Quick answer: Shortimize starts at $99/month (Launch), scaling to $249/month, with no permanent free plan. Metricool has a free plan and paid tiers from $20/month (Starter) and $53/month (Advanced), priced by number of brands. If you only need Instagram Reels analytics and competitor research on public accounts, IShort is free for up to 500 reels/month with paid plans at $10 and $29, and needs no Instagram login.
Shortimize vs Metricool: Pricing at a Glance (2026)
Both tools target very different users. Shortimize is a short-form video tracking platform built for agencies and teams monitoring a roster of creators. Metricool is a broad social media management suite with scheduling, analytics and light competitor tracking. Here are the real, current published prices (USD, monthly).
| Plan | Shortimize | Metricool |
|---|---|---|
| Free | No free plan (free trial only) | 0 dollars: 1 brand, 5 competitor profiles, 30-day history, 20 scheduled posts/mo |
| Entry paid | Launch, 99/mo: unlimited account tracking, 1,000 video storage, 24h refresh, 1 seat | Starter, from 20/mo: up to 10 brands, unlimited publishing, up to 100 competitors, unlimited history |
| Mid tier | Scale, 249/mo: 5,000 video storage, 12h refresh, 3 seats, priority support | Advanced, from 53/mo: up to 50 brands, team/client management, Looker Studio, API |
| Top tier | Enterprise, custom: unlimited storage and seats, white-label, dedicated manager | Custom, contact sales: custom brands, white-label, dedicated manager |
Prices verified from Shortimize and Metricool public pricing pages in 2026. Metricool prices exclude VAT and rise with the number of brands connected; the figures above are the starting price for each tier.
Which One Is Better for Instagram Reels?
Shortimize shines when you need to track a fixed set of known accounts over time across Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, with automated refreshes and creator-payment workflows. That depth is why it is priced for agencies, not individual creators, and there is no long-term free option.
Metricool is the better pick if you want scheduling plus analytics for your own connected accounts, and its free plan is genuinely useful for one brand. Its competitor tracking, though, is high level (follower counts, posting cadence) and capped at 5 profiles on the free plan. It is not built to deep-dive an arbitrary creator Reels on demand.
Neither tool lets you open any public profile and instantly rank its Reels by views. That specific job, ad-hoc competitor and Reels research with no setup and no login, is exactly what IShort is built for.
The Free Alternative: IShort for Public-Account Reels Analytics
IShort is a free Chrome extension that reads publicly available data as you browse Instagram. Open any public creator Reels tab and it instantly collects and lets you sort by views, likes, comments and engagement, surfaces best posting times, ranks hashtags, and can even transcribe the script behind a winning Reel. There is no Instagram login, no account connection, and no per-brand pricing.
| What you need | Best option |
|---|---|
| Track a fixed roster of creators over time (agency) | Shortimize (99+/mo) |
| Schedule posts plus analytics for your own accounts | Metricool (free or from 20/mo) |
| Instantly analyze any public account Reels, free | IShort (free, no login) |
| Deep Reels metrics: views sorting, outliers, posting times, hashtags, script | IShort |
Key takeaway: choose Shortimize if you are an agency tracking known creators, Metricool if you want scheduling plus analytics for your own brands, and IShort if you want to research any public account Reels performance instantly and free. Many creators use Metricool for scheduling and IShort for on-demand Reels and competitor analysis, since IShort free tier costs nothing to add.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Shortimize and Metricool cost per month?
Shortimize starts at 99/month (Launch), with Scale at 249/month and custom Enterprise pricing, and has no permanent free plan. Metricool has a free plan, with paid tiers from 20/month (Starter) and 53/month (Advanced) in USD, billed by number of brands. For Instagram Reels analytics on public accounts, IShort is free for up to 500 reels/month with paid plans at 10 and 29 dollars.
Is Shortimize or Metricool better for Instagram Reels competitor tracking?
Shortimize is built for tracking a roster of short-form accounts you add across Reels, TikTok and Shorts, so it suits agencies monitoring known creators over time. Metricool tracks a limited number of competitor profiles (5 free, up to 100 paid) at a higher level alongside scheduling. Neither lets you instantly analyze any public account with one click the way IShort does.
Does Shortimize or Metricool have a free plan?
Metricool has a permanent free plan (1 brand, 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics). Shortimize does not, only a free trial before its 99/month Launch tier. IShort has a permanent free plan that analyzes up to 500 reels per month on any public account with no Instagram login.
What is the cheapest way to analyze Instagram Reels and competitors?
For most individual creators the cheapest option is a free tool. Both Metricool free plan and IShort free plan cost 0 dollars. IShort is the only one that lets you open any public creator Reels and sort them by views, engagement, posting times and hashtags instantly with no login, which makes it the cheapest route specifically for Reels and competitor research. Shortimize starts at 99/month and targets agencies.
Do I need to connect my Instagram account to use these tools?
Metricool and Shortimize both work around accounts you connect or add to the platform. IShort requires no Instagram login at all, it reads publicly available data as you browse, so you can analyze any public profile instantly without granting account access.
Analyze Any Public Account Reels, Free
IShort installs in 30 seconds and turns any public Instagram profile into sortable Reels analytics, views, engagement, best posting times, hashtags and scripts, with no login and no per-brand pricing.
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