# How we rate Instagram trackers

Canonical: https://instagram-follower-tracker.com/methodology/

Every tool on this site gets a score out of 5. The score is a weighted average of five criteria, and each review shows the sub-scores and the reason for each one, so you can disagree with a single number without throwing out the rest.

## Why account safety counts most

The biggest risk with an Instagram tracker isn’t a bad feature list. It’s handing an unknown app your Instagram login and then losing access to your account. Instagram watches for logins from servers it doesn’t recognise and for automated behaviour, and the most common complaint about login-based apps is logouts, verification loops and temporary locks. A tool that never asks for your password starts with an advantage that no feature can make up for.

## Where our facts come from

For each tool we read and record:

- its website, pricing page and FAQ
- its App Store and Google Play listings, including in-app purchase prices
- the App Store privacy labels and the Google Play data safety section
- its privacy policy and terms
- the most recent store reviews, usually 100 to 150 of them, sorted for recurring themes

We quote user complaints as user reports (“some reviewers say…”), because we can’t verify individual stories. Each review lists its sources and the date the facts were checked.

## Hands-on detection tests

We’re setting up test Instagram accounts that follow and unfollow other accounts at known times. That lets us measure what each tracker actually catches and how long it takes, instead of relying on what the tool says about itself. Results will be added to each review as they come in, with the test date.

## How often we re-check

Prices, ratings and features change often in this category, and tools disappear or get bought. We re-check every listing monthly and update the “facts checked” date only when we’ve actually checked. If a tool shuts down or changes hands, we say so in its review.

## What we don’t do

Tools can’t pay to be reviewed, to change a score or to move up the ranking. We don’t link to apps that claim to show who viewed your profile, because Instagram doesn’t share that data with anyone.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a score change?

Yes. When a tool changes its price, login method, features or privacy practices, or its store ratings move, we re-score it at the next monthly check and update the facts-checked date.

### Why do apps for your own account score lower on safety?

Because they need your Instagram login to work, and login-based apps are the ones users most often link to logouts and locked accounts. Tools that read public data only never touch your account.

### Do you test private accounts?

No tool can legitimately see a private account’s followers or follows without being approved as a follower. Any tool claiming otherwise gets flagged in its review.