Today our mobile phones are filled with different apps to meet different needs. For online shopping, we use Amazon and Flipkart; for food delivery, we use Zomato and Swiggy; for Cab facilities, we use Uber and Ola; for reading news, we use Bloomberg, Flipboard, and Economic Times; and for entertainment purposes, we use Instagram, Facebook, Youtube.
From a survey, it was proven that people use apps like Instagram and Facebook more. i.e., fun and entertainment is a demanding segment. Developers started making more apps like Instagram to satisfy that demand.
Some apps gained very much popularity, and some failed miserably. So in this article, we will discover some apps similar to Instagram and Facebook.
But before that, let us take a moment and witness the beautiful journey of the Internet, IT world, Facebook, and Instagram. Here we go!
If we consider the world of technical gadgets(computers or smartphones), we can realize that those devices carry out most of our professional(official) or personal work.
Moreover, if you research, you can also understand that computers and phones contain essential Information such as bank details, documents, mail details, addresses, contact details, etc. All these things are possible with the help of certain websites and applications.
To make life easier, humans started developing many applications and tools. These were initially started to help humankind. But later, we tried implementing IT to make applications and websites for fun and entertainment purposes.
In 2010, Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom developed a social platform where one can share their picture. You cooked something and want to show it to your close ones. What would you do? Click a picture of that food and upload it on Instagram.
Followers can see, comment, and interact with your post. They might share that picture with their close ones. Though it seems very normal nowadays, it was a new concept a decade ago.
People started loving this feature, and the number of users also enhanced over some time. Let’s dig a little deeper to know why Instagram has become popular.
Dissecting Instagram
What made Instagram so famous? People don’t want long texts, so they showed interest in watching videos and photos. News channels also started sharing small videos and infographics to deliver news to our fingertips.
Some newspapers and magazines are paid for. Instagram is free, and most importantly, it is easy to use. Instagram allows you to make your ordinary picture extraordinary by applying various filters. Instagram doesn’t try to do so many things.
It focuses on one thing with perfection. It allows users to see feeds of his/her area of interest in the explore section. It updates its features with market requirements from time to time. It doesn’t contain monotonous and frustrating ads.
One can earn money from Instagram by becoming an Instagram influencer. With the dawning of the age of social media, we are already convinced to share stills or snippets of our life conveniently with the whole world.
People have already started saying that you don’t have any proof of existence if you don’t exist on social media. Image-sharing platforms have become the latest trend as we give importance to these apps.
Let’s take a moment and admit that most internet users are migrating from Facebook to Instagram. It may be a bitter truth for Zuckerberg, but Facebook seems outdated.
With cool features like filters, boomerangs, stories, guess the gibberish, and reels, this popular photo-sharing app is first in the queue of all social media. And that’s how a ten-year-old startup became a photo-filled, billion-dollar beast accepted by over 1.5 billion people.
Whether you love Instagram or hate it, we can’t deny that this little app has blown up to become one of the most favored social media of our time.
Best Apps Like Instagram – Our Top Pick👌
Millions of apps are available in the play store(android) and app Store (iOS). However, apps like Instagram are rare. Developing an app having features like this is not an easy job. Other apps can offer a refreshing change.
These apps have copied and rolled some of the best features of Instagram into their own. But you will get a different experience when you use them—using Instagram for a long period and looking for something different from Instagram?
Looking for something new to try out? Look through the following list of apps where you can share awesome pictures.
Some apps on the list might not be as big as Snapchat and Instagram, but they are community-driven and visually appealing.
Let’s explore!
1. Snapchat
Snapchat is a multimedia app that essentially keeps friends connected. What differentiates it from the other apps is that people can instantly exchange pictures with their friends while talking to them, so they know who is up to what in real time.
Besides, the exchanged pictures or snaps are viewable for only a few seconds and do not eat up space on the sender’s or receiver’s phone.
Snapchat is one of the few apps that notify users if their snap or chat is screenshotted.
This adds a layer of privacy and is valued by many. Snapchat was the flag bearer of the famous dog filter users applies to take pictures. There are various filters on Snapchat which are entertaining.
Recently, they also introduced games so friends can play together. Snapchat also supports audio and video calls. This social media has a rating of 4.3 stars in the google play store.
Features:-
- Beautiful photos can be taken by using Snapchat with your phone camera.
- You can add a lens or filter to your photo.
- You can create your filter.
- You can try out lenses made by different communities.
- You can video call 16 people at a time, and that’s bliss for us and an advantage over WhatsApp video calls.
- You can use exclusive friend emojis like Bitmojis.
- You can watch trending news and shows.
- You can add stories and watch others’ stories.
- You can create memories and share old stories.
- You can send your location to your friends and relatives.
2. Facebook
Facebook and Instagram share a lot of similar features. You can share images, add filters, and more. You can add Stories(expire after 24 hours), make wishes, write on your friend’s timeline, etc. You can add both photos and videos in stories.
You can go live on Facebook and Instagram and talk with your friends and followers. However, Facebook has an edge in proliferation, popularity, and years of experience.
Facebook has a chat facility named messenger. Facebook is definitely among the best apps like Instagram. As we all know, Facebook has acquired Instagram back in 2012, and still, both have their significance.
In case you forgot your Instagram password, you can log into Instagram with your Facebook account and that’s helpful. For any company or organization, two social media pages are a must.
Facebook is one of them. People usually write reviews, feedback, and complaints about a company on its Facebook page. And the companies also try to engage with their customers through various posts, stories, and other activities.
They also solve their queries on Facebook. So, in this way, companies can create and maintain healthy relationships with their loyal customers. Though people say Facebook is clumsy, it remains a giant in social media networks.
You can also follow your role models and favorite persons and see their feed and lifestyle. Facebook helps your business to grow and lets people know about your presence. You can add pictures, run your products and services ads, and get new customers.
Thus Facebook plays a critical role both in personal and professional life. This social media has a rating of 4.2 stars in the google play store.
Features:-
- Connect with friends, families, and new people also.
- It allows you to set status updates and use various emojis.
- You can go live and interact with people.
- Play different games with any of your Facebook friends.
- This app will send notification on your friend’s birthday. You can wish them on Facebook and over the phone if you forget.
- It sends you notifications about future events.
- You can buy and sell products on the Facebook marketplace. It helps small businesses to grow.
- You can give reviews and read reviews about an organization.
3. Flickr
Flickr’s name will come when we discuss apps like Instagram. You can use it to store your photos and share them with the public. The app gives you a sense of professionalism.
The primary use of this app includes sharing, posting, discussing, and archiving videos and photos. Here you can upload pictures of any resolution.
The platform is not as big and vibrant as Instagram, but a popular image-storing and sharing platform. The app has a rating of 3.8 stars.
Features:-
- You can upload, manage, edit, and share images with this cool application.
- It provides a group of photographers with millions of photos.
- You can find people with the same interest.
- It allows you to use creativity, crop images, and add filters.
4. Google Photos
Google Photos is not a social media platform like Instagram or Facebook. The app solves the purpose of easily storing and sharing a bulk amount of photos.
You can easily store “n” several photos and videos and share them with your friends and relatives.
It doesn’t have features like Instagram or Snapchat. If you upload photos in Google photos, it will be convenient for you to share. Sometimes, Google photos suggest to achieve photos, rotate an image.
And sometimes, Google also edits your ordinary photo to look extraordinary. You can also see memories of 1 year, two years, or five years back, like story features on Instagram. This app has a rating of 4.3 stars.
Features:-
- It is like a home to all your photos and videos.
- Cool editing features and easy sharing is the best part of it.
- You don’t have to worry about your storage, as all your photos will automatically be backed up in your google account.
- You can easily edit, delete, and free up space on your phone.
- The app will automatically create smart albums with your photos.
- You will get all the photos at your fingertips with the date and year wise with the storage location.
5. Imgur: Find funny GIFs, and memes & watch viral videos
Imgur is just like Flickr, but it is more popular than Flickr. The Reddit app supports Imgur links. You can share an unlimited no. of photos and also browse photos of others.
Another advantage of Imgur is you can find memes and funny images. But Reddit is better. This app has a rating of 4.0 stars.
Features:-
- If you are a meme lover, you are in the right place.
- This is probably the only place that supports gif.
- You will find a huge amount of memes and sound-enabled gifs here.
6. We Heart It
We Heart It is a great platform to share images. It is a close competitor of Imgur. However, the content here is feminine. We don’t hesitate to say it because the platform’s target audience is young women.
You will find inspirational and motivational quotes and photos here. It connects you to positive and inspirational people. So this community will give you content and friends who share similar interests.
The platform is a mixture of Instagram and Pinterest. You can upload your photos, create your canvas, browse for other photos, like photos of others, and add them to your “Hearts” section.
It differs from other apps because it is not a comparison-heavy culture. Apart from photos and videos, you can add gifs, which Instagram does not support.
As discussed earlier, the user base is mostly women. So it would be best if you were careful about the usage of this platform. The rating of the app in the play store is found to be 4.5 stars.
Features:-
- It follows a freemium business model.
- You can explore trending topics, search millions of posts, and discover top writers.
- The app allows you to download and save your favorite images.
7. Pinterest
Pinterest has become a very helpful social media network for all, especially businesses. If you are wondering about a high-quality image, you are in the right place.
People share pictures of their businesses for advertising and marketing purposes. This is not social media or a platform to chat or use a filter.
You can pin a picture and also download it to your phone directly. This app has a rating of 4.6 stars.
Features:-
- This app provides millions of HD images.
- You can explore the lifestyle and favorite topics and pin the images to your account.
- You can also view and save other people’s pinned images.
8. Tusky for Mastodon
Mastodon is comparatively new to the market. Here we can make servers based on your interest. You can find servers for food, technology, sports, knowledge, etc.
Though it has limited access, it is personalized per one’s area of interest. The traffic is less as the app is in its nascent stage.
It has a few similarities with Reddit and other platforms. The app rating is 3.5 stars.
Features:-
- It is a free and open-source social network server.
- It supports all Mastodon features like lists, emojis, photos, and videos.
- It gives you the option to choose dark mode also.
At the time of our research on apps that are just like Instagram, we found a video about “INSTAGRAM HACKS TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOS,” which is worth watching. 🤴😎
9. Twitter
The most professional social media platform is Twitter. From a company’s point of view, Twitter is a must. People click on the bluebird on their phones to get the latest news and to know the thoughts of businessmen, industrialists, etc.
People write their queries and tag the respective companies, and the companies try to solve their problems, engage well, and maintain healthy relationships with their loyal customers. Twitter has a rating of 4.4 stars.
Features:-
- You can tweet, retweet, share, and like in this app.
- You can post visual content and use hashtags.
- You will get to know the world’s breaking news and trending topics.
- You can also use the story feature “Fleets”.
10. Tumblr
If you think apps like Instagram for adults are too pretentious and crowdy, then you should try them on Tumblr.
Though you won’t get the story and live features, you can customize your page and feed, unlike Instagram. You can use hashtags here, also. The app rating is 4.4 stars.
Features:-
- Tumblr is a canvas that can contain a photo, gif, audio, or video.
- You can customize your blog’s color, font, layouts
- You can connect with millions of people using hashtags.
- You will get a feeling of Spotify, and Instagram in it.
11. Yummi
Yummi may not be that popular, but it is simply an app like Instagram for food bloggers and persons who share an interest in food photography, explore & try different dishes.
A social media app that lets you discuss and share your favorite food with others. Yummi application of a person reflects his/her food habits and nutrition lifestyle. The rating of this app is 4.2 stars.
Features:-
- Backstage timestamp organizes your post into the right order.
- You can have complete control over post visibility.
- You can upload a single as well as multiple photos in a single post
- It allows a proper cuisine category for every post.
- You can find restaurants over it.
- You can search for friends distance-wise also.
- You can bookmark a post to your account.
- You can use geotagging and also find people through the location.
- You can view foodprints, record, and recall your food memories.
12. Tiktok
Tiktok is probably the most controversial app of 2021. The journey of Tiktok was like a product life cycle.
It started risen exponentially; daily users touched the 1 billion figure, brands started promoting in Tiktok, and then were banned from India, it’s the primary market.
This short video making the app undoubtedly broke the Internet. People shared Tiktok videos on Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. You can’t download the app if you are from India.
Features:-
- You can make short videos and share them on this platform which can be viewed and downloaded by anyone on the app.
- This a good opportunity to become a social media influencer and advertise.
13. Dribble
If you want to get inspired by people’s work and inspire others by your work, then Dribble is for you. This platform allows you to follow and explore the best designers worldwide.
Subscribers use their profiles as a portfolio. You can search for new ideas and designs from anyone. Its rating in the play store is 3.9 stars.
Features:-
- You can upload and browse your recent shots, photos, and videos.
- Liking features are similar to Instagram. You need to tap twice.
- You can open shots directly from Dribble links.
- It allows you to enable dark theme mode.
14. Unsplash
You may find this app with a new name, i.e., “Resplash.” If you browse through apps like Instagram for content ideas, quotes, and motivating images, you might like Unsplash.
Yes, we can say it works similarly to Pinterest. You can find a massive collection of images of high resolutions. A photo library that can help you in many ways, for professional as well as personal purposes. The app rating is 4.4 stars.
Features:-
- You can browse through over 1 million high-res photos.
- It enables you to change your wallpaper automatically.
- You can use the dark theme and download the raw photos as well.
15. Retrica
We rate Retrica very highly when it comes to apps like Instagram. If you are fond of photography, then Retrica is for you. Retrica is a social platform for sharing videos and photos. Here, in Retrica, gif is supported, unlike Instagram.
Retrica is a sea of filers, edits, collages, and probably everything a photo-lover needs. Retrica is something like Instagram, plus a lot of extra things. It helps you to express yourself in a creatively better way. The rating of this app is 4.4 stars.
Features:-
- Probably the best app to click a snap.
- It allows you an ocean of filters and frames
- It is easy, simple, and fascinating.
16. Cluster
Big tech giants like Facebook and Google have seen many instances of data theft. Online privacy seems to be a myth these days. Cluster’s discreet nature stands it out from other apps like Instagram.
You can share photos and videos with only friends and followers. Noone can stalk you and comment on your photo. People accolade this feature and start loving this slowly. The rating of this app is 4.5 stars.
Features:-
- This app gives you to private browse and sharing of your photos and videos with your followers only.
- You can create a space and add people who care about it.
- Similarly, you can join space and contribute.
17. Quora — Ask Questions, Get Answers
It is an app to share your thoughts in words—the most significant question-answer platform in the world.
But certain questions must require a photo. e.g., To answer a question like this “Can you share your body transformation(Before & After) picture? In that case, people upload their photos to motivate others.
Similarly, if I go to a B-school and need to see the infrastructure, I can ask a question requesting to share some photos of the campus, hostel, and other available facilities.
Brands also started promoting their products on this platform through advertisements and answering questions related to their niche. That’s how Quora works. The rating of this app is 3.9 stars.
Features:-
- You can question anything and give answers to the questions.
- It is a great platform to share your knowledge and experience with others and help them.
18. VSCO: Photo & Video Editor
VSCO’s standard is decent compared to Instagram. The platform believes in “Making things simple.” Its minimalistic UI, not clumsy and complicated editing tools, serves a purpose and gets the job done.
It is effortless to use. There are a plethora of edit options and filters that make your image look better. You can add the back over images to your camera roll and share them on other social media platforms.
The “tool kit” option in the app takes care of every close detail; that’s something unique. The rating of this application in the play store is 4.3 stars.
Features:-
- You can create and edit your photo and video. It has good features for editing.
- It also offers a premium membership.
📚FAQ
Is there any app similar to Instagram?
Two apps can be like Instagram – Twitter and Periscope. Similar features include live videos, updating feeds, posting photos, and using hashtags.
What is the app everyone uses on Instagram?
FaceApp is a famous one people use on Instagram. It determines how one looks may be at 50 and use hashtags like #FaceAppChallenge.
Is Instagram coming to an end?
No, Instagram is not going anywhere anytime soon. It has over one billion active daily users.
Why is VSCO better than Instagram?
VSCO is primarily used for editing and sharing photos. It makes it easier for users to edit pictures as they desire. The biggest difference between the two is that VSCO does not let users track user’s picture interactions.
What is the future of Instagram?
Instagram is a popular app, but the numbers are increasing daily at a massive range. As per the 2022 prediction, the monthly Instagram users will increase from 804,4 million to 877,5 million.
Conclusion
Yes, once upon a time, the world exists without Instagram. Instagram came to the market, raised people’s excitement, created hype, was acquired by tech-giant Facebook, and became stronger.
But nothing in this world is irreplaceable. However, nowadays, people prefer to use Instagram more often than Facebook.
Similarly, the case of the Chinese app “Tiktok”. This Bytedance unit short-video-making app gained considerable success between 2017 to 2022. The number of downloads hit more than 2 billion, including Android and iOS downloads.
People became social media influencers, and brands also started investing in this platform to advertise their products. Tiktok became so popular that some people started comparing it with the online video streaming platform Youtube.
Due to the India-China border class, the Indian Government banned Tiktok along with 58 other apps as a move to boycott Chinese products. That’s the thing. You never know what will happen.
You can get overnight success and your 5 years empire can be destroyed in a moment. So apps will come and go, but their impact will say everything.
There are cricket players whose careers have extended for over 20 years, but some can’t even survive 1 year in International cricket.
Who knows that Snapchat gained enormous popularity in the market where there were already big players like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. As soon as it fulfills its purpose, we can see many apps like Instagram shortly.
People will start imitating you if you are the market leader. And there is also a possibility that competitors will end up with a better model than you. Recently, we saw how Jio meet replicated video conferencing platform Zoom.
You can find n number of apps like Instagram, but the social media giant will be there. Moreover, it can be a game-changer with its Reels feature after the Tiktok ban.