The Ick vs IGDetective: Which Instagram Activity Tracker Wins? (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026. Competitor facts are taken from IGDetective's website.
The Ick and IGDetective are closer than most pairs in this category. Both track public Instagram profiles without asking for your login, both cover up to 5 profiles on a paid plan, both show follows in chronological order, and both detect unfollows by comparing snapshots. The differences are in how often they check, what else they collect, and how they are priced.
The Ick checks each tracked profile every hour and sends a push notification when a follow, unfollow, new follower or lost follower is detected. IGDetective, according to its methodology page, gives Premium users one automatic refresh per tracked profile every 24 hours plus unlimited manual refreshes, and free users limited manual refreshes on one profile. In exchange it collects more: likes and comments publicly attached to posts on the tracked profile, a story archive, a DeepSearch between two users and a chat assistant.
On price, IGDetective's subscribe page shows 30 per month, described as 1 per day, billed monthly with a 7-day refund. The Ick is 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, with lower prices in many countries. Read on for the details.
| Feature | The Ick | IGDetective |
|---|---|---|
| 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 application at igdetective.com. No iOS or Android app is mentioned on the site. |
| Instagram login required | No. You only type a public Instagram username. | No. The site says no login, no password: type a public username and go. |
| 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. | A chronological list of accounts they follow and who follows them, unfollows (accounts present in a previous snapshot that have since disappeared), current stories plus an archive, likes and comments publicly attached to posts on the tracked profile, follower/following growth, DeepSearch between users and a chat assistant. |
| 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. | Free: manual refreshes on demand, subject to fair-use limits. Premium: one automatic refresh per tracked profile every 24 hours, plus unlimited on-demand manual refreshes. |
| Profiles per plan | Up to 5 public profiles per subscription. | Free: 1 profile. Premium: up to 5 profiles. |
| Private accounts | No. Public profiles only. | No. IGDetective states it only works on public Instagram profiles and cannot access private accounts. |
| 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. | 30 per month, described as 1 per day, billed monthly, cancel anytime. A weekly option is shown on the subscribe page but its price was not published in the content we could load. Shown with a dollar sign; the currency code is not stated. |
| Free trial or preview | Yes. Type a username on theick.io and see a 5-step analysis preview before subscribing. | A free tier: track 1 profile, recent followers and followings, anonymous story viewer, recent activity feed, limited chat messages and limited manual refreshes. |
| Refund policy | Cancel anytime from Settings. Access continues until the end of the current billing period. | A 7-day refund is stated on the subscribe page. The FAQ says you can cancel anytime from your dashboard in a few seconds. |
| Ratings/reviews | Rated 4.6 on Google Play with over 192,000 ratings. | The homepage shows 4.6/5.0 and trusted by 19,000+ users worldwide, without naming a source. Trustpilot shows a TrustScore of 3.5 from 12 reviews. |
How each one works
Both tools use the same underlying idea, which IGDetective describes plainly on its methodology page: timed snapshots of a public profile, compared over time. Anything that appears between two snapshots is a new follow or follower; anything that disappears is an unfollow or a lost follower. IGDetective also notes the limit of this method honestly: if a profile follows and unfollows the same account between two refreshes, that round-trip will not appear. The same limit applies to every snapshot-based tracker, including The Ick.
The difference is the interval. The Ick takes a snapshot of every tracked profile every hour and pushes a notification when a change is found, so a follow that happens at lunch usually shows up before dinner. IGDetective Premium takes one automatic snapshot per profile every 24 hours, and lets you trigger manual refreshes whenever you like. If you are actively watching, you can refresh IGDetective often; if you are not, its automatic cadence is daily rather than hourly.
IGDetective also collects things The Ick does not: likes and comments publicly attached to posts on the tracked profile, a story archive that keeps stories after they expire, a DeepSearch that looks at the history between two specific users, and a chat assistant. For the general background on snapshot tracking, see how Instagram follow trackers work.
Pricing in detail
IGDetective's subscribe page frames its Premium plan as 1 per day, billed monthly at 30 per month, cancel anytime, with a 7-day refund. There is a weekly toggle, but the weekly price was not rendered in the page content we could load, so check it on the site. Prices are shown with a dollar sign and no currency code. Premium includes up to 5 tracked profiles, unlimited refreshes, the story archive, DeepSearch, growth tracking, follow notifications and unlimited chat. The free tier covers one profile with limited manual refreshes and limited chat.
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, payable by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Over a year, The Ick's annual plan (34.99 USD) costs a little more than one month of IGDetective Premium (30). Over a month, IGDetective's 30 is cheaper than four weeks of The Ick's weekly plan (about 35.96 USD). Both let you cancel at any time and both keep access until the end of the paid period; IGDetective additionally publishes a 7-day refund window.
Who each one is best for
Choose The Ick if the point is to find out quickly. Hourly checks and push notifications mean you learn about a new follow or unfollow the same day without opening anything, and the annual plan makes long-term tracking of up to 5 people inexpensive. It also has an Android app, and the web app works in Safari on iPhone.
Choose IGDetective if you want breadth over speed: likes and comments on the tracked profile's posts, a story archive, a DeepSearch between two people, and a free tier to try one profile before paying. A daily automatic refresh with unlimited manual refreshes is fine if you are willing to open the dashboard yourself when you want the latest data.
For other options, see the best Instagram follower tracker apps and IGDetective alternatives.
What IGDetective does that The Ick does not, and the reverse
In IGDetective's favour: likes and comments tracking, a story viewer and story archive, DeepSearch between two users, a chat assistant, a free tier for one profile, and a published 7-day refund window.
In The Ick's favour: hourly automatic checks instead of daily, push notifications on every change, follower-side tracking presented alongside following-side changes, a gender breakdown of recent follows, an Android app on Google Play, a free 5-step preview before subscribing, and a public rating of 4.6 from over 192,000 Google Play ratings. Tracking history is kept for the life of your subscription. The Ick is not on the Apple App Store; see the official app page for where it is available.
Verdict
IGDetective and The Ick agree on the fundamentals: public profiles only, no login, snapshots compared over time, up to 5 profiles, follows in order, unfollows detected. The Ick checks 24 times a day and notifies you; IGDetective checks once a day automatically, lets you refresh by hand as often as you like, and adds likes, comments and a story archive. If timing matters most, The Ick is the better tool. If you want the extra categories and are happy to refresh yourself, IGDetective covers more ground.
Run the free preview at theick.io on the profile you care about, then compare it with IGDetective's free tier before paying for either.
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