The Ick vs FollowSpy: Which Instagram Follow Tracker Is Better? (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026. Competitor facts are taken from FollowSpy's website.
FollowSpy and The Ick both let you see who a public Instagram account follows and who follows it, in chronological order, without logging into Instagram. Both state that they track unfollows, and both send notifications about new activity. The main differences are price structure, how many accounts you can watch, and whether an update cadence is published.
The Ick checks up to 5 profiles every hour and says so. It costs 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, with lower prices in many countries. FollowSpy, according to its plans page, sells a Starter plan for up to 2 accounts and a Premium plan for unlimited accounts, at 30.00 USD and 35.00 USD per week respectively, with 12.00 USD and 14.00 USD shown on the quarterly toggle and a countdown banner offering 30 percent off quarterly plans. It describes its data as real-time and instant but does not publish a check interval.
FollowSpy also bundles an anonymous story viewer, which The Ick does not offer. Below is a side-by-side using only what each company states, followed by a closer look at pricing, refunds and who each tool suits.
| Feature | The Ick | FollowSpy |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Web app at theick.io (works in Safari on iPhone, can be added to the home screen) and an Android app on Google Play. Not currently on the Apple App Store. | Web. The site says to open the tracker from any device, mobile or desktop; no iOS or Android app is mentioned. |
| Instagram login required | No. You only type a public Instagram username. | No. According to its FAQ, you just paste the username into the dashboard; no logins, no installs. |
| What it tracks | New follows and unfollows in both directions (who the profile started or stopped following, and who started or stopped following them), follower and following count changes, a history timeline, and a gender breakdown of recent follows. | Follows and followers in chronological order, unfollows (who unfollowed an account and when), an anonymous story viewer, watchlists for multiple accounts, and analytics (basic on Starter, advanced on Premium). Likes and comments are not stated. |
| Shows recency/order of follows | Yes. Most recent follows are shown sorted by recency. | Yes, in chronological order. |
| Update frequency | Every hour, for each tracked profile. | Described as real-time: it pulls the latest follow/follower data as soon as you enter a username, with real-time notifications on new activity. No check interval is published. |
| Profiles per plan | Up to 5 public profiles per subscription. | Starter: track up to 2 Instagram accounts. Premium: track unlimited Instagram accounts. |
| Private accounts | No. Public profiles only. | Not stated explicitly. The refund policy notes that expecting it to access private accounts is a misunderstanding that is not refundable. |
| Pricing (as published) | 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, lower prices in many countries. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. | Premium 35.00 USD per week, Starter 30.00 USD per week. On the quarterly toggle, 14.00 USD and 12.00 USD are shown with a 60 percent off label; quarterly totals are not published. A banner offers 30 percent off all quarterly plans with a countdown. |
| Free trial or preview | Yes. Type a username on theick.io and see a 5-step analysis preview before subscribing. | Not published. |
| Refund policy | Cancel anytime from Settings. Access continues until the end of the current billing period. | Refunds within 30 days of purchase only if the service failed to work as described after troubleshooting. No refund if you used the product successfully but did not find the data you hoped for; using the platform even once disqualifies. Subscriptions auto-renew and cancellation stops future charges only. |
| Ratings/reviews | Rated 4.6 on Google Play with over 192,000 ratings. | The site displays 4.95/5 from 25,597 verified reviews, 262,500+ active users and a claim of being the number one trending app on TikTok. These figures are self-reported on followspy.ai. |
How each one works
The Ick runs on a fixed schedule. You add a public username, the service snapshots the profile's public follower and following lists every hour, and it compares each snapshot with the last. Every difference becomes a timestamped event: a new follow, an unfollow, a new follower or a lost follower. The newest follows are listed first, a push notification goes out when a change is detected, and the history is kept for as long as you subscribe. You can track up to 5 profiles and see a gender breakdown of each one's recent follows.
FollowSpy, according to its website, pulls the latest Instagram follow and follower data in real time when you enter a username, shows follows and followers in chronological order, tells you who unfollowed an account and when it happened, and sends notifications whenever there is new activity on a tracked account. Premium adds watchlists to monitor multiple accounts at once. It also offers an anonymous story viewer on both plans. What its site does not say is how often a tracked account is re-checked between your visits.
Both only see public data. For the general limits of snapshot tracking, read how Instagram follow trackers work.
Pricing in detail
FollowSpy's plans page shows two tiers in USD. Premium is 35.00 per week and Starter is 30.00 per week. When you flip the toggle to quarterly, the page shows 14.00 for Premium and 12.00 for Starter with a 60 percent off label, alongside a banner saying all quarterly plans are 30 percent off with a countdown and a spots-left counter. The total charged per quarter is not stated in the content we could load, so check the checkout screen before paying. Starter covers up to 2 accounts; Premium covers unlimited accounts and adds advanced analytics and priority support.
Its refund policy allows refunds within 30 days of purchase only if the service failed to work as described after troubleshooting. There is no refund if you used the product successfully but did not find the data you hoped for, and using the platform even once to load data or view an account disqualifies a refund. Subscriptions auto-renew and cancelling stops future charges only.
The Ick's prices are on the pricing page: 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, with lower prices in many countries. At the published weekly rates The Ick is roughly a quarter of FollowSpy's price for up to 5 profiles. Over a year, The Ick's annual plan costs about the same as one week of FollowSpy Premium. You can cancel from Settings anytime and keep access until the end of the paid period.
Who each one is best for
FollowSpy is the better fit if you need to watch more than 5 accounts, want an anonymous story viewer in the same tool, and are comfortable with a weekly price of 30 to 35 USD or a quarterly commitment. Its Premium watchlists are aimed at people monitoring many accounts.
The Ick is the better fit if you want to follow a handful of specific people closely, know exactly how often they are checked, get a notification when something changes, and pay a published price with no countdown. It also has an Android app on Google Play, and the web app at theick.io works in Safari on iPhone and can be added to the home screen.
See the best Instagram follower tracker apps for the wider field, and FollowSpy alternatives if you want more options at a lower weekly price.
What FollowSpy does that The Ick does not, and the reverse
In FollowSpy's favour: unlimited accounts on Premium, an anonymous story viewer, watchlists, and analytics tiers. If you need story viewing or more than 5 accounts, The Ick will not replace it.
In The Ick's favour: a published hourly check interval, a much lower published price (8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US), a gender breakdown of recent follows, an Android app, a free 5-step preview before subscribing, simple cancellation with access until the end of the period, and a public rating of 4.6 from over 192,000 Google Play ratings rather than figures reported only on its own site. The Ick is not on the Apple App Store; the official app page lists where it is available.
Verdict
Feature for feature, FollowSpy and The Ick overlap heavily: follows and followers in order, unfollows, notifications, no Instagram login, public profiles only. FollowSpy adds a story viewer and unlimited accounts; The Ick adds a published hourly cadence, a gender breakdown and an Android app. The biggest gap is price: FollowSpy's published weekly plans are 30.00 to 35.00 USD, while The Ick is 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US. Unless you need story viewing or more than 5 profiles, The Ick does the same job for much less.
Run the free preview at theick.io on the profile you care about and decide from there.
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