Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users. With its huge user base, many people aim to grow their followers and build their brand on Instagram. However, there are limits to how fast you can gain new followers on the platform.
Instagram’s Follow Limit
Instagram imposes a daily follow limit to prevent spam and fake accounts. According to Instagram’s policies, you can only follow up to 60 accounts per hour. If you exceed this limit, Instagram will automatically ban you from following any new accounts for a period of time. The exact length of the ban varies, but it’s usually around 12-24 hours.
This means the maximum followers you can gain per day is 1440. That’s if you follow the maximum of 60 accounts per hour over 24 hours. Of course, this doesn’t mean all those accounts will necessarily follow you back. But it’s the upper limit of follows you can do per day according to Instagram’s rules.
Tips to Gain More Instagram Followers
While you’re limited to 1440 follows per day, there are some tips and tricks you can use to maximize your daily follower growth within Instagram’s limits:
- Optimize your profile to attract followers – Include a good profile/cover photo, complete bio, website link, etc.
- Post quality content consistently – Post at least 1-2 times per day to stay active and engaging.
- Use relevant hashtags – Research and use popular hashtags related to your niche to get discovered.
- Follow accounts similar to yours – Engage with users who are interested in your niche and content style.
- Run giveaways and contests – Offer prizes to incentivize users to follow you and get more exposure.
- Post at peak times – Post when most of your audience is active, usually mornings and evenings.
- Engage with your audience – Like, comment, and reply to your followers to build connections.
- Use Instagram stories – Share teasers, BTS content, polls, etc. to create hype and engagement.
- Leverage influencer collaborations – Partner with influencers in your niche to tap into their audiences.
- Use relevant locations and hashtags – Geotag locations and use popular hashtags related to your content.
While gaining followers takes time and effort, being strategic with these tactics can help you maximize your daily follower growth within Instagram’s follow limits.
How to Check Your Current Following Limit
To check how many more accounts you can follow per hour on Instagram, you can do the following:
- Go to your profile page
- Tap on “Following” at the top
- Scroll down and you will see a notice stating “You’re Temporarily Blocked From Following More Accounts” or “You’ve Been Blocked From Following More Accounts Until [Time]” if you’ve exceeded the limit.
This notice will show you how long left you have before you can follow more accounts. Paying attention to this limit can help you avoid getting blocked temporarily and maximize your daily follows.
Following Limits for New Accounts
For new Instagram accounts, the follow limits are even more restrictive as a spam prevention measure. According to Instagram’s policies, if your account is less than one week old, you can only follow up to 30 accounts per hour. After one week, you can follow 60 accounts per hour like normal accounts.
So the maximum followers per day for a brand new account is 720 in the first week. Once your account passes 7 days old, then the limit increases to 1440 follows per day.
Consequences of Exceeding the Follow Limit
If you go over the allowed follow limit, Instagram will temporarily block you from following any more accounts for a set period of time. The block duration varies depending on how badly you exceeded the limit.
Typically, the first block will be for only 1 hour. But subsequent blocks can last as long as a full day or longer. Repeated violations could get your account banned permanently.
Getting blocked can be frustrating if you’re trying to grow your account and followers. So it’s wise to carefully pace your follows and stay under the limits.
Third-Party Apps and the Follow Limit
Many Instagram automation and scheduling tools exist to help you manage your account. However, be aware that most third-party apps still have to abide by Instagram’s official follow limits.
Apps that aggressively automate following and unfollowing users run the risk of getting your account blocked. It’s safest to keep your automated follows within Instagram’s limits to avoid any issues.
Follow Limits for Business and Creator Accounts
Instagram’s follow limits apply equally to all account types – personal, business and creator. There are no special higher limits for business or creator accounts.
The published follow limits of 60 accounts per hour and 1440 accounts per day are universal across all account types. Having a business profile does not exempt you from the same restrictions meant to curb spammy behavior.
Exceptions to the Follow Limit
In most cases, the published follow limits apply strictly across every Instagram account. However, there are a few exceptions:
- Verified accounts – Instagram sometimes grants higher follow limits to verified accounts belonging to public figures, celebrities and brands.
- Whitelisted accounts – In very rare cases, an account may get whitelisted and exempt from standard limits if it has a close working partnership with Instagram.
- Bug workarounds – Temporary bugs have sometimes allowed people to bypass limits, but these loopholes get patched quickly.
Unless your account falls into one of those categories, it’s safest to assume the standard follow restrictions apply to you.
Changes to the Follow Limit Over Time
When Instagram first launched in 2010, there were no follow limits in place. Users could follow unlimited accounts per day.
As Instagram grew, spam became more rampant. So in late 2011, Instagram introduced a follow limit of 60 accounts per hour.
This limit has remained roughly the same over time. Minor fluctuations have occasionally increased or decreased it by 10-20 accounts. Overall, the hourly limit has stayed between 50-60 follows per hour for most of Instagram’s history.
Given the continued fight against spam, it’s unlikely the standard follow limits will increase significantly anytime soon. Instagram will likely keep tight control over follow activity to promote authentic engagement.
Follow Limits Compared to Other Social Media
| Platform | Follow Limit |
|---|---|
| 60 per hour / 1440 per day | |
| 400 per day | |
| TikTok | 100 per day |
| No official limit | |
| YouTube | No limit |
Compared to other major platforms, Instagram’s follow limits are moderate. Twitter and TikTok employ tighter restrictions, while Facebook and YouTube currently have no daily follow caps.
Instagram’s limit of 1440 follows per day allows for healthy growth, but should curb extreme spamming and bot-like activity. Given the success of its current policy, Instagram is unlikely to ease limits significantly in the near future.
Conclusion
The maximum Instagram followers you can gain per day is 1440. This comes from the platform limit of 60 follows per hour over a 24 hour period. Instagram enforces these strict limits to prevent spam, fake accounts and bot activity.
While you can’t exceed the 1440 per day cap, you can employ organic growth strategies to maximize your daily follower growth up to the limit. Gaining followers takes consistency, engaging content, and strategic optimization over time. But staying within Instagram’s rules will ensure your account avoids any penalties.
Understanding Instagram’s maximum follows per day and using that knowledge to pace your growth efforts can help ensure your account grows in a healthy, sustainable way.
