Though Instagram comes with a variety of filters that can suit different moods and themes including retro and glamorous, they are still – at most – baby filters. As for the editing tools, they are quite basic. Don’t get me wrong! For casual photo sharing, the built-in filters and editing tools are up to the task. And if you want your shots to look decent enough to win praise from your friends and loved ones, you may not feel the lack of better control over editing. But what if you want your shots to rival pro quality or look gorgeous by keeping away blemishes like wrinkles, dark spots, and even pimples? Well, this is where this extensive roundup of the 15 best Instagram photo editor apps for iPhone and Android have a role to play.

To make photo editing quite straightforward, these photo editors come with easy-to-use editing tools. So, you can enhance the look of your image, get rid of dark spots, and even add some instant effects to make your pic appear stunning on Instagram. Not just that, some image editors even feature makeup tools so that you can adorn your pics. Knowing that a lot of Instagrammers love to capture funky selfies, we’ve also picked out highly-rated selfie editors. Features like built-in selfie cameras coupled with a wide range of filters make them standout. Now that you know what’s coming up, let’s head over to explore the top Instagram photo editors for iOS and Android!

“Adobe Lightroom” stands out on many fronts and deserves to find its place right at the top as the best Instagram photo editor apps list. What gives it an edge over many of its rivals is the pretty clean and intuitive interface. Couple that with a wide range of editing tools and you have a very handy photo editor for Instagram.

Featuring multiple camera modes like HDR, professional and RAW, you can capture high-quality shots using your smartphone. Besides, you can choose to upgrade to the pro version of Lightroom to unlock lots of advanced tools such as selective adjustments, healing brush, cloud storage and more. Using albums, folders and star ratings, you will be able to keep all of your pics perfectly organized.

At the second spot, I’ve picked out VSCO. Simply put, it’s got all the ingredients to let you edit your images proficiently. With this app, you get a variety of professionally crafted presets and tools to experiment with. Should you want your Instagram pics to always sport trendy style, these presets could just be the need of the hour for you.

3. Snapseed

Google’s “Snapseed” is known to be a powerhouse for all good reasons. And if you want to have the luxury of top-notch editing tools to beautifully craft your Instagram photos, you’ve got to keep it right on your radar. Loaded with many filters, it ensures you get the desired result without putting a lot of effort. Based on the mood or theme, you can pick out the filter that can best define your pics.

Availability: iOS and Android

Afterlight 2 has always impressed me for more than one reason. First and foremost, I find its user-interface pretty easy-to-use. Plus, all the available tools are quite convenient to handle. So, even if photo editing hadn’t been your forte, you can edit your images effortlessly.

One of my favorite features of Afterlight 2 is the super cool “Double Exposure” that allows blending images together to create great combinations. Try it out and I bet you’d like every bit of it.

For adding glamour to your pics, AirBrush is the ideal way to go. Whether you want to remove the acne from your photos or liven up the makeup, it can stand up to the task really well. Choose from a variety of modern filters to transform your appearance in the blink of an eye. Try out a more suitable lightening and offer up the perfect smile to your selfies so that they can win attention with ease. You can use the easy-to-use tools to perfectly even out the skin tone. And oh, don’t forget to smoothen up the lines so that you appear more adorable than ever before.

It’s the infectious smile that is believed to garner a lot of praise. And with this app, you can quickly whiten teeth as well as widen or nudge your smile to appear more commendable. There is even an option to enlarge eyes and even brighten them to look more stylish.

What has called for my attention in Polarr Photo Editor is the smart auto-enhance tools. That means, the app will get half of your job done, ensuring you don’t need to spend plenty of time to have a better result. Another feature that has made me want this app is the dual-lens effect as well as easy depth adjustment. Times when you wish to make the subject stand out by keeping the unnecessary background at bay, it should come into the play.

7. Photo Lab

“Photo Lab” is a full-fledged photo editor and has several tricks up its sleeve. Well, I’ve saved it for the folks who always seem to crave for more photo effects. What puts it at the forefront is the massive library that consists of over 800 effects. That means you will get a range of effects to try and choose the ideal one for your pic. Besides, the app comes with around 50 preset styles. If you like turning your pics into praiseworthy artwork, these preset styles would be worth having a look.

8. Pixlr

“Pixlr” claims to offer over 2 million combinations of effects. If you want your library of tools to never run out of options, you should keep this Instagram photo editor in mind. Like making beautiful collages to post on Instagram? You can select from several preset collages to bring together multiple memories in one frame and give them a better reason to smile together. To ensure your pics look flawless, you can remove the blemishes like red-eye and also be able to smoothen up the skin as well as whiten the teeth to appear more stylish.

Should you want the photo editing process to be hassle-free, Perfect365 would be a pretty good option. The reason why I find it worth having a go is that it’s got lots of makeup and beauty tools. So, if you think that your Instagram stories have to look enchanting, this app can fit into your needs admirably.

Pricing: Free, in-app purchases available

If you are after top-notch layouts, l would recommend you to give a shot to “Layout from Instagram.“ As the name itself suggests, the app is developed by people at Instagram and offers you plenty of choices.

As for the interface, I’ve found it quite straightforward as it doesn’t involve much learning curve. So, getting started is as easy as you’d like. Furthermore, you can save your favorite layouts to your photo library and share them with your friends.

“InSquare Pic” can easily turn out to be your favorite Instagram photo editor and collage maker. So, if you want to have the best of both worlds, this one has to be one of the better picks. Using this app, you can resize your pics and make the most of several filters to adorn your images with ease. It also comes with neatly designed overlays that can rev up the appearance of photos. Select from a number of background effects such as gradient, blur and even mosaic to beautify your pics.

What about having a go at a top-notch black and white camera? Well, if you like to snap some retro-looking shots this one has to be your prime pick. I like its simple yet intuitive UI. Thanks to the live-view controls, you can get the most out of monochrome photography using your mobile device. The availability of an ever-growing filter pack allows you to refine your pics with ease. And with so many textures vying for your attention, your black and white pics will have more reasons to appear commendable.

Overall, this Instagram photo editor app works pretty reliably, making sure capturing vintage images remains an easy affair for you. So, should you ever decide to give a classy look to your Instagram shots, give a chance to HypoCam. I’m sure it will stand up to your demand.

If you wish to add glamorous quotient to your Instagram selfies, BeautyPlus could be the right answer to your need. The app features several beauty-enhancing tools so that you can beautify your look by removing acne, wrinkles, and freckles. Besides, it also lets you adjust the face, enlarge the eyes, and even dye hair. But what can prove to be a game-changer is the cool makeup tool that can make you appear gorgeous.

Another feature worth taking note of is the height adjustment tool that can let you easily adjust your height. Whether you wish to look a little taller or want to get slightly shorter to look perfect, this height adjustment tool can prove to be quite effective. And with over 100 filters, choosing a more suitable filter for a specific shot shouldn’t be a big ask. If you think that BeautyPlus is just a photo editor, let me tell you that it’s more than capable to work as a beauty camera. If you don’t have much time to get into editing, you can use its built-in shooter to snap nice shots with just a tap.

Claiming to be the best selfie editing app, Facetune2 seems fully equipped to let you edit glamorous selfies for sharing on Instagram. Just like BeautyPlus, it’s also got a solid collection of makeup tools so that you can adorn your look to your heart’s liking. For instance, you can smoothen your skin, whiten teeth, contour faces, and even get rid of blemishes like pimples, wrinkles, and bad lighting. And that too in just a few quick swipes.

If you want to dive a little deeper into editing, the artistic tools will have a role to play. The glitter brushes can let you paint your hair so that it can look stunning. And with the prism effect at the disposal, you can make your pic appear pleasing to the eyes. Even in terms of filters, Facetune2 has looked up to the task thanks to an ever-growing library of filters. So, it doesn’t matter whether you want your image to look retro or go filmy, the wide variety of filters can cater to your needs. Long story short, Facetune2 has got the quality to be your go-to Instagram selfie editor.

How about styling your Instagram stories? StoryChic is what you should pick to design your stories so that they can go viral. Featuring a huge library of over 500 static and animated templates, the app offers you a variety of templates to choose from. Besides, it also has an impressive collection of filters and catchy effects so that you can enhance your images with the needed flair. Aside from a variety of templates, StoryChic has got over 40 good-looking fonts. If you want your text to look just as eye-catching as the story itself, those fonts could prove to more than a handful.

Not just images, StoryChic can let you even fine-tune videos for Instagram. And with plenty of music video templates, creating a video story filled with loving music becomes quite straightforward. Once your story is ready to go live, you can export it in high quality and share it on several social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Overall, it’s easily the best Instagram photo editor for creating cool stories.

Now that you have a range of highly rated photo editors for Instagram at your disposal, make the most of them to win plenty of eyeballs and praise on the social networking sites. As most of these apps come with tons of filters and effects, experiment with the looks as much as possible. And once you are happy with the outcome, blast the pics on your favorite social site.