Instagress, a favourite Instagram bot was shut down in 2017.
I started this article last year after things went crazy for bots and associated services, and I’ve just updated it for this year.
[activecampaign form=9]Many people who signed up for Instagress ended up getting a refund (good news). But that doesn’t solve your problem of not having an automation solution.
Fortunately, there are many similar sites out there that are just as good if not better at automatically growing your Instagram following.
Here are a bunch of tools you can use instead, providing either the same or similar services to replace your beloved Instagress.
Three of these other options are not bots, but instead are social media management software programs that can also maintain your Instagram growth using different methods.
Best Instagress Alternatives 2024
There’s actually a lot to choose from. So I’ll go over some of the best.
Instagress Alternative #1: Growthoid
If you are not only looking for the best Instagress alternative right now, but the best alternative to anything in the industry, then we highly recommend that you check out Growthoid. This company says that they are the best organic Instagram growth service, and their mission is to grow their clients Instagram profiles with real people, the way that they think it should be.
They say that they employ their team to manually engage with the most ideal followers that fall into your target audience demographic so that you can grow through targeting similar profiles. One of the best things about this company is that they don’t get their clients to sign a contract which means that you can cancel anytime, and they also offer a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Both of their packages come with a dedicated account manager, as well as a certain number of targets, but of course, if you pay for their premium service, you were going to get a greater number of targets. Honestly, if you are serious about your Instagram growth, then you don’t want to pass up an opportunity to use a company like this.
Instagress Alternative #2: Growthsilo
Growthsilo is another Instagress alternative that has your back and can help you no matter what you need them for. They say they are a real and organic Instagram growth service, and they will grow your Instagram audience with real targeted followers. They don’t use fake followers and they don’t use bots.
Their fully managed service means that you can concentrate on creating more content on your end, and you don’t have to worry about who is seeing that, and who is missing out. They say that they are trusted by some of the biggest brands in the industry, and they make it so easy to target the right people for your Instagram profile that you how they need to do anything.
Growthsilo wants to help you get more engagement, as well as reach more potential followers and monetize your Instagram account.
Instagress Alternative #3: Nitreo
We love Nitreo as an Instagress alternative because they can help to grow your account, expand your reach, and build your brand, all through organic means. They say that it is going to take just two minutes to get set up with them, and as well as promising that you can get more Instagram followers with them, they also say that they offer their clients a 14-day growth guarantee.
this means that if things don’t go the way you had expected, you can get your money back and there is no love lost. If you’re looking for a way that you can get the most out of your Instagram, then we highly recommend that you check out a company like this.
Instagress Alternative #4: Kenji
Kenji says that they are the best Instagress alternative out there, and the best Instagram bot for you to use for your growth. They say that they can help you get more Instagram likes, engagement, and followers and the best part is that they can help get you started within seconds.
They say that it’s just going to take one minute to get set up with them and they come with a 14-day guarantee, just like Nitreo. They say that they have been used by over 100,000 clients already, and supercharge their features so that you can get more bang for your buck.
One of the things that the clients like the most about this company is that they’re super easy to use and they provide them with safer automation.
Instagress Alternative #5: Growthsilo
We honestly can’t think of a much better alternative for Instagress than Growthsilo. These guys are the be-all and end-all of Instagram engagement – but they’ll cover everything else when it comes to your brand being online as well.
Growthsilo are known in the social media marketing industry as a ‘creative growth agency’ – and there’s no better way to describe them.
This is because they go above and beyond for their clients, and don’t just stick to Instagram to make sure that their brand gets enough exposure. They focus on other things, too, like making sure that their clients have a good-looking website, and adjusting their next email marketing campaign so that it is set up for success.
Growthsilo offers all new clients a free consultation so you can sit down with them and discuss what you need from your brand’s online marketing.
This way, they can cater their services to your unique needs and ensure they are accessible for all. Their customer support is great, and their prices are even better.
Instagress Alternative #6: Ingramer
The biggest thing that Ingramer wants to help you achieve with your Instagram growth is simplicity. They don’t want you to have to go through the ringer just to get a little bit of help with your growth, which is why their powerful AI bot can help you get ahead with no frills.
The best part is that they’re always updating their features, and have now got things like bulk direct messages, scheduled posting and even a hashtag search engine, which is essential if you want to do really well.
You’ll notice if you go onto their website that they have a chatbox in the bottom right hand corner, which is going to come in handy if you run into any technical issues. Another thing that we love about Ingramer is that they have a pretty affordable rate – only $19 for two weeks, which we think is going to fall into most people’s budget.
All in all, Ingramer is the kind of company everyone needs to try for effective Instagram growth. If you want detailed statistics, automatic posting, full control and extended functionality, talk to Ingramer today.
Instagress Alternative #7: Upleap
The first thing that we need to mention about Upleap is that they’re one of the most organic, authentic Instagress alternatives you’ll find out there. This is primarily because they gave their entire brand an overhaul recently, and now make sure that everything is done manually.
This means that your account is kept safe from Instagram’s radar, and you can be sure that all of the engagement on your account has been done by real, active followers.
Among their engagement services, Upleap also comes with some stellar price points and awesome customer support. They know that being authentic and real in this industry is more critical now than ever, and they strive to do this every day through their tools and features.
One of the things we love the most about this brand is that they offer a free three-day trial – and won’t even require your credit card information. If you’re looking for a solid alternative to Instagress, these guys are a great option.
Instagress Alternative #8: Task Ant
Task Ant is the kind of Instagram growth company, and Instagress alternative that you want to get involved with before too many other people find out. It’s like the industry’s best-kept secret, but it won’t be that way for too long.
One of the biggest reasons why Task Ant is so desirable is that they’ve cracked the code to successful hashtag strategies. They know that hashtags are the life source of your Instagram, and have a way to make sure they get your account growing better than ever before.
All you have to do is put any hashtag you like into their search engine, and then use the data and analytics that come up to determine whether it’s well suited to your niche or not. With this kind of information, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition.
With friendly customer support and prices that are unmatched, it’s hard to believe that they’re still a bit underground. Get in before they aren’t.
Instagress Alternative #9: ektora
ektora is the latest and most promising automation solution. Still in beta today, this innovative solution combines automation and Artificial Intelligence to fly under the radar of Instagram’s algorithm.
In addition, it emulates the latest version of the mobile app, which drastically reduces the number of action blocks and compromised accounts notifications.
All these elements contribute to make ektora the safest bot since it allows your account to find a balance between growth and undetectability. It is also feature-rich (more than 8 different tasks, including Follow/unfollow, mass story viewing, liking, commenting…)
The results are quite impressive. This bot 100% safe and will cause no blocks or bans to your account.
Investing in this software is certainly the best thing to do right now. The one-time-payment is a major bonus since all users participate in the improvement of the bot and receive upcoming updates at the same time.
Instagress Alternative #10: Follow Adder
One of the primary go-to Insta bot is Follow Adder.
Follow Adder works quite similarly to Instagress, so if you’re struggling with the transition, then the landing is going to be quite soft, with the major difference being that Follow Adder is something you download – so you have more control, and it’s safer as it run’s from your location rather than a website in another country.
Follow Adder prides themselves on being able to get you real Instagram followers, whilst automating your posts, likes and comments on other people’s posts, and using hashtags to promote your page and get your Instagram out there for the world to see.
Follow Adder is an excellent tool if your managing more than one Instagram page – we all know how busy that can get.
It takes the stress out of remembering all those schedules you have to maintain to grow your accounts naturally. Follow Adder is easily one of the most strategic and in-depth automated bots because they endeavour to cover all the services you might want from a computerised system.
They focus on promoting your Instagram through business tools like interacting with your community, finding relevant hashtags that are specific to your niche and what you’re passionate about, and even running contests for you that engage your followers by asking them to tag your brand name to win a prize.
Through their automated system, they can set up regular tasks like a contest to occur however often you would like – even weekly if you’re serious about getting that Instagram account up and running.
Instagress Alternative #11: InstaQ
InstaQ is an Instagress replacement that takes it one step further when automatically updating your Instagram account.
While fulfilling all the standard tasks such as liking, commenting, hashtagging and posting, it also uses other means to build up your Instagram account, making it as authentic of an account as possible – meaning you don’t have to compromise on the quality of your Instagram account whilst you become famous on Instagram.
This is crucial especially if your Instagram account is a business account – you’ll want to be taken seriously and ensure that your followers and growth is eventually going to result in a lucrative profit.
InstaQ offers other services like following people for you and unfollowing people who have unfollowed you firstly, as well as sending your existing followers electronic messages that remind them to check out your latest posts.
They have both a trial list of services and a premium list, so you can choose exactly what it is you would like automated for your Instagram.
With their premium list, you get nine more features than you do in their trial list, including the unfollow and upload features, commenting feature, messaging functionality, the hashtag tool, first-class support, and VIP membership.
Instagress Alternative #12: FollowingLike
This option is less specific to Instagram and more practical if you have multiple social media websites that you would like maintained regularly.
Following Like specialises in working with various sites at the same time, performing basic tasks such as following, unfollowing, liking, unliking, commenting, and sharing.
They are an umbrella company that works across the board so are particularly helpful if you are using all of your social media websites to promote your business, not just Instagram.
When it comes to Instagram, they cover all the basics when it comes to developing your page. From following, liking people’s photos and commenting on them, they also offer extra services such as engaging directly with your existing followers by messaging them personally to keep them coming back to your page.
They also use hashtags not only to put your page out there with similar pages and niches but to hunt down photos that have relevance to your own Instagram and then focusing on these pages to like and comment on, increasing your chances of gaining more followers the natural way.
Another advantage to Following Like is that they have an annual fee as an option instead of a monthly or even weekly, making them even more affordable.
Instagress Alternative #13: Agora Pulse
This replacement for Instagress is not strictly speaking an automated bot, but rather a social media management software program.
Agora Pulse is another excellent tool for managing your social media accounts – however, they won’t be liking and following for posts and people for you automatically.
Because Agora Pulse is a team of people and not a computerised system, they work for you and with you to optimise the scheduling of your posts. They make sure you’re liking and commenting the best photos for your page, and manage all the incoming activity you might have so that you can focus on other aspects of running and maintaining a social media page for your business.
They use strategic marketing tools and consistent analysis of your page to better equip you with the game plan of a successful page, holding your hand through every step – resulting in complete transparency of behind the scenes building of your popularity and following.
Even though it’s not a bot, it’s a good substitute if you want to “go legit” – as they do all the dull, uninteresting day to day work so that you can focus on the fun side of running your IG profile.
Instagress Alternative #14: Sprout Social
Sprout Social is also social media software that doesn’t really fall under the category of automated bot.
Like Agora Pulse, Sprout Social relies on a real team of people to work with you on growing a successful Instagram. They work on an interactive basis, using an experienced team to come up with analytics and statistics around your page and particular business niche that results in a short, easy-to-use tool system that is more hands-on for the client.
You are much more involved in the day to day process of growing your Instagram account, but still don’t have to engage directly with those dull, repetitive tasks. Their platform simplifies the various ways to build a page so that all you have to do is the fun stuff.
Their most significant advantage is the lengths they go to in their research – by measuring the performance of your page and analyzing your social efforts to be recognized, they get clear, concise idea of exactly what your page needs to be accessible and successful.
They offer reliable, friendly support and work directly with you to ensure that you have every chance of running a successful Instagram.
Instagress Alternative #15: Hootsuite
The seventh tool is again more of a social media management software than a bot. Like the two previous management software programs, Hootsuite condenses all your social media pages into one secure, accessible platform that you can manage with ease.
Naturally, this one advantage already saves a lot of time as your workload gets reduced from jumping across multiple social media sites to quickly scrolling and managing their activity all through one page on Hoot Suite.
They work hard to produce real-time analytics and statistics to help you know precisely where your comments and likes should be going, and ultimately how to engage with your existing community so that it continues to grow. Hoot Suite works hard to protect your Instagram from hackers and other external threats, by keeping a close track record of all messages and mentions.
There’s a lot that is inauthentic out there on social media, so its good to be allied with a company that works hard to ensure your reputation remains untarnished as you fight with other pages to prove your credibility and authenticity. Working with a team that guides your page progress guarantees that you will gain success organically and genuinely.
Instagress Alternative #16: Instazood
Update November 27th 2017: I no longer recommend this bot. Find out why in my Instazood review. I’ve left my original write-up here based on my first impressions of them for transparency.
Original write-up:
Instazood has been rated one of the best Instagram bot services online, which is promising and makes it easier when trying to decide which bot to use. They are also highly detailed and thorough in their electronic work as they make sure that your page is developed in the most natural way possible.
They work within the contingencies of Instagram, allowing for limits that Instagram imposes so that you don’t break the rules. They have automated speed settings that ebb and flow depending on how well your Instagram account is doing, ensuring that your account is growing at a natural and not artificial speed.
They pride themselves on being mobile-friendly, which is an underrated but highly efficient service for an automated bot seen as Instagram is a smartphone app, after all. The easier it is for you to use, the more likely you’re going to want to use it.
While they offer full control of your account, they simultaneously provide reliable support and the option for you to check in regularly and see how your account is doing with their services.
Instagress Shut Down by Instagram
As of April 2017, a visit to Instagress now greets you with this message:
If you’re searching for a replacement for Instagress, I recommend using one of the top alternatives in the list above.
The shut down of this service might feel devastating for you if you rely on marketing on Instagram.
What Happened to Instagress?
This is one of the questions that has been trending on social media since their service went down. Many say that it is because the site adopted the use of the word “Insta” in its name, while others attribute the fall due to the fact that Instagress didn’t follow the rules that had been set down by Instagram.
The first explanation might hold some water, because in 2013 Instagram released an update to their terms of service where they warned that third party services whose name contained “Insta” or “Gram” would have their API access revoked. Some of the existing companies had to rebrand and take out these names just to stay safe. Some other companies still haven’t done this – e.g. gramista, instazood, etc. I would stay away from them for this reason.
We might never know what happened; only Instagram and maybe the owners of Instagress understand the real reason behind the closure.
However, you don’t necessarily have to stop using automation tools with your Instagram account. The fall of Instagress shouldn’t leave you discouraged; instead, it should open the door to other services.
What’s The Best Alternative to Instagress?
With Instagress down, you might think that your Instagram account is at the end of its rope – you are wrong. You can make use of other services, which are smarter and safer.
We keep this list maintained regularly. So keep checking it out for future tools and services.
FAQs
Are There Any Websites Like Instagress?
Actually, there are.
There’s a lot of sites that are similar to Instagress, and many are providing improved services. I’m going to go over the best ones here.
What was Instagress?
Instagress was a company that developed an automated software that you could use to increase your Instagram engagement. All of its engagement activity was automated for you, from following and unfollowing your target audience to liking and commenting on their content.
This was designed to help make the entire process more convenient for you because you didn’t have to spend so long each day working on building your brand and bringing more traffic to your account. Instagress got all of its clients to provide a list of hashtags that were relevant to their brand, which they would then use to target the right people.
Why Did People Love it?
So, why was Instagress such a popular choice in the Instagram marketing world? Many people fell in love with it because it instantly solved their marketing and time management issues.
It was so convenient that people didn’t even mind checking the dashboard regularly and adjusting the settings to stay updated with Instagram’s algorithm. After all, this is what a lot of companies were offering, so it’s pretty standard practice. The fact that you could adjust their settings to suit your personal preferences was pretty impressive.
Why Did Instagress Get Shut Down?
Of course, if you’re online in the Instagram marketing industry a lot, you may have noticed a number of different rumors swirling around about why Instagress got shut down. Some say it’s because they had the phrase ‘Insta’ in their name, which violates Instagram’s terms and conditions.
Others say that it was because their automated features violated Instagram’s guidelines on using third party help for engagement growth. Whatever the reason, towards the end of their reign.
Instagress received an email from Instagram asking if they would stop operating as they were. At the end of the day, it’s probably a combination of reasons why they had to shut down completely and say goodbye to their customers.
Why a Bot Can Help You
If you think that you can do what Instagress did for you on your Instagram page, you’d be wrong. There’s just too much going on these days on Instagram for you to grow your own page successfully. Luckily, as you can see, there are plenty of Instagress alternatives to choose from.
Just make sure that you check out any free trials that they have, and know the difference between cheap and affordable. Cheap usually means low quality, while affordable means that the company cares about their product being high quality and accessible for all different budget types.
What’s Next?
There’s every chance that your Instagram will continue to be successful, and a higher chance that you’ll find something that could make it even better than it already is.
Don’t lose any time working out the next best fit for you Instagram.
Final Thoughts
The shutdown of Instagress has caused a lot of issues with many users who were using the platform to handle their Instagram accounts. Getting a refund from Instagress is a nice gesture but it won’t help you grow your IG account.
As Instagress has disappeared, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the loss of an excellent automated bot for you Instagram and the painful thought of having to look elsewhere. Fortunately, there are multiple tools that can act as your replacement for Instagress.
Most if not all of them provide similar – or the same services, which means that your transition can be smooth and tear-free. Any of these great alternatives will quickly make up for lost time in ensuring that you get back on the horse and continue to maintain the favourable Instagram you had invested so much in creating.
There is more than enough help out there to set you on the right path and guarantee that your Instagram is widespread and strong – all you have to do is a little bit of homework and work out which tool is going to be the best one for you Instagram and it’s demographic.