Instagram follower tracking app: $17K a month, self-reported

FollowBuddy is an app for tracking Instagram unfollowers and people who do not follow back. Its $17K a month was reported by the founder in an interview (not independently verified), as of January 19th, 2026.

What it actually sells

FollowBuddy is an app for finding Instagram unfollowers and people who are not following back. The site describes it as a way to "Easily track who unfollows you on Instagram with FollowBuddy."

How it charges

The product's price could not be identified on the pages we read. Currency amounts appear on the pages, but none could be tied to the product's own pricing.

Where customers come from

FollowBuddy is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. The pages also say, "Trusted by thousands for secure, real-time follower insights."

What stands out

Each time users use FollowBuddy, the app compares their current followers with a previous audit to help identify unfollowers. Paid plans include unlimited follower checks, and the app does not require users to share their Instagram password.

From the official site

Easily track who unfollows you on Instagram with FollowBuddy.

Spy on key accounts

Excerpts from the official website, fetched October 1, 2026.

Where it sits in the data

FollowBuddy's $17K a month is higher than 73% of the 6,604 projects with founder-reported monthly revenue in our dataset; the median across them is $2K. Snapshot: 2026-09-30. The dataset only covers founders who chose to publish their numbers, so it leans toward businesses that work; use it for scale, not as an average.

Currency

All figures are in US dollars as published. A rough yuan or euro conversion is not applied here because prices, taxes and acquisition costs differ by country.

Could you build something like this?

In my view, this would need demand from Instagram users who want follower insights and unfollow tracking. The buyer is the person managing an Instagram account, and distribution would depend on app-store visibility, word of mouth, and direct promotion.

The hard parts would include handling account access safely, maintaining reliable follower comparisons, managing support requests, and complying with platform rules. Competition would come from other tools serving users who want account monitoring and follower insights.

Verdict: Needs real work.

One thing to take from it

The clearest product lesson is to define one account-management job clearly: show Instagram users who unfollowed them and who is not following back.

Sources

FollowBuddy official website, fetched October 1, 2026
FollowBuddy pricing page, fetched October 1, 2026
Starter Story founder interview: revenue reported by the founder in an interview (not independently verified), as of January 19th, 2026

Revenue, team and start-cost figures are what the founder reported at the interview date, not current figures and not a prediction of what you will earn. Product and pricing facts come from the business's own website as checked on 30 September 2026. Method & sources · Disclosure