Comparison

Instagram vs Custom Emojis Maker

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Instagram

Connect with friends and discover new content through photos, videos, and short-form entertainment. Share your daily moments and life's highlights, or dive into personalized feeds based on your interests.

Highlights
  • Short-form video creation and discovery (Reels)
  • Ephemeral content sharing (Stories & Notes)
  • Private group chats (Close Friends)
  • Personalized content feeds (Explore)
  • Customizable posts with templates and filters
  • Discover brands and shop products
Features
Read full description

Little moments lead to big friendships. Share yours on Instagram. — From Meta Connect with friends, find other fans, and see what people around you are up to and into. Explore your interests and post what's going on, from your daily moments to life's highlights. Share what you’re up to and into: - Turn your life into a movie and discover short, entertaining videos on Instagram with Reels. - Keep up with friends on the fly with Stories and Notes that disappear after 24 hours. - Start group chats and share unfiltered moments with your Close Friends. - Share memories from recent events or trips in Feed. - Customize your posts with exclusive templates, music, stickers and filters. Dive into your interests. - Watch videos from your favorite creators and discover new content that’s personalized to your interests. - Get inspired by photos and videos from new accounts in Explore. - Discover brands and small businesses, and shop products that are relevant to your personal style. Some Instagram features may not be available in your country or region. Terms and Policies: https://help.instagram.com/581066165581870 Consumer Health Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policies/health Learn how we're working to help keep our communities safe across Meta technologies at the Instagram Safety Center: https://about.instagram.com/safety

About

Custom Emojis Maker

Easily create personalized emoji stickers from your own face or friends' photos. Add custom text and art to express yourself uniquely in messages. Enjoy hilarious results and share your creations.

Highlights
  • Create emoji stickers from your face
  • Add text and art
  • Use in iMessage
  • Emoji friends' faces
  • Generate unique expressions
Features
Read full description

Create emoji stickers using your face! Emoji Maker is the quickest and easiest way to make custom emojis. Make emojis in seconds and use them in iMessage. Add unique expressions. Add text and art with Emoji Maker Pro. Emoji your friends’ faces. Laugh at the hilarious results. Express yourself with Emoji Maker today! Subscription pricing and terms: Emoji Maker offers three auto-renewing subscription options: $3.99 per week $7.99 per month $39.99 per year These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Your Emoji Maker subscription will automatically renew at the end of each term and your credit card will be charged through your iTunes account. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings but refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term. Read more about our terms and conditions here:

 https://architectapps.co/privacy-policy/ https://architectapps.co/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

Instagram4 screens
Custom Emojis Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Instagram at free with in-app purchases against Custom Emojis Maker's subscription. Instagram also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Custom Emojis Maker's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (62% vs 31%). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Instagram sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Custom Emojis Maker sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Instagram holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Instagram has 30M ratings behind it against 1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 31% of Instagram's written reviews are positive against 62% of Custom Emojis Maker's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Instagram ships an update weekly, Custom Emojis Maker every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Instagram versus Custom Emojis Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInstagramCustom Emojis Maker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (30M ratings) — better4.2 (1K ratings)
Positive reviews31.3% of reviews61.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings30M — better1K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#3 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.315.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size583 MB31 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperInstagram, Inc.Kossi Adzo

Customer experience

Instagram

All ratings29,507,938 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.4%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews20,226 reviews
Positive31.3%
Neutral7.0%
Negative61.7%

Custom Emojis Maker

All ratings1,005 ratings
Positive76.6%
Neutral12.5%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive61.9%
Neutral14.9%
Negative23.1%

User reviews

Instagram

From 30M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💕 Excellent way to connect with friends and family
  • 🌍 Ability to discover new content and accounts
  • 🎨 Great platform for artists and creators to showcase their work
  • 🤝 Helps small businesses promote their products

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
  • 🤖 Overly aggressive AI moderation leading to unfair account suspensions
  • 🔒 Poor customer support and lack of transparency around account issues
  • 📊 Declining organic reach and push towards paid advertising
  • 🔀 Confusing layout changes that make the app less user-friendly

Custom Emojis Maker

From 1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 😊 Fun and enjoyable
  • 🎨 Customizable emojis
  • 💡 Unique feature to create personalized emojis

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall for additional features
  • 🔒 Limited free options
  • 📢 Excessive ads
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes

Bugs and requests

Instagram

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to post or view videos due to app crashing
  • Saved posts and drafts randomly disappearing
  • Notifications not working or showing outdated information
  • Inability to log in or switch between multiple accounts

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to edit/delete individual photos from a multi-photo post
  • Option to view posts in chronological order instead of algorithmic feed
  • Better tools for small businesses to manage and grow their presence
  • Improved accessibility features for users with disabilities

Custom Emojis Maker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Copy to clipboard function not working
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Inconsistent performance

Requested features

4 requests
  • Increase free emoji limit
  • Add more editing tools
  • Improve background removal
  • Integrate with more messaging apps

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Instagram

Subscriptions1
  • Meta Verified Standard9 variants$14.991 Month
One-time2
  • Instagram Badge$0.99
  • Instagram Badge$4.99
9 purchases

Custom Emojis Maker

Subscriptions4
  • Unlock All Subscription 1 Week3 Days trial$3.997 Days
  • Unlock Subscription 1 Month3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Unlock All Subscription 1 Year3 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Unlock All Subscription 1 Year$39.991 Year
One-time5
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • Create Unlimited Emojis$1.99
  • Unlock Arts$1.99
Show 2 more
  • Unlock Text$1.99
  • Unlock All$4.99

Questions

Is Instagram free?
Instagram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Custom Emojis Maker free?
Custom Emojis Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Instagram or Custom Emojis Maker?
Instagram is rated higher. Instagram averages 4.7 out of 5 from 30M ratings, while Custom Emojis Maker averages 4.2 from 1K ratings.
Do Instagram or Custom Emojis Maker have ads?
Instagram shows ads; Custom Emojis Maker does not.
Which is updated more often, Instagram or Custom Emojis Maker?
Instagram ships an update weekly, and Custom Emojis Maker every 2 months. Most recently, Instagram was updated on September 26, 2026 and Custom Emojis Maker on September 12, 2026.

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