15 AI Hashtag Generators to Grow Instagram in 2026

Instagram hashtags aren’t dead. Most startups just use them badly.

I see the same pattern with Australian founders and marketers: they’ll post a solid Reel, write a decent caption, then slap on either five ultra-generic hashtags (#startup #business #australia) or 30 random ones they copied from a competitor. The result is predictable—low reach, low saves, and the feeling that Instagram “doesn’t work anymore”.

The fix is less glamorous than people hope: better targeting, better testing, and better hygiene. That’s where AI hashtag tools can actually help—especially when you’re doing content marketing on a tight budget and need organic reach to carry more of the load.

This article is part of our AI Marketing Tools Australia series, focusing on practical tools that help businesses do more with less. Below you’ll find the best AI hashtag generators for 2026, plus a straightforward system for choosing hashtags that bring the right people to your profile.

Why AI hashtag tools matter for Australian startups

Answer first: AI hashtag generators matter because they reduce the time and guesswork required to match your content with the audiences already searching for it.

Hashtags still function as an indexing layer for Instagram—especially for:

• Niche discovery (people browsing specific topics)
• Category signals (helping Instagram classify your content)
• Search visibility (hashtags as keyword proxies)

The source article cites a widely repeated stat: adding even one hashtag can lift engagement by ~13% on Instagram. Treat that as directional rather than gospel, but the underlying point stands: hashtags can create incremental reach, and incremental reach is how startups compound.

For Australian startups, there’s a second reason: your market is often geographically concentrated. When you combine niche + location hashtags (and sometimes event-based tags), you can show up where buyers, partners, and future hires are already browsing.

What to look for in an AI Instagram hashtag generator

Answer first: Pick tools that help you balance relevance, competition, and repeatability—not just tools that spit out a long list.

When I’m evaluating hashtag tools for a lean marketing team, I care about:

1) Relevance over volume

A tool that gives 15 highly relevant tags beats a tool that gives 200 generic ones.

2) Competition indicators

Look for metrics like difficulty scores, popularity bands, or posting velocity. If a tag is dominated by huge accounts, your post gets buried fast.

3) Workflow features

The unsexy stuff matters:

• Save hashtag sets/collections
• Export or copy in one click
• Integrations with scheduling tools
• Banned/spam hashtag checks

4) Account-level suggestions

The better tools tailor suggestions to your account’s size and niche, rather than recommending the same tags to everyone.

Snippet-worthy rule: A good hashtag is one where your post has a realistic chance of ranking in “Top” for at least a few minutes.

The 15 best AI hashtag generators for Instagram (2026)

Answer first: The “best” tool depends on whether you need analytics, scheduling, account-level optimisation, or a quick free generator.

Below is a curated list based on the RSS content, with practical guidance on who each tool suits.

1) Hashtags for Likes

Best for teams who want an all-in-one approach that goes beyond hashtags.

• Strengths: hashtag difficulty scores, account analysis, competitor insights, trend detection
• Trade-off: paid-only
• Pricing (from source): $59/mo Regular, $89/mo Pro

2) Kicksta

Best free option when you just need fast keyword-based suggestions.

• Strengths: unlimited searches, simple workflow
• Trade-off: limited categorisation and deeper analytics
• Pricing: free

3) Hashtagify

Best for Twitter-first hashtag research (less useful if you’re Instagram-only).

• Strengths: deep analytics, trend history, language/country insights
• Trade-off: detailed analytics apply mainly to Twitter
• Pricing (from source): starts at $29/mo after trial

4) Display Purposes

Best “sanity check” tool to avoid spammy tags.

• Strengths: filters spam/bad hashtags; quick and clean
• Trade-off: not a full strategy tool; better as a companion
• Pricing: free

5) Tailwind

Best if you want hashtags + scheduling in one workflow.

• Strengths: colour-coded recommendations, lists, analytics, first-comment posting
• Trade-off: requires an account; analytics aren’t from official Instagram data
• Pricing (from source): free plan + paid tiers ($12.99–$39.99/mo)

6) Flick

Best for account-specific hashtag suggestions and tracking.

• Strengths: performance tracking, hashtag collections, banned hashtag checks, multi-language support
• Trade-off: requires connecting your Instagram account
• Pricing (from source): plans around $8–$48/mo after trial

7) SISTRIX

Best for quick batches of suggestions from a large database.

• Strengths: huge dataset, updated recommendations
• Trade-off: limited free searches per day; fewer workflow features
• Pricing (from source): paid accounts available; free limit applies

8) Later

Best for content teams already using a visual planner.

• Strengths: schedule posts + first comment, save captions, organise hashtags, track performance
• Trade-off: not a dedicated hashtag engine
• Pricing (from source): $18–$80/mo

9) Ritetag

Best for real-time engagement-based suggestions.

• Strengths: suggestions while you type; based on real-time engagement
• Trade-off: requires app/extension; slightly higher setup friction
• Pricing (from source): paid after trial ($29–$97/mo)

10) Keyhole

Best for larger campaigns that need tracking and dashboards.

• Strengths: campaign management, tracking, dashboards, related topics
• Trade-off: pricier; the source notes a mismatch around “generator” capability—treat it as a tracking suite
• Pricing (from source): mentions $149/mo, also lists $79 and $39 tiers + custom

11) Inflact

Best if you want photo-based or post-based hashtag generation.

• Strengths: generate by keyword, photo upload, or existing post; topic collections
• Trade-off: Instagram-focused (not cross-platform)
• Pricing (from source): $54–$84/mo

12) BigBangram

Best low-cost paid tool for hashtag suggestions + insights.

• Strengths: large database; filtering and sorting
• Trade-off: limited saving/organisation unless on paid plan
• Pricing (from source): premium around $9/mo

13) Mention

Best free tool for quick suggestions plus trend awareness.

• Strengths: simple UI; trending hashtag info
• Trade-off: 11 suggestions per search
• Pricing: free

14) TagsFinder

Best for location filtering and exclusions.

• Strengths: filter by country; exclude unwanted words; generate replacements
• Trade-off: shows 30 at a time
• Pricing: free

15) MetaHashtags

Best for people who want detailed hashtag analytics.

• Strengths: post volume, posts per hour, average likes/comments on top posts, competitor hashtag viewing
• Trade-off: exporting via CSV is clunky; full access is paid
• Pricing (from source): limited free; paid around $9.50/mo

A practical hashtag strategy (that doesn’t look spammy)

Answer first: Use a structured mix of hashtag sizes and intents, then test for 2–4 weeks like you would a paid campaign.

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags, but more isn’t automatically better. The source notes research suggesting engagement can drop after 5–6 hashtags, while average usage sits around 10–11. Realistically, the “right” number depends on your niche and content format.

Here’s a system that works well for startups:

Use 9–15 hashtags per post as your baseline

Enough to cover discovery surfaces, not so many you look desperate.

Build a “three-layer” mix

Pick hashtags across these tiers:

1. Niche-specific (small/medium): highest chance to rank
2. Category (medium/large): helps Instagram classify the post
3. Brand + location: supports recall and local discovery

A typical set might look like:

• 4–6 niche tags (product/problem-specific)
• 3–5 category tags (industry/format)
• 1–2 location tags (city/region)
• 1 branded tag (consistent across content)

Put hashtags in the first comment (if you care about caption aesthetics)

It’s functionally similar to adding them in the caption, but your post reads cleaner. Just be consistent so your team doesn’t forget.

Don’t copy the same set onto every post

If the content is different, the hashtag intent should be different. Tailwind, Flick, and Later all make this easier by saving sets and swapping them quickly.

Example: an Australian startup post and a smart hashtag set

Answer first: Start with the content angle, then select hashtags that match buyer intent, not vanity.

Scenario: a Sydney-based B2B SaaS startup posts a Reel: “3 onboarding emails that increased activation.”

A stronger hashtag approach than #startup #saas would be:

• Intent/niche: #useronboarding #productactivation #emailonboarding #lifecyclemarketing
• Category: #b2bsaas #saasmarketing #growthmarketing
• Local: #sydneystartups #australianstartups
• Brand: #YourBrandName (branded)

The point isn’t the exact tags—it’s that they align with what the viewer cares about (activation, onboarding, lifecycle), not just your identity.

Quick FAQ: hashtag rules startups still get wrong

Answer first: Most “hashtag mistakes” are relevance mistakes.

How do I know if a hashtag is working?

Track reach from hashtags, saves, and profile visits per post (and compare across 10–20 posts). Tools like Flick and MetaHashtags can help, but Instagram Insights is still your baseline.

Should we always use 30 hashtags?

No. I’d rather see 12 highly relevant hashtags than 30 random ones. More tags increases the chance you include low-quality or spam-adjacent tags.

Can we create our own hashtag?

Yes—branded hashtags are useful for campaigns and UGC. Just don’t expect them to drive discovery on day one. Their value grows with repetition and community use.

What about banned or spammy hashtags?

Avoid them. They can tank distribution. Tools like Display Purposes and Flick are helpful for hygiene checks.

What I’d do this week (simple implementation plan)

Answer first: Pick one tool, create three hashtag sets, and run a two-week test.

If you’re a startup marketer and want results without turning this into a full-time job:

1. Choose one tool based on your needs:
   • Free + quick: Kicksta, Display Purposes, Mention, TagsFinder
   • Strategy + tracking: Flick, MetaHashtags
   • Scheduling workflow: Tailwind, Later
2. Create three saved hashtag sets (9–15 tags each):
   • Set A: niche-heavy
   • Set B: category-heavy
   • Set C: local + niche blend
3. Test for 10–14 days (at least 6–10 posts).
4. Keep the winning 70% and refresh the rest every fortnight.

A small stance: if you’re posting consistently and your hashtags aren’t tracked, you’re wasting a learning loop you already paid for with your time.

Where AI hashtag generators fit in the bigger 2026 Instagram stack

Hashtags won’t save weak content, but they will amplify content that already earns attention. In the AI Marketing Tools Australia series, we keep coming back to the same idea: use AI where it removes busywork and tightens feedback loops.

That’s exactly what a good AI Instagram hashtag generator does. It turns a vague “what hashtags should we use?” into a repeatable process tied to actual performance.

If you’re building an Australian startup and Instagram is part of your growth mix, which tool are you leaning towards—something free and simple, or something with tracking that can pay for itself in better reach?