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 analyze 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 color, lighting, and focus, as well as an extensive selection of fonts.

In addition, the app has a feed organized 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.

Email Marketing Software

Win over customers with email marketing

• Intuitive drag and drop editing
• AI-powered text gen­er­a­tion
• Multiple templates to choose from

See plans

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 cus­tomized 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 cus­tomized 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 labeled 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 spe­cial­ized Instagram apps are available for these tasks, three of which we present below as examples.

Hootsuite (iOS, Android, Desktop)

The or­ga­ni­za­tion­al 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 plan, options for team col­lab­o­ra­tion.

The Standard plan 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 plan is available. Larger or­ga­ni­za­tions can choose cus­tomized 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” plans 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 analyze 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 optimize 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 plans start with the Es­sen­tials plan, which costs 30 dollars per month and allows you to manage up to 7 social media accounts. The most com­pre­hen­sive plan costs 200 dollars 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 optimized 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 optimize 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 op­ti­miz­ing 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.