Your App Screens, Posted as an Instagram Carousel
Spreadcast designs every slide in your app's brand and publishes them as one real carousel on Instagram, with the same slides on TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook.
lumi.sleep Rain on a tin roof for 45 minutes, then the timer fades it out.
What an Instagram Carousel Maker Has to Do
An Instagram carousel is one post that holds several photos or videos. Instagram's help page on carousels says you can share up to 20 of them as a single post, that people see the first one in the feed with a row of dots under it and swipe for the rest, and that likes and comments belong to the whole post. One caption and one location cover every slide. That last point is why carousels are a design job: the slides have to carry the message, because the caption cannot explain each one.
So an Instagram carousel maker has three jobs. It has to write and lay out a set of slides that read as one piece, in one look, at a size Instagram will not crop badly. It has to make those slides look like your brand and not like a template a thousand other accounts used this week. And then somebody has to publish the carousel, on a day and at an hour, ideally on more than one network. Most tools you will find for "carousel maker instagram" do the first job well, some do the second, and only a few do the third.
Spreadcast was built for the gap between the second and third jobs. You describe a carousel, or let Spreadcast pick one from your app's news, and it designs the slides from your own brand: your icon or logo, your colors, your fonts and, for an app, real screenshots from your App Store listing in an iPhone frame. You edit any word, color or picture on the canvas. Then the carousel goes into the calendar and publishes as a real Instagram carousel, with the same slides sent to TikTok as a photo slideshow and to LinkedIn and Facebook as a multi image post, each with its own caption.
If you only want to design slides and post them by hand, the guide parts of this page still apply: the size rules, the slide by slide structure and the scheduling options work with any tool. Where another tool is the better fit, the roundup says so.
How to Make an Instagram Carousel Post in Spreadcast
Six steps from an empty account to a scheduled carousel. The first one happens once; after that a carousel takes a few minutes, most of it reading the slides.
- 1
Paste Your App Store Link or Set Up Your Brand
On the start page, paste your App Store link. Spreadcast reads the public listing: the icon, the screenshots, the colors, the release notes and the rating, plus the logo and fonts from your website if the app has one. There is no SDK to install and no App Store Connect access to grant. If you do not have an app, your brand page holds your logo, colors and fonts, and you can upload your own pictures.
- 2
Open Create and Describe the Carousel
Choose Generate a Post and write what the carousel is about in plain words, for example "a 5 slide carousel with three ways to use the widget". Spreadcast reads the format from what you write. It plans 3 to 8 slides: a cover that makes one promise, middle slides with one idea each, and a last slide that points to the App Store.
- 3
Check the Slides on the Canvas
Every slide arrives at 1080 x 1350 pixels in one shared look. Your real screens sit in an iPhone frame or frameless, never stock photos. Change any headline, swap a screenshot, move a color: the canvas is editable slide by slide. If the cover headline is weak, rewrite it; that slide decides whether anyone swipes.
- 4
Pick the Networks
Choose where the carousel goes: Instagram as a carousel, TikTok as a photo slideshow, LinkedIn and Facebook as a multi image post, and the other networks you connected. Spreadcast writes a separate caption for each one and checks the post against each network's limits before it is scheduled, so a caption that is too long for one network is caught before the slot, not after.
- 5
Schedule It or Approve It
The carousel takes the next free slot on the calendar. Drag it to another day if the slot is wrong. In Approve first mode, the default, it waits on the Dashboard for one tap. On paid plans you can switch to Full autopilot. Posts go out within minutes of their slot.
- 6
Read the Results a Week Later
Analytics show interactions and followers gained first, then reach, taps on the App Store link where a network lets people tap one, and each post measured over its first 7 days. Compare the carousel with your single image posts before you decide how many carousels a week to make.
Instagram Carousel Size and Rules in November 2026
These are the numbers that decide whether your slides look right in the feed and on your profile. Each row links to the page it came from, read on November 2, 2026. Some of them changed in the last two years, so older guides you find may still say 10 slides and square only.
| Rule | What it is today, and where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Slides per carousel in the Instagram app | Up to 20 photos and videos in one post, per Instagram's carousel help page |
| Slides per carousel through a publishing tool | Up to 20 images, videos or a mix of the two, per Meta's guide to content publishing |
| Orientation | One orientation, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every slide in the post, as the same Instagram help page says |
| Shapes the app keeps | From 1.91:1 to 3:4, so 1080 pixels wide by 566 to 1440 pixels tall, per Instagram's image resolution page |
| Shapes a publishing tool can send | From 4:5 to 1.91:1, JPEG only, 8 MB at most, 320 to 1440 pixels wide, per the IG User media reference for developers |
| Carousel crop through a tool | Every slide is cropped based on the first image, square by default, per Meta's publishing guide |
| Profile grid thumbnail | Shown at 3:4, so even a 4:5 cover is trimmed at the sides, per Planoly's grid guide |
| Caption | Up to 2,200 characters for the whole post, per the media reference |
| Hashtags | Up to 5 per post in the app, per Instagram's hashtag page |
| Alt text | Up to 1,000 characters per image when a tool publishes it, per the media reference |
| Videos in a carousel | Allowed, but they are not treated as Reels and do not appear in the Reels tab, per Instagram's carousel page |
| After posting | You can reorder or remove slides and edit the caption, but never add a slide |
Two sources disagree on hashtags: the Help Center says 5 per post, while the developer reference still allows 30 in a caption. Use 3 to 5 and you are inside both.
1080 x 1350 or 1080 x 1440: Which Instagram Carousel Size to Use
Use 1080 x 1350 pixels, the 4:5 portrait shape, unless you will only ever post by hand from the app. The Instagram Help Center keeps photos between 1.91:1 and 3:4, so a 1080 x 1440 slide posts fine from your phone. But Meta's media reference, which every scheduling tool depends on, accepts images between 4:5 and 1.91:1. A 3:4 slide sent through a scheduler can be refused or cropped. Adobe Express says the same thing on its own Content Scheduler specifications: 4:5 to 1.91:1 for Instagram. Spreadcast designs every carousel slide at 1080 x 1350 for that reason.
The grid is the second thing to plan for. Planoly's guide to the vertical grid, updated in October 2025, says the profile grid now shows posts at 3:4 (1013 x 1350) and crops even a 4:5 upload to fit. On a 1080 x 1350 cover that trims about 34 pixels from each side. Keep the cover headline and any face or phone screen at least 60 pixels in from the left and right edges and it survives both the feed and the grid.
Square still works, and a square carousel uses less of the screen. If you are reusing old 1080 x 1080 slides, keep them square for the whole post: Instagram applies one orientation to every slide, and Meta's publishing guide says a tool crops every slide based on the first. Sizes for every other network are in our social media image sizes guide.
Fluent by Spring.Five minutes each morning, one new character.
Fluent by Spring.Five minutes each morning, one new character.
What a Carousel That Gets Saved and Shared Looks Like, Slide by Slide
A carousel is judged as one piece, so its order matters more than any single slide. Canva's Design School guide to carousels puts it simply: a clear opening sets expectations, the middle builds the story, the last slide lands the point, and each slide carries one idea. Here is that structure for a 7 slide carousel, with what each slide is for.
| Slide | Its job | What to put on it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cover | Earn the swipe | One promise in 10 words or fewer, in large type. A number, a result or a mistake to avoid works better than a topic name. This slide is also your grid thumbnail, so keep it inside the 3:4 safe area. |
| 2. The problem or the setup | Prove the promise is for this reader | Name the situation the reader is in, in their words. This is also the slide Instagram may show first on a second pass, so it should make sense on its own. |
| 3 to 5. One idea each | Deliver what the cover promised | A short headline and at most two lines under it. For an app, one real screen per slide showing the step, not a mockup of a different phone. |
| 6. The proof or the summary | Make it worth saving | A checklist of the steps, a before and after, or a real review. Summary slides are the ones people save to come back to. |
| 7. The ask | Tell people one thing to do | One action: save this, send it to someone, or find the app on the App Store. For an app, the official Download on the App Store badge, placed below the main message, and a pointer to the link in your profile, which can hold up to 5 websites. |
Five to eight slides covers most ideas. Spreadcast's own carousels run 3 to 8. Instagram allows up to 20, but a carousel that needs 20 slides is usually two carousels.
Why Carousels Get More Engagement: What the Data and Instagram Say
Two large studies put carousels first on Instagram for engagement. Buffer's format study, published in March 2026 from more than 45 million posts, found a median engagement rate of 6.9% of reach for carousels, against 4.4% for single images and 3.3% for Reels. Reels reached more people: Buffer's separate reach analysis gave them 1.36 times the reach of carousels. So a carousel is the format for interactions, and a Reel is the format for reach. Most accounts need both.
Socialinsider's Instagram benchmarks, from 67.5 million posts by brand accounts with 1,000 to 1 million followers, tell the same story by a different measure: in its 2025 data carousels averaged a 0.55% engagement rate by followers, Reels 0.52% and images 0.37%. The same page shows brands posted about 5 carousels a month on average, against 8 Reels. The format that earns the most interactions per post is the one brands make least, which is mostly because carousels take longer to design.
Instagram has said which interactions it predicts. In Instagram Ranking Explained, Adam Mosseri lists the five it watches most closely for Feed: how likely you are to spend a few seconds on a post, comment on it, like it, share it and tap on the profile photo. A good carousel buys the first one by design, because swiping takes time. Saves count too: the same article names posts people have saved among the signals of what they are interested in, and Instagram's insights page counts likes, comments, saves and shares as interactions.
Carousels also get a second chance in the feed. Planoly reports Mosseri's explanation that when someone scrolls past a carousel without engaging, Instagram may show it to them again starting on the second slide. That is why slide 2 in the table above has to stand on its own. Write it as if it were a cover.
For more on what makes a post worth stopping for, read what makes a social creative convert. If you write your slide text in ChatGPT or Claude first, our ChatGPT prompts for Instagram carousels return slide by slide outlines at a length that fits a phone.
AI Carousel Generator for Instagram: What the AI Does and What You Decide
An AI carousel generator writes the slide text and fills a layout. That is the part every tool in the roundup below can do. The differences are in what the AI starts from and what you get at the end.
Most AI carousel builders start from a prompt and a template. You type a topic, the AI writes seven slides, and a theme gives them colors and fonts. The result looks tidy and generic, because the template is shared with every other account that chose it, and the pictures are stock photos or AI images. You then set up a brand kit to pull the colors closer to yours.
Spreadcast starts from your brand instead of a template. The colors, fonts and logo come from your app's listing and website, and the pictures are your own App Store screenshots, so a slide about your widget shows your widget. The AI writes the slide text in the language of your listing, plans the order (cover, one idea per slide, an App Store slide at the end), and you approve or change it. It does not invent reviews: a review slide quotes a real App Store review.
What you still decide is the idea. A carousel about something your users care about will beat a well designed carousel about nothing, and no generator knows that better than you. Pick the topic, read every slide before it goes out, and let the tool do the layout, the sizes, the captions for each network and the publishing.
Best Instagram Carousel Maker Apps Compared: Prices, Pros and Cons
Five carousel makers people search for, checked on their own pricing and help pages on November 2, 2026. Spreadcast is ours and comes first because it is the one that designs from your own screens and publishes the same carousel to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook. Where another tool fits better, the entry says so.
- 1
Spreadcast
Free to try, then $29 a month with publishing includedBest for apps and small brands that want the carousel designed in their brand and published for them
Spreadcast designs a carousel of 3 to 8 slides at 1080 x 1350 from your own brand: icon or logo, colors, fonts and, for an App Store app, real screenshots from the listing in an iPhone frame. You edit any word, color or picture on the canvas, then it publishes the carousel as a real Instagram carousel and sends the same slides to TikTok as a photo slideshow and to LinkedIn and Facebook as a multi image post, each with a caption written for that network.
The carousel lands on a calendar in the next free slot, and you can drag it to another day. Each post is checked against each network's limits before it is scheduled; if a network refuses it, the post shows which network and why, with Try Again. For an app, the autopilot also reads the listing every day and turns a new version or a rating milestone into a post, so the feed has something real between carousels. More on that in auto post to social media.
You can also run it from Claude or ChatGPT: Spreadcast's MCP server lets the assistant design a carousel in your brand, write the captions and schedule it, as drafts by default. The walkthrough is in how to schedule social media posts with Claude.
On price: the free plan makes 3 posts for you to download, with a small Spreadcast mark and no publishing. Pro is $29 a month for 1 app and 10 social accounts, with clean posts and publishing to every network. A 30 Day Pass is $39 once, and a Post Pack is $19 for 10 posts designed and published. Studio is $79 a month for up to 5 apps.
Pros
- Designs from your real screens, colors and fonts, never stock photos
- Publishes as a real Instagram carousel, with scheduling built in
- Same slides go to TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook with their own captions
- Each post checked against each network's limits before its slot
- Claude and ChatGPT can make and schedule carousels through MCP
Cons
- 3 to 8 slides of still images; no video slides in designed carousels
- No music on carousels
- Free downloads carry a small mark; publishing starts on Pro
- Works best with an iPhone app on the App Store
- 2
Canva
Free, Pro from $12 a month billed yearlyBest when you want full control of every slide and already design in Canva
Canva is the default carousel maker for most people, with thousands of carousel templates and an editor that does anything. Canva's own plan comparison, updated in October 2026, prices Pro at US$12 a month per person billed yearly ($144 a year) or $18 month to month, and Business at $20.83 a month billed yearly or $25 month to month.
Canva can also schedule a carousel. Its Content Planner help page says you select the pages of a multi page design to publish, and that scheduling is on Pro, Business, Education and Nonprofit plans. Read the limits before you count on it: each design can be scheduled to one platform at a time, scheduling to Instagram has to be done from a desktop browser and needs an Instagram business account, and the listed platforms are Facebook Pages, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr, with no TikTok or Threads.
Choose Canva if you enjoy designing or need layouts no generator makes. The cost is your time: every slide is placed by hand, and every network after the first is a separate schedule. Our Canva comparison goes further.
Pros
- Huge template library and a flexible editor
- Free plan for designing
- Schedules multi page designs as carousels on paid plans
Cons
- Templates, not your brand, unless you build a brand kit
- One platform per scheduled design
- No TikTok or Threads in its scheduler list
- 3
Adobe Express
Free, Premium $9.99 a monthBest low priced editor with a scheduler on the free plan
Adobe Express is an editor with templates and a Content Scheduler. Its pricing page lists Free at $0 with scheduling for up to 1 account per social network, and Premium at $9.99 a month with up to 3 accounts per network, brand kits and 250 generative credits a month.
The Content Scheduler specifications, updated in August 2026, say Instagram carousels are available with up to 10 images or videos, between 4:5 and 1.91:1. The same page lists TikTok as one video only, so a carousel cannot go to TikTok as a photo slideshow from Adobe Express.
Pick it if you want a cheaper editor than Canva and post mainly to Instagram and Facebook.
Pros
- Scheduler on the free plan
- Premium is cheaper than Canva Pro
- Brand kits on Premium
Cons
- Instagram carousels capped at 10 items
- TikTok takes video only
- You design every slide yourself
- 4
PostNitro
Free, then $15 a month; scheduling from $30 a monthBest AI carousel builder for LinkedIn first creators who also post to Instagram
PostNitro writes and designs carousels with AI. Its plans page lists a free plan with AI carousels of up to 5 slides, 5 downloads a month and a watermark on exports. Starter is $15 a month with 8 AI slides per carousel and 30 downloads, but no scheduling.
Scheduling starts on Creator+ at $30 a month (shown at $24.99 in a sale that the page says ends November 30), with 15 AI slides per carousel, 10 social accounts and publishing to LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Facebook and Pinterest. Team+ is $60 a month.
It is a good fit for text led carousels: tips, frameworks and threads turned into slides. The pictures come from AI images and stock rather than your product's screens.
Pros
- Fast AI carousels from a topic
- Schedules to six networks on Creator+
- Several brand kits per account
Cons
- Free exports carry a watermark
- Scheduling only from $30 a month
- Slides built from templates and AI images, not your screens
- 5
aiCarousels
Pro $15 a month or $120 a yearBest for writing carousels in many voices, mainly for LinkedIn
aiCarousels is an AI carousel generator with 19 writing styles and 304 layouts. Its pricing page gives Pro at $15 a month or $120 a year (about $10 a month) for 60 AI carousels a month, up to 20 slides, 10 brand kits and downloads with no mark. Team is $59 a month, or $468 a year, for 5 people.
The free try makes one carousel to edit, not to download. Posting is listed for LinkedIn; the pricing page does not list Instagram publishing or scheduling, so for Instagram you download the slides and post or schedule them elsewhere. People searching "ai carousels pricing" usually mean this product, and those are its numbers today.
Pros
- Many writing voices and layouts
- Up to 20 slides on Pro
- Clear yearly price
Cons
- Free try has no download
- No Instagram publishing listed
- No refunds on yearly plans, per its pricing page
Carousel Post Maker Apps at a Glance
The same five, side by side on the questions that decide which one you need. Prices and limits are from each vendor's own page, read on November 2, 2026.
| Tool | Slides look like | Publishes the Instagram carousel | Same slides to TikTok | Lowest price with scheduling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadcast | Your brand and your real App Store screens | Yes, as a real carousel | Yes, as a photo slideshow | $29 a month, or a $19 Post Pack once |
| Canva | Templates you edit | Yes, from a desktop browser | No TikTok in its scheduler | $12 a month billed yearly |
| Adobe Express | Templates you edit | Yes, up to 10 items | No, TikTok takes video only | Free for 1 account per network |
| PostNitro | AI layouts and AI images | Yes, on Creator+ | Yes, on Creator+ | $30 a month |
| aiCarousels | AI layouts and AI images | Not listed | Not listed | No scheduler listed |
If you only need a free scheduler for slides you already made, see the next section: Instagram's own app and Meta Business Suite cost nothing.
Carousel Maker in Canva or Spreadcast: Side by Side
"Carousel maker canva" is one of the most searched versions of this question, so here is the direct comparison. Many people use both: Canva for one off designs, Spreadcast for the carousels that should look like the product and go out on schedule.
| Canva Pro | Spreadcast | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the design starts | A template you choose and edit | Your icon, colors, fonts and App Store screenshots |
| Who writes the slides | You, or Canva AI from a prompt | Spreadcast writes them; you edit any word |
| Carousel size | Any size you set | 1080 x 1350, the tallest shape schedulers can send |
| Networks per scheduled post | One platform per design | Every connected network, each with its own caption |
| TikTok photo slideshow | Not in its scheduler list | Yes, the same slides |
| Limit checks before publishing | Its help page lists an unsupported post among the reasons a scheduled post did not publish | Checked per network before the slot, with the reason shown if a network refuses it |
| Price | $12 a month billed yearly, or $18 monthly | $29 a month with design and publishing included |
How to Schedule an Instagram Carousel Post: Every Option
You can schedule an Instagram carousel for free with Meta's own tools, or pay for a tool that also posts to other networks. These are the options and their limits, from each provider's own help page.
| Option | Cost | How it works | Limits worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram app | Free | Create a post, select several photos, tap More options and turn on Schedule this post, per Instagram's scheduling help page. | Public accounts only, up to 25 posts a day and up to 30 days ahead. Product tags, collab posts, sponsored posts and fundraisers do not work with scheduled posts. |
| Meta Business Suite | Free | Content, Create post, then the Scheduling options toggle, per Meta's scheduling guide. An Active times button suggests when your audience is online. | Facebook and Instagram only. Scheduled posts sit in the Planner tab. |
| Canva Content Planner | Canva Pro, from $12 a month billed yearly | Share, Schedule, pick the pages of the design, per Canva's help page. | One platform per design. Instagram scheduling from a desktop browser only. |
| Buffer | Free for 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each, per Buffer's pricing | Upload the slides to one post. Buffer's Instagram guide allows up to 20 images and videos in a carousel. | The first image sets the shape for every slide. Music only works if the post is sent as a notification you finish in the app. |
| Spreadcast | Pro $29 a month, or $19 once for 10 posts | Design or upload the slides, pick the networks, and the carousel takes the next free slot. Drag it to move it. | Up to 10 images per carousel. No music. Also publishes the same slides to TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and your other connected networks. |
To schedule an Instagram carousel for free, use the Instagram app or Meta Business Suite. Pay for a tool when the carousel should also go to other networks, or when you want it designed for you.
How to Schedule a Carousel on Instagram From the App
The free way, step by step, from Instagram's help page on scheduled posts. It works on a public account.
- 1
Start a New Post
Tap Create in the top left, or swipe right anywhere in Feed, then tap Post.
- 2
Select Your Slides
Tap Select multiple and choose up to 20 photos and videos in order. Pick one orientation; it applies to every slide.
- 3
Write the Caption
Add the caption, filters and alt text. Up to 5 hashtags. Remember that the caption covers every slide.
- 4
Turn On Scheduling
Tap More options, turn on Schedule this post, and choose a date and time up to 30 days ahead. Tap Done, then Back, then Schedule.
- 5
Change It Later if You Need To
Open your profile, tap Menu, then Scheduled content. From there you can edit, reschedule, share now or delete the post.
How to Schedule an Instagram Carousel With Music
Instagram lets you add music to a photo carousel in the app. Instagram's help page on music in carousels walks through it: select several images, tap Next, tap Add music and pick a song from For you, Browse or the search bar. Two limits matter. Music cannot be added to a carousel that contains a video. And the feature is in the Instagram app, not on a computer.
That shapes how you schedule one. A scheduling tool publishes through Meta's API, and the publishing guide has no way to attach a song from Instagram's library to a carousel. Buffer's Instagram guide only offers music on posts sent as a notification, where Buffer reminds you and you finish the post in the app. So the dependable way to schedule an Instagram carousel with music is the Instagram app's own scheduler: add the music, then turn on Schedule this post. Music is not on the list of features the scheduling page says scheduled posts cannot use.
Spreadcast does not add music to carousels. If music matters for a post, download the slides from Spreadcast, add the song in the Instagram app and schedule it there, and let Spreadcast publish the same slides to the other networks. For TikTok, where sound is part of the format, read the TikTok slideshow maker page.
ledgerly Shared budgets are here. Plan the month together and split anything.
Instagram Carousel Ideas for an App
An app has more carousel material than most brands, because every feature has a real screen. Each of these uses screens you already have. Keep phone frames current: Apple's marketing guidelines ask for the latest generation devices and for the app to appear as it does when running, with fictional account details instead of a real person's data.
- LumiNew: Sleep Timersleep9:41TonightRain on a Tin RoofNature sounds, 8 hour loopSleep timer45 minRain · Fan · Waves45 minThen fades out
Feature Tour
Cover: "5 things you can do in [app] in a minute". One feature per slide with its real screen, a short headline and one line on why it helps. Last slide: the App Store badge. This is the carousel to pin to your profile.
- Kanji DailyDay 100One Kanji a Day.
Fluent by Spring.Five minutes each morning, one new character.9:41Day 100100Today’s kanji道michi · dōWhat does it mean?path of waterroad, waymountainCheckYour first 100100 of 100How To in Steps
One task, broken into 3 to 5 screens: set up a widget, share a list, export a report. People save how to carousels to follow later, which is the interaction you want. Our app store screenshot examples show how good apps caption a single screen.
- LedgerlyShared Budgets, Finally.Version 3.09:41OctoberAS$1,284 leftof $3,200 shared budget
- Groceries$312
- Rent$1,100
- Coffee$46
ASSplit with Sam50 / 50, syncedJapan trip68%Monthly goalBank sync in 40 countriesWhat Is New in This Version
When you ship, turn the release notes into slides: a cover with the version number, one slide per change with its screen, and a thank you. Spreadcast drafts a single update post by itself when a new version appears; a carousel is the longer version. More formats in app update announcement examples.
“I haven’t slept this well since I was a kid.”
JKJordan K.Night owl, reformedLumiReal Reviews
Three to five real App Store reviews, one per slide, with the star rating. Ask reviewers before you quote their words, or show the rating alone. Spreadcast only quotes real reviews and never invents one.
- New in 5.2Offline Maps
For Every
TrailOfflineEagle Peak Loop8.4 km · 620 m upStartTrailmatenowEagle Peak Loop is saved offline8.4 km, ready with no signal.Tips Your Users Miss
Look at your support inbox for the questions that repeat. Each answer is a slide. This carousel tends to get shared, because people send it to the friend who asked the same thing.
- Kanji Daily#7in Education on the App Store, JapanTop Free · Education67Kanji DailyLearn one kanji a dayGet8
Before and After
The old way on one slide, your app's way on the next, for three pairs. Keep the before honest; a strawman reads as an ad.
- You had no signal up there??Lost signal at 2,000 m.Trailmate didn’t blink.Read 6:12 PMTrailmatePriya S. on the App Store · 112 trails logged
A Look Behind the Build
Sketches, an early screen next to the shipped one, a number you are proud of. Founder carousels perform when they are specific. The wider plan is in how to promote an app on Instagram.
One Carousel on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook
A carousel takes the longest of any still post to make, so it should not live on one network. The same slides fit three other formats, and each has its own rules.
On TikTok the slides become a photo post, which people swipe like a carousel. TikTok's photo post reference takes up to 35 photos per post with a title of up to 90 characters and a description of up to 4,000. Spreadcast posts photo slideshows to TikTok from the web, from any computer, and you pick who can see the post in the editor. Details are on the TikTok slideshow maker page.
On LinkedIn Spreadcast posts the slides as a multi image post, not as a PDF document. LinkedIn's MultiImage reference allows 2 to 20 images in one post. A PDF carousel is a different format with its own size; if you want one, our LinkedIn carousel size guide and LinkedIn carousel examples cover it. On Facebook the slides go out as a multi image post on your Page.
Each network gets its own caption: short and to the point on Instagram, a line of context for LinkedIn, a title and description on TikTok. Writing four captions by hand is the step most people skip, which is why most carousels only ever reach Instagram. How Spreadcast handles one post on many networks is on the cross posting page, and caption lengths per network are in our character limits reference.
What Spreadcast's Carousel Maker Does Not Do
Better to know these before you paste a link.
No Music and No Video Slides in Designed Carousels
Spreadcast designs still image slides. If a carousel needs a song, add it in the Instagram app as described above. If it needs a video slide, mix it in the Instagram app.
Up to 10 Images per Carousel
Instagram allows 20. Spreadcast publishes up to 10 images in one post, and its own designs run 3 to 8 slides, which is the range most good carousels sit in anyway.
Designed for Apps First
The brand and the screens come from an App Store listing, so an iPhone app gets the most from it. Without an app you can still upload your own slides, made in Canva or anywhere, and schedule them as a carousel across networks.
No Stories and No Grid Preview
Spreadcast publishes feed posts. It does not post Stories, and it has no preview of your profile grid, so check the cover's 3:4 safe area on the slide itself.
Spreadcast Pricing for Carousels: What Each Plan Includes
Every plan is on the pricing page. Here is what each one means for carousels.
| Plan | Price | What you get for carousels |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | 3 posts designed for 1 app, ready to download with a small Spreadcast mark. No publishing. |
| Post Pack | $19 once | 10 posts designed and published, $1.90 a post, and they never expire. Good for a launch or a quiet month. |
| 30 Day Pass | $39 once | Pro for 30 days, then nothing renews. |
| Pro | $29 a month | 1 app, 10 social accounts, clean posts, carousels published on every network, full autopilot or one tap approval, Claude and ChatGPT. |
| Studio | $79 a month | Up to 5 apps and 50 social accounts, each app with its own brand, and 3 seats. |
Yearly billing gives 2 months free. Cancel anytime, with a full refund within 7 days.
Which Instagram Carousel Maker Should You Use
If you have an iPhone app and want carousels that show the real product, published on Instagram and the other networks without opening four apps, use Spreadcast. Try it free on the start page: you see your own slides before you pay anything. If you are an app maker, the mobile apps page shows what the rest of the feed looks like.
If you love designing and post mostly to Instagram, use Canva or Adobe Express and schedule from the Instagram app for free. If your carousels are mostly text for LinkedIn, PostNitro or aiCarousels write them fast. If you want a single picture rather than a carousel, the Instagram post generator is free.
Whatever you choose, count the time. A seven slide carousel in an editor, with captions for four networks and four schedules, is an afternoon. Our breakdown of the real cost of designing social posts by hand puts numbers on it.
For Every
Trail
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Instagram carousel?
It is one post with several photos or videos that people swipe through. Instagram's help page allows up to 20 in a carousel, with one caption and one location for the whole post, and shows the first slide in the feed with a row of dots under it.
How do I make an Instagram carousel post?
In the Instagram app, start a post, tap Select multiple, choose your photos in order, pick one orientation and share. To have the slides designed for you, paste your App Store link into Spreadcast, describe the carousel in Create, edit the slides and schedule them.
What size should Instagram carousel slides be?
1080 x 1350 pixels (4:5) works everywhere. The app also keeps 1080 x 1440 (3:4), but Meta's media reference only lets scheduling tools send 4:5 to 1.91:1. Keep text 60 pixels in from the sides because the profile grid crops to 3:4.
How many slides can an Instagram carousel have?
Up to 20 photos and videos, both in the app and through Meta's publishing API. Some scheduling tools still stop at 10. Five to eight slides covers most ideas.
Can I schedule an Instagram carousel for free?
Yes. The Instagram app schedules carousels on public accounts up to 30 days ahead, per Instagram's scheduling help page, and Meta Business Suite schedules them from a computer. Both are free and cover Instagram and Facebook only.
Can I schedule an Instagram carousel from Canva?
Yes, on Canva Pro and above. Select the pages of the design when you schedule. Each design goes to one platform at a time, and Instagram scheduling has to be done from a desktop browser.
Can I schedule an Instagram carousel with music?
Add the music in the Instagram app and use the app's own scheduler. Music cannot go on a carousel that has a video in it, and scheduling tools that publish through Meta's API cannot add songs from Instagram's library.
Is there a free AI carousel generator without a watermark?
Rarely with downloads included. PostNitro's free exports carry a watermark, aiCarousels' free try has no download, and Spreadcast's free plan adds a small Spreadcast mark. Spreadcast posts on Pro, the Post Pack and the 30 Day Pass are clean.
Does Spreadcast post carousels to LinkedIn as PDFs?
No. LinkedIn gets the slides as a multi image post, Facebook as a multi image post and TikTok as a photo slideshow, each with its own caption.
Where These Facts Come From
Every outside number, rule and price on this page links to the page it was taken from.
- Share a post with multiple photos or videos on InstagramInstagram Help Center
- Image resolution of photos you share on InstagramInstagram Help Center
- How to create and manage scheduled posts and Reels on InstagramInstagram Help Center
- Add music to a post with multiple photos on InstagramInstagram Help Center
- Use hashtags on InstagramInstagram Help Center
- Add a website to your Instagram profileInstagram Help Center
- About Instagram insightsInstagram Help Center
- Instagram ranking explainedInstagram
- Instagram content publishingMeta for Developers
- IG User media referenceMeta for Developers
- Save, schedule or reschedule posts in Meta Business SuiteMeta Business Help Center
- A complete guide to Instagram's new vertical gridPlanoly
- Instagram carousels are making a comebackPlanoly
- Best content format on social platforms in 2026Buffer
- Instagram organic benchmarksSocialinsider
- Canva Enterprise vs Business vs ProCanva
- Schedule posts with Content PlannerCanva Help Center
- How to create carousels worth swiping forCanva Design School
- Adobe Express pricingAdobe
- Media specifications for Content SchedulerAdobe Express Help
- PostNitro plansPostNitro
- aiCarousels pricingaiCarousels
- Buffer pricingBuffer
- Scheduling Instagram posts, reels and storiesBuffer Help Center
- Content Posting API photo post referenceTikTok for Developers
- MultiImage APILinkedIn on Microsoft Learn
- App Store marketing guidelinesApple Developer
Researched and written by Spreadcast. Last checked on November 2, 2026.