How to see your competitors' trial reels
Updated October 4, 2026
Instagram lets creators post a trial reel: it's shown only to people who don't follow the account and, if it performs, the creator shares it with their followers later. Those reels don't show on their profile, so you normally never see them. ContentScout detects them for you on the Instagram competitors you choose.
How to turn them on
Open the three dots on an Instagram competitor
In Tracking, on their card, choose See their trial reels. You can also tick Also find their trial reels when you add a new Instagram competitor.
Wait a few minutes
If you have a free spot, we look right away. Their card gets the yellow Trial reels chip so you know whose trial reels you're tracking.
Open their view
The Trial reels card shows in their Overview, below Collabs, sponsored posts and mentions. In the Posts tab you can filter by the Trial reel tag.
What the card shows
- Testing: reels Instagram still shows only to non-followers (the first 72 hours).
- Shared: reels they later shared with their followers. Those are the ones that worked with new people.
- Not shared: reels that finished the test and never reached their followers.
- How they perform: the median views of their trial reels against their normal reels.
Every plan includes a number of competitors with trial reels: Basic 1, Pro 2 and Ultra 3. The yellow pill next to the competitors title in Tracking tells you how many you use. During the free trial they unlock with your first payment.
Switching competitors
If all your spots are in use and you pick another competitor, we ask which one to replace. The one you replace stops showing right away, and the new one's trial reels are checked on the next pass: come back in a few hours. To stop watching without replacing, use Stop watching their trial reels in the same three dots.
Frequently asked questions
How often is it checked?
Every 2 days we check their latest reels. When a trial reaches their followers we see it within a day, because we collect their posts daily.
Why isn't it available for TikTok or YouTube?
Trial reels only exist on Instagram, so they're only offered for Instagram competitors.
It says no trial reels were found. Is it broken?
No: it means that competitor has no reels in testing right now. We keep checking every 2 days.
Why is my switch queued?
When all your spots are taken, the new competitor is checked on the next pass instead of right away. It's also queued if you've used your plan's checks for the month.
Can I ask about it in the chat?
Yes. The chat and the assistants connected through MCP see the trial reels of the competitors you turned on: ask, for example, which reels a competitor is testing and which ones worked.
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Related articles
- How to track your competitors and see what works for themTrack competitors from the Tracking directory and each one gets its own full analytics: their pillars, hooks, posts and comments. And an all-competitors view shows you just their outliers.
- How the free days, plans, and credits workUnderstand what your 5 free days include, which actions use credits (analyses and transcripts; the chat and outlines don't), and where to watch your balance.
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