If only you could secretly spy on your competitors’ Stories on Instagram without using any fake accounts – wait, you can!
This guide will cover all the “why’s and how’s” to using an anonymous Instagram Story viewer and provide you with the best Instagram story viewers to help you with it.
So, put your spy glasses on and read everything that we will cover in this article. Feel free to jump to whatever section you might find most interesting.
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What is an Instagram story viewer?
As the name explains, Instagram story viewer is a tool that can help you discreetly view someone’s Instagram story.
Normally, when you view someone’s story on Instagram – you appear as a viewer for each story you view, and with a tool like this, you can avoid that moment all together and watch stories anonymously.
Usually, these tools are created as an online site or app where you can type in the user account name and view their stories and also their posts. Stick with us, we will cover how these tools work in a little bit.
❗️However, keep in mind these tools work only when the account is public.
How does an Instagram story viewer work?
If this is your first time hearing about these tools, it’s only fair how they work – so you don’t start panicking mid-research about how private they are, whether they are safe, or how they are actually working.
In a nutshell, these story viewers are quite simple and straightforward to use, and they all have similar features.
Here’s how to use an Instagram story viewer:
Step number 1 – Choose a single Story Viewer Tool
The first step is choosing the story viewer tool you want to use. There are various tools on the market. As mentioned, these tools have similar features, such as one needs installment, others are online sites and browsers only, some are free, and some might be paid (and we will discuss this more in our detailed list).
Step number 2 – Find the person/Business Profile
Once you choose your preferred tool – the next step is finding the person/business you want to check their Instagram stories. Usually, you should type in the profile username since there could be multiple profiles with a similar name, but of course, there’s only one profile with the actual username you’re looking to find.
Step number 3 – Watch the Story
Once you find the username that you were looking for, with this tool that you chose, you could view the entire Instagram profile as you would on Instagram. Of course, you can check their Instagram stories, but you could also check their profile posts, what hashtags they are using, what descriptions they are writing, and whether they have highlights or not.
1. Insta Stories Online
Istories is a free service for anonymous viewing of public Instagram profiles, and it’s one of the most popular tools of its kind. With its help, you could track not only stories and highlights but also live broadcasts (including online broadcasts, streams, and recordings of older broadcasts), posts (both photos and videos), likes, comments, and also subscribers.
Features:
- it’s a free and online platform (no download needed)
- you don’t need a personal Instagram account
- there’s a 100% anonymity guarantee (views are invisible to the owner, and your visit is not displayed nor saved)
- loading capability – you can download IG stories and posts to your computer/mobile phone/laptop
2. Insta Stories Viewer
Insta Stories Viewer is another free tool that will help you anonymously view open Instagram profiles. Simply type in the user’s nickname and start looking!
Features:
- a free online platform (no need to download nor install anything)
- no need to create any type of account
- guarantees 100% anonymity
- loading capability – meaning you can view and download stories and other information for free
- available in more languages besides English, such as German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, French, and Turkish.
- a step-by-step guide available on their website + a FAQ section about their tool
3. Stories Down
Free and online – Stories down is another Instagram story viewer that will help you watch and download content from public Instagram profiles.
Features:
- Instagram story viewer and downloader – online and free
- you can view stories and Instagram profiles without an Instagram profile or any sort of log-in
- it’s anonymous
- with this Instagram viewer, you can also download and share all the images you will find across the public Instagram profiles you will check out
- additionally – this tool comes with a helpful blog
4. Insta Stories Watch
The simple interface translated into a dozen languages makes this tool super easy to use. The instructions and features are shown right away, and the FAQ section is here to answer any additional questions you might have.
Features:
- online and free viewing of any public Instagram profile (stories + posts)
- the ability to download any story, photo, or video from the profiles you’re looking at + the ability to watch and download IGTV and live streams too
- no need to have an Instagram profile nor to log in in any way
- 100% anonymity
- and the ability to view accounts in any language of the world
5. Stories IG
Another simple interface paired with all the functionalities you will need in an Instagram story viewer.
Features:
- no need to install anything
- free and simple to use
- Instagram highlights viewer support – meaning you can also watch highlights
- the ability to download Instagram stories and highlights
6. Instagram Anonymous Story Viewer by Inflact
Instead of creating a single tool – Inflact created versatile separate tools for doing Instagram research. They have one profile analyzer, user search tool, Instagram stories viewer, and Instagram viewer.
Features:
- Story Viewer for Instagram will help you preview active stories and highlights
- it’s a free and online web service
- you don’t need any type of account or third-party applications
- compatible with any devices
- auto-save story updates – it’s a paid feature that will help you anonymously download older stories + track every new story a user has uploaded. This autosave feature will cost you: $3 monthly for 3 profiles, $9 monthly for 10 profiles, and $49 monthly for 100 profiles.
- with this auto-save feature, you can see older stories that will be saved on the server for seven days
7. Insta Navigation
InstaNavigation service is online, free, and simple to use.
Features:
- besides being online and free – when you use this tool, you won’t need any type of additional account (but only an internet connection)
- there’s a guarantee of anonymity
- and you will be able to save the content you need, such as stories and highlights, for free
- there’s also a blog with helpful resources and a list of popular Instagram users
8. StoriesStalker
StoriesStalker is yet another Instagram story viewer that will help you anonymously watch Insta Stories for free.
Features:
- it’s free, anonymous, functional, and available in multiple languages
- you have the option to download public Instagram content
- with a registration – you are offered additional features such as seeing deleted photos, videos, stories, and comments as well we who subscribes and unsubscribes
- however, their website is rather confusing, and their unique selling propositions complicated
9. Stories IG
Almost last on our top 10 list – but equally great as the first options.
Features:
- with this tool, you could watch stories without an Instagram account and without anyone noticing you
- this tool is free for all users
- with this tool, you could also download photos and videos from Instagram to your device completely for free
- there are separate “Viewer” and “Downloader” tabs which make this tool quite easy to use
- with the “Downloader” tab, you could download photos, videos, stories, IGTV, reels, and profile pictures
10. GreatFon
And the last Instagram story viewer on our list is GreatFon – an online and completely free tool that will help you watch profiles, stories, followers, reels, and tagged web posts anonymously. Additionally, you could also search and view popular hashtags without an account needed.
To start using it completely anonymously, just type an account in the homepage search bar, and the Instagram user data about that account will pop up without the need to log in. It is important that it needs to be a public Instagram account to watch Instagram stories.
Features:
- this tool is online and free and will help you watch Instagram stories, posts, followers, and reels anonymously
- no need to have an Instagram account or install an app
- besides Instagram profiles, you can also search for hashtags and locations
- the “download” part is separate, which makes the platform easier to use
Bonus: Save and embed stories with EmbedStories
Do you have a story that you want to share with your website visitors but don’t know how to get started?
EmbedStories is the perfect solution! It is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to save and embed Instagram stories on your website or blog.
Plus, the platform automatically syncs the stories and expands their reach beyond the Instagram app.
Features:
- Highlights and galleries widget
- Analytics with total clicks and views on the story widgets
- Multiple story widgets for multiple websites
- Bookends with custom links
- Variety of customization settings
Benefits of using IG story viewer
According to recent statistics – Instagram stories are used by more than 500 million Instagram users every single day, and even more importantly, 58% of people have become interested in a company through Instagram stories.
1. Doing Competitor’s Research
So, if you want to start using stories as well for your business – the best place to start is by looking at what your competitors are doing.
With a tool such as an Instagram stories viewer, you could carelessly explore what all of your competitors are doing on their stories.
You could start by noticing:
- how often are they posting during the day and during the week?
- how are they interacting with their followers?
- are they adding polls, stickers, leaving space for people to question them so they could provide some answers for their business
- what is their content strategy
- how are they promoting their products/services on their stories
- are they making announcements, or maybe using the reaction slider,
- are they adding countdowns to certain dates/sales/new product launches, etc.?
- how about adding links? – are they linking to certain blog post content or any other relevant links
- are they organizing contests and going live?
So in a few words – we can say the main benefit of using such an Instagram is that you can silently and carelessly do research (or spy) on what your competitors are doing.
2. Doing customer research
Another thing, besides watching competitors’ Instagram stories anonymously, is looking at what your target demographics are doing (of course, those who have their profiles public). You can check what their interests and hobbies are. What are they posting on their Instagram stories and as posts, how much time are they spending, how are they interacting with other people, what content they favor, and what brands/people they follow?
Depending on the time you have, you can go as superficial or as deeply as you would like. The main benefit Instagram can offer is being this free source of valuable information for every business – so, you better utilise this to the maxium.
Once you’re armed with information, you will know how competitive the market is, what your target customer “looks like,” how you should move forward with your products/services, and, most importantly, how to move along with your Instagram stories strategy.
FAQ about Instagram story viewers
No, the absolute answer to this question is no. These tools work with public Instagram profiles, hashtags, and locations.
No, the rights to the downloaded photos belong to the owners (the public profile you downloaded the photo from). The photos are for informational purposes only.
No, these tools aim to help you view other people’s profiles without having a profile of your own.
The most common file formats when downloaded are .JPEG and . PNG for images and .MP4 for videos.
Key takeaways
We hope our list of the top 10 Instagram story viewers can help you monitor other accounts’ stories and help your content strategy at scale.
Most tools have similar features, so we suggest going with one of the free options we listed.
Now it’s up to you to choose a single tool and start researching…and when you do – we’d love to hear how a tool like this helped with your Instagram strategy.
FYI: You can embed Instagram stories widget automatically on your website and display your Instagram stories in seconds. Try it now.