The best time to post on Instagram, from 30,000 Nordic posts
Most advice on when to post comes from American studies. We looked at 29,616 recent Instagram posts by 2,837 creators in the Nordics and compared every post with the same creator's typical post, so big and small accounts count equally.
The short answer: Saturday is the best day, with +12% more likes and comments than usual. The details below show the best hours, how it differs by country and niche, and what to post.
What we found
- Saturday is the best day to post: +12% more likes and comments than the creator's typical post. It is also the day creators post least (11% of all posts), so there is less competition in the feed.
- Thursday is the weakest day (-2.9%).
- Most posts go out between 17:00 and 21:00, but posts published between 21:00 and 24:00 do better (+6.6%).
- The single best slot is Sunday 06:00–09:00, at +20% above a typical post.
- Carousels get +13% more likes and comments than a typical post; Reels get -10%. Reels win on reach and views instead, which likes and comments don't show.
Day and hour at a glance
Each square is one hour of the week. The brighter the gold, the more likes and comments posts published then got compared with the same creator's typical post; red means fewer. Each country is in its own local time.
Empty squares had too few posts to say anything. Night hours are mostly empty because few creators post then.
Best day to post on Instagram
How posts did on each weekday compared with the creator's typical post, and how many of all posts went out that day.
| Likes and comments vs typical | Share of all posts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | -0.2% | 14% | |
| Tuesday | -0.6% | 14% | |
| Wednesday | +1.1% | 15% | |
| Thursday | -2.9% | 15% | |
| Friday | -0.2% | 13% | |
| Saturday | +12% | 11% | |
| Sunday | +3.6% | 17% |
Best hour to post on Instagram
When posts went out, and how they did. The busiest hours are not the best ones.
| share of posts | vs typical | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00 | 0.9% | -1.2% | |
| 07:00 | 2.4% | -0.6% | |
| 08:00 | 3.9% | +8.0% | |
| 09:00 | 4.8% | +5.5% | |
| 10:00 | 4.8% | +1.1% | |
| 11:00 | 5.2% | -2.8% | |
| 12:00 | 5.0% | -1.1% | |
| 13:00 | 4.7% | +1.6% | |
| 14:00 | 5.1% | -2.9% | |
| 15:00 | 6.0% | 0.0% | |
| 16:00 | 7.0% | -2.5% | |
| 17:00 | 8.5% | +0.6% | |
| 18:00 | 10% | +1.1% | |
| 19:00 | 11% | +0.2% | |
| 20:00 | 9.0% | +3.1% | |
| 21:00 | 6.0% | +7.4% | |
| 22:00 | 3.1% | +6.1% | |
| 23:00 | 1.3% | +4.5% |
The best and worst time slots
Day and three-hour slot combined, ranked by how posts did compared with the creator's typical post.
Best slots
| Slot | vs typical |
|---|---|
| Sunday 06:00–09:00 | +20% |
| Saturday 06:00–09:00 | +18% |
| Saturday 21:00–24:00 | +17% |
| Saturday 18:00–21:00 | +15% |
| Saturday 15:00–18:00 | +14% |
Worst slots
| Slot | vs typical |
|---|---|
| Thursday 12:00–15:00 | -5.6% |
| Monday 09:00–12:00 | -4.4% |
| Tuesday 12:00–15:00 | -4.3% |
Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland compared
The pattern holds across the region: weekends, and Saturday in particular, beat weekdays everywhere.
Sweden
15,409 posts · 1,468 creators- Best day
- Saturday +12%
- Best slot
- Saturday 15:00–18:00 +21%
Norway
6,971 posts · 667 creators- Best day
- Saturday +11%
- Best slot
- Saturday 09:00–12:00 +20%
Denmark
5,658 posts · 551 creators- Best day
- Saturday +14%
- Best slot
- Saturday 06:00–09:00 +36%
Finland
1,578 posts · 151 creators- Best day
- Sunday +6.6%
- Best slot
- Sunday 18:00–21:00 +4.1%
Best time to post by niche
Audiences differ, so the best slot does too. Niches with at least 1,500 posts.
| Best slot | vs typical | |
|---|---|---|
| Food & cooking | Monday 15:00–18:00 | +24% |
| Lifestyle | Saturday 15:00–18:00 | +21% |
| Fitness | Monday 18:00–21:00 | +19% |
| Parents & family | Saturday 18:00–21:00 | +11% |
| Interior & home | Sunday 18:00–21:00 | +9.2% |
| Comedy & entertainment | Wednesday 18:00–21:00 | +8.9% |
| Fashion | Sunday 15:00–18:00 | +7.7% |
| Music | Thursday 15:00–18:00 | +3.8% |
Carousels, Reels or single images?
Likes and comments compared with the creator's typical post, by format.
Reels are built for reach: they get shown to people who don't follow you, and views aren't in this comparison. If you want engagement from your own followers, carousels win.
How to use this
Test Saturday
Move one regular post a week to Saturday afternoon or evening for a month and compare it with your weekday posts. Your audience may differ from the average; your own numbers decide.
Post after the rush
Most creators post between 17:00 and 20:00, so the feed is crowded then. Late evening, after 21:00, gets more attention per post.
Use carousels for engagement, Reels for reach
Carousels collect more likes and comments from people who already follow you. Reels bring new people in. Most accounts need both.
Check your own insights
Instagram's insights show when your followers are online. Use this report as a starting point and your insights to fine-tune.
Find the right creators, not just the right time
Search Nordic creators by niche, size, engagement and audience, then brief, approve and track them in one place. Free for 14 days, no card needed.
More reports
How we counted
- 29,616 Instagram posts published in the last year by 2,837 Nordic creators with at least 10,000 followers, from public profiles in our database. Posts younger than three days were left out, because they are still collecting likes.
- Each post is compared with the same creator's median post (likes plus comments). That makes a small creator's post and a big creator's post count equally. A time slot's number is the typical lift of the posts in it, so +12% means posts then did about 12% better than usual.
- Times are in the creator's local time: Swedish, Norwegian and Danish creators in Central European Time, Finnish creators in Eastern European Time.
- Pinned posts, posts with hidden likes and creators with fewer than six usable posts were left out. A slot needs at least 80 posts before we show it.
- This shows what happened, not why. Creators who post at a given time may differ from those who don't, so test it on your own account.
Questions
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
In the Nordics, Saturday is the best day: posts got +12% more likes and comments than the same creator's typical post. The best single slot was Sunday 06:00–09:00. Late evening, after 21:00, beat the crowded hours between 17:00 and 20:00.
What is the worst day to post on Instagram?
Thursday was the weakest day, at -2.9% compared with a typical post. The differences between Monday and Friday are small, though; the weekend is where it changes.
Do carousels or Reels get more engagement?
Carousels got +13% more likes and comments than a typical post, Reels -10%. Reels are made for reach, so they can still be the better choice for growing an account.
Does this apply to my account?
It is a good place to start. Your audience may be online at other times, so try a new slot for a few weeks and compare it with your own numbers in Instagram's insights.