Free tool
Free Instagram hashtag generator
Describe your post and get 3 hashtag sets (broad, niche, and branded) ready to copy into your caption or first comment.
Set picked? Lemonpost can schedule it as a first comment under your post. See the Instagram scheduler
How it works
How to find Instagram hashtags in 3 steps
- 1
Describe the post
What's in it and who it's for. Mention your brand name if you want branded tags that fit.
- 2
Pick a style
Casual, professional, playful, or minimal. Minimal keeps each set to 3 to 5 tags, in line with Instagram's own advice.
- 3
Copy a set
Broad, niche, or branded. Copy one, or build your own by mixing a few tags from each.
How Instagram hashtags work now
Hashtags used to be the way Instagram posts got discovered. Today they're one signal among many, and Instagram's own advice has shifted toward a few relevant tags instead of 30 random ones. They still help Instagram understand what a post is about and who might want it. This generator gives you 3 sets built for that: broad, niche, and branded.
How the generator works
Describe the post, pick a style, and the tool sends that to an AI model on Lemonpost's server. It returns 3 sets. Broad tags place the post in a category, niche tags describe exactly what's in it, and branded tags are ones you could own: your name, your product, a series you post regularly. Nothing you type is stored, there's no login, and each visitor gets a daily free limit that resets the next day. The tool doesn't see live post counts for a tag, so check any you're unsure about in Instagram search, where the post count shows under the tag, and look at whether the recent posts are actually about your topic.
Instagram hashtag rules and limits
You can use up to 30 hashtags on a post, in the caption or in a comment, and the caption itself is capped at 2,200 characters. Instagram has said that 3 to 5 relevant hashtags work better than a full set of 30, and it has tested lower caps, so if the app refuses your list, trim it. Hashtags can contain letters, numbers, and underscores but no spaces or other punctuation. Tags on private accounts don't show up in hashtag search. Banned or restricted tags (often generic ones that got flooded with spam) can hide your post from the tag entirely, and Instagram doesn't publish the list, so if a tag's page shows no recent posts, drop it. Instagram also removed the option to follow hashtags in late 2024, so at the time of writing tags no longer drop your post into anyone's home feed. They work through search and the tag's own page.
Broad, niche, and branded
Broad tags (#gardening) have millions of posts, so your post disappears in seconds. They're fine as 1 or 2 category markers, but they won't bring reach on their own. Niche tags (#balconygarden, #smallspacegardening) have a clearer audience and less competition, and they're where most discovery from hashtags happens. Branded tags (#yourbrandname or a series name) don't bring new reach at first, but they collect your posts and your customers' posts in one place and make them easy to find later. A sensible set is 1 or 2 broad, 2 or 3 niche, and 1 branded. Rotate the niche tags between posts so each one describes that specific post. If you sell something, add a tag for the product type and one for the location, since local searches on Instagram often start with a place name.
Caption or first comment?
Both count toward the 30, and both work for discovery. Putting tags in the caption keeps everything in one place but clutters what people read. Putting them in the first comment keeps the caption clean, which many accounts prefer. If you schedule posts, the first comment is the easier option: Lemonpost lets you add a first comment to a scheduled Instagram post, so the hashtags publish right after the post without you being there. Whichever you choose, keep the tags at the end and put the real message up top, since only about the first 125 characters show before the More button. A blank line before the tag block keeps the caption tidy, and our Instagram line break generator makes sure it survives posting.
Good to know
Instagram hashtags, answered
The limit is 30. Instagram has suggested that 3 to 5 relevant ones work better than a wall of tags, and it has tested lower caps. A mix of 1 or 2 broad tags, a few niche ones, and 1 branded tag is a sensible default.
Yes. Tags in a comment count the same as tags in the caption, both for the 30 limit and for discovery. Many accounts use the first comment to keep the caption clean.
No. It picks tags that describe your post. Search a tag in Instagram to see its post count, and prefer tags with steady recent activity over the biggest numbers.
It collects your posts, and posts from customers or fans, under one tag. It won't bring new reach at first, but it makes your content easy to find and gives people a way to join in.
Yes, with a daily limit per visitor so the tool stays quick for everyone. No account, no watermark. We make Lemonpost, a simple social media scheduler, and the free tools are our way of being useful before you ever need us.
No. It goes to an AI model on our server, the sets come back to your browser, and nothing is saved. Copy the set you want before you leave.
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