Instagram limits: captions, hashtags, carousels and video
A caption holds 2,200 characters and, since December 2025, five hashtags. Here is every Instagram limit that decides whether a post goes out, with the page each number comes from, including two places where Meta's own documents disagree.
Every number checked against its source on Sep 27, 2026.
Instagram limits at a glance
| Limit | Instagram allows | In PostDaily | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caption | 2,200 characters | 2,200 characters | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Hashtags | 5 per post or Reel caption (Instagram, 18 December 2025); Meta's API reference still says 30 | Not counted; Instagram enforces its own cap | Social Media Today: Instagram implements new limits on hashtag use |
| @ mentions in a caption | 20 | — | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Carousel | Up to 10 images, videos or a mix | Up to 10 photos (adding a video makes it a Reel), within your plan's media per post: 4 on Free, 6 on Starter, 8 on Pro and 12 on Agency | Meta for Developers: Instagram content publishing |
| Feed image | JPEG only, up to 8 MB, 4:5 to 1.91:1, 320 to 1,440 pixels wide | Converts PNG and WebP to JPEG and resizes large images automatically | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Reel | 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB, H.264 or HEVC | Checks the length and warns over 300 MB; your plan caps each file at 25 MB on Free, 50 MB on Starter, 100 MB on Pro and 250 MB on Agency | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Story video | 3 to 60 seconds, up to 100 MB | Checks the length and warns over 100 MB | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Collaborators | Up to 3, on feed images, Reels and carousels | Up to 3, on an account connected through a Facebook Page | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| People tags | Tagged by username, on images and videos | Up to 20 per post | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Alt text | On feed and carousel images | 1,000 characters | Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference |
| Posts published by apps per day | 100 in a rolling 24 hours per the Rate Limit section; the same page says 50 under carousels. A carousel counts as one | Reads your account's live cap from Instagram and shows it in the composer | Meta for Developers: Instagram content publishing |
| Product and location tags | Shopping tags aren't supported for API publishing; location tags are | Neither is available yet | PostDaily Instagram scheduler |
Five hashtags, and a document that hasn't caught up
On 18 December 2025 Instagram's @creators account said it would gradually limit the hashtags in a post or Reel caption to five, down from 30, arguing that a few targeted hashtags beat many generic ones. Meta's developer reference for publishing still lists 30. Write to five: it is what the app now allows, and an API that later catches up will reject the rest.
Whether hashtags in a comment, including a scheduled first comment, count toward the five is not something Instagram has said. We are testing it on our own account and will publish the result here rather than guess.
How many posts an app can publish in a day
Meta's content publishing guide contradicts itself. Its Rate Limit section says an account can publish 100 posts through the API in a rolling 24 hours; the carousel section of the same page says 50. Both agree a carousel counts as one post. A multi-image Story is different: it is published frame by frame, so each frame is a post of its own.
Because the documents disagree, PostDaily doesn't assume a number. It asks Instagram for the account's current limit and usage, shows it in the composer, and when a post hits the cap it waits and retries once the 24-hour window moves on rather than failing it.
What PostDaily checks before a post is scheduled
The caption length, the carousel size against your plan, the Reel and Story video length, and the image format, which it converts to JPEG for you. It warns when a video is over Meta's documented size for its format. It doesn't count hashtags, and it can't add product or location tags yet. Everything PostDaily can post to Instagram.
Common questions
- How long can an Instagram caption be?
- 2,200 characters, on posts, carousels and Reels. Stories take no caption.
- How many hashtags can you use on Instagram?
- Five per post or Reel caption, since Instagram's change announced on 18 December 2025. It was 30 before that, and Meta's developer reference still says 30.
- How many photos can an Instagram carousel have?
- Ten images, videos or a mix, through Instagram's publishing API.
- How long can a Reel be when it's scheduled?
- From 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB, for Reels published through Instagram's API. A Story video runs 3 to 60 seconds.
- How many posts can a scheduler publish to Instagram a day?
- Meta's guide says 100 in a rolling 24 hours in one place and 50 in another. A carousel counts as one post; each Story frame counts on its own.