Lurk App Alternatives: 6 Instagram Follow Trackers Compared (2026)

Lurk is a recent follow tracker for Instagram that runs on iOS, Android and the web. According to its website, it scans tracked profiles once per hour, shows follows newest first, covers an unlimited number of public accounts, and bundles a free anonymous story viewer. If you are looking for Lurk app alternatives, the usual reasons are its unpublished regular price, its App Store rating, the fact that its homepage does not mention unfollow tracking, or simply wanting to compare before committing.

This guide compares six alternatives using only what each company states on its own site or app store listing. Where something is not published, the table says "Not published". Prices are as published on 2026-09-04. One rule holds for every tool here, Lurk included: none can track a private account or show anything Instagram hides.

What Lurk does

According to its website, Lurk is available on iOS (App Store), Android (Google Play) and the web at getlurk.app. You never enter your Instagram username or password, because it only monitors public profiles. Its FAQ says it scans tracked profiles once per hour, and its homepage also advertises Instant Alerts. Follows are shown sorted newest first. A subscription covers an unlimited number of public accounts. It includes an anonymous story viewer, described as free, and story notifications. Unfollows, likes and comments are not mentioned on the homepage; the App Store description says you can view history to track every change over time.

On price, the site says Lurk starts at 1 USD for the first week, then bills weekly or annually at prices shown at checkout; the regular weekly price is not published. The App Store listing shows Lurk Premium Weekly at 19.99 USD, Yearly at 119.99 USD and Lifetime at 249.99 USD. Web refunds can be requested within 14 days provided you have not made extensive use of the service, decided case by case. Ratings are 3.1 from 34 ratings on the App Store and 4.3 from 531 ratings on Google Play.

Why people look for an alternative

• The real price is not on the site. 1 USD for the first week is clear; what you pay afterwards is only discoverable at checkout, and the App Store figure is 19.99 USD per week.
• Unfollows are not mentioned. If you want to know who someone stopped following, the homepage does not say Lurk does that.
• App Store rating. 3.1 from 34 ratings is low for the category, though the Play rating is higher.
• You do not need unlimited profiles. Most people watch a handful of accounts.

The alternatives at a glance

1. The Ick

The Ick does the same core job as Lurk, hourly checks on public profiles with no Instagram login, and adds the pieces Lurk's homepage does not mention. It tracks follows and unfollows in both directions: who the profile started or stopped following, and who started or stopped following them. Each tracked profile is checked every hour, you get a push notification when something changes, recent follows are sorted by recency, and there is a history timeline and a gender breakdown of recent follows.

You can track up to 5 public profiles. The price is published on the pricing page: 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, lower in many countries, cancel any time. You type a username at theick.io, see a 5-step analysis preview, then subscribe. It runs as a web app and as an Android app on Google Play, rated 4.6 with over 192,000 ratings. It is not on the Apple App Store; iPhone users use the web app in Safari and can add it to the home screen.

What it does not do compared with Lurk: no unlimited profiles, no story viewer, no native iOS app. If you need any of those, Lurk keeps that advantage. Full side by side: The Ick vs Lurk.

2. Snoopreport

Snoopreport is a web-based tracker with an iOS app that has, according to its site, been trusted by 500,000+ users since 2017. It tracks likes on photos and reels, follows and unfollows, and activity timing and patterns, with an AI summary on its AI plans. No Instagram login is required and private accounts cannot be tracked.

The trade-off is cadence. It delivers weekly and monthly reports, arriving every Thursday following the week tracking begins, rather than hourly checks. Plans cover 2, 10 or 100 accounts by tier. The homepage advertises 0.99 a week, and App Store in-app purchases run from Personal at 4.99 per month to Professional + AI at 69.99 per month. No free trial or refund policy was published on the pages we could access. See The Ick vs Snoopreport.

3. DolphinRadar

DolphinRadar is browser-only and tracks six categories of public activity: new follows, unfollows, post likes, comments, story engagement and follower count changes, plus a Stories and Highlights downloader. It never asks for your credentials.

Its limits are the opposite of Lurk's. Each subscription covers one public account, and Activity Analytics reports refresh once per week, with the first report taking about a week. Published prices are 4.49 per month, 10.99 per quarter or 32.99 per year (currency code not stated). Reports are generally non-refundable once delivered, with narrow exceptions. Good if you want engagement data on one person; not a fit if you came to Lurk for speed or volume. See The Ick vs DolphinRadar.

4. Katch

Katch is a web tool (its comparison table lists PC, Phone and Tablet) that shows who an account has been following and who followed them lately in chronological order, with a full follow history timeline, story downloads and notifications when they follow someone new. No login is required.

Like Lurk, it does not publish its regular price; unlike Lurk, it publishes almost nothing else either. Prices (only a 50 percent off flash sale for the first search and a PRO tier are mentioned), profiles per plan, check interval, private account handling and refund policy are all unpublished. Its 4.7 rating from 12,881 reviews is self-reported. Read the checkout page before paying. Breakdown: The Ick vs Katch.

5. FollowSpy

FollowSpy most closely matches Lurk's feature set on the web. It shows follows and followers in chronological order, reports unfollows and when they happened, and includes an anonymous story viewer. No login is required, and it advertises real-time data rather than a fixed interval. Its plans page shows Starter (up to 2 accounts) at 12.00 USD per week and Premium (unlimited) at 14.00 USD per week, both labelled 60 percent off. Refunds are available within 30 days only if the service failed to work as described; a single use disqualifies.

6. RecentFollow

RecentFollow is a web dashboard showing who someone has been following and who recently followed them, with no login required. Its Expert plan covers unlimited accounts at 9.80 per week when billed quarterly; the weekly-billed price was not stated. Unfollows, likes and comments are not mentioned. Refunds are limited to 7 days, only if the product failed to work as described, and a single use disqualifies.

How to choose

1. Is the price published? The Ick, DolphinRadar, FollowSpy and RecentFollow publish headline prices. Lurk publishes its intro week and App Store prices. Katch publishes none.
2. Do you need unfollows? The Ick, Snoopreport, DolphinRadar and FollowSpy state they track unfollows. Lurk, Katch and RecentFollow do not say so on their homepages.
3. How many profiles? The Ick covers 5; FollowSpy Premium and RecentFollow Expert cover unlimited like Lurk; DolphinRadar covers 1.
4. Do you need stories? FollowSpy and Katch offer story features; The Ick does not.
5. Which device? The Ick has an Android app and runs in Safari on iPhone; Snoopreport has an iOS app; the rest are browser-only.

For the wider category, read the best Instagram follower tracker apps. How Instagram follow trackers work explains the snapshot method behind every tool here, and can you track a private Instagram account covers the limit none of them can get past.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Lurk app alternative?

For most people The Ick is the closest alternative: it also checks profiles hourly without an Instagram login, adds unfollow and follower-side tracking, and publishes its price up front. If you specifically want likes tracking, look at Snoopreport or DolphinRadar instead, keeping in mind both deliver weekly reports.

How much does Lurk cost after the first week?

Lurk's website says it starts at 1 USD for the first week and that prices vary by region and are shown at checkout, but it does not publish the regular weekly price. Its App Store listing shows Lurk Premium Weekly at 19.99 USD, Yearly at 119.99 USD and Lifetime at 249.99 USD.

Does Lurk track unfollows?

Lurk's homepage focuses on recent follows and an anonymous story viewer and does not mention unfollows, though its App Store description says it keeps a history of every change. The Ick and FollowSpy explicitly state that they track unfollows.

Which Lurk alternatives have an anonymous story viewer?

Among the tools in this guide, FollowSpy states it has an anonymous story viewer and Katch offers story downloads. DolphinRadar offers a Stories and Highlights downloader. The Ick does not offer story viewing.

Can any Lurk alternative track a private account?

No. Lurk and every alternative here work only with public profiles. A private account's following list is visible only to its approved followers, and no third-party tool can read it.