Instagram alternative 2026: 3 apps like Instagram with the same features

At a glance

Instagram remains popular for sharing photos and following friends, but Meta uses your activity to personalise ads, feeds and AI responses. Its recommendation algorithms shape what you see, while features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay have drawn scrutiny from the European Commission. 

If you want more privacy, fewer distractions and a simpler photo sharing experience, it may be time to explore alternatives. The good news? You do not have to give up sharing photos to move away from Meta.

We checked each of these Instagram alternatives against its core features and its App Store privacy label. Here’s what you’ll find:

• Which apps match Instagram’s features
• Which apps come close (and what’s missing)
• How to switch without losing your photos

Here’s how they compare.

What is the best Instagram alternative in 2026?

To make this list, an Instagram alternative app needed photos and video, stories, DMs, likes and comments, a way to discover people, and apps for both iPhone and Android.

Which apps like Instagram have the same features?

Pixelfed: the closest match to Instagram

If you want Instagram without ads or tracking, this is it.

Pixelfed has the things that made early Instagram fun: photo filters, 24-hour stories, DMs, albums and collections.

Your home feed is chronological, so you see posts in the order they were shared, not in the order an algorithm picks.

What makes it different is that no single company owns it. Pixelfed is open source and decentralised, and because it’s part of the fediverse, Mastodon users can follow you too.

Of all the apps similar to Instagram here, it’s the most established. It launched in 2018 and got official iOS and Android apps in January 2025.

Keep in mind: you pick a server when you sign up, and there’s no Reels-style video feed built in.

Pinksky: Instagram’s look, built on Bluesky

Pinksky is the most familiar interface if you’re already on Bluesky.

It copies Instagram’s layout closely: a photo and video feed, 24-hour stories, comments, DMs and a profile grid you can customize.

You sign in with your Bluesky account, so your followers come with you. Your Pinksky posts show up on Bluesky as well.

The latest version can also mix Mastodon posts into the same timeline.

Keep in mind: Pinksky’s App Store privacy label says identifiers, usage data and diagnostics may be used to track you across other companies’ apps and websites.

It’s also an independent project from a single developer, Ramon Souza, who described it as an experiment when it launched.

Monnett: the European option

Monnett is the pick if you want your social app built and run in Europe.

It’s a Luxembourg-based network that launched in early autumn 2025 and left beta in October 2026. By September 2026, it had passed 100,000 registered users.

You get photo and video posts, stories, and the option to discover people nearby or worldwide. Your home feed stays chronological.

As an alternative to Instagram for private chats, it stands out. Monnett says its DMs are end-to-end encrypted.

Keep in mind: the free plan shows ads, which Monnett calls privacy-friendly. It also limits you to one post a day and videos of up to 10 seconds.

Paid memberships remove the ads and raise those limits. The community is still small.

Which Instagram alternatives come close?

Two more apps are worth a look, but each has a catch.

Vero is ad-free, with a chronological feed, stories and chat. However, its App Store privacy label lists your contacts, contact info, purchases and financial info as data linked to you.

Flashes turns your Bluesky feed into a photo-first timeline, with filters, likes, comments and Bluesky DMs. It doesn’t list stories, and Android is still in alpha.

Glass and BeReal show up on a lot of lists too. One is a photographer community and the other a daily photo app for friends, so neither fully replaces Instagram.

Is there an Instagram alternative with Reels?

Not inside these apps, but Loops comes closest. It’s a free, open-source short-video app from Daniel Supernault, the developer behind Pixelfed.

Loops is ad-free and available on iOS and Android. Because it runs on the fediverse, your videos can reach people on Pixelfed and Mastodon.

If you only post the odd clip, Pixelfed and Pinksky both handle short videos in the regular feed.

How much of your data does Instagram collect compared to its alternatives?

Instagram links 14 of the 16 data categories on its App Store privacy label to your identity, while Pixelfed and Monnett say they collect nothing.

That count includes your health and fitness data and sensitive info, which Apple says covers things like ethnicity, religion and biometric data.

Here’s the full breakdown, category by category, so you can see exactly what each app ties to you:

Only Instagram and Pinksky say they use some of your data to track you across other companies’ apps and websites.

Keep in mind that developers fill in these labels themselves, and Apple doesn’t verify them.

How do you switch from Instagram without losing your photos?

Download your data first, then move at your own pace.

1. Export your Instagram data. Go to Settings, then Accounts Center > Your information and permissions > Download your information. Pick JSON if you plan to import into Pixelfed.
2. Choose your Instagram alternative. Use the table above to find the app that fits how you share.
3. Sign up with an email alias. A separate address keeps your new account apart from your main inbox and makes leaks easy to spot.
4. Bring your photos across. Some Pixelfed servers let you import your Instagram ZIP file under Settings > Import, but admins can switch this off. Posts without captions won’t import.
5. Tell your followers. Put your new profile link in your bio and share a final post, so fake accounts can’t pose as you. That’s a classic social engineering trick.
6. Deactivate, then delete. Deactivating first gives you time to check you’ve saved everything you need.

What should you check before you join an app like Instagram?

Features get you in the door, but the business model decides how your data is treated. Before you sign up, look at:

• How it makes money: subscriptions, donations or ads
• The feed: chronological or picked by an algorithm
• The privacy label: anything under “Data Used to Track You”
• Messaging: whether DMs are end-to-end encrypted
• Location: where your data is stored and whether GDPR applies

That messaging point matters more than it used to. Instagram dropped its opt-in encrypted chats on May 8, 2026, so no Instagram DM is end-to-end encrypted anymore.

Conclusion

Pixelfed, Pinksky and Monnett let you keep what you like about Instagram, minus most of the tracking. For most people, Pixelfed is the best Instagram alternative to start with.

Whichever of these social media apps like Instagram you choose, every account starts with an email address. Mailfence is the secure, private inbox that completes your switch:

• OpenPGP end-to-end encryption for your emails
• Email aliases for every app sign-up on paid plans
• No ads or tracking, with servers in Belgium under GDPR