Best App to See Who Someone Follows on Instagram: 6 Tools Compared (2026)

The best app to see who someone follows on Instagram is one that shows a public profile's recent follows in order, checks the profile often enough to catch changes, works without your Instagram login, and tells you what it costs before you pay. Instagram itself does not do this: you can open a public profile's following list, but the order is not reliably chronological, and there is no history of who was added or removed. Tracker apps fill that gap by taking timestamped snapshots of the list and recording every change.

For most people, The Ick is the best fit. It shows the most recent follows of up to 5 public profiles sorted by recency, checks each one every hour, tracks unfollows and follower-side changes as well, sends push notifications and publishes its price. If you need unlimited accounts, Lurk is the main alternative. If you want a free tier or engagement data such as likes and comments, IGDetective is worth a look. FollowSpy, Katch and Radarrr also do the core job, with different trade-offs on price, platform and what they publish.

This guide compares all six using only what each product states on its own site or store listing. It also explains the limits that apply to every one of them: no app can see a private account, and no app can show a follow that was undone between two checks.

Why you need an app at all

Instagram removed the Following activity tab in 2019, and the following list you can open on a profile today is sorted by Instagram's own logic rather than by date. That is why the question of how to see who someone follows on Instagram in order does not have a native answer; the Instagram following list order explained article goes into the detail.

Tracker apps work around this by recording the public following and follower lists on a schedule and comparing each snapshot with the last. A name that appears is a new follow; a name that disappears is an unfollow. Because each check is timestamped, the app can show you follows in the order it detected them, which is the closest thing to chronological order available. The catch is that a follow undone between two checks is never seen, so the check interval matters. See how Instagram follow trackers work for the mechanics.

The six apps at a glance

1. The Ick

The Ick is built for exactly this question. You type a public Instagram username into the search box on theick.io or in the Android app, and it shows you the profile's most recent follows sorted by recency, together with a 5-step analysis you can see before subscribing. Once you track the profile, it is checked every hour. New follows and unfollows are recorded in both directions, so you see who the profile started or stopped following and who started or stopped following them, along with follower and following count changes. Every event is timestamped in a history timeline kept for the life of your subscription, a push notification is sent when something changes, and there is a gender breakdown of recent follows.

No Instagram login is required, the tracked person is never notified, and only public data is used. Private accounts cannot be tracked. The web app works in Safari on iPhone and can be added to the home screen; the Android app on Google Play is rated 4.6 with over 192,000 ratings. It is not currently on the Apple App Store.

Prices are on the pricing page: 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, lower in many countries, payable by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, cancel anytime with access until the end of the period. The instagram recent follow tracker page describes the feed in more depth.

Best for: seeing who a few specific people follow, in order, within the hour, at a known price.

2. Lurk

Lurk is available on iOS, Android and the web. According to its FAQ it scans tracked profiles once per hour and shows follows sorted newest first, and a subscription covers an unlimited number of public accounts. It also includes a free anonymous story viewer with story notifications. Its homepage does not mention unfollow tracking, though its App Store description refers to a history of every change. Private accounts cannot be scanned.

Its pricing page lists no numbers beyond 1 USD for the first week; regular prices vary by region and appear at checkout. Its App Store listing shows Lurk Premium Weekly at 19.99 USD, Yearly at 119.99 USD and Lifetime at 249.99 USD. Ratings: 3.1 from 34 on the App Store, 4.3 from 531 on Google Play.

Best for: unlimited accounts with an hourly cadence and a native iPhone app.

3. IGDetective

IGDetective is a web app that works from a public username with no login. Its methodology page describes timed snapshots compared over time, a chronological list of accounts they follow and who follows them, unfollow detection, a story archive, and likes and comments publicly attached to the profile's posts. Free users can track one profile with limited manual refreshes; Premium users get up to 5 profiles, one automatic refresh every 24 hours plus unlimited manual refreshes, and follow notifications, at 30 per month with a 7-day refund. It cannot access private accounts.

Best for: a free way to look at one profile, and engagement data on top of follows.

4. FollowSpy

FollowSpy is a web tool. Paste a username, no login, and it shows follows and followers in chronological order, tells you who unfollowed an account and when, sends notifications on new activity and includes an anonymous story viewer. It describes its data as real-time but publishes no check interval. Plans are Starter (up to 2 accounts) at 30.00 USD per week and Premium (unlimited) at 35.00 USD per week, with 12.00 and 14.00 USD on a quarterly toggle. Refunds only if the service failed to work as described; a single use disqualifies.

Best for: unlimited accounts and story viewing, if the weekly price is acceptable.

5. Katch

Katch is a web tool that promises recent follows in chronological order, who followed them lately, a full follow history timeline, story downloads and notifications when they follow someone new, all without a login. Its site does not publish prices, a profile limit, a check interval, private-account handling or refund terms; it shows a 50 percent off flash sale for your first search and self-reported figures of 4.7 from 12,881 reviews and 529,721+ accounts searched.

Best for: a quick one-off look with story downloads, if you are willing to learn the price at checkout.

6. Radarrr

Radarrr (Recent Follow Tracker: Radarrr, by Innovative Digital Technologies Limited) is a native app on the App Store and Google Play. Its listings say you can enter any public username and see their latest follows in chronological order, get a push notification the moment they follow someone new, and find unfollowers by comparing follower snapshots. A subscription unlocks unlimited accounts, real-time updates and notifications, ad removal and the full recent follower list. App Store in-app purchases are 9.99 and 4.99 USD per week and 49.99 USD per year; Google Play lists 4.99 to 49.99 USD per item. Ratings: 4.5 from 109 on the App Store, 4.5 from 236 on Google Play. Whether it needs an Instagram login is not clearly stated, and there is no web app. Its listing copy mentions The Ick, but it is a separate product.

Best for: an App Store icon with a free ad-supported tier.

How to pick the right one

1. Decide how fast you need to know. If you are watching for a new follow today, choose a tool with a published hourly interval: The Ick or Lurk. If tomorrow is fine, IGDetective's daily Premium refresh works. If you only want a one-off look, any of the six will show the current recent follows.
2. Count the profiles. One or a few: The Ick or IGDetective (5 each). Many: Lurk, FollowSpy Premium or Radarrr.
3. Check what is published. Only The Ick, IGDetective, FollowSpy and Radarrr publish a full price; Lurk publishes an intro price and Katch publishes none. Only The Ick and Lurk publish an hourly interval.
4. Decide whether you need unfollows too. The Ick, IGDetective, FollowSpy and Radarrr state unfollow detection; see the instagram unfollow tracker page for why that matters.
5. Decide on platform. Native iPhone app: Lurk or Radarrr. Android app: The Ick, Lurk or Radarrr. Web on any device: The Ick, Lurk, IGDetective, FollowSpy or Katch.

What no app can do

Be realistic about the limits before paying for anything. No app can show who a private account follows; that list is visible only to approved followers, and every tool here works with public profiles only. No app can show Instagram's true internal order of a following list; they show the order in which follows were detected. No app can show a follow that was made and undone between two checks, which is why an hourly interval catches more than a daily one. And no app can see anything Instagram hides, such as direct messages or close-friends stories.

If you want the wider category including report-style tools that track likes and comments, read the best Instagram follower tracker apps roundup, and for the manual method see how to see who someone recently followed on Instagram.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app to see who someone follows on Instagram?

For most people The Ick is the best fit: it shows a public profile's most recent follows sorted by recency, checks every hour, tracks unfollows and followers too, sends notifications and publishes its price. Lurk is the main alternative if you need unlimited accounts, and IGDetective if you want a free tier or likes and comments.

Can I see who someone follows on Instagram in order without an app?

Only partly. You can open a public profile's following list in Instagram, but Instagram does not show it in a reliable chronological order. Tracker apps solve this by taking timestamped snapshots of the list and recording when each new follow appears.

Do these apps need my Instagram password?

No. Every tool in this guide states that it works from a public username without your Instagram login, except Radarrr, whose listings do not make it clear. The tracked person is not notified by any of them.

Can any app show who a private account follows?

No. A private account's following list is visible only to its approved followers. Every tool here states or implies that it works with public profiles only, and no third-party tool can bypass that.

How quickly will I see a new follow?

It depends on the tool's check interval. The Ick and Lurk state hourly checks; IGDetective Premium refreshes every 24 hours automatically with unlimited manual refreshes; FollowSpy, Katch and Radarrr describe real-time or instant results without publishing an interval.