The Ick vs Katch: Which Recent Follow Tracker Is Better? (2026)
Updated September 4, 2026. Competitor facts are taken from Katch's website.
The Ick and Katch both promise the same headline: see who a public Instagram account recently followed, in order, without logging into Instagram or letting the person know. Katch's site describes instant results, a full follow history timeline, story downloads and notifications when they follow someone new. The Ick checks up to 5 profiles every hour, tracks follows and unfollows in both directions, and sends push notifications when something changes.
The main difference is how much each product tells you before you pay. The Ick publishes its prices (8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, lower in many countries), its profile limit (5), its check interval (hourly) and its platform list (web app at theick.io plus an Android app). Katch's website, at the time of writing, does not publish its prices, how many profiles a plan covers, how often it checks, whether it handles private accounts, or its refund terms. It shows a flash sale banner offering 50 percent off your first search and references a PRO tier.
That does not mean Katch is a bad product. It means you cannot compare it fully from its website alone, and you should check the checkout screen carefully before paying. Below is a side-by-side using only what each company states.
| Feature | The Ick | Katch |
|---|---|---|
| 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: its comparison table lists PC, Phone and Tablet. No first-party iOS or Android app is linked from the site. |
| Instagram login required | No. You only type a public Instagram username. | No. The site says no password needed, no Instagram signup required, and no login required. |
| 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. | Who they have been following and who followed them lately, a full follow history timeline, story downloads, and notifications when they follow someone new. Unfollows, likes and comments are not stated. |
| Shows recency/order of follows | Yes. Most recent follows are shown sorted by recency. | Yes. Recent follows are shown in chronological order. |
| Update frequency | Every hour, for each tracked profile. | The site advertises Instant Results and notifications the moment they follow someone new. No check interval is published. |
| Profiles per plan | Up to 5 public profiles per subscription. | Not published. |
| Private accounts | No. Public profiles only. | Not published. |
| 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. | Not published. The site shows a flash sale banner (50 percent off your first search) and references a PRO tier; the pricing URL returns the homepage. |
| 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. | Not published. |
| Ratings/reviews | Rated 4.6 on Google Play with over 192,000 ratings. | The site displays 4.7 Excellent from 12,881 reviews and 529,721+ accounts searched. These figures are self-reported on katch.io; no app store listing is linked. |
How each one works
The Ick is a scheduled tracker. You enter a public username, it records the profile's follower and following lists every hour, and it compares each snapshot with the last one. Anything that changed is logged as a timestamped event: a new follow, an unfollow, a new follower or a lost follower. The most recent follows are listed first, you get a push notification when a change is found, and the history stays available for the life of your subscription. You can track up to 5 profiles at once and see a gender breakdown of each one's recent follows.
Katch, according to its website, works from a username with no Instagram login and shows who the account has been following and who followed them lately, in chronological order, along with a full follow history timeline. It also offers story downloads and says it notifies you the moment they follow someone new. How often it checks a profile in the background is not stated, and unfollow tracking is not mentioned on the site.
Both approaches depend on Instagram's public data, so neither can see a private account's lists or anything Instagram hides. For background on the method, read how Instagram follow trackers work.
Pricing in detail
The Ick's pricing is on the pricing page: 8.99 USD per week or 34.99 USD per year in the US, with lower prices in many countries. You pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, cancel any time from Settings, and keep access until the end of the paid period. Before subscribing you can run a free 5-step analysis preview on any public username.
Katch does not publish prices on its website. Its pricing URL returns the same content as the homepage, the only price-related text is a flash sale banner offering 50 percent off your first search, and its reviews mention a PRO tier. There is no published statement on free trials, refunds or how many accounts a plan covers. If you decide to try Katch, note the full price, the renewal terms and the number of profiles included on the checkout page before you confirm, since none of that is available in advance.
Who each one is best for
The Ick suits anyone who wants to watch a few specific profiles over time, get notified within the hour when something changes, and know the price before starting. It also suits Android users, who get a native Google Play app, and iPhone users who are happy with a web app added to their home screen.
Katch may suit someone who wants a quick one-off look at a profile's recent follows from a desktop browser and is attracted by its story download feature. Its site is built around a single search rather than long-term monitoring, so if that is all you need it may be enough.
For the wider category, see the best Instagram follower tracker apps and the Katch alternatives roundup.
What Katch does that The Ick does not, and the reverse
In Katch's favour: story downloads, which The Ick does not offer, and a homepage that promises instant results for a single search.
In The Ick's favour: published pricing, a published profile limit, a published hourly check interval, explicit unfollow tracking alongside follows, follower-side changes as well as following-side, a gender breakdown of recent follows, a native Android app, a free preview before subscribing, and a large public rating on Google Play (4.6 from over 192,000 ratings) rather than figures reported only on its own site.
The Ick is not currently on the Apple App Store, and there are copycat listings that use similar names. The official app page explains exactly where The Ick is and is not available.
Verdict
On the features both companies state, The Ick and Katch do similar things: recent follows in order, no Instagram login, notifications on new follows. The Ick adds unfollow and follower-side tracking, a fixed hourly cadence, an Android app and, most importantly, a price you can see before you pay. Katch adds story downloads but leaves pricing, limits, refunds and private-account handling unpublished, so you take on more uncertainty at checkout.
If you want a straightforward comparison, run the free preview at theick.io on the profile you care about and compare it with whatever Katch shows you before you pay for either.
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