- Plan any feed layout
- See your feed before it is live
- 100% free, no account
- Your photos stay on your device
Step 1: Choose your photos and videos
or drag them here. Nothing is uploaded: your photos stay on your device.
Step 2: Drag them into order
Top left is your newest post. Drag a post to move it, or tap one post and then another to swap them. Your grid is kept in this browser, so it is still here when you come back.
Step 3: Download your grid
Saves the whole grid as one picture, ready to send to a client or a teammate.
Happy with your grid? Let Ninecast post it for you.
Add each post with its caption and the date it should go out, and Ninecast publishes it on time to every platform you connect, while you watch the same grid fill up. No Notion or Airtable needed.
Start your free 14-day trial →No card needed.
Instagram grid layout ideas to try in the planner
Most good-looking feeds follow a simple pattern, and once you know the pattern it is much easier to keep going. Pick one of these, then add your next nine posts above and arrange them until the grid matches.
Checkerboard
Alternate two kinds of post, such as a photo and a quote graphic, so every row has the same rhythm. It is the easiest pattern to keep going.
Colour flow
Let the colour shift slowly from one post to the next, warm into cool or light into dark, so the feed reads like one picture changing.
Row by row
Give each row of three its own theme or colour. It works well for weekly series, because each week becomes one row.
Puzzle
Split one large image across several tiles so the profile shows it whole. Striking, but plan it carefully: every new post shifts it along.
Centre column
Keep the middle column for one kind of post, such as your face or your product, with everything else either side. It reads as a spine down the profile.
Diagonal
Repeat a colour or post type on a diagonal, which keeps a pattern going as new posts push the old ones along.
Want one big picture across your grid instead? The free grid splitter cuts a single image into 3, 6, 9 or 12 posts that line up, numbered in the order to post them.
A free Instagram grid planner and feed preview, online
You do not need to download an app, give anyone your Instagram password, or sign up for anything to plan your feed. Open this page on your laptop or your phone, choose the pictures you are thinking of posting, and you can see straight away how they will look side by side on your profile. Move them around until it feels right, then save the grid as a picture to keep or to share.
Your photos never leave your device. Nothing is uploaded to us or anyone else, and the grid is kept in your own browser, so it is still there when you come back tomorrow.
Why it is worth planning your grid
See problems before your followers do
Two dark photos side by side, three quote graphics in a row, or a face cut in half by the grid’s crop are easy to miss one post at a time and obvious all together.
Give your account a look people recognise
A grid that keeps to a few colours and a steady rhythm looks deliberate, and people who land on your profile are far more likely to follow an account that looks planned.
Plan launches as a set
A launch or a campaign is several posts, not one. Lay them out together so the story reads in order and the main post lands top left on the day it matters.
Plan your Instagram grid in three steps
1. Add your photos
Choose the photos and videos you want to post, or drop them on the box. Add a few recent posts too if you want to see how the new ones sit beside them.
2. Arrange the layout
Drag posts until the grid looks right, or tap two to swap them on a phone. Switch to the old square grid to compare.
3. Preview, then let it post
Download the grid to keep or share. When you would rather not post each one by hand, start a free trial and Ninecast posts them on their dates.
Instagram grid size in 2026: 3:4 tiles, and what that means for your posts
Instagram’s profile grid now shows tall 3:4 tiles rather than squares. Whatever shape you post, the grid crops it from the centre to fit that tile, so some shapes lose more than others.
3:4 · 1080 × 1440 px
Fills the tile exactly. Nothing is cut off on your grid, which makes it the safest shape for anything you want seen whole.
4:5 · 1080 × 1350 px
The classic tall post. It takes the most room in the feed, and on your grid only a thin strip, about 3%, comes off each side.
1:1 · 1080 × 1080 px
Squares get cropped. The grid cuts a quarter of the width, an eighth off each side, so keep text and faces away from the edges.
Not sure what a picture will lose? The crop checker shows the feed, grid and Reels crops for any image.
One tool, three planning jobs
A layout planner
Try a checkerboard, a colour flow or a puzzle before committing to it in public.
A last look before you post
Check that the next post sits well beside the last few, so nothing clashes on your profile.
A quick yes from a client
Download the grid and send one picture, instead of nine separate images and a long message.
14-day free trial
Planned your grid? Let Ninecast post it for you.
- Add each post with its caption and the date it should go out, right inside Ninecast. No Notion or Airtable needed.
- Already plan in Notion or Airtable? Ninecast reads your calendar from there instead.
- See the same grid update as you plan, then every post goes out on time to every platform you connect.
- Each post’s link, and for Instagram its likes, comments, saves and reach, come back to you afterwards.
No card needed.
More free tools
Comparing grid planners? See Instagram grid preview tools compared, or the free grid preview for Notion and Airtable.
Questions that follow
Is there a free Instagram grid planner?
Yes, this one. Add the photos and videos you are about to post, drag them into the order you want, and see your profile grid before anything goes live. It is free, needs no account, and runs in your browser, so your pictures are never uploaded.
Do I need to sign up or connect my Instagram?
No. There is no account and nothing to connect. You choose pictures from your own device and the grid is built on the page. Instagram never sees it until you post.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. The planner reads your pictures directly in your browser and never sends them to a server. To keep your grid between visits, it saves it in your own browser’s storage on this device. Clearing your browser data, or pressing Clear the grid, removes it.
Can the planner post or schedule to Instagram for me?
The free planner does not post. Ninecast does: you add each post with its caption and the date it should go out, see the same grid, and it publishes on time to every platform you connect. The 14-day free trial needs no card, and you can plan right inside Ninecast, or keep your plan in Notion or Airtable if that is where it already lives.
What size is the Instagram grid now?
Instagram’s profile grid shows tall 3:4 tiles, 1080 × 1440 pixels, instead of the old squares. Anything outside that shape is cropped from the centre on the grid. The planner shows both shapes, so you can see what your posts lose either way.
Can I plan Reels in the grid?
Yes. Add the video and the planner shows a frame from the start of it, with a play mark in the corner the way Instagram marks a Reel. If you choose a different cover in Instagram, that cover is what your grid will show instead.
Can I rearrange my grid?
Yes. On a computer, drag a post and drop it where you want it, and the others move along. On a phone, tap one post and then another to swap them. Top left is the newest post, the one people see first on your profile.
Can I save my grid or send it to a client?
Your grid stays in this browser until you clear it, so you can close the page and come back to it. Press Download grid image to save the whole grid as one picture, which is the easiest way to get a client’s approval before anything is posted.
Can I plan more than one Instagram account?
The free planner holds one grid at a time in each browser, so download each grid before you start the next account. In Ninecast, every account you manage gets its own planner and its own grid.
Take your grid from planned to posted
Planning the grid is the fun part. Remembering to post every single day is the part that slips. Ninecast posts each one for you on its date, so the feed you planned is the feed people actually see.
No card needed.