Buying followers? - 10 things to know about Instagram

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | Buying followers on Instagram? Yes, it's more common than you might think. We list 10 things that might be worth knowing about Instagram, everything from ugly methods to smart tricks. Of course, we'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts!

Buying followers - and other things to know about Instagram

When this article was originally written in 2019, I (Helena) had just taken over our Instagram account. @freedomtravel.se from Peter. He had gotten tired of the channel and I could partly understand why – amidst inspiration and beautiful photos, ugly practices and dishonesty also flourished.

I still liked Instagram and got involved in telling ”our story” while scrolling through everyone else’s. Here are 10 things I’ve learned over the years, from buying followers to the death of Instagram.

Instagram is for regular users

First of all, before we get into the 10 points, we want to emphasise that Instagram is primarily for regular users. The whole point of the app is to be able to share photos and films - and take part in other people's photos and films.

At the same time, Instagram has proved to be an excellent channel for influencers, and the following ten points are perhaps mainly about this type of user. But hopefully it is just as interesting for others - not least for companies that want to collaborate with influencers, of course!

READ MORE: Popular on Instagram - we checked the statistics

1. Some influencers buy followers on Instagram

After looking at the followers of different accounts, you can sometimes see patterns that raise suspicions of purchased followers. For example, it can be a case of many new followers in a short time, accounts with very little activity, or a follower base that does not seem to match the account's content and target audience at all. But of course, it is not possible to determine with certainty just by looking at individual profiles.

A sign that may raise suspicion is if a large number of similar accounts are added in a short time. The followers in the picture are examples of a Swedish influencer's followers, and come in a series of hundreds of similar ones. Real people that companies want to collaborate to reach? It's up to the companies to decide!

2. It's easy to buy followers (and likes) on Instagram

That buy followers for Instagram is both easy and cheap. All you have to do is google to find different players that offer the service. The purchased followers may consist of bots, inactive accounts or users who have no genuine interest in the content.

How much does it cost to buy followers today?

When this article was written, there were no open Swedish price statistics for purchased followers. There are today. Boost King's Price Index manually reading the prices at the checkout of 17 suppliers that sell to Swedish customers, for exactly the same package size. This is what it looked like on September 2, 2026:

Service	Median	Lowest-highest
1,000 Instagram followers	169 kr	105 – 1,200 SEK
1,000 Instagram likes	109 kr	45 – 249 SEK
1,000 TikTok followers	237 kr	128 – 349 SEK

What's interesting is not the median but the range: between the cheapest and most expensive provider, there's an eleven-fold difference for exactly the same number of followers. The difference is rarely in what you actually get – and the "from" price in a headline is almost never what's listed at checkout when the package size is selected.

Source: Boostkungen's price index, manual reading at 17 suppliers on September 2, 2026. Among the measured suppliers are: The Boost King, which at the time of measurement charged SEK 105 for 1,000 Instagram followers.

3. It can pay penalise buying followers on Instagram

In a way, we have to admit that buying followers on Instagram might be worthwhile in some cases, as some companies only want to work with influencers with a high number of followers (regardless of authenticity). On the other hand, there are major risks. Firstly, you can easily be exposed (and what does that say about credibility?). Secondly, engagement will be low (unless you also regularly buy likes and comments), which is not good for your account.

There is also another important aspect: Instagram wants interactions on the platform to be authentic and works against spam and artificial activity. Therefore, buying followers or engagement is not a particularly sustainable strategy for anyone looking to build a serious account.

4. Many companies are (still) only looking at the number of followers?

One of the reasons why some influencers buy followers is that many companies are blind to the number of followers. We've heard companies that have a policy of only working with influencers who have at least 8k or 20k followers.

Of course, this type of policy means that some influencers are tempted to buy a few extra hundred or thousand followers in order to be considered for collaborations. In fact, companies could look at so much more than the follower count (not least because it doesn't always reflect the truth), such as, for example:

• Target audience relevance (Are they real? What countries do they live in? What age?)
• Quality of content (photos and films)
• Reach and views
• Follower engagement (likes, saves, shares, clicks, and comments)

READ MORE: Instagram 2019 - reflections from a beginner

5. Some influencers engage in their ”Follow/Following ratio”

There used to be a lot of talk about the ”Follower/Following Ratio”, i.e. the ratio between how many followers an account has and how many accounts it itself follows. The metric still exists, but it really says very little about how good or valuable an account is. A much more interesting metric is how relevant and engaged the audience actually is.

6. The follow/unfollow technique still exists

A long-standing method of trying to grow on Instagram is the follow/unfollow technique. At best, it involves following others and hoping they follow back – and after a few days, unfollowing those who didn’t want to follow back.

In the worst case (which is unfortunately very common), it's about following others and hoping they follow back – and after a few days unfollowing everyone, including those who actually started following.

7. You can verify your account – for a fee

Have you noticed that some Instagram accounts have a blue check mark after their username? Previously, the blue check mark was primarily associated with public figures, businesses, and other well-known accounts that Instagram deemed authentic and particularly noteworthy.

Today, things are different. Through the Meta Verified service, individuals, creators, and businesses can pay a monthly fee to have their accounts verified, provided they meet Meta's requirements. Verification involves, among other things, checking the identity or business and giving the account a blue verification check. The subscription also includes other benefits, such as increased account protection and access to support.

There are still accounts that retain a verification check mark that they received under Instagram's previous system. Therefore, a blue check mark no longer automatically means that the account belongs to a famous person or brand.

8. You can plan your content in advance

9. Instagram is much more than pictures in the feed

Instagram started out as a photo-sharing app, but today the platform looks completely different. Stories are used for quick, personal updates that disappear after 24 hours, while Reels have become an important format for short videos and for reaching out to people who don't yet follow the account.

At the same time, the usual feed lives on, with both single photos, videos and carousels with multiple photos. What works best varies between different accounts and target groups. For us, Instagram is primarily about telling stories about our travels and connecting with our followers – regardless of the format we use.

10. Instagram will die

When this article was written in 2019, we concluded by stating that Instagram was going to die – at least if you were to believe Alexander Bard. Seven years later, we can say that Instagram is still alive. The platform has changed a lot over the years, and it will probably continue to do so.

We still focus primarily on our own site, but as long as Instagram is alive, we will of course be there too. Welcome to follow us on @freedomtravel.se!

Do you use Instagram? How do you think? Please tell us!