5 Apps To Edit Photos For Instagram

***Updated 09/12/2019***

What apps to edit photos for Instagram do YOU use?

According to the latest data, there are over ONE BILLION daily active users on Instagram.  And while Engagement is King, outstanding visual content remains QUEEN.   

I’ve talked about what you can do to increase your engagement on Instagram here  and how to use hashtags to increase the number of people who see your posts here.  But even if you catch someone’s eye with great use of hashtags or you have increased your engagement on your photos, you still want to catch those new people who are scrolling the explore page or looking through hashtags for new accounts.

You want to stand out!

There are a ton of apps to edit photos for Instagram, some are more complicated than others. But guys, it does not have to be hard! There are so many free and easy to use apps out there to help you and to make it easy to have gorgeous, likable photos on Instagram.

So today, I’m going to share my favorite apps to edit photos for Instagram.

Top 5 Apps to Edit Photos for Instagram

Apps to edit photos for instagram

VSCO 

VSCO app to edit instagram photos

The OG of apps to edit photos for Instagram, VSCO’s one-click filters make it easy to get that popular film look and to customize the filters to make them your own.

There are in-app purchases involved, but they are worth it if you like photos a little moody or are looking for that look you see some of the most popular Instagram accounts using.

Lightroom for Mobile

use lightroom for mobile to edit your photos

If you want your photos from your blog and your Instagram to look the same with minimal effort, download this app.  Adobe Creative Cloud is worth every single penny for this feature alone.

I love that I can edit photos from my camera right on my phone on the fly instead of having to wait until I get back to my laptop to do work!

A Color Story

a color story app is one of my favorite apps to edit instagram stories with

The  A Color Story app is what happened with VSCO and Photoshop had a baby.  The filters are fun, clean, modern and it has CURVES! For those of you familiar with Photoshop, it gives you the ultimate control over editing your photo in the palm of your hand.  

Besides the curve tool, my favorite filters here are the Pop filter for everyday photos and the Snow Cone Filter in the Airy set for when I want my whites white. Now while this app is free, there is an additional fee for adding most of the filters.

Touch Retouch

use touch retouch app to get rid of things in photos

I’ve talked about the Touch Retouch app previously here. It is a gem I discovered a while ago that I love to use when there is that one pesky distracting element in my photo that I missed when I took the photo.

I’ve used it for everything from removing stray leaves on the ground to removing whole people from the photo.  It’s so worth it.

Foodie

if you are a foodie, use the foodie app to edit instagram photos

If you love are a food or lifestyle Instagrammer, this app is just for you! Foodie is a FREE app that helps you shoot and edit the perfect food app.  The app is designed to know exactly where it is positioned over your dish.

When you are directly over your dish it lets you know! There are 24 filters to help you match your food with the colors of the types of food you are eating.  ( available on Apple and Android)

 BONUS APP!

Adobe Spark Post

Perfect for those Instagram Quotes AND the app is perfect to create great( IOS only for now). It is a free online social media graphic design software that lets you add text, apply filters, resize, crop, and rotate photos.

My FAVORITE for graphics for Instagram stories because there is a template for it!

What apps to edit photos for Instagram do you use?

***************************************

22 Comments

  1. The photos I post on Instagram are usually taken with my DSLR. Of course, when I’m out and about and want to take a quick pic of something, these apps will really come in handy. I need all the help I can get.

  2. I don’t use Instagram too much, but I have a friend that is a constantly and is been looking for a good editing site that will help with her Instagram and stuff.

  3. I must admit, my instagram photos are rather ‘instant’ and not edited much. It really looks like it, too! I could use an easy way to add some pizazz to them!

  4. I am just getting started on Instagram. I definitely will be downloading these apps. My girls say I live in the stone age. I never edit any of my Instagram pics. I will be moving into the 21st century, thanks.

  5. I run two Instagram accounts – a personal and one for my photography business.
    The images on my personal one probably look like crap. lol
    Thanks for the review on these apps! I’ll be looking in to them!

  6. I have plenty of friends who would love to know which are the best apps for editing photos. They are always posting on Instagram. Can’t wait to share this with them.

  7. Thanks for this list of apps to preview. I have not used these. I tend to edit all my images using PS on my laptop and them email them to myself to upload to instagram. Guess I’m giving myself too much work!

  8. What a great list of editing apps! Me go to’s for instagram are VSCO and Afterlight (but mainly Afterlight!). I’ll have to check the other apps you listed out.

  9. I’m going to have to look into these with my daughter. We share an Instagram account and it would be nice to have better looking photos.

  10. Such a great list! A Color Story has been amazing for me also – I use Photoshop a lot, and I have the Express version on my iPad, but not my phone! I need to try it out!

  11. Pingback: 5 steps to the best Instagram feed - COOL GIRLS
  12. Hi LaShawn,
    Editing Instagram photos have been very exciting at first. I find it time-consuming though. I have found out that the secret to a great photo is a good lighting. 😉 No filter needed, as they say. I will give these apps a try though and find what would work for me.
    Thank you so much for sharing.
    Cheers,
    Jessica

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *