7 Best Instagram Feed Planning Apps (2026)

The best Instagram feed planning apps in 2026 are Later and Planoly for a full grid preview with auto-publishing, Plann if you want a free Instagram-only plan, and SociaHive's free Instagram feed planner if you only need to see the grid before you post. A feed planner shows how your next posts will sit next to your current ones, and most of the apps below pair that with a scheduler so the posts publish on their own.

To compare them, we read each product's own pricing and feature pages in October 2026 and checked three things: is there a visual grid preview, does it auto-publish to Instagram, and is there a real free plan. Where a page did not mention a grid preview, we say so instead of guessing.

Quick comparison

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Paid from (as of October 2026)	Standout
Later	Visual planning with auto-publish	No (14-day trial)	$18.75/month billed yearly	Visual planner, auto-publish for posts, carousels, Stories, Reels
Planoly	Grid-first planning	Yes, mobile app, 10 uploads/month	$14/month (monthly billing)	"Preview how your Instagram feed will look and rearrange"
Plann	Free Instagram-only planning	Yes, 30 posts/month	$15/month, or $12.50/month billed yearly	Instagram visual planner, free tier is generous
UNUM	Cheap, creator-focused grid planning	Yes, 20 uploads/month	From $5.25 to $7/month (the page does not label which is yearly)	Low price, AI tools
SociaHive	Free grid preview plus multi-platform scheduling	Yes: free planner tool, and a free scheduling plan	Free; Creator $29/month ($24/month billed yearly)	Planner needs no signup; scheduler covers 21 platforms free
Metricool	Scheduling plus analytics	Yes, 20 posts/month, 1 brand	$25/month monthly, $20/month yearly (check their page)	Auto-publish on every plan
Buffer	Simple scheduling, no grid	Yes, 3 channels	$5/month per channel	Cheap and clean

1. Later

Later is the app most people mean when they search for a visual Instagram planner. Its Instagram scheduler page says you can "visually plan the look of your feed and take a peek before publishing," and it auto-publishes single image posts, carousels, Stories and Reels.

Best for: Creators and small brands who want one calm visual calendar and are fine paying from day one.

Pricing (as of October 2026): Starter is $18.75/month billed yearly, with 1 social set, 1 user and 30 posts per profile. Growth is $37.50/month billed yearly (2 social sets, 2 users, 180 posts per profile). Scale is $82.50/month billed yearly (6 social sets, 4 users, unlimited posts). Every plan has a 14-day free trial. We did not find a free plan on their pricing page, so older advice about a free tier with a few posts a month may be out of date.

Pros:

• Visual planner and auto-publishing on every plan
• Publishes to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest and LinkedIn
• Auto-publish covers Stories and Reels, not just feed posts

Cons:

• No free plan, only a trial
• Post limits per profile on Starter and Growth
• The pricing page states yearly rates, so check the monthly price before you commit

Verdict: The safest pick if you want a polished grid planner with auto-publishing and a budget. If you only want to test your layout, it is more than you need.

2. Planoly

Planoly built its name on the Instagram grid. Its pricing page says you can "preview how your Instagram feed will look and rearrange until it's perfect," and the visual grid planner is included in every plan.

Best for: People who care most about the look of the grid and plan it a few weeks ahead.

Pricing (as of October 2026): Starter is $14/month for 1 social set and 1 user. Growth is $24/month (2 sets, 2 users). Pro is $47/month (6 sets, 6 users). Those are the monthly figures on the page, which also says annual plans save up to 15% without listing the yearly prices. There is a free plan on the mobile app with 10 uploads a month. All paid plans include unlimited uploads, a free link in bio and Instagram DM automation.

Pros:

• Grid preview and drag-to-rearrange are the core of the product
• Auto-posts where platforms allow it, and sends a reminder to post by hand where they do not
• Cheaper than Later at the entry level

Cons:

• The free plan is small (10 uploads a month) and lives in the mobile app
• Auto-posting depends on what each platform allows, and the page does not list which ones

Verdict: The closest thing to a grid-first scheduler. A good default if your feed is a design project.

3. Plann

Plann has a free plan that actually covers Instagram scheduling, and its Instagram section describes "drag and drop planning spaces." The grid and feed preview show up mostly in customer testimonials on the page ("I also really love the Instagram feed preview functionality in Plann"), so test it during the free plan before relying on it.

Best for: Solo creators who want a free, Instagram-only planner.

Pricing (as of October 2026): The Free Forever plan covers 1 brand and 1 user, Instagram only, with 30 posts, stories and carousels a month in total, 5 video posts a month, 30 AI credits a month, and no Reels planning. Power User is $15/month, or $12.50/month billed yearly. Build is $30/month ($25 billed yearly) for 2 users and 2 brands. Grow is $75/month ($62.50 billed yearly) for 4 users and 5 brands.

Pros:

• Free plan includes 30 Instagram posts a month
• Auto-posting on supported platforms: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube Shorts
• Clear monthly and yearly prices

Cons:

• The free plan is Instagram only and has no Reels planning
• The page does not spell out which plans include the visual planner

Verdict: The best free plan on this list for someone who only posts to Instagram.

4. UNUM

UNUM is a cheap, mobile-first planner aimed at creators. Its site describes planning, scheduling and auto-publishing across Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn and more. It does not name a grid preview feature in its own copy; a press quote on the page says the app lets you "visualize how harmonic the images in your feed will look before you post them."

Best for: Creators on a tight budget who plan mostly from their phone.

Pricing (as of October 2026): UNUM Free includes 1 user, 1 GB of storage, 20 uploads a month and 5 AI credits a month. UNUM Pro shows $7 or $5.25 a month, Teams shows $10 or $7.50, and Unlimited shows $100 or $75. The page does not label which figure is the monthly price and which is the yearly one, so check before you pay.

Pros:

• Lowest paid prices on the list
• Free plan with 20 uploads a month

Cons:

• The pricing page is ambiguous about monthly versus yearly
• We could not confirm the grid preview details from UNUM's own pages

Verdict: Worth trying if budget decides it. Confirm the grid view in the free plan before upgrading.

5. SociaHive (free grid planner, then a scheduler)

SociaHive covers this topic in two separate pieces, and it is worth being clear about that. The free Instagram feed planner is where the grid lives: upload up to 12 images, drag them into order, see the 3-column grid and export it as one image. There is no signup. The SociaHive scheduler then handles the publishing, but the scheduler itself has no visual grid. It has a calendar instead.

Best for: People who want to design the grid for free, then schedule to more than Instagram.

Pricing (as of October 2026): The feed planner is free. The free plan schedules to 21 platforms (every platform we support except X), with 30 scheduled posts a month, 3 connected accounts and 25 AI credits a month. Every signup also gets a 7-day Creator trial with no card. Creator is $29/month ($24/month billed yearly), with unlimited scheduled posts, 10 connected accounts and DM automation on Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp for 1 automated account. See pricing.

What the scheduler does:

• Calendar with month, week and day views, and drag to reschedule
• A per-platform preview of how each post will look before it goes out (try the standalone Instagram post preview tool)
• Saved posting slots and a "next free slot" button, tags with colours, a media library, and alt text with AI suggestions
• AI caption and hashtag suggestions in the composer, and a CSV bulk import

Pros:

• The grid planner is free with no account
• Free scheduling to 21 platforms, not only Instagram
• DM automation and the scheduler live in the same product

Cons:

• No visual grid inside the scheduler, so the grid planner is a separate step
• The planner exports an image; it does not push your layout into the scheduler
• The free plan is capped at 30 scheduled posts a month
• We do not schedule Instagram Stories or Reels

Verdict: Not a one-app answer to the grid. Use it as the free planning step, then schedule in SociaHive or in any other scheduler on this list.

6. Metricool

Metricool is a scheduler with analytics. The pricing page lists "auto publication" on every plan including Free, and a planner with a social calendar, best times and a post library. We did not find an Instagram grid preview on that page.

Best for: People who want scheduling and reporting together.

Pricing (as of October 2026): Free covers 1 brand and up to 20 scheduled posts a month, with 30 days of analytics. Starter is shown at $25/month monthly or $20/month yearly for 5 brands, and Advanced at $67/month monthly or $53/month yearly for 15 brands. The page does not label which set of prices is yearly, so check their pricing page.

Pros:

• Auto-publish on the free plan
• Analytics included

Cons:

• No grid preview confirmed on the pricing page
• Free plan excludes LinkedIn and X

Verdict: A scheduler first. Pair it with a separate grid tool if the look of your feed matters.

7. Buffer

Buffer is the simplest scheduler on the list and has a real free plan. Its pricing page describes a visual content calendar but does not mention an Instagram grid preview.

Best for: Simple scheduling without a grid.

Pricing (as of October 2026): Free covers up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel. Essentials is $5/month per channel, or $60 a year, and Team is $10/month per channel, or $120 a year. The page also says annual billing saves two months, which does not match the yearly numbers it shows, so confirm the total at checkout.

Pros:

• Free plan with 3 channels
• Low per-channel pricing

Cons:

• No grid preview mentioned
• Free plan has no first-comment scheduling or custom video covers

Verdict: Fine if you want to schedule and nothing else.

How to choose

• You want grid preview and auto-publish in one app: Later (paid) or Planoly (small free plan on mobile).
• You want a free Instagram-only plan: Plann.
• You only want to see the grid before posting: the free Instagram feed planner, no account needed.
• You post to more than Instagram: plan the grid with a free tool, then schedule with something multi-platform such as SociaHive or Metricool.
• You want DM automation next: SociaHive's Creator plan adds Instagram DM automation (comment to DM, keyword replies) for 1 automated account.

One practical approach: plan the grid in the free planner, then use any scheduler for publishing. The grid view is the easy part to replace. Reliable scheduling and the right platforms are harder to switch. For a wider comparison of schedulers, see best free Instagram scheduling apps, and for the basics see how to schedule Instagram posts.

FAQ

What is the best Instagram feed planning app?

Later and Planoly are the most complete apps for a visual grid plus auto-publishing. Plann has the best free plan if you only use Instagram. If you only need to preview the grid, SociaHive's free feed planner needs no signup.

Is there a free Instagram grid planner?

Yes. SociaHive's Instagram feed planner is free with no signup: upload up to 12 images, drag to reorder, see the 3-column grid and export it. Plann and Planoly also have free plans, with limits.

Can I plan my Instagram feed before posting?

Yes. Upload your images to a grid planner, arrange them next to your existing posts, and check how the profile will look. Then schedule the posts in your scheduler once the order feels right.

Do feed planning apps auto-publish to Instagram?

Later, Planoly, Plann, UNUM and Metricool all describe auto-publishing on their own sites. Planoly notes it posts "when platforms allow it" and otherwise sends a reminder. Instagram accounts generally need to be business or creator accounts.

Does the SociaHive scheduler show an Instagram grid?

No. The scheduler has a calendar with a per-platform post preview, not a grid. The grid lives in the free feed planner tool.

Can I preview a single post before it goes out?

Yes. The free Instagram post preview shows how one post will look, and SociaHive's composer shows a per-platform preview for scheduled posts.

Are the prices in this list current?

They are from each product's own pricing page as of October 2026. Prices and limits change, and some pages mix monthly and yearly figures, so check the live page before you subscribe.