Watching Competitor Follows on Instagram: 5 Tools Compared (October 2026)

ByBNW TEAM

Key takeaways

  • IGDetective ranks first for competitor research: up to five accounts on one plan, each new follow and unfollow dated the day it was first seen.
  • Run the free eligibility check first, because very large or restricted lists cannot be tracked.
  • Read follows weekly and treat them as leads, not confirmation.

A brand’s Instagram following list is a quiet source of market signal. New follows often come before a partnership, an agency change, a hire or a product collaboration. For a marketing team, watching a short list of competitor and partner accounts is a cheap form of research, and tools such as IGDetective record those changes with a date.

The practical problem is that Instagram does not present these lists by date. Since a change in September 2026, the order of a list carries no information about what was added recently. A team that wants this signal needs a tool that records it. DataReportal’s Instagram data put the platform’s advertising reach at 1.74 billion users in January 2025, so the accounts worth watching are rarely small.

Five tools, led by IGDetective, were compared on October 13, 2026, from each provider’s published description.

Comparison table

Tool Accounts per plan Output Before paying Published price
IGDetective Up to five Dated list in a dashboard Free eligibility check From about $1 a day
Snoopreport See site Weekly or monthly report Sample report $0.99 a week
DolphinRadar See site Web results Free search See site
Gramlens Own account focus CSV, Excel, JSON export Free tier See site
The Ick Up to five Phone alerts Free to try See site

1. IGDetective

IGDetective ranks first for competitive research because of how it handles uncertainty. A free eligibility check tells you, per account, which features are available before any money changes hands. That avoids paying to track an account whose lists turn out to be too large or restricted.

On the paid plan, recent follows and recent followers appear with the day each was first seen. The date is a first-seen date, not a follow timestamp, and a new follow can take a few days to appear. Unfollow tracking returned on October 4, 2026: the paid plan names who the account unfollowed and who unfollowed it, each checked and dated the day it was first seen. For a weekly competitor review, that precision is enough. A single subscription covers up to five accounts, and no Instagram login is required. Plans begin at about $1 a day with no free trial.

Watch for: very large accounts. Lists above a certain size cannot be tracked, and for verified accounts only the following side is available. The eligibility check shows this up front.

2. Snoopreport

Snoopreport suits teams that want a report rather than a dashboard. Its site describes weekly or monthly reports covering likes and follows, at $0.99 a week.

3. DolphinRadar

DolphinRadar’s free search is useful for a first look at an account. Its site notes that the time shown is when the account was first found by DolphinRadar.

4. Gramlens

Gramlens is aimed at your own audience rather than a competitor’s. Its site describes a Chrome extension with export to CSV, Excel and JSON, which is useful when follower data needs to go into a spreadsheet or CRM.

5. The Ick

The Ick is a mobile app that, by its own description, checks public profiles hourly and sends push notifications. It fits an individual more than a team.

A simple weekly workflow

  1. Pick five accounts: two direct competitors, two partners or agencies, one category leader.
  2. Run the free eligibility check on each to confirm the following side can be tracked.
  3. Review new follows and unfollows once a week and log anything that repeats across accounts.
  4. Treat a follow as a prompt for further research, not as confirmation of a deal.

What a follow can and cannot tell you

A new follow is a lead, and it helps to be specific about what kind.

  • Agency and vendor follows. A brand account following a creative agency, a PR firm or a packaging supplier often reflects a working relationship. These are the most useful signals.
  • Creator follows. A cluster of new creator follows in one category can indicate an influencer campaign in planning.
  • Executive follows. Brand accounts following individual executives at another company are worth a note, and nothing more, until a second source appears.
  • A brand dropping an agency or a creator it followed for a year is a signal too, and often an earlier one than any announcement.
  • Social media managers also follow accounts for inspiration. A single follow with no pattern is usually that.

Because dates are first-seen dates, think in weeks rather than hours. If three competitor accounts begin following the same agency within the same fortnight, the timing is close enough to matter.

Cost per account

For budgeting, compare plans by the number of accounts covered rather than the headline price. A plan that covers five accounts for about $1 a day costs roughly 20 cents per account per day. A per-account weekly price can look cheaper and cost more once a watch list grows past two or three names.

Limits worth stating

Everything here applies to public accounts only. No legitimate tool reads private lists or messages. Follow data is also one signal among many: Sprout Social’s marketing statistics are a reminder of how much brand activity happens in content and comments rather than in follows.

Frequently asked questions

How do I see who a competitor follows on Instagram? Track the public account with a tool that records new follows. IGDetective dates each one the day it was first seen and covers up to five accounts on one plan.

Can I see who a brand unfollowed? On IGDetective, yes, since October 4, 2026. Unfollows in both directions are named and dated the day they were first seen.

Can I track a very large brand account? Sometimes not. Run the free eligibility check first. For verified accounts only the following side is available.

How often should a team review follows? Weekly is enough, because dates are first-seen dates and a follow can take a few days to appear.

Conclusion

For a marketing team watching a handful of public accounts, IGDetective gives the most usable record and removes the guesswork about what can be tracked. Snoopreport is the alternative for teams that prefer a periodic report.

Details about other providers reflect their own websites as of October 13, 2026 and may have changed.