I posted the same video on both platforms. Same thumbnail. Same caption. Same upload time.
TikTok: 3,000 views in four hours. Instagram: 14.
Four. Teen.
The discrepancy is so absurd it’s almost funny. Almost.
TikTok is a discovery engine. You have zero followers? Doesn’t matter. If the ‘For You’ page algorithm decides your content resonates with a test batch of 300 random users, it scales you up. It’s a meritocracy—or at least the closest thing to one we’ve seen on social media. Your follower count is nearly irrelevant to your reach.
Instagram is the opposite. It’s a walled club with a velvet rope. You need followers to get reach. You need reach to get followers. It’s a circular dependency that would make any software engineer cringe. Unless you’re already famous or you’re paying for promotion, the algorithm treats you like a ghost.
So why does anyone still use Instagram?
Community. That’s the honest answer. TikTok is great for discovery but terrible for depth. People don’t really ‘follow’ creators on TikTok the way they do on Instagram. TikTok users follow the algorithm. Instagram users follow people. There’s a difference in loyalty there that matters for long-term business.
The smart strategy in 2026: use TikTok for growth, Instagram for community. Create on TikTok where the algorithm will actually show your work to humans. Then funnel those people to Instagram where you can build a real relationship—and eventually sell them something.
One critical detail: remove the TikTok watermark before reposting to Instagram. Instagram’s algorithm actively suppresses content with a visible TikTok logo. It’s a petty, corporate turf war and your reach is the casualty. I use GetInSaver to grab the clean, watermark-free file before cross-posting.
Pick your poison. Grow on one, settle on the other. But don’t expect Instagram to hand you anything for free. Those days ended around 2019.