It shows your Instagram profile as the three-wide feed, with your upcoming posts in it. The stuff you've already posted sits at the bottom, and above it you plan the layout of what's coming next: scheduled posts, drafts, and images you've uploaded that aren't posts yet. You drag tiles around to try different orders, and if you reorder scheduled posts, their publish times swap so the order you see is the order they'll go out.
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Add a visual mockup from an upload, Google Drive, or the Media Room and it sits on the grid as a planning tile. Open it and the post renders as an Instagram-style preview at its real aspect ratio, with the carousel laid out beside it: up to ten media in one tile, dragged into order, swapped out, removed. One button promotes it to a real Instagram draft with the same media, and the Composer opens ready for the caption. For the format itself, here is how to create Instagram carousels that hold attention past the first slide.
Below the planning rows, the last 27 posts you actually published render in the same three columns, so you judge a new layout against what's already live, the way a visitor scrolling your profile would. Stories are left out because they never touch the profile, and Reels only show when Share to Feed is on. What's on the grid is what people see.
A snapshot link shows a visual-only version of the Planning and Posted grids and nothing else: no captions in progress, no internal notes, no schedule. Each link expires on its own, counts how many times it's been opened, and can be revoked early if plans change. If the client wants a file instead, the same view downloads as a PDF.
A minute on blocking out the grid with placeholders, dragging tiles until the layout reads right, and scheduling a tile as a real post from the same screen.
A profile-shaped view of the Instagram plan, with enough connection to the real posts that arranging the grid and building the content are the same job.
The Grid Planner is the visual-feed view for Instagram. The other surfaces work the same posts in different shapes: by date, by approval stage, by caption.
Test a layout or draft the words before you sign in: free, open to everyone, no account needed.
The Instagram Grid Planner is a 3-column profile-style preview for any connected Instagram account. Each tile is a real post or a visual-only mockup. You drag tiles to test the layout, click into one to see the full post, and turn a mockup into a real Instagram draft from the same screen.
Yes. Feed planner, layout planner, post planner, grid planner: different names for the same job, arranging your upcoming Instagram posts in the three-wide profile view before they publish. The difference in Maeve is that the tiles are your real drafts and scheduled posts, so the layout you settle on is the schedule that actually goes out.
Yes. The 3-column grid mirrors an Instagram profile, so it doesn't apply to other networks. LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest posts use the Calendar and Composer like every other post.
Later and Planoly let you upload screenshots and arrange them. Maeve's grid is the same workspace the post lives in: a tile is a draft, a draft is a tile, and promoting a mockup creates a real Instagram draft you schedule from the Composer. One tool, not two.
Yes. Drafts for the selected Instagram account sit in a side tray. Drag any draft onto the grid to plant it on a slot, or open the draft in the Composer when the caption or media needs work.
No. The Planning grid is the layout view. Dragging tiles changes the order in the grid only. Posting times only change when you drag in the Coming up queue or move posts on the Calendar.
The existing time slots get reassigned across the moved posts. If Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are scheduled, dragging Friday into the first position gives that post the Monday slot and shifts the other two down. The slots stay. The posts swap.
Yes. Add images or a video to a tile and it sits as a planning item, not a draft. When the layout looks right, hit Promote and a real Instagram draft is created with the same media. The Composer opens, ready for the caption.
A planner tile holds up to ten media items, the same limit Instagram uses for a real carousel. Add media from upload or the Media Room, reorder it inside the tile, swap one out, and the cover updates.
Stories are excluded because they don't appear on the profile. Reels only appear when Share to Feed is on. The grid matches the public profile, not the camera roll.
Yes for visual-only mockups: pick any cover image for a single-video tile. Linked Reel tiles use the cover saved on the actual draft, since that's what Instagram will publish.
Yes. Share or export grid creates a visual-only snapshot link that shows the Planning and Posted grids and nothing else. Links expire on their own, show how many times they've been opened, and can be revoked early. You can also download the same view as a PDF.
Client review batches show one post at a time today, not the full grid. When the visual sequence matters, send a snapshot link of the grid alongside the review batch, or promote the mockups to drafts and send them through Client Reviews for the actual sign-off. The full client workflow, free options included, is in our guide to Instagram grid previews for clients.
