Which are the best Instagram tools to increase your reach?

Image-editing programs, video editing apps, and social media man­age­ment tools help prepare content on Instagram in a visually appealing way, create formats ef­fi­ciently, and publish posts regularly. They save time, ensure a con­sist­ent look, and make it easier to plan and analyse content.

Instagram apps for image editing, text, and graphics

Picsart (iOS, Android & Desktop)

Picsart is a versatile all-rounder for image editing. The app offers numerous filters, collage templates, various fonts, object-cutout features, and many other tools. The offering is com­ple­men­ted by in­creas­ingly in­teg­rated AI features such as automatic back­ground removal and quality en­hance­ments that simplify and speed up the editing process.

However, a downside is the frequent ad in­ter­rup­tions between in­di­vidu­al editing steps. In addition, many features are only available with a premium sub­scrip­tion.

Prequel (iOS, Android)

Another popular Instagram app is Prequel, which stands out with its dis­tinct­ive, style-focused design. When you first open the app, you’re asked about your preferred aesthetic and content, allowing the interface, tools, and effects to adapt ac­cord­ingly. Alongside classic retro filters and blur effects, Prequel offers a wide range of controls for adjusting colour, lighting, and focus, as well as an extensive selection of fonts.

In addition, the app has a feed organised by different aesthetic styles. Edited sample images are displayed there to highlight the filters and tools used. If you like a par­tic­u­lar look, you can select the cor­res­pond­ing preset directly and apply it to your own images.

The free version includes a selection of filters and basic editing tools. More advanced effects and presets are reserved for premium users.

Canva (iOS, Android & Desktop)

The graphic tool Canva makes it es­pe­cially easy to create visual content such as posters, logos, present­a­tions, flyers, and social media graphics. Using thousands of ready-to-use templates, you can design cus­tom­ised Instagram posts.

The templates give you a solid starting point, as every element — including fonts, font size, and the number and placement of text elements — can be cus­tom­ised at any time directly within the tool. Canva also makes in­creas­ing use of AI features to support layout sug­ges­tions, text gen­er­a­tion, image editing, and social media content, helping to speed up creative workflows.

When getting started, Canva makes it clear that not all content is available for free. Free elements are labelled ac­cord­ingly, while full access to premium photos, videos, graphics, audio assets, and ad­di­tion­al features requires a Canva Pro mem­ber­ship. You can choose between a personal or business account, billed either monthly or annually.

Desktop and mobile apps for Instagram planning

Similar to news­let­ter marketing, suc­cess­ful Instagram marketing also requires careful planning. What matters is not only which content is published, but also how regularly and at what times posts, Instagram Reels or Stories appear. In addition, content is usually published on several channels at the same time to achieve maximum reach. Various spe­cial­ised Instagram apps are available for these tasks, three of which we present below as examples.

Hootsuite (iOS, Android, Desktop)

The or­gan­isa­tion­al effort of supplying several social media channels with content can be sig­ni­fic­antly reduced with tools like Hootsuite. The platform serves as a central man­age­ment interface for social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or X.

After linking the re­spect­ive accounts, you can create posts across channels and publish them either im­me­di­ately or on a schedule. The in­teg­rated ‘Auto­Sched­ule’ feature auto­mat­ic­ally selects suitable posting times. In addition, Hootsuite offers analytics and reporting functions and, depending on the package, options for team col­lab­or­a­tion.

The Standard package is designed for in­di­vidu­als and allows you to manage up to 10 social media accounts. For teams that require advanced analytics and col­lab­or­a­tion features, the Advanced package is available. Larger or­gan­isa­tions can choose cus­tom­ised en­ter­prise solutions tailored to their specific needs.

Buffer (iOS, Android & Desktop)

Buffer is a stream­lined social media man­age­ment tool for creators and small teams that focuses on simple post schedul­ing and intuitive handling. At its core is a clear posting calendar with a queue function that lets you ef­fi­ciently prepare content and publish it auto­mat­ic­ally. Basic analytics features and optional team features are also available.

The free version allows you to manage up to three social media accounts with limited features. The paid ‘Es­sen­tials’ and ‘Team’ packages offer unlimited posting, along with advanced analytics and en­gage­ment tools.

So­cial­Pi­lot (iOS, Android & Desktop)

So­cial­Pi­lot is a cloud-based social media man­age­ment tool that lets you plan, create, publish, and analyse content centrally across multiple networks – ideal for freel­an­cers, small busi­nesses, and agencies. The platform offers a struc­tured content calendar, tools for bulk schedul­ing, AI support for content, and basic analytics and reporting features to measure and optimise the per­form­ance of your social media strategy. All major networks such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Pinterest are supported.

Unlike Hootsuite and Buffer, So­cial­Pi­lot does not offer a per­man­ently free version, but only a 14-day trial period. The paid packages start with the Es­sen­tials package, which costs 24 pounds per month and allows you to manage up to 7 social media accounts. The most com­pre­hens­ive package costs 162 pounds per month and lets you manage up to 50 social media accounts. It also includes advanced analytics features, unlimited user accounts, a dedicated account manager, and ad­di­tion­al extra features.

The best Instagram apps for better video content

Videos, es­pe­cially Reels, have become a key driver of reach on Instagram. What matters most isn’t the length, but a strong hook, the right format, and a visually engaging style that captures attention straight away. At the same time, ex­pect­a­tions around editing, timing, and post-pro­duc­tion are rising, as content needs to be easy to consume and optimised for mobile viewing. The following Instagram apps help you create short video clips, an­im­a­tions, and visual effects ef­fi­ciently, and tailor them spe­cific­ally for Instagram.

CapCut (iOS, Android & Desktop)

CapCut is a versatile video editing tool that’s par­tic­u­larly well suited for creating short-form content, making it ideal for Instagram Reels or for creating Instagram Stories. The app features an intuitive interface along with a wide range of editing options, including cutting tools, trans­itions, text overlays, filters, effects, and music tracks. CapCut also supports automatic subtitles, speed ad­just­ments, green screen effects, and in­creas­ingly relies on AI-powered features to help you create or optimise clips more quickly.

In general, the app is available for free. However, a paid sub­scrip­tion removes the watermark from your videos and unlocks ad­di­tion­al effects, filters, trans­itions, export options, and AI features.

Edits (iOS, Android)

Edits is a mobile video editing app for iOS and Android from Instagram (Meta), developed spe­cific­ally for creating and op­tim­ising short and social media videos directly on your smart­phone. It combines basic and advanced editing features such as timeline editing, trimming, adding text and music, filters, and effects in an intuitive interface. You can also save projects, manage ideas, and export videos in high quality (up to about 10 minutes) and share them directly on Instagram or Facebook, including per­form­ance stat­ist­ics for analysis.

The app is primarily aimed at content creators who want to produce and enhance their Reels and social videos ef­fi­ciently while on the go, without relying on external editing software. Edits is com­pletely free and does not include any features locked behind sub­scrip­tions or in-app purchases.

InShOt (iOS, Android)

With the video editing tool InShOt, you can quickly and easily prepare short clips for social media. The app offers all the key basic features, such as cutting, trimming, removing in­di­vidu­al sequences, and adjusting speed. Videos can be split, merged, or combined across multiple tracks. In addition, you have access to music, sound effects (including your own re­cord­ings), filters, trans­itions, and an­im­a­tions to enhance Reels, Stories, or other short videos both visually and acous­tic­ally. Text overlays, stickers, and simple photo editing and collage functions are also in­teg­rated.

A large portion of the features can be used for free. If you want access to all effects, trans­itions, stickers, and ad­di­tion­al export options, you can upgrade to InShOt Pro. The upgrade also removes ads and the default InShOt watermark. However, the free version already offers enough features to thor­oughly test the app and create simple social media videos.