FollowSpy alternative (no password, no app)

How it works

1. 1

   Cancel FollowSpy on its website

   FollowSpy bills through its own site, not an app store. Sign in at followspy.ai, open your account or billing settings, and cancel before the current quarter renews; low-star reviews mention charges continuing and refunds being refused once a plan is active, so note the renewal date. There's no Instagram password to change — FollowSpy never had one.

2. 2

   Request your export from Instagram

   In the Instagram app: profile → menu (☰) → Settings and privacy → Accounts Centre → Your information and permissions → Export your information → Create export → Download to device. Tick only Followers and following, set the date range to All time and the format to JSON, then start the export.

3. 3

   Wait for the email and download the ZIP

   A followers-only export is usually ready in 10–20 minutes. Instagram emails a download link (valid for four days) and also shows it under Export your information. Save the ZIP to the device you'll use for the check.

4. 4

   Open the ZIP on UnfollowChecker

   Upload the ZIP here. The two lists are compared in your browser and nothing is uploaded. You see the non-follower count free; the full list is a one-time $2.99, and comparing two exports for unfollowers is free.

Why people leave FollowSpy

FollowSpy (followspy.ai) belongs to the username-tracker group rather than the password-app group: you type a public Instagram username, and it shows that account's recent follows and unfollows plus an anonymous story viewer, with no login from anyone. At the time of checking the Starter plan was priced at $7 a week, or $4.90 a week when billed quarterly, covering two accounts; Premium at $9 a week, or $6.30 a week quarterly, adds unlimited accounts and real-time follower notifications. Quarterly billing means the first charge is several weeks at once.

Billing is the main reason people look elsewhere. Reviews mention unexpected charges, a no-refund policy once a plan is activated, and disputes ending up with the bank. FollowSpy's Trustpilot profile had its score withdrawn after the platform flagged and removed fake reviews, which makes the remaining low-star reviews harder to weigh but doesn't make them go away. On the product side, FollowSpy can't see private accounts at all and doesn't track likes or comments, so for watching your own private account it offers nothing. The FollowSpy vs UnfollowChecker page compares features; this page is about where to go next.

Before you leave: three things to do

Because FollowSpy never touched your login, leaving is mostly a billing exercise:

• Cancel on followspy.ai before the quarter renews, and screenshot the confirmation. Reviews mention refunds being refused, so the date matters more than the request.
• Check your card statement for the renewal amount and, if a charge arrives after cancelling, raise it with your bank with the screenshot attached.
• If you also used a login-based app at any point, change your Instagram password in Accounts Centre → Password and security and review Apps and websites under Settings and privacy → Website permissions. FollowSpy itself needs no revoking.

The three best FollowSpy alternatives

The fork is whose account you were tracking. For your own, the export beats any username tracker on completeness and price. For someone else's public account, the honest options are other trackers, each with their own billing and limits.

How the export method works for your own account

FollowSpy sees an account the way a stranger does, from the outside, which is why it's limited to public profiles. The export sees it from the inside, because Meta already holds your lists and is obliged to give them to you. Request Followers and following in JSON from Accounts Centre (the numbered steps above), download the ZIP when the email arrives, and UnfollowChecker compares following.json with the followers_*.json parts in your browser. It's the same data Instagram uses to draw your followers screen, not a sample. Instagram unfollow checker without password explains why no username or login is ever needed for this.

Take an export, keep it, take another next month, and the free who unfollowed me comparison shows who left in between — FollowSpy's unfollow detection for your own account, at your own pace. The free Instagram unfollow checker page lists exactly what stays free on every run.

What you lose by switching

Real time. FollowSpy's pitch is seeing follows and unfollows as they happen, with Premium pushing notifications; an export is a snapshot that takes 10–20 minutes to produce, so there is no "as it happens". You also lose the anonymous story viewer entirely (unrelated to followers, and nothing export-based can replace it), tracking of accounts you don't own, and the chronological newest-first feed of someone's follows. What you gain is private-account support, an exact rather than inferred list, and no quarterly charge to argue about.

What this tool can't do

It can't take a username — there's no field for one, because a tool with no login has no way to fetch anyone's data, and that's what makes it safe to use. It can't view stories, anonymously or otherwise. It can't notify you or run in the background. It only ever shows the account whose export you upload, as of the moment Meta generated it. If tracking an account you don't own is the real job, DolphinRadar and FollowSpy are the tools for it; is it safe to use Instagram unfollow checkers covers what to check before trusting either with a card.

Frequently asked questions