Instagram engagement
rate calculator
Type a username and see the real engagement behind the follower count: the rate, the median post, video views and how often the account posts. 5 free checks a day, no account.
Check an influencer's engagement before you pay them
Follower counts are easy to inflate and hard to verify. Engagement is harder to fake: it shows how many of those followers still like and comment on what the account posts. This calculator pulls the account's last 12 posts and works out the engagement rate from the actual likes and comments on each one.
The formula is shown with the real numbers plugged in, not hidden behind a score. Engagement rate is (average likes + average comments) / followers x 100. Next to it you get the median post, so you can see whether one viral reel is carrying the average, plus average video views and posts per week to check the account is still active.
Posts with hidden like counts are flagged and left out of the averages, and the result says how many were excluded. Agencies reporting on client accounts can use the same numbers month to month by running the Instagram API on a schedule from their own code.
How to calculate Instagram engagement rate
- 1
Enter the account
Type an Instagram username like natgeo, with or without the @, or paste a profile link like instagram.com/natgeo.
- 2
Read the headline numbers
See followers, following, post count, verified and account type, then the engagement rate, average likes and comments, the median post, average video views and posts per week.
- 3
Check the posts behind the number
Every one of the last 12 posts is listed with its type, date, likes, comments, views and its own engagement rate, so you can spot one viral post carrying the average.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Instagram engagement rate calculated?+
Engagement rate = (average likes + average comments) / followers x 100, across the account's last 12 posts. Each post's own rate is (likes + comments) / followers. The calculator shows the formula with the real numbers plugged in, so you can check the math.
Why show the median as well as the average?+
One viral reel can lift the average far above what a typical post gets. The median is the middle post's engagement rate, so when the average is much higher than the median, most of the engagement comes from one or two posts.
What happens when an account hides its like counts?+
Posts with hidden like counts are marked as hidden in the table and left out of the average likes, average comments, median and engagement rate. The result says how many posts were left out, so a rate based on fewer posts is never passed off as the full sample.
Are pinned posts included?+
Pinned posts count toward the averages because they are part of the account's grid, and they are marked Pinned in the table. Posting frequency ignores them, because pinned posts sit at the top out of date order and would stretch the time window.
How is posting frequency worked out?+
It takes the non-pinned posts in the sample, measures the time from the oldest to the newest, and divides by the number of gaps between them. That gives the average time between posts and the number of posts per week.
What is a good Instagram engagement rate?+
It depends on follower count, niche and content format, and published averages change from year to year, so this tool does not grade the number. Compare an account with others of a similar size in the same niche, and compare its average with its median to see how consistent it is.
Can I use it to vet influencers before paying them?+
Yes. Brands and agencies use it to check that a creator's audience still engages: the engagement rate, how steady it is across posts, average reel views and whether the account still posts regularly. Run it on every handle on a shortlist through the API.
Does it work on private accounts?+
It shows the profile numbers for a private account, but its posts are not public, so there is no engagement rate to calculate.
Is it free?+
Yes. You get 5 free engagement checks a day with no account. Sign up for 50 free credits, no card required, to keep checking on your own credits.
Can I run this in my own code?+
Yes. POST /api/v1/instagram/profile with { "username": "natgeo" } returns follower_count, and POST /api/v1/instagram/user/posts with { "username": "natgeo", "count": 12 } returns the latest posts with like_count, comment_count, play_count and taken_at. Instagram calls bill what each request costs, typically 1 credit for the profile and 2 per page of posts; credits_used in every response is the exact charge.
Need a post's caption and hashtags instead? Try the Instagram caption extractor, or see everything the Instagram API returns.
Vet creators at scale with the Instagram API
This tool is two endpoints on the Scavio API. Pull profiles, posts, reels, comments and followers for any public account, and run them across a whole creator list from your own code or agents.