Why creators schedule Instagram posts with SendDM
✓Post while you sleep
Schedule Instagram posts for any time in your own timezone. SendDM publishes them for you — you don't have to be holding your phone.
✓Plan a month in an afternoon
Batch your content once, drop it on the calendar, and your feed runs itself for weeks.
✓Everything Instagram allows
Posts, reels, stories and carousels — all scheduled from the same calendar, all published automatically.
✓Turn posts into DMs
Attach a comment-to-DM automation to a scheduled post. It arms itself the moment the post publishes.
How to schedule an Instagram post
Scheduling an Instagram post in SendDM takes five steps and about a minute.
- 1
Connect your Instagram account
Link your Instagram Business or Creator account to SendDM. It's an official Meta connection, so your account stays safe.
- 2
Upload your photo or video
Drag media into your library — images up to 8 MB (JPG, PNG, WebP), video up to 300 MB (MP4 or MOV). Crop, trim and set your aspect ratio in the built-in editor.
- 3
Write your caption
Up to 2,200 characters with emoji. Pull from your saved captions, invite collaborators, and queue a first comment to post right after it goes live.
- 4
Pick a date and time
Drop the post onto the calendar at the slot you want. Times are always shown in your own timezone.
- 5
SendDM publishes it for you
At the scheduled minute your post goes live on Instagram automatically. No reminder notification, no manual step.
Instagram scheduling tools, all in one calendar
Visual content calendar
Week, month and list views. Drag and drop media straight onto a time slot, and add notes to any day to plan campaigns.
Media library
Drafts and a media tray with stars, labels, notes, filters and bulk actions — so nothing you shot gets lost.
Built-in editor
Crop images, trim and crop video, and snap to 1:1, 4:5 or 9:16 without ever leaving SendDM.
Reel covers
Scrub to the exact frame you want as your reel cover, or upload a custom cover of your own.
Caption toolkit
2,200-character captions with emoji, a saved-captions library, and a first comment queued to post automatically.
Live Instagram preview
See exactly how the post, reel or story will look in the feed before you schedule it.
True auto-publish
SendDM publishes through Meta's official API. It retries on failure, respects Instagram's limits, and never double-posts.
Schedule Instagram Reels
Queue reels with a custom cover, decide whether they also appear on your profile grid, and use trial reels to test content on non-followers before you commit. SendDM publishes the reel itself — you never get a "time to post" notification.
Schedule Instagram Stories
Stories publish automatically too. Schedule vertical photos or video (up to 100 MB per story) from the same calendar as your posts and reels, and keep your account active even on days you're offline.
A free Instagram scheduler to start with
You don't need a paid plan to schedule Instagram posts. Start free, and upgrade only when your calendar fills up.
Free
- ✓5 scheduled posts every month, free forever
- ✓Posts, reels, stories and carousels — published for you
- ✓Your posts go live even while you sleep
- ✓Drag & drop calendar — plan your week in minutes
- ✓Keep your photos, videos and captions saved in one place
- ✓See exactly how your post will look before it goes live
- ✓Turn comments on your post into automatic DMs
- ✓No credit card required
Paid plans
- ✓Unlimited scheduled posts — plan weeks ahead
- ✓Crop photos and trim videos without leaving SendDM
- ✓Upload bigger, longer videos for reels
- ✓Your first comment posts itself — perfect for hashtags
- ✓Pick the perfect reel cover, or test with trial reels
- ✓Keep a big library tidy with labels and notes
- ✓Run several comment-to-DM automations on one post
- ✓Everything in Free, without the limits
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you schedule Instagram posts?＋
Yes. Instagram supports scheduling through its official API, and SendDM uses it to publish posts, reels, stories and carousels for you at the time you choose. You don't need to be online when the post goes out.
How do you schedule Instagram posts?＋
Connect your Instagram Business or Creator account to SendDM, upload your photo or video, write the caption, pick a date and time on the calendar, and save. SendDM publishes it automatically at that exact minute.
Does SendDM auto-publish, or does it just remind me?＋
It genuinely auto-publishes. SendDM uses Meta's official Content Publishing API, so there's no notification you have to tap and no half-manual workaround. The post goes live on its own.
Can I schedule Instagram Reels?＋
Yes. Schedule reels with a custom cover — scrub to a frame or upload your own — choose whether the reel also shows on your profile grid, and use trial reels to test with non-followers first.
Can I schedule Instagram Stories?＋
Yes. Stories are scheduled from the same calendar as posts and reels, and they publish automatically. Story video can be up to 100 MB.
Can I schedule a carousel post?＋
Yes. Add two or more photos or videos, arrange the slides in the order you want, and schedule the carousel like any other post.
Is there a free Instagram scheduler?＋
Yes — SendDM's free plan includes 5 scheduled posts a month with no cost and no credit card. Paid plans remove the limit and unlock the built-in editor and first-comment scheduling.
What file types and sizes can I schedule?＋
Images up to 8 MB as JPG, PNG or WebP. Video up to 300 MB as MP4 or MOV for posts and reels, or up to 100 MB for stories.
What happens if a scheduled post fails?＋
SendDM retries automatically and stays inside Instagram's publishing quota — and it will never publish the same post twice. If a post can't go out, you see exactly why in your dashboard.
Can I attach a DM automation to a scheduled post?＋
Yes, and this is unique to SendDM. Set up a comment-to-DM automation on the post while you're scheduling it; it activates the instant the post publishes, so keyword comments get your DM from the very first minute.
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