How to find trending reels on Instagram, and the apps that help (2026)
Instagram's own trend tools show what's big everywhere. How to use them, how to find what's trending in your niche, and which apps help, with our library's numbers.
Scroll the Reels tab for ten minutes and everything looks like a trend. The same sound under one video after another, the same joke in five accents, the same "POV" with a different job. It's hard to tell what's actually picking up, and harder to tell whether any of it fits what you post.
Instagram does give you tools for this, and they're worth knowing. But they all answer one question: what's big on Instagram right now, for everyone. The question most creators actually have is narrower. What's taking off in my niche, for accounts my size, this week?
This guide covers both. First, how to find trending reels and sounds inside Instagram and its Edits app. Then how to spot what's trending in your own niche, and which apps help. We make one of those apps, Aubrium, so we've kept to what each tool says about itself, and shown where our numbers come from.
To find trending reels on Instagram, start with its own tools: the arrow beside a reel's audio, the Trending audio list in your dashboard and the Inspiration tab in Instagram's Edits app. The two audio tools are US only. All of them show what's big everywhere. To see what's taking off in your niche, from accounts your size, use a research app like Aubrium.
What counts as a trending reel?
A trend is something lots of accounts are doing at the same time. One reel going viral isn't a trend. Twenty accounts making their own version of it in the same week is.
Trends on Instagram come in three kinds, and you find each one differently.
A sound
A song or an audio clip that many reels use at once. Instagram tracks these for you.
A format
A way of making a reel that spreads: a "POV", a before and after, a run of fails with captions. No list tracks these. You spot them by watching.
A topic
Something people suddenly want to watch about: a launch, a season, a news story. You find these through search and the news.
Instagram's own tools are good at the first kind. The other two take a bit more work, and they're often the ones that matter more in a niche.
How do you find trending reels inside Instagram?
There are four places to look, all built in. Here's what each one does.
The arrow on a reel's audio
In Reels, a small arrow next to the audio name, under the account's name, means the sound is trending. Tap the audio name to open its page and see the reels that use it.
The Trending audio list
In your dashboard or professional dashboard, tap Trending audio. It lists up to 50 tracks that are trending on Instagram right now.
The Inspiration tab in Edits
Edits is Instagram's video app. Its inspiration tab shows trending reels from public accounts, with how many times each was viewed, liked and shared. It has a search, too.
The Edits assistant
In the US, you can ask the assistant in Edits what's trending on Instagram, and it suggests trending audio for your niche.
The arrow and the audio list come with limits worth knowing. Instagram's help page puts them plainly:
“This feature is only available in the US and on the Instagram mobile app.”
To see the list, you also need a public account, personal or professional.1 Instagram's help page for trending reels in Edits doesn't name a region, so if you're outside the US, Edits is the place to try first.
Edits is a separate app, made by Instagram and listed as free in the app stores.2 Its trending reels are chosen for you "based on things like how popular the reel may be, how others on Instagram are interacting with the reel, and when or where it was shared".3 Since 30 September 2026, its assistant answers questions about trends for people in the US, with a daily limit on how many you can ask.4
What won't Instagram's trend tools tell you?
Whether a trend fits your niche, and whether it works for accounts your size. The trending audio list is the same for everyone who opens it: a cooking creator and a car detailer see the same 50 tracks. Edits picks trending reels for you, but from all of Instagram, not by niche or account size.
They also lean on sound, and sound is a smaller part of what's working than it looks from the outside. We checked every viral reel posted in the last 30 days in our library: more than 15,000 of them, each from an account with 1,000 to 100,000 followers.
Viral reels posted in the 30 days to 4 November 2026, in Aubrium's library. Every one already went viral, so none of this is the odds for a new reel.
The songs were spread thin. More than 4,800 of those reels used a song, and between them they used more than 3,400 different tracks. Even the most popular one was on only 0.21% of the month's viral reels. A trending song can help a reel get found, but most of the reels that travelled this month didn't use a song at all.
What they shared more often was a format. Here's what the viral reels of the last 30 days were, by kind.
That's the case for watching formats in your niche, not just sounds on a chart.
How do you find what's trending in your niche?
Watch accounts your size and look for repeats. A trend in a niche shows up as the same shape turning up in several accounts within a week or two.
Pick 10 accounts near your size
In your niche, with a following close to yours. Small accounts' hits travel on the idea, not the audience.
Check their last two weeks
Open each Reels tab and look at what they've posted lately.
Look for repeats
If three or more of those breakouts share a format, a hook shape or a sound, that's a trend in your niche.
Move fast, but make it yours
Use the shape and your own idea. Re-uploading someone else's reel won't count as yours.
That works, but it's slow, and you only see the accounts you already know. A research app does the watching for you across thousands of accounts. In Aubrium, for example, you pick your niche, sort by the newest viral reels and filter by account size and country. Each reel shows its hook, its format and its sound, so you can see what's repeating without opening a hundred profiles.
Which apps help you find trending reels?
These are the apps people name for this, and what each one actually shows. Prices are each app's own, read on 4 November 2026.
| App | What it shows | Instagram? | By niche or account size? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aubrium | Viral reels from accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, newest first | Yes: Yes | Yes: Both | From $49/mo5 |
| Instagram app | Up to 50 trending tracks, the arrow on audio | Yes: Yes | No: Same for everyone | Built in, US only1 |
| Edits | Trending reels, audio and templates, with search | Yes: Yes | Partly: Suggested for you | Free app2 |
| Later | A weekly blog of Reels trends; trend insights on its top plan | Yes: Yes | No: One list for all | From $18.75/mo, billed yearly6 |
| TikTok Creative Center | Trending hashtags on TikTok, by industry | No: TikTok only | Partly: By industry | Free7 |
| Metricool | Trending audio inside its scheduler | Yes: Yes | No: Same for everyone | Free plan; from $25/mo10 |
| Snaplytics | A daily chart of the top 50 trending Reels songs | Yes: Yes | No: One chart for all | Free11 |
| Octupie | Breakout reels from accounts it picks in your niche | Yes: Yes | Partly: By niche | Free plan; $29/mo8 |
1. Aubrium
Library of viral reelsFrom $49/moBest for: Seeing what's taking off in your niche, from accounts your size
Aubrium is a library of Instagram reels and posts that reached far more people than their creator has followers, all from accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers. New ones arrive every day.
Pick your niche, sort by the newest and filter by account size, country, format and hook type. Every reel shows its hook, its format and its sound. When a topic isn't in the library, Research Any Topic finds the viral reels for it, and a search that finds none costs nothing.
- Pricing
- $49, $99 or $249 a month. Every plan has every tool.5
- Trial
- No free plan or trial. A first plan is refundable within 15 days.
- Platforms
- What's trending in your niche, not everywhere
- Only accounts your size
- The hook, format and sound of every reel
- Instagram only for now
- No free plan or trial
2. Edits
Instagram's video appFreeBest for: Trending reels and audio, inside the app you edit in
Edits is Instagram's own video app. Its inspiration tab shows trending reels from public accounts, each with its views, likes and shares, and you can reuse a reel's audio in your own project with a tap. Since August 2026 the tab has a search, so you can look up a topic like "travel" and get audio, ideas and templates for it.9
In the US, the Edits assistant answers "what's trending" and suggests trending audio for your niche, with a daily limit. The trends it shows are picked for you from all of Instagram, not filtered by niche or account size.
- Pricing
- Free in the App Store and Google Play2
- Platforms
- Made for Instagram
- Instagram's own trend data
- Reuse the audio in one tap
- Not filtered by account size
- The assistant is US only for now
3. Later
Scheduler + weekly trend reportFrom $18.75/moBest for: A weekly roundup of Reels trends, with a scheduler
Later is a social media scheduler. Its trend help comes mostly as a blog post it updates every week, "Top Instagram Reels Trends to Try in 2026", and a newsletter. On its top plan, Scale, a feature called Future insights shows "upcoming hashtags, trending topics, and industry-specific trends".6
The weekly list is the same for everyone, and it's about trends across Instagram rather than in your niche.
- Pricing
- From $18.75 a month billed yearly; Future insights on Scale6
- Trial
- 14 days
- Platforms
- Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and more
- A weekly trend list anyone can read
- A full scheduler
- Not by niche or account size
- Trend insights only on the top plan
4. TikTok Creative Center
TikTok's trend pagesFreeBest for: Spotting what's starting on TikTok
TikTok's Creative Center is a free set of pages for advertisers. Its Trends section shows trending hashtags on TikTok, by industry and time frame, with a trendline and related videos for each.7 It's the place to see which topics are picking up on TikTok.
It covers TikTok only, and nothing in it is about Instagram. Treat it as a hint about what people are into, not a list of what's working on Reels.
- Pricing
- Free; you can browse without logging in7
- Platforms
- TikTok
- Free, by industry
- TikTok only
- Built for advertisers
5. Metricool
Scheduler + analyticsFreeBest for: Picking trending audio while you schedule a reel
Metricool is a scheduler with analytics, and its own guide to Reels trends is upfront about it: "Metricool doesn't directly show you 'Reels trends' in the same way Instagram's internal tool does".10 What it does add is audio. When you schedule a reel in its planner, leaving the audio search empty brings up what Instagram's own data is surfacing, so you can pick a trending sound without opening the app.
It shows the same audio to everyone, and your Instagram account has to be connected through Facebook.
- Pricing
- A free plan; Starter from $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, before VAT10
- Trial
- Free plan, no card
- Platforms
- Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and more
- Trending audio while you schedule
- A real free plan
- Doesn't show Reels trends itself, in its own words
- Needs your account linked through Facebook
6. Snaplytics
Free trending-songs chartFreeBest for: A quick look at the songs trending on Reels
Snaplytics started as a Snapchat analytics service. That product is gone, and snaplytics.io is now a set of free tools.11 The one that matters here is a chart of the "Top 50 trending songs on Instagram Reels, updated every day", which it says it captures from Instagram's own trending audio.
It covers songs only, not reels or formats, and it's the same chart for everyone.
- Pricing
- Free, no sign-up11
- Platforms
- Instagram (the chart)
- A daily song chart with no sign-up
- Songs only, no reels
- Not by niche or account size
Do you have to use a trending sound?
No. Most of the viral reels in our library didn't use a song at all: across the last 30 days, 62.5% used their creator's own sound. A trending song is one way in, not the only one.
Where it can help is getting found: Instagram puts every reel that uses a sound on that sound's page. If a trending track fits what you're making, use it. If it doesn't, a format that's working in your niche will do more for you than a song that isn't about anything you do.
Questions people ask
What's the best app to find trending reels on Instagram?
To see what's big across Instagram, use Instagram's own tools: the Trending audio list and the Edits app. To see what's taking off in your niche, from accounts your size, Aubrium filters viral reels by niche, account size and country.
How do I find trending audio on Instagram?
Look for the small arrow next to a reel's audio name, or open your dashboard and tap Trending audio. Instagram says both work only in the US, in the mobile app, for public accounts. The list holds up to 50 tracks.
How do I know if a reel is trending?
Look for repeats. If several accounts post the same format or sound within a week or two, it's a trend. One reel with lots of views is just a viral reel.
How do I find trending reels in my niche?
Watch ten accounts close to your size, find the reels that beat their usual views, and look for formats or sounds that repeat. Or use a research app that sorts your niche's viral reels by date.
Is TikTok Creative Center useful for Instagram?
As a hint, at most. It shows trending hashtags on TikTok only, by industry. Nothing in it is about Instagram, so check that a topic is working on Reels before you build on it.
Can I see trending reels outside the US?
Partly. Instagram's help page says its trending audio tools, the list and the arrow, work only in the US. Its page on trending reels in Edits doesn't name a region, so try Edits first. Research apps like Aubrium let you filter viral reels by country.
How we did this
What Instagram's tools do comes from Instagram's own help pages and the Edits site, read on 4 November 2026. What each other app shows, and its price, comes from its own site, read the same day. We didn't test Edits, Later, Metricool, Snaplytics or TikTok Creative Center hands-on for this guide.
The library numbers come from Aubrium's own database, read on 4 November 2026: every viral reel in it posted in the 30 days before, with its sound and its format. Every one of them already went viral, so none of these numbers is the chance that a new reel will. Apps change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and move the date. And yes, Aubrium makes this page.
Sources
- Find & use trending audio on InstagramInstagram Help Center · US only, mobile app, public accounts, up to 50 tracks, the dashboard and the arrow. Undated. Read 4 November 2026.
- Edits, an Instagram appApp Store · "Edits is a free video editor"; "Get inspired by browsing reels with trending audio." Read 4 November 2026.
- View trending reels on EditsInstagram Help Center · How trending reels are picked; views, likes and shares on each; Use audio. Undated. Read 4 November 2026.
- Edits assistantEdits blog · US roll-out; "Ask what's trending on the platform"; daily prompt limit. 30 September 2026. Read 4 November 2026.
- Aubrium pricingaubrium.com · Plans and what a search costs. Read 4 November 2026.
- Later pricinglater.com · Yearly prices, the 14-day trial, Future insights on Scale; and the weekly trends post. Read 4 November 2026.
- Creative CenterTikTok For Business help · Free, login not required; Trends shows trending hashtags by industry. July 2026. Read 4 November 2026.
- Octupie pricingoctupie.com · Free plan with the niche's breakout reels; Creator $29. Read 4 November 2026.
- Video insights in EditsEdits blog · Search in the Inspiration tab. 19 August 2026. Read 4 November 2026.
- How to find current Instagram Reels trendsMetricool · "Metricool doesn't directly show you 'Reels trends'"; and its pricing: the free plan, Starter $25 a month or $20 billed yearly, before VAT. Read 4 November 2026.
- Instagram trending songsSnaplytics · "Top 50 trending songs on Instagram Reels, updated every day"; and about Snaplytics: the old analytics product "no longer exist[s]". Read 4 November 2026.
Changelog
- First version.
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