Enter a Reel or post's numbers and get its engagement rate by followers and by reach, compared with the 2026 Instagram averages: 0.45 percent for Reels and 0.55 percent for carousels. Free, in your browser, no signup.
Instagram engagement rate is (likes + comments + shares + saves) divided by followers or by reach, times 100. The 2026 averages from Socialinsider are 0.45 percent for Reels and, from the same publisher's 35-million-post Instagram benchmark, 0.55 percent for carousels and 0.37 percent for single images. This free calculator gives both rates and a verdict against the Reels benchmark.
Instagram rates look low next to TikTok because the denominator behaves differently: Instagram distributes mostly to followers, so by-followers rates are the standard comparison there.
Reach, likes, comments, shares and saves are in the post's insights; followers are on your profile.
Use reach in the views field to get the by-reach rate.
Your rate is compared with the 0.45 percent 2026 Reels average.
Carousels engage, Reels reach. Fastlane generates both from your website URL and publishes them natively on a schedule.
Above the format average: 0.45 percent for Reels in 2026, 0.55 percent for carousels and 0.37 percent for single images per Socialinsider's benchmarks. Instagram's platform average fell 24 percent year on year to 0.45 percent by mid-2026, so a rate that was average a year ago is now above it. Smaller accounts usually run higher rates than large ones.
Both Buffer and Fanpage Karma find carousels ahead of Reels on Instagram engagement, while Reels earn about 2.25 times the reach of a single image. The practical split: carousels for engagement and saves, Reels for reach and new followers. Fastlane generates slideshows (published as carousels) and short video from the same website URL, so you can run both without producing both by hand.
Add likes, comments, shares and saves, divide by followers (or by reach), and multiply by 100.
Above 0.45 percent for Reels and 0.55 percent for carousels, the current Socialinsider benchmarks.
TikTok's average is 2.60 percent versus 0.45 percent on Reels, partly because TikTok audiences comment and share far more per video. Compare within a platform, not across.
Yes on Instagram, in both Buffer's and Fanpage Karma's studies. Reels get more reach.
Join 50,000+ founders and marketers publishing the same video to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Free to start.
