Social media platforms have changed every aspect of our lives, including marketing. If you want to promote yourself or your brand, there’s no better way to start than on Instagram.
It allows you to keep up with trends and post quality content. Of course, without people who will see it, the content is nothing. You need to grow an audience, or it’s like you’re talking to a brick wall.
Luckily, there are many tools that help you build a targeted audience. There are various kinds of tools, from those that tout growth through automated actions to those that sell likes and followers. Today, I’m dealing with one of the former kind – Social Buddy.
Social Buddy reviews I came across do not provide a clear answer to the following questions: Can it boost your follower count? Does it still work? Are there any Social Buddy alternatives?
So, I created an honest & objective Social Buddy review.
Stay tuned!
What Is Social Buddy?
Social Buddy claims to be an Instagram growth service, but the descriptions on their website seem a bit vague. How do they achieve growth? What do they really do? It remains a mystery.
Hence, I decided to dig deeper into the core of this service.
I cannot say I was surprised when I learned that it is actually an Instagram bot. Many services nowadays try to grow your account by using automated activity.
The problem is that they are trying to hide the real nature of their services. Why would they do that?
Since 2019, Instagram and Facebook have put effort into revealing bots that violate their terms and conditions.
With every tweak of Instagram’s algorithm, it seems that bots are becoming less and less efficient. Oftentimes, they block your account activity or put a temporary ban on your profile.
It seems that Social Buddy doesn’t work anymore, and yet, they accept new customers. Plus, they claim to get you real and targeted followers, without interacting with fake accounts of bots.
And the truth is a polar opposite of that.
Social Buddy also offers a TikTok growth service. My focus is on Instagram, so I haven’t really investigated this part of it, but I imagine it works in a similar way.
After all I learned all about this tool, I can say it is a scam. But let’s firstly analyze all of its aspects.
Other Popular Instagram Growth Tools
| Service | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Social | 4.8 | Check Price |
| Upleap.com | 4.6 | Check Price |
| Nitreo.com | 4.3 | Check Price |
| SocialFollow | 4.2 | Check Price |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | Check Price |
| Stim Social | 3.9 | Check Price |
How Does Social Buddy Work?
Social Buddy is a growth service that should bring a targeted audience to your IG account.
They do not state this clearly, but their strategy is implementing automated activities to achieve the goal. In other words, they like, follow, and unfollow other users instead of you.
According to reviews on reputable websites such as Trustpilot.com, Social Buddy automation stopped working in 2019 because they violated Instagram’s policy.
The bot either doesn’t bring you the desired followers, or it suspends your account. If you’ve ever had a ban on your account, you know how much of a hassle is trying to recover it. If not, believe me, you don’t want to go through that ordeal.
At least not because of the tools like Social Buddy Instagram that won’t get you the actual results.
How to Use Social Buddy?
If you want to use Social Buddy, here’s what you need to do:
- You choose the pricing plan that you wish and go to “get real followers.”
- Then, they ask you to provide some basic information – your name, email, and Instagram username.
- Next, you should specify your goals, such as target niche and hashtags, and they supposedly start to grow your account. Except they don’t.
Features of Social Buddy?
Here’s what Social Buddy offers feature-wise:
Automated Activity
They don’t mention this anywhere on their official website, but what you’re actually paying for are automated Instagram activities, characteristic for any bot.
It performs tasks on your behalf – that is, it likes, follows, and unfollows other users.
The troubles start when Instagram detects bot automation and bans your account. Or, on the other side of the spectrum, the bot does not perform any actions, and you end up paying for nothing.
Targeting Audience
On the surface, it seems that Social Buddy targets a specific group of Instagram users from your niche. They make it look that way because they ask you to note your competitors, hashtags, etc.
But, in reality, all they do is randomly interact with fake and bot accounts that follow you in turn.
Social Buddy Pricing
As of now, Social Buddy has a single pricing plan for Instagram. It costs $99 a month:
And, as I’ve already mentioned, all of these statements are empty phrases. You won’t get organic growth, and fake and bot followers are a regular occurrence. Besides, the price tag is way too high, even if the service had worked.
Is Social Buddy Legit?
The Social Buddy team is not visible on the website, and the whole firm seems a bit shady. You cannot contact their customer support in any way except by email.
And, according to reviews on Trustpilot.com, you won’t get any help from them.
With all of this information and the fact that their service doesn’t work, yet they keep charging their customers, I’m pretty sure that Social Buddy is not legit.
Is Social Buddy Safe?
The only aspect in which Social Buddy is safe is the fact that they won’t steal your info.
By that, I mean that their official website is https secure, and the payment gateway is verified. They also don’t require your Instagram password, though your account has to be set on public.
However, Social Buddy isn’t safe for your IG account. It will get your actions (such as likes and follows) blocked, and your account banned.
Plus, the company refuses to issue refunds when the bot doesn’t actually work. The only way to stop them from charging you is to deactivate your payment methods.
What would you say – Is Social Buddy safe?
IMO, the fact that they have a secure website isn’t enough to deem it safe.
PROS and CONS
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Secure website | Doesn’t work anymore |
| Gets your action blocked | |
| Probably will get your account banned | |
| Refuse to issue refunds | |
| Provide fake claims | |
| Expensive tariff plan | |
| Unreliable customer support |
Social Buddy Reviews: Final Verdict
We all strive to build an engaged audience eager to see and hear what you have to say.
Is Social Buddy what you need to achieve that?
Nope, not really.
Even if it had worked before, it doesn’t anymore. It seems like a complete scam. This bot is just too aggressive and will get your account banned.
I’m not saying that every Instagram bot is inherently wrong. But most of them are against Instagram’s service policies. They provide you with fake engagements that can harm your account.
That’s the definition of stagnant growth. If you want to boost your follower count in the long run organically and with real people, I suggest that you check out some of the tools I mentioned below.
Top 10 Instagram Bots
Looking for a growth tool that actually works? We were too!
That’s why we took it upon ourselves to try as many such tools as possible and we ranked our favorites in the table below!
| Service | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flock Social | 4.8 | Check Price |
| Upleap.com | 4.6 | Check Price |
| Nitreo.com | 4.3 | Check Price |
| SocialFollow | 4.2 | Check Price |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | Check Price |
| Stim Social | 3.9 | Check Price |