Reels vs Carousels vs Photos: Instagram Engagement by Format in 2026 (118,404 Posts)

In short: on Instagram in 2026, carousels get the most likes and comments per follower, and single photos the fewest. Across 118,404 posts from 3,162 creators, the median carousel reached 0.84% engagement, against 0.59% for Reels and 0.36% for single images. Comparing each creator only with themselves, carousels beat the same creator's Reels for 65% of creators, by about 25% on average. Yet Reels keep taking over feeds: they were 64% of posts in January and 74% in October.

"Post more Reels" has been the standard Instagram advice for years. Reels do reach people who don't follow you, but if you want the followers you already have to react, the 2026 data points somewhere else. This report compares the three feed formats (Reels, carousels and single images) across creators of every size, and within each creator's own posts, so audience size and niche don't skew the comparison.

How we measured it

We looked at Instagram posts published between January and October 2026 by creators with at least 1,000 followers that SocialHipper tracks. For each post, engagement is likes plus comments divided by the creator's followers. We left out 22,276 posts whose like counts were hidden, which leaves 118,404 posts from 3,162 creators. We report medians, so a few viral posts don't distort the picture.

One limit matters: Instagram's API doesn't give us Reel views, so this measures how much a post's audience reacts relative to followers, not how many new people it reaches.

Engagement by format and account size

Median engagement per post (likes plus comments ÷ followers). The pattern holds at every size: carousels first, Reels second, single images a distant third. Single images fall away fastest as accounts grow; above 100,000 followers a typical photo gets a quarter or less of the engagement of a typical carousel.

Comparing each creator with themselves

Bigger and smaller creators post different mixes of formats, so we also compared each creator's own formats, using creators with at least three posts of both formats in the pair:

The carousel advantage is biggest for larger accounts: above 10,000 followers, a creator's carousels beat their own Reels by about 32%; below 10,000 the gap is about 15%. Reels and carousels also start more conversations than photos: a median of about 3.2 comments per 100 likes on Reels and 3.1 on carousels, against 2.1 on single images.

Reels keep growing anyway

Share of posts by format. The bigger the account, the more Reels-heavy its feed: the typical mid-tier creator (100,000 to 500,000 followers) posts 87% Reels, while the typical nano creator posts about half Reels and half carousels and photos.

What this means

• Creators: don't drop carousels. Reels are still the format most likely to reach people who don't follow you yet, but carousels get more reaction from the audience you have. A mix of Reels for reach and carousels for engagement suits most accounts better than Reels alone.
• Single photos: keep them for moments that really are one picture. As a default format they underperform at every account size.
• Brands: if a campaign is about engagement or saves (tutorials, product details, before-and-after), ask for a carousel deliverable, not only a Reel. Compare a creator's engagement against creators of the same size with our Instagram engagement benchmarks, and check posting times in our best time to post analysis.

Frequently asked questions

Do carousels get more engagement than Reels on Instagram?

Yes, measured as likes plus comments per follower. In SocialHipper's analysis of 118,404 Instagram posts from 2026, the median carousel reached 0.84% engagement against 0.59% for Reels, and carousels beat the same creator's own Reels for 65% of creators. Reels may still reach more people who don't follow the account.

Are Instagram Reels still worth posting in 2026?

Yes, for reach. Reels are the format most likely to be shown to non-followers, and they get more engagement than single photos for two-thirds of creators. But they get less engagement per follower than carousels, so a mix of Reels and carousels works better than Reels alone.

What is the best post format on Instagram for engagement?

Carousels. They had the highest median engagement at every account size in 2026, from 1.47% for accounts under 10,000 followers to about 0.7% for accounts above 100,000.

Do single photo posts still work on Instagram?

Less and less. Single images had the lowest engagement at every account size, and they fell from 10% of posts in January 2026 to 6% in October. Above 100,000 followers a typical photo gets a quarter or less of the engagement of a typical carousel.

Data: 118,404 Instagram posts published January to October 2026 by 3,162 creators with 1,000+ followers, tracked by SocialHipper. Posts with hidden like counts excluded. Engagement = (likes + comments) ÷ followers; medians reported. Updated October 2026.