application developed by Google. It features all the essential tools you need to enhance the look of your image.

This app is totally free and is designed for both iOS and Android.

Apps for Video Editing

Did you know that video posts receive 38% more engagement than image posts on Instagram? People love videos. If you want to increase engagement, then sharing a few video clips every now and then can help.

Although raw videos might work fine, enhancing your videos to make them more eye-catching will garner more attention. Thus, taking some time to edit your videos could improve your posts’ performance. Here are a few of our recommended video editing applications for Instagram.

Boomerang

When we say video editing apps, we don’t necessarily mean a third-party application. Instagram’s native apps work great, and Boomerang is one example. 

This app enables you to create short videos that move forward and then back. It’s a lot similar to a GIF. The app isn’t intended for extensive video editing, but it’s an excellent tool if you want to create simple, funny, and engaging mini clips for your post or your Instagram story.

Boomerang is completely free for both iOS and Android users.

woman taking instagram photo

Quik by GoPro

Quik, an app developed by GoPro, is another simple yet powerful tool for editing videos. It offers a wide variety of filters and effects to help you create videos quickly and easily. You can use it to add text, trim, crop, add music, and so much more. 

This app is available for iOS and Android users.

Inshot

Whether you want to trim videos or add effects, Inshot provides powerful video editing tools to help you create aesthetically pleasing videos for your Instagram content. 

Available for iOS and Android users, you can get this app for free with a few restrictions or purchase the pro version for a fee.

Hyperlapse

Hyperlapse is another Instagram native tool which enables you to create time-lapse videos with your phone — without the aid of tripods and expensive equipment. It’s an excellent Instagram feature which can be utilized for creating wonderful stories and content.

This application is available for both iOS and Android users and is totally free.

PicFlow

If you don’t have the time to record a video, you can use PicFlow to create beautiful slideshows instead. This application has features that can help you combine photos, add music, set timing, and share your final product on Instagram as well as on other social media platforms. 

This easy-to-use and quick video slideshow maker is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Apps for Creating Instagram Stories

About 500 million users utilize Instagram stories every day and when used correctly, it can be an effective marketing tool for your brand. Here are a few apps that can help you make your Instagram Stories more awesome.

Hype-Type

One of the ways you can make your Instagram story stand out is by adding animated text to your photo, and Hype-Type is one of the best ways to do it.

This app is available for free on iOS, but if you want to remove the watermark and unlock additional animations, you may do so by paying $1.99.

instagram feed

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark has templates designed specifically for Instagram Stories to make creating graphics for the app super easy. It allows you to edit text, backgrounds, and even add animations to make your Instagram Story shine.

This app is free for both iOS and Android. You can get the full version for a fee.

Over

Featuring easy-to-edit photo and video templates for Instagram Stories, Over will help you build your brand on Instagram. This app enables you to create, customize, and share images quickly and effortlessly.

Over is available for free in iOS and Android. You can subscribe to Pro for more features.

Apps for Reposting

Good content is the lifeblood of your Instagram account, and reposting user-generated content can help improve your relationship with your followers and increase engagement. You need a reliable reposting app to help you do it. Here are some of our favorites.

Repost for Instagram

This app allows you to repost any photo or video into your Instagram account while giving credit to the content creator.

An excellent addition to your iOS or Android device, Repost for Instagram is totally free.

Repost via Instant

If you want to repost as well as download the photos and videos you shared, then Repost via Instant can help you do it.

Repost via Instant is 100% free and is available on iOS and Android.

Repost Photo and Video for Instagram

Featuring a straightforward, easy-to-use interface, Repost Photo and Video for Instagram is another great application that enables you to repost multiple photos and videos.

This application is available for Android devices.

instagram feed on smartphone

Apps for Scheduling Posts

Scheduling your posts in advance can help save time and improve Instagram engagement. Here’s what you can use to automate your post publishing.

eclincher

eclincher comes with a mobile app to help you manage your Instagram posts more easily. Aside from that, it also offers marketing and social media management support, including analytics, to help you analyze data and improve your strategies.

Once you’ve subscribed to any of eclincher’s plans, you will be able to make use of the eclincher mobile app, which is available for iOS and Android devices.

Apps for Selling Products

Instagram can be a powerful tool for selling products online. With the right tools, you can transform your Instagram business account into a visual storefront. We’ve rounded up a few apps that can help you do it.

Shopping on Instagram

A helpful app for Shopify merchants in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, UK, Brazil, Italy, and Spain, Shopping on Instagram lets customers complete their purchasing transaction without leaving the Instagram app.

At no additional cost, this application turns your Instagram account into a Shopify store.

What apps do you use to make your Instagram content more engaging and eye-catching? Comment down below!

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