Watchlists
Group the accounts you actively track into a watchlist that powers Competitors and shapes what Explore surfaces for you.
A watchlist is the set of Instagram accounts you have chosen to track for your active account. It is the data behind the Competitors page and the filter behind a lot of what Explore shows you.
Watchlists are intentionally a separate concept from the Competitors page UI. The page is the view; the watchlist is the underlying list you build over time.
Why watchlists exist
Tracking the right competitors is a deliberate exercise. A small, well-chosen watchlist gives you better trend reads than a long list of loosely related accounts. Watchlists let you:
- benchmark your performance against accounts you actually compete with
- get a focused read in Competitors without noise
- shape what Explore surfaces for your niche
- pull a curated competitive set into reports
Adding accounts to your watchlist
You can add accounts in two places:
- From the Competitors page, search for an account by handle and add it directly.
- From Explore, when you spot a standout account or post, add the account to your watchlist from the preview without leaving the page.
Watchlists live per active Instagram account. Switching accounts shows that account's watchlist, not the previous one's. This keeps competitive sets clean when you manage multiple brands.
Removing accounts
Open the account in Competitors and remove it. Removal does not delete the historical data the account contributed to past reports — it stops the account from being tracked going forward.
Refresh cadence
Tracked competitor data refreshes daily. New posts and updated metrics for the accounts on your watchlist appear in Competitors and Explore as part of the daily refresh cycle. You do not need to trigger a manual refresh.
Plan limits
The number of accounts you can keep on a watchlist depends on your plan. Solo, Creator, and Pro each allow a different watchlist size. For the current numbers, see pricing and plans. When you hit the limit, the add control switches to an upgrade prompt rather than silently failing.
A short workflow
- Open Explore and filter by your niche.
- Add three to five accounts that genuinely compete with you.
- Open Competitors to confirm they are tracked and to set the comparison baseline.
- Check back weekly — the daily refresh will keep the trend lines moving.