Instagram bots can be a big help if you’re trying to grow your Instagram account, be more interactive with your followers, and attract more followers.
Instagram bots are actually a pretty common thing. Around 10% (10 million) of Instagram users are believed to be bot accounts. Many prominent celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Kylie Jenner even are believed to have used Instagram bots to grow their accounts to such lengths.
However, Instagram has now limited the use of bots to avoid spam on the platform.
Today, there are 2 two types of Instagram bots you can use: Bad Instagram bots that are discouraged by Instagram and can penalize your account and good Instagram bots that merely automate some Social Media Marketing processes and help you grow your account.
Table of Contents
- What Is An Instagram Bot?
- How Do Instagram Bots Work?
- Does Instagram Allow Using Bots?
- Top 10 Instagram Bots Of Today
- Instagram Penalties For Using Bots
- Conclusion
What Is An Instagram Bot?
Bots are widely used on social media platforms these days. Different social media have different bots that are programmed to help users in various ways.
Instagram bots are software programs designed to automate tasks on the popular social media platform, Instagram. These bots are programmed to interact with Instagram users, such as liking, commenting, following, and unfollowing accounts. These bots can also assist users with automated communication, reporting and analyzing, and creating AI marketing strategies.
How Do Instagram Bots Work?
Instagram bots work by using the Instagram API (Application Programming Interface) to access Instagram’s data and perform actions on behalf of the user. The bots can be configured to perform specific actions based on various criteria, such as hashtags, user location, or the number of followers an account has.
Common ways Instagram bots promote an account is by creating fake followers and commenting on popular posts to attract followers.
Since Instagram bots have the sole purpose of promoting an account, Instagram’s algorithms can easily detect bots and have them banned from the social media platform.
To tackle this, newer bots feature humanlike behavior e.g. pausing between actions, varying the number of likes or comments per hour, and following or unfollowing users at random intervals, making it harder for Instagram to detect these bots and helping you keep your Instagram account safe.
Does Instagram Allow Using Bots?
Instagram allows the use of good and safe bots, however, there are some bots that are unsafe to use.
All in all, Instagram doesn’t discourage the use of bots for automation purposes. However, if the bot ends up spamming or violating Instagram’s policies, it is not allowed.
Any bot that acts against the policies of Instagram is considered to be a bad bot that Instagram doesn’t allow. Basically, any bot that posts, shares, creates fake accounts, and engages with content at a very high frequency that can be considered spam would not be allowed by Instagram.
Most Instagram bots focus on creating fake accounts. Creating fake accounts for any use is also against Instagram’s policies.
Using these bots can penalize your Instagram profile, help you lose your brand image on the social media, or could even have your profile permanently banned.
On the other hand are good bots that do not violate Instagram’s policies. Good Instagram bots help you market your profile and boost your engagement making your profile stronger and attracting more followers, deals, and overall attention.
Top 10 Instagram Bots Of Today
Different Instagram bots serve different purposes. This is why, I have filtered out the best bots for each functionality to help you choose the best.
1. Tidio
Tidio is an automated chat and communication bot that helps businesses communicate with customers using various channels e.g. live chat and email. What makes it stand apart is its featureful integrations with WordPress, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
Pros
- Offers multiple channels
- Saves time and resources through automated responses
- Helps improve customer engagement and satisfaction
- Offers a free plan
Cons
- Can be expensive for large businesses
- Doesn’t offer much more than communication
2. Kicksta
Kicksta helps users gain more followers using targeted engagement strategies with the help of machine learning algorithms to find your target market and engage with them.
Pros
- Can help boost your followers organically
- Free trial available
- Affordable
Cons
- Automation strategies can go against Instagram’s ToS
3. Jarvee
Jarvee allows users to manage multiple Insta profiles at once, automate engagement strategies, and schedule content.
Pros
- Useful features such as auto follow, like, comment, and unfollow
- Saves time and effort
- Allows targetted engagement
- Can be integrated with other social media platforms e.g. Facebook or LinkedIn
Cons
- Can potentially violate Instagram’s ToS
- Expensive
- Complex and overwhelming for new users
4. Inflact
Inflact offers automation services for users featuring auto engagement to your target market, but what makes it stand out is its advanced tools for analyzing and monitoring Instagram metrics.
Pros
- Saves time and effort
- Advanced targeting options
- Metrics provide insights to help optimize SMM strategies
Cons
- Automation strategies may violate Instagram’s ToS
- Expensive
- Needs a learning curve to make full use out of it
5. Hyper IBF
Hyper IBF focuses on automatic following, using artificial intelligence to identify and follow users from your target market that is likely to follow back.
Pros
- Can boost Instagram followers
- Free trial available
- Easy to use
Cons
- Spam follows can violate Instagram’s ToS
- Limited features
6. Growth Beast
Growth Beast is yet another automation tool that engages with your target market. What makes it special is its customization options for locations, hashtags, and accounts.
Pros
- Saves time and effort
- Powerful Chrome extension
- Boosts engagement and followers
- Provides analytics and insights
Cons
- Automation strategies may go against Instagram’s ToS
- Doesn’t build genuine and organic growth
- Expensive
7. Nitreo
Nitreo is another automation tool that offers similar automated engagement features, advanced targetting, and customization.
Pros
- Saves time and effort
- Advanced targetting with customizations
- Helpful reporting and analytics
Cons
- Automation spam can go against Instagram’s ToS
- Doesn’t offer organic growth
- Expensive
8. Combin
Combin, much like other automation bots, offers automatic engagement, advanced targeting, and customization.
However, what makes this tool stand apart is it’s cheap pricing and free version that still packs great features.
Pros
Saves time and effort managing multiple accounts
- Advanced targeting and engagement
- Featureful reporting and analytics
- Free version
Cons
- Automation strategies can go against Instagram’s ToS
9. Thunuder Clap
Previously known as Grab Likes, Thunder Clap goes one step forward to offer automated engaged and advanced targetting using AI that customizes its stragety itself based on the target market’s preferences.
Pros
- AI optimization helps bring in more genuine followers
- AI customizability
- Free Trial available
Cons
- Automation strategies can go against Instagram’s ToS
- Limited features compared with other automation tools
10. UseViral
UseViral is a social media marketing toold that offer Instagram likes, followers, views, and comments. What makes it stand apart from other tools is that it also functions with other social media platforms such as TikTok, Youtube, and Twitter.
Pros
- Offers a one-stop solution for various social media services
- Affordable
- Money-back guarantee included
Cons
- Automation strategies may go against Instagrams’ ToS
- Doesn’t entirely promote organic frowth
- Customer support lacks efficiency
Instagram Penalties For Using Bots
There are four ways Instagram penalizes the use of bots that violate its policies.
- Warning: Once Instagram’s algorithms notice the use of a bot on an Instagram profile, their system will flag you for going against their ToS.
These warnings vary based on the charged you’re penalized with. Sometimes a warning can just tell you that your account is compromised wheras other times it will tell you that an automated service has been detected and you need to halt its use.
- Limited Daily Engagements: The most troublesome measure for Instagram bots that was implemented by instagram was engagement limits. To discourage bots spamming thousands of engagements daily, Instagram now keeps a SECRET limit on each account depending on its usual use. If the engagements exceed this limit, Instagram ends up suspecting the use of a bot.
Newer bots have tackled this by limiting engagements per day and trying to mimic a human-like behavior.
- Shutting Down Bot Services: For major companies that create Instagram bots that go against Instagram’s ToS, the social media platform has gone as far as filing lawsuits and suing these companies to cease and desist permanently.
- Profile Bans: Finally, if Instagram flags your account for bot use, it can ban your profile from being used for weeks end! Other possible consequences for Instagram bot use are shadow bans or permanent deactivation of account.
Conclusion
Hopefully, among the best Instagram bots metioned above, you found the right tool for you to manage and grow your Instagram profile.
Remember to always ensure your automation strategies abide by Instagram’s Terms of Services, and be extra careful when it comes to Insta bots.
With that being said, good luck for promoting your Instagram profile to great heights!
Interested in more? Check out Is Instaportal Instagram Hacking Legit Or A Scam? – All You Need To Know.
