# Best time to post on Instagram in 2026, by day and timezone

Ana Ibáñez Lario · Published 7 Oct 2026

_What the published studies say about the best time to post on Instagram, day by day, converted to your timezone, with every source named._

## The short answer

- The studies' times are in your audience's local time; the checker converts them to yours.
- Where the studies agree is a safer bet than any single study's top slot.
- Your own results beat any study once you have a few weeks of them.

The best time to post on Instagram depends on your audience, and the published studies don't fully agree. Below is each study's answer by day, where they overlap, and a free checker that puts those times on your clock. If you'd rather not plan timing at all, Postdom makes your Instagram posts from your website and schedules the ones you approve in your time zone.

This page is compiled from published studies, not from Postdom's own data. Every source is named at the bottom with its date and sample.

## Free best time to post on Instagram checker

The studies give times in your audience's local time. Tell the checker where your audience is, and it puts the times on your clock. It's free and runs in your browser.

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## Best time to post on Instagram by day

Each study's best times, in your audience's local time. The first column is any hour that sits inside two or more studies' windows for that day.

## Best day to post on Instagram

## It depends on your audience

- These are patterns across other accounts' posts. Your followers' habits can be different, and your own results are the better guide once you have a few weeks of them.
- The times are in your audience's local time. If most of your followers are in another country, use the checker above.
- A good post at an average time beats an average post at the best time. Timing moves results at the margin.
- Test it: post at two of the windows above for a few weeks each, and keep the one your own numbers favour.

## Post on Instagram at the right time with Postdom

Postdom turns your website into ready-to-post videos, slideshows and single images in your brand. It posts the ones you approve to Instagram, including on the Free plan. Approved posts are scheduled for you in your time zone, with quiet hours overnight, and you can change any post's time.

Postdom's Free plan has no card: 1 post a month made for you from your website, posted to 2 connected accounts of your choice. Free posts keep the Postdom watermark. See [pricing](/pricing) for paid plans, and [how scheduling works in Postdom](/product/schedule).

> **Let Postdom post on Instagram for you**
>
> Paste your website and Postdom makes your first video in place.
>
> [Start free](https://app.postdom.com/signup)

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## Method and sources

We read each study's own page and copied its times as stated. Where a study gives no time for a day, the table says what it says instead. We don't average, and we don't fill gaps. Postdom will switch this page to its own numbers once it has enough published posts with a week of results.

## Best time to post on Instagram: questions

**What is the best time to post on Instagram?**

Tuesday 3 to 7pm in your audience's local time is the one window three of the four big studies agree on. Midday Wednesday is close behind, and weekends are weak in three of them.

**What is the best day to post on Instagram?**

Sprout Social: Tuesday and Wednesday. Hootsuite: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Buffer: Wednesday. Later: Monday. Saturday is the weakest day for Sprout Social, Buffer and Later. Buffer adds Friday.

**What timezone are these times in?**

Your audience's local time: the studies adjusted their times to the local time of the people seeing the posts. If your audience is where you are, use them as they are; if it's somewhere else, convert them with the widget on this page.

**Why do the studies disagree?**

They measure different accounts, over different months, with different definitions of engagement. Later's 2024 data puts the best times at 3 to 5am, which no other study comes near. Thursday, Friday and the weekend have no hour two studies share.

**Is this Postdom's own data?**

No. It's compiled from Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer and Later. Postdom will publish its own numbers once at least 10,000 posts published through Postdom have a week of results.

## Best times on other platforms

More free tools for planning your posts are on the [free social media tools](/free-social-media-tools) page.

> **Post on Instagram without planning the timing**
>
> Paste your website. Postdom makes the posts, you approve them, and it schedules them for you.
>
> [Start free](https://app.postdom.com/signup)

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Canonical: https://postdom.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram