Help center
Manage your Instagram accounts with instalow
instalow brings all of your Instagram Professional accounts into one dashboard: schedule posts, reply to direct messages and comments, read your analytics, and work as a team. This guide walks you through everything, from connecting your first account to getting the most out of your plan.
Welcome
instalow is built for agencies, brands and creators who run more than one Instagram account and want a single, calm place to manage them. Everything you do stays inside Instagram's official rules, so your accounts stay safe.
- One dashboard for many accounts, grouped into workspaces.
- Plan ahead with a scheduling calendar for posts.
- Stay on top of conversations with a unified DM and comment inbox.
- See what works with per-account analytics.
Connect an Instagram account
Connecting is a quick, secure sign-in through Instagram. instalow never sees your password; Instagram asks you to approve access.
- Open Accounts in the sidebar and click Connect Instagram account.
- You are taken to Instagram's login screen. Sign in to the account you want to add.
- Review the permissions Instagram lists and tap Allow.
- You return to instalow and the account appears, ready to use.
Which permissions are requested, and why
| Permission | What it lets instalow do |
|---|---|
| Profile & media | Show your account and existing posts in the dashboard |
| Publish content | Post now or on a schedule for you |
| Manage messages | Show and reply to your DMs |
| Manage comments | Reply to, hide or delete comments |
| Insights | Read reach and engagement for your analytics |
You can disconnect an account at any time from Accounts. Disconnecting stops all access immediately and removes stored data for that account.
Workspaces & accounts
Workspaces keep your accounts organised. Think of a workspace as a folder: a brand, a client, a team, or a region. Each Instagram account lives in one workspace, and you can move an account between workspaces later.
- Workspace: a group of accounts with its own team members and roles.
- Account: a single connected Instagram Professional account.
A teammate can have different roles in different workspaces, so an agency can give a client access to only their own workspace. See Team & roles.
Publish & schedule
Create a post once, then publish it now or pick a time. Scheduled posts appear on your calendar and go out automatically.
- Click New post, choose the account, and add your media and caption.
- Choose Publish now or Schedule and pick a date and time.
- Track it under Calendar. Scheduled, published and failed posts are all visible there.
DM inbox
All of your direct messages, across every connected account, in one place. Reply, assign conversations to teammates, and keep context without switching apps.
The 24-hour reply window
This is an Instagram rule, not an instalow one, and it protects people from spam. Once someone messages your account, you can reply freely for 24 hours. Every new message they send resets the clock. After 24 hours of silence, the conversation locks until they write again.
- instalow shows a countdown on each conversation, so you know how long you have.
- When the window closes, the reply box is disabled to prevent a failed send.
- Human agent replies: a real teammate can extend the window to 7 days for genuine support replies. This is for people, not automated messages.
Analytics
See how each account and post is performing. Analytics come straight from Instagram's own metrics.
- Account overview: reach, engagement and follower trends over time.
- Post performance: compare posts to learn what your audience responds to.
- Filter by account or by workspace to see the big picture or a single brand.
Newer or smaller accounts show fewer metrics at first, because Instagram provides less data until an account builds up activity.
Instagram rules (why some limits exist)
The limits below are set by Instagram/Meta, not by instalow. They are not our arbitrary choices; instalow simply follows them to keep your accounts safe. In short:
| Rule | Why it exists | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 24-hour DM window | Protects people from unsolicited messages; a business may only reply to someone who wrote first | If a person is silent for 24 hours the conversation locks, and reopens when they message again |
| 7 days (human agent) | Extra time for genuine support replies, not for bots | A teammate can extend the window to 7 days |
| 100 posts / 24h | Prevents automated spam publishing | Extra posts are queued and sent as capacity frees up |
| Activity pacing (rate limit) | Blocks sudden, excessive automation; the allowance grows with an account's reach | New or small accounts have a low allowance, so instalow acts conservatively |
| 30 hashtags / 7 days | Limits abuse of the hashtag search API | 30 different hashtags a week; repeats do not count |
Official sources
Straight from Meta's own developer documentation:
- 24-hour window & human agent: Instagram Messaging API
- 100 posts / 24h: Content Publishing
- Activity pacing (rate limits): Graph API Rate Limiting
- 30 hashtags / 7 days: Hashtag Search
Team & roles
Invite teammates and give each person the right level of access, per workspace. A client can be limited to their own workspace while your agency team sees everything.
| Role | Can do |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including billing and deleting the workspace |
| Admin | Manage accounts, members and settings; publish and reply |
| Editor | Create and schedule posts, reply to DMs and comments |
| Viewer | See content and analytics, without making changes |
Invite people from Settings, Team. A person can hold different roles in different workspaces.
Plans & limits
Your plan sets how much you can do inside instalow, for example how many accounts you can connect, how many posts you can schedule per month, and how many teammates you can invite. These are separate from Instagram's own technical limits.
| Limit | Set by | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Connected accounts, seats, scheduled posts | Your instalow plan | Upgrade your plan to raise these |
| 100 posts / 24h per account | A hard platform limit; instalow queues the rest | |
| 24h reply window (7 days for a human agent) | Applies to DMs | |
| Activity pacing on new accounts | Smaller accounts get a lower allowance; instalow paces actions to stay safe |
Troubleshooting
My account will not connect
Make sure it is a Professional account (Business or Creator). Personal accounts cannot be connected. Switch the type in the Instagram app, then try again.
A scheduled post did not go out
Check the Calendar for a failed status. The most common causes are a disconnected account (reconnect it) or hitting the 100-posts-per-24-hours limit (it will send automatically once capacity frees up).
I cannot reply to a conversation
The 24-hour window has probably closed. You can reply again once the person sends a new message. For genuine support, a teammate can use a human agent reply within 7 days.
An account seems paused
Instagram may briefly limit very active or very new accounts. instalow pauses actions for that account and resumes automatically when Instagram lifts the limit. Nothing is lost; scheduled work simply waits.
FAQ
Is instalow safe for my account?
Yes. instalow uses only Instagram's official tools and stays within every rate limit and rule. There is no scraping, no fake engagement and no automation that Instagram forbids.
Do you store my password?
No. You sign in through Instagram, which grants access without sharing your password. You can revoke that access anytime, from instalow or from Instagram's settings.
Can I manage a personal account?
No. Instagram's tools only support Professional accounts. Switching to a Business or Creator account is free and takes a moment in the Instagram app.
Can I give a client limited access?
Yes. Put their accounts in a dedicated workspace and invite them with a role scoped to that workspace only.
Comments
Moderate comments on your posts without leaving instalow. Reply to build community, hide off-topic or abusive comments, or delete spam.