What’s the Best Time to Post on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok?

The best overall times to post on Instagram are Thursday at 9 a.m., Wednesday at noon and Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Buffer reached those conclusions after analyzing 9.6 million Instagram posts published by more than 200,000 accounts between January 2024 and December 2025. Wednesday produced the strongest engagement overall, followed by Thursday and Tuesday. Friday and Saturday were the weakest days in the study. Source: Buffer

Performance still varied considerably by day. Monday posts performed well around 7 p.m., while Thursday’s strongest window ran from 7 to 9 a.m. Sunday engagement peaked later, around 9 p.m.

For real estate agents, the subject of the post should also influence the schedule. A quick market update can reach people during a weekday lunch break. A home tour, weekend guide or open-house post fits the way people browse Instagram during evenings and weekends.



The best overall time to post on Facebook is Thursday at 9 a.m., with weekday mornings providing the most reliable engagement.

Buffer analyzed 14 million Facebook posts and found that engagement generally peaked between 6 and 11 a.m. on weekdays. Wednesday was the strongest day overall, followed by Thursday and Tuesday. Afternoon posts between noon and 5 p.m. produced the lowest engagement across most days. Source: Buffer

Facebook often reaches an established audience of past clients, local contacts and homeowners. Morning posts can catch people checking their feeds before work or as the day begins. That makes this window useful for market news, new listings, community updates and practical homeowner advice.

Meta also provides account-specific recommendations. When scheduling a post in Meta Business Suite, agents can view “Active times” based on when their Facebook and Instagram followers were most active during the previous seven days. Source: Meta

The best overall time to post on TikTok is Sunday at 9 a.m., followed by Monday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m, according to Buffer’s analysis of 7.1 million TikTok posts. Saturday generated the strongest engagement overall, with Monday and Sunday close behind. Strong daily windows included Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Wednesday at 10 p.m. Source: Buffer

TikTok use extends well beyond standard business hours, which explains why evenings and weekends feature prominently in the data. Agents can use those periods for listing tours, local recommendations, real estate explanations and personality-led content.

TikTok Studio reports viewer activity times alongside audience demographics and individual post performance. Those insights provide a more accurate schedule once an account has enough activity to establish a pattern. Source: TikTok

Posting time affects early exposure, while watch time, shares, saves and other engagement signals determine how widely the content continues to circulate.

Publishing during an active window gives a post a stronger opportunity to earn those signals quickly. A well-timed post still needs a clear topic and a strong opening. If people scroll past it, the platform has little evidence that a larger audience will respond differently.

This is especially important for real estate agents. A national benchmark includes accounts across industries, locations and audience types. A coastal agent reaching second-home buyers may see a different pattern from a suburban agent whose audience checks Facebook before work.

Real estate agents can find their best posting time by comparing account insights across several weeks and testing consistent time slots.

Choose two or three windows from the broader platform data and publish comparable posts during each one. Review reach, watch time, shares, saves and comments after 24 to 48 hours. Continue the schedule long enough to identify a pattern rather than drawing a conclusion from one unusually strong or weak post.

At Curaytor, we use performance data to help agents build a repeatable content strategy around their market and audience. The best schedule is one supported by the agent’s own results and sustainable enough to maintain consistently.