Compare two Instagram accounts
Follower counts are the worst way to compare two accounts and the only one most people use. Put both handles in and see the numbers that decide who is actually doing better.
Why the follower count is the wrong number
An account with 200,000 followers and 0.4% engagement reaches fewer interested people than one with 30,000 at 4%. If you are choosing who to work with, who to learn from, or who to worry about, engagement times audience is the number, and the follower count on its own tells you almost nothing about it.
What to look at in the comparison
- Engagement rate, remembering that the smaller account is expected to score higher. If the bigger one wins on rate as well, it is genuinely stronger.
- Cadence. An account posting daily and one posting monthly need completely different comparisons, and the effort behind them is not the same.
- Format mix. If one is winning with video and the other with photos, that is usually the most useful thing on the page.
- Likes per comment. The account with more conversation per like generally has the more committed audience.
Where to look next
Once you know who is ahead, the full audit of either account shows why: cadence, format mix, best and weakest post. If the gap is in engagement, check whether both audiences behave the same way before drawing conclusions.
Questions
Can I compare a private account?
No. Its posts are not public, so there is nothing to measure.
Is this fair when the two accounts are very different sizes?
The rates are shown next to the normal band for each account's own size, so you can see who is beating their own league rather than just who is bigger.