Do you only have time and resources to dedicate to one short-form video platform?
Instagram has been a social media staple in marketing for over a decade now, but there’s no denying the amount of influence TikTok has.
In this post, we compare how each platform handles short-form videos and share tips on how to pick one to focus on.
Everything you need to know about TikTok videos
Although Instagram is older, many of the features available within Instagram Reels were inspired by features that were native to TikTok for years before Instagram even launched Reels, so we’re going to discuss TikTok’s features first.
TikToks have a maximum runtime of 10 or 60 minutes: 10 for videos you record in TikTok and 60 for videos you upload to TikTok.
Each video on TikTok has a caption, a “sound,” and four engagement buttons: like, comment, favorite and share.
To view a new video on TikTok, users scroll up.
As you know, videos are made up of two components: video and audio. On TikTok, you can save the audio portion of your video as a “sound” for other TikTok creators to use as the “sound” for their videos.
Music labels even make licensed music available to use as sounds if you’d prefer to set your video to a song rather than your own audio.
This feature, along with the short-form video format TikTok became popular for, allowed TikTok to thrive as a platform. There are entire social media trends that become popular on TikTok that involve creators using popular sounds from other creators.
TikTok also has filters, stickers, native editing features and powerful collaborative features, including stitches and duets.
Your bio can have one main link as well as links to other social media platforms.
As a creator, you can use a personal or business account on TikTok. A business account gives you access to useful analytics, such as the number of video and profile views you’ve received, your traffic sources on TikTok (For You vs Following page), total play times for individual videos, and more.
Everything you need to know about Instagram reels
All videos on Instagram are now reels, but what are Instagram reels?
Reels are short-form videos that have a maximum runtime of three minutes. Each reel has a caption and up to three primary engagement buttons: like, comment and share.
Underneath the Share button is a three-dot button that opens additional options, including a Save button and buttons that unlock collaborative features, including remixes (similar to duets on TikTok) and sequences (similar to stitches on TikTok).
Similar to TikTok, if users want to view a new reel, all they need to do is scroll up.
Also similar to TikTok, reels have audios other creators can use. Licensed music can also be used as audios.
Stickers, filters and in-app video editing are also available.
All Instagram accounts have access to a single link creators can add to their bios.
On Instagram, you can create a personal or business account. Business accounts are maintained via Meta, which also controls your Facebook account.
Analytics include metrics for the number of profile views, video views, follows and engagements you’ve received.
Statistics that compare Instagram reels and TikTok videos
In our stats post for Instagram Reels, we discovered that Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users (MAUs), according to Statista.
Statista also says TikTok reached 1.9 billion users overall in 2023 and 135.79 million in the United States in early 2025.
It’s clear that no matter which platform you decide to use, you’ll have a large and active user base to target.
Let’s go over a few statistics from Metricool’s short-form video study as well.
According to this study, Instagram Reels get an average number of 16,153 views each while TikToks receive 18,173 views.
That doesn’t seem like much of a difference, but the numbers get more spaced out when you compare numbers between different types of accounts:
- Accounts with 0 to 500 followers
- Instagram – Reels posted by accounts with this many followers receive an average number of 558 views each
- TikTok – TikTok videos posted by accounts with this many followers receive an average number of 1,200 views each
- Accounts with 501 to 2,000 followers
- Instagram – 1,200 views
- TikTok – 3,600 views
- Accounts with 2,001 to 10,000 followers
- Instagram – 2,900 views
- TikTok – 9,200 views
- Accounts with 10,001 to 50,000 followers
- Instagram – 9,000 views
- TikTok – 19,700 views
- Accounts with over 50,001 followers
- Instagram – 65,800 views
- TikTok – 91,400 views
You can see that for smaller accounts, TikToks receive twice as many views as Instagram reels do.
Engagement rates are similar between the two platforms with Instagram reels receiving an average engagement rate of 5.53% per video and TikTok receiving 5.75%.
According to Similarweb, here are the demographics that use Instagram:
- Top Countries
- United States – 20.1% of instagram.com’s traffic originates from this country
- Brazil – 10.15%
- India – 5.35%
- United Kingdom – 3.41%
- Canada – 3.33%
- Gender Distribution
- Male – 55.62% of instagram.com’s traffic belongs to this gender group
- Female – 44.38%
- Age Distribution
- 18 to 24 – 23.12% of instagram.com’s traffic belongs to this age group
- 25 to 34 – 29.23%
- 35 to 44 – 18.55%
- 45 to 54 – 13.35%
- 55 to 64 – 9.65%
- 65+ – 6.1%
Here are the demographics that use TikTok:
- Top Countries
- United States – 20% of tiktok.com’s traffic originates from this country
- Vietnam – 7.67%
- Brazil – 5.23%
- Indonesia – 4.2%
- Peru – 3.47%
- Gender Distribution
- Male – 55.72% of tiktok.com’s traffic belongs to this gender
- Female – 44.28%
- Age Distribution
- 18 to 24 – 26.67% of tiktok.com’s traffic belongs to this age group
- 25 to 34 – 29.35%
- 35 to 44 – 18.17%
- 45 to 54 – 12.13%
- 55 to 64 – 8.47%
- 65+ – 5.21%
You can see how most of Instagram’s major traffic sources are English-speaking countries while TikTok has a higher share of Gen Z users.
7 major differences between Instagram reels and TikTok videos
1. Platform
TikTok is a video platform. The app opens the For You page (fyp) on launch. It’s filled with videos that are tailored to the user’s previous browsing history within the app.
All you need to do is scroll up to view the next video on your fyp.
There’s also a Following tab that only contains videos from creators you follow.
Instagram works a little differently.
While you can continuously scroll up on reels once you open one, you need to find one in your feed first.
The app does have a dedicated section for reels users can access by clicking the video button at the bottom of the app, but they’re definitely not readily accessible in the way TikTok makes them.
2. Video Length
TikTok videos can be up to 10 minutes long if you record the video in the app itself. They can be 60 minutes long if you upload the video.
Instagram reels, on the other hand, have a maximum length of three minutes.
3. Algorithm
This is subjective, but the TikTok algorithm is a lot more accurate than the Instagram algorithm tends to be.
What I mean is, if you like a video about shrimp tacos from a specific creator on TikTok, you’ll likely see more videos from that creator and maybe even more videos about shrimp tacos.
Unfortunately, Instagram’s algorithm isn’t quite as sharp. You’ll mostly see reels that are popular on the platform rather than reels that relate to content you’ve viewed and likes in the past.
4. Sounds
According to Instagram, the platform has over 14,000 songs and sounds creators can add to their videos.
This is great, but it pales in comparison to TikTok’s Commercial Music Library (CML).
The CML has over 1 million songs that are pre-cleared and free of copyright restrictions.
Fortunately, you can use any video’s sound as the sound for your video on both platforms.
5. Filters
Instagram has plenty of preset and user-made filters to use, including fun filters like Guess the Giberish, but there’s no denying that TikTok’s extensive library of filters is far more entertaining.
Some change your appearance while others are just for fun, such as a trend that tests your singing pitch.
6. Creator fund
While creators often feel short-changed by the TikTok Creator Fund, especially when you compare it to the amount of revenue creators are able to generate from YouTube’s ad program, it’s still better than what Instagram pays for views: nothing.
Instagram has advertising, but it does not have a program that allows you to earn revenue from Instagram itself from people simply watching your content.
This is a perk you can receive by posting your videos to TikTok, even if you only receive a few hundred dollars for millions of views.
7. Shop
Instagram has built-in ecommerce features that allow users to buy directly from creators on Instagram, but it’s fairly lightweight in comparison to TikTok’s shop features.
You can even use this feature to promote other shop’s products and receive affiliate commissions.
Should you use both platforms?
It’s best to optimize your videos for one platform or the other, but you should definitely repost videos you make for one platform onto the other platform.
Focus on the platform your audience primarily uses.
Then, use a social media scheduling tool like SocialBee or Pallyy to easily cross post to other platforms.
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