If you’re already using Instagram for business, you’re probably aware of the countless benefits of using this social media platform as a marketing tool.

Yes, Instagram itself provides marketers tons of useful functionality. But sometimes you need a little extra help to take things to the next level. That’s where Instagram apps come in.

Here, we’ve compiled the best Instagram apps for:

• Photo editing. These are apps that help you edit, resize and add filters to your photos.
• Layout and design. These apps help your brand add interesting elements like collages and graphics.
• Video tools. These apps elevate how your brand captures, designs, and edits videos.
• Audience engagement, analytics, and data. Use Instagram apps to track how your brand is engaging with your audience and monitor your content performance.

There are plenty of great apps for Instagram Stories too. But we tackle those in a separate blog post dedicated to the best apps for Instagram Stories.

Let’s get started!

Bonus: 14 Time-Saving Hacks for Instagram Power Users. Get the list of secret shortcuts Hootsuite’s own social media team uses to create thumb-stopping content.

Instagram editing apps

1. VSCO (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: VSCO on Apple Store

VSCO is one of the original and most popular photo-editing apps. In fact, it’s so popular that more than 200 million Instagram posts feature the #VSCO hashtag.

There are 10 free preset filters that make your phone-shot photos appear as though they were captured on film. There are also a range of photo-editing tools available to help elevate your photo quality, like contrast and saturation to enhance your photos, grain which adds texture to photos, and crop and skew tools which alter the perspective of your photos.

For more than 200 preset filters and advanced photo-editing tools, upgrade from the free version of this Instagram app to become a VSCO member.

2. Avatan Photo Editor (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Avatan Photo Editor on Apple Store

As well as offering effects and filters to lay over your original photo, Avatan Photo Editor makes it easy to retouch photos and create your own customized effects for photos. The basic version of this photo-editing app is free, although there’s the option for additional features or advanced tools by making in-app purchases.

3. Snapseed (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Snapseed on App Store

With this photo-editing Instagram app, you can work on both JPG and RAW files making it a powerful tool for professional photographers.

Beyond filtering your photos using its presets, you can perform serious photo-editing tasks in Snapseed. There are 29 tools and features, allowing you to edit photos by removing elements (or even people) from the photo, adjust the geometry of buildings, use curves to control the brightness of your image, and enhance images with incredible precision.

4. Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Adobe Lightroom on App Store

Adobe products are known for their powerful photo-editing capabilities, and the Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor app is no exception. Capture and edit raw images using the app’s editing tools and elevate photos to a professional quality by adjusting their hue, saturation, exposure, shadows and more.

Try out its preset filters, get inspired by edits other Lightroom users have made using its Discover section. And learn from the interactive tutorials to take your photo-editing skills up a notch.

5. A Color Story (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: A Color Story on Google Play

This photo-editing app is all about making the colors in your photos pop. There are 20 free editing tools, as well as filters, effects and presets designed by professional photographers and influencers. There are also some advanced editing tools, and its Instagram grid planning preview tool helps you ensure your brand’s Instagram grid looks unified and cohesive.

Instagram layout apps

6. Instagram Grid Hootsuite integration

Why you should try it:

Source: Hootsuite app directory

Create a grid of up to nine images and publish them to your Instagram account directly from your Hootsuite dashboard. You can schedule your grids in advance, and publish them when your audience is the most active on Instagram.

Note: Instagram Grid currently only works with personal Instagram accounts. Business accounts are not supported at this time.

7. Layout From Instagram (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Layout From Instagram on App Store

Create collages easily using this free Instagram app, compiling up to nine photos in various combinations. Pick photos from your library or shoot as you go using the app’s built-in photo booth. Layout makes it easy to create different collage layouts, pair the collage with filters and add other personalized elements, and share to Instagram.

8. A Design Kit (iOS)

Why you should try it:

Source: A Design Kit on App Store

This Instagram app comes from the makers of A Color Story. Use it to personalize and customize the content on your Instagram feed by layering stickers, fonts, designs and textures over your photos. The app boasts over 60 different fonts, more than 200 collage layouts and more than 200 design options. And the realistic brushes and different backgrounds, like metallics, marble and speckle, will add texture and depth to your photos.

9. AppForType (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: AppForType on App Store

This is one of the best Instagram apps for lovers of typography. As well as offering designs, frames and collage templates, AppForType has 60 font choices to lay over your brand’s photo. What really makes this Instagram app stand out is how you can take a photo of your own handwriting and upload it to the app.

10. Grid and Square Maker (Android)

Why you should try it:

Bonus: 14 Time-Saving Hacks for Instagram Power Users. Get the list of secret shortcuts Hootsuite’s own social media team uses to create thumb-stopping content.

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Source: Grid and Square Maker on Google Play

Grid and Square Maker will turn any photo into a grid for Instagram, equally splitting that photo into multiple square images while maintaining a high resolution. This might be used by your brand to create anticipation around a big announcement.

As well as being a grid photo maker, Grid and Square Maker also turns photos into panoramic images and crops images into the perfect square to fit Instagram’s format.

Instagram video editing apps

11. Boomerang from Instagram (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Boomerang from Instagram on App Store

Boomerang might be the simplest and easiest video-capture Instagram app out there. Create mini videos by opening the free app and pressing one button. That’s it!

Boomerang takes a burst of 10 photos and then connects them together, resulting in a short video that loops like a GIF. You can use the front or rear-facing cameras to create a short, fun video. Bonus: no editing is required.

12. Hyperlapse from Instagram (iOS)

Why you should try it:

Source: Hyperlapse from Instagram on App Store

This free Instagram app helps your brand capture quality time lapse video, without having to carry around bulky photography equipment. Capture video by holding your phone, as the app stabilizes the captured video. Then, share it to Instagram.

You can also speed up the video to 12 times the original speed, creating an interesting effect and an engaging way to view video content that was captured slowly over time.

13. InShot — Video Editor (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: InShot on App Store

This is one of the best Instagram apps out there for video editing, mainly because it’s so comprehensive. You can trim, cut, split, merge, and crop video clips. It’s easy to adjust settings like brightness and saturation. And adding music to video is one of InShot’s key features.

Plus, this app has features that are specific to Instagram, like making the video square for Instagram display.

14. Go Pro (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: GoPro on App Store

If you shoot epic, outdoorsy video content for Instagram using a GoPro camera, the GoPro app will make your life much easier. While capturing footage, use your phone to adjust the video or time lapse settings and get a clear preview of your shot. Once your video is recorded, make edits — like freezing your favourite frames, movie-like transitions or playing with speed, perspective and color — right in the GoPro app.

15. Magisto Video Editor (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Magisto Video Editor on App Store

This Instagram app is an artificial intelligence-powered video tool. Simply, the app uses AI to find the best, most eye-catching parts of your footage to create video that resonates with an audience. It also uses its algorithm to incorporate edits, effects and transitions to take your clip to the next level.

Instagram analytics apps

16. Hootsuite mobile app (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

The Hootsuite app allows brands to track their performance on every social network, including Instagram. With the Hootsuite app you can schedule Instagram posts to publish later, even if you can’t be at your desk. This way, you’re always posting content at the optimum time to engage your audience and filling your social media content calendar. Hootsuite also makes it easy to monitor your competitors’ Instagram content and track hashtags.

Also, monitor Instagram analytics using Hootsuite’s analytics function. Plus, you can create analytics reports and share data specific to your brand’s goals with the company.

Find more details on Hootsuite analytics for Instagram here:

17. Panoramiq Insights

Why you should try it:

Source: Hootsuite app directory

Use this app with Hootsuite to take your Instagram analytics up a notch. Panoramiq Insights by Synaptive gives you detailed analytics for your Instagram account, including follower demographics, views, new followers, profile views, and link clicks.

And if your company has more than one Instagram account, this app can track analytics for two accounts. Share the results the app has compiled by exporting your analytics reports as a spreadsheet or PDF file.

18. Command for Instagram (iOS)

Why you should try it:

Source: Command for Instagram on App Store

Command provides a host of unique metrics and shares your brand’s most important stats each day. It also generates a report card that grades everything from your followers count to your post frequency. You can also get hashtag and caption recommendations, caption writing support, and help finding the best hashtags for your content.

19. Trending Hashtags by StatStory (iOS and Android)

Why you should try it:

Source: Trending Hashtags by StatStory on App Store

Adding hashtags to your Instagram posts is a great way to increase audience engagement. This Instagram app supports your brand’s hashtag strategy by helping you incorporate popular hashtags. It also uses an algorithm to find hashtags that are relevant to your brand and recommends a mix of popular and less-popular hashtags to help you reach a broad audience.

20. Clean it Up (iOS)

Why you should try it:

Source: Clean it Up on App Store

If you’re noticing a lot of spam comments or want to clean up which Instagram accounts your brand interacts with, this is one of the best Instagram apps to clean up your follower list and reduce those comments.

With one tap, this app will mass clean your follower list, bulk block bot accounts or inactive followers, bulk delete duplicate content, bulk unlike and bulk like posts.

Manage your Instagram presence alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage the audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

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