# The best time to post on TikTok, day by day

> The best times to post on TikTok in 2026 for each day of the week, compiled from 8 studies of over 10 million posts, with a day-by-time heatmap.

Page: https://omnisocials.com/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok
Checked: October 17, 2026

Weekday evenings, about 6 to 9 PM in your audience's local time. That is where 8 studies from 2025 and 2026 agree most. Saturday and Sunday are the weakest days.

## The short answer: Post on weekday evenings, 6 to 9 PM local time.

Eight engagement studies published between November 2025 and September 2026 name hours from 6 AM to midnight. The widest agreement is weekday evenings, about 6 to 9 PM in your audience's local time. Weekday mornings (6 to 9 AM) and afternoons (12 to 6 PM) come next. Overnight, 12 to 6 AM, is the time most studies say to avoid.

The studies split on weekends. Buffer calls Saturday the best day and Sunday 9 AM the best single slot, while Sprout Social and Emplifi say to skip weekends. TikTok itself gives no clock time. It points you to Most active times in TikTok Studio and says to use it "to help plan when to post".

- **Best days**: Monday to Friday (Weekdays score close together)
- **Best time**: 6 to 9 PM (Weekdays, your audience's local time)
- **Worst time**: 12 to 6 AM (Sunday is the weakest day)

## Where 8 studies agree, by day and time of day

### Where 8 studies agree

Strongest slot: Friday, 6-9 PM. Best day: Monday. Weakest day: Sunday. Your audience's local time, as most studies use. A higher score means more studies name that slot. Scores run from 0 to 100.

| Day | 12-3 AM | 3-6 AM | 6-9 AM | 9 AM-12 PM | 12-3 PM | 3-6 PM | 6-9 PM | 9 PM-12 AM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 40 | 40 | 80 | 70 | 80 | 80 | 90 | 70 |
| Tuesday | 50 | 40 | 80 | 70 | 80 | 70 | 90 | 60 |
| Wednesday | 40 | 30 | 80 | 60 | 80 | 80 | 100 | 60 |
| Thursday | 30 | 30 | 90 | 80 | 80 | 70 | 90 | 70 |
| Friday | 40 | 40 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 | 100 | 70 |
| Saturday | 10 | 10 | 20 | 50 | 40 | 70 | 70 | 40 |
| Sunday | 0 | 10 | 20 | 50 | 30 | 40 | 40 | 30 |

## The best time to post on TikTok, every day of the week. In your audience's local time.

| Day | Best window | Runner-up | How much the studies agree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 6-9 PM | 3-6 PM | Strongly: SocialPilot, Metricool, Emplifi, Social Champ |
| Tuesday | 6-9 PM | 6-9 AM or 12-3 PM | Strongly: SocialPilot, Metricool, Emplifi, Social Champ |
| Wednesday | 6-9 PM | 3-6 PM | Strongly: Sprout Social, SocialPilot, Metricool, Emplifi, Social Champ. The top slot |
| Thursday | 6-9 PM | 6-9 AM | Split: Hootsuite's top pick is Thursday 7-9 AM |
| Friday | 6-9 PM | 3-6 PM | Strongly: Buffer, SocialPilot, Metricool, Emplifi, Social Champ |
| Saturday | 3-6 PM | 6-9 PM | Split: Buffer's best day, but Sprout Social and Emplifi say avoid |
| Sunday | 9 AM-12 PM | 3-6 PM | The weakest day; Buffer's single best slot is Sunday 9 AM |

Windows compiled from Sprout Social, Buffer, Hootsuite, SocialPilot, Dash Social, Metricool, Emplifi and Social Champ, published November 2025 to September 2026. See the sources below.

## What each study found. They agree on the evening, not on the hour.

| Study | Sample | Best times | Best days | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social, Mar 2026 | 2B engagements, 307K profiles, all networks | Mon 3-5 PM, Tue 2-6 PM, Wed 1-8 PM, Thu 1-5 PM, Fri 3-5 PM | Tue to Thu | Saturday, Sunday |
| Buffer, Sep 2026 | 7.1M TikTok posts | Sun 9 AM, Mon 1 PM, Sun 1 PM | Sat, Mon, Sun | None named |
| Hootsuite, Nov 2025 | 1M+ posts, all networks | Thu 7-9 AM, Sat 10 AM-6 PM | Thu, Sat | Before 6 AM, after 11 PM |
| SocialPilot, Jan 2026 | 700K TikTok posts | 8 AM, 2-4 PM, 8 PM | Tue, Wed, Thu | Sunday, 11 PM-3 AM |
| Dash Social, Jan 2026 (2024 data) | 289K posts, 1,000+ brands | Late night, 9 PM-3 AM | Sunday | Weekdays 2-6 PM |
| Metricool, Jun 2026 | 2.3M TikTok posts | 6-8 PM, most at 8 PM | Sunday (by views) | 2-4 AM |
| Emplifi, Sep 2026 | 399M posts, all networks | Mon 8 AM-7 PM, Thu 8 AM-1 PM | Mon, Thu | Weekends, Sunday most |
| Social Champ, Jun 2026 | Millions of posts, no count given | 9-10 PM | Tue, Thu | None named |

Dash Social is the outlier: its 2024 data found late night best and weekday afternoons worst. Buffer's times need no time-zone conversion, Hootsuite's are localized across 118 countries, and Sprout Social and Dash Social use local time.

## What TikTok says about timing. No clock time, but a place to find yours.

| Topic | What TikTok says |
|---|---|
| Your own best time | Most active times in TikTok Studio shows the hours and days your audience was most active in the last 7 days. TikTok says to use it "to help plan when to post". |
| Scheduling | TikTok Studio's web version schedules posts up to 30 days ahead, to "make sure you're reaching your viewers when they're most active". |
| Ranking | Time zone and day are among the user details the For You feed weighs, but interactions such as watch time "are generally weighted more heavily than others". |
| LIVE | "Choose a time that works best for your audience; consider when they're most active." |

From TikTok's Creator Academy and Help Center, read on October 17, 2026.

## Find your own best time. The map is a start, your analytics decide.

1. **Open Most active times** In TikTok Studio, open Analytics, then the Followers or Viewers tab. Most active times shows when your audience was on TikTok in the last 7 days.
2. **Plan in your audience's time zone** If most of your viewers live in New York, plan in Eastern Time, wherever you are. Your analytics show their top locations.
3. **Test one slot at a time** Post similar videos at two times for two to three weeks. Compare views and watch time, not likes alone.
4. **Schedule the evening posts** The strongest band runs 6 to 9 PM. Schedule ahead so a 7 PM post goes out without you at your desk.
5. **Test weekends before you trust them** Buffer found Saturday best, Sprout Social and Emplifi say skip it. Try a weekend slot before you move your best video there.
6. **Post a video before you go LIVE** TikTok suggests posting a video before a LIVE, so viewers can join from the For You feed.

## Schedule it with OmniSocials

OmniSocials learns your own best time to post on TikTok, and suggests it when you schedule. OmniSocials schedules posts to TikTok and 11 more networks from one calendar, and AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT and others) can plan and schedule through its MCP server. $10 per seat a month billed yearly, $12 monthly; 14-day free trial, a card is needed to start it. https://omnisocials.com/pricing

## Sources and method

We read the 2025 and 2026 TikTok timing studies from Sprout Social, Buffer, Hootsuite, SocialPilot, Dash Social, Metricool, Emplifi and Social Champ. Together they cover over 10 million TikTok posts, plus cross-network samples from Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Emplifi. Each study gets one vote per day and three-hour block: plus one when it names the block as a best time, minus one when it says to avoid the block or the day. The votes are scaled from 0 to 100, so the map shows where the studies agree, not an engagement rate. Later's page uses only its own account and Sociality.io's repeats an older list, so both are left out, as are surveys of marketers.

- Sprout Social, [Best times to post on TikTok in 2026](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-tiktok/), Mar 2026. About 2 billion engagements across 307,000 profiles on all networks, Nov 2025 to Feb 2026, local time.
- Buffer, [The best time to post on TikTok in 2026](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok/), Sep 2026. 7.1 million TikTok posts, median engagement rate.
- Hootsuite, [The best time to post on TikTok](https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok/), Nov 2025. Over 1 million posts across networks, localized across 118 countries.
- SocialPilot, [Best time to post on TikTok in 2026](https://www.socialpilot.co/insights/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok), Jan 2026. 700,000 TikTok posts from 50,000+ accounts, January to December 2025.
- Dash Social, [Best time to post on TikTok in 2026](https://www.dashsocial.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok), Jan 2026. 289,079 posts from 1,000+ brands, all of 2024, local time.
- Metricool, [When is the best time to post on TikTok in 2026?](https://metricool.com/best-time-post-tiktok/), Jun 2026. 2,314,756 posts from 92,000+ accounts, measured by views.
- Emplifi, [Best time to post on social media in 2026](https://emplifi.io/resources/blog/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/), Sep 2026. 399 million posts from 754,000 brand profiles across networks.
- Social Champ, [Best time to post on TikTok in 2026](https://www.socialchamp.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok/), Jun 2026. Engagement in the first hour; no exact sample size given.
- TikTok Creator Academy, [Using analytics as a tool to improve video performance](https://www.tiktok.com/creator-academy/en/article/analytics-tool-video-performance), Oct 2026
- TikTok Help Center, [How TikTok recommends content](https://www.tiktok.com/support/faq_detail?category=web_using_tiktok&id=7655285288050104852), Read Oct 2026

## Related guides

- [How often to post on TikTok](https://omnisocials.com/how-often-to-post-on-tiktok)
- [TikTok image sizes](https://omnisocials.com/tiktok-image-sizes)
- [TikTok character limits](https://omnisocials.com/tiktok-character-limits)
- [TikTok video lengths](https://omnisocials.com/tiktok-video-lengths)
- [TikTok hashtag limits](https://omnisocials.com/tiktok-hashtag-limits)
- [Schedule TikTok posts](https://omnisocials.com/tiktok)
- [Connect TikTok](https://omnisocials.com/help-center/integrations/tiktok)
- [Create a post](https://omnisocials.com/help-center/creating-content/create-post)
- [MCP server](https://omnisocials.com/mcp)
- [REST API](https://omnisocials.com/api)
- [API reference](https://docs.omnisocials.com)

## FAQ

### What is the best time to post on TikTok?

Weekday evenings, about 6 to 9 PM in your audience's local time. Eight studies from 2025 and 2026 agree on that band more than on any other. They disagree on the exact hour, so check Most active times in TikTok Studio too.

### What is the best time to post on TikTok today?

It depends on the day. Monday to Friday 6 to 9 PM, with Thursday 6 to 9 AM a close second. Saturday 3 to 6 PM and Sunday 9 AM to 12 PM, all in your audience's local time. The heatmap on this page marks today's row.

### What is the best time to post on TikTok on Saturday?

About 3 to 9 PM, with 3 to 6 PM and 6 to 9 PM tied. The studies split on Saturday: Buffer calls it the best day, while Sprout Social and Emplifi say to avoid it.

### What is the best time to post on TikTok on Sunday?

9 AM to 12 PM, local time. Sunday is the weakest day in the combined data, but Buffer's single best slot of the week is Sunday at 9 AM.

### What is the best day to post on TikTok?

Any weekday. Monday to Friday score close together in the combined data, and Tuesday to Thursday is the top range for Sprout Social and SocialPilot. Buffer is the exception: its best day is Saturday.

### What is the worst time to post on TikTok?

Overnight, about 12 to 6 AM in your audience's local time (Metricool, Hootsuite, SocialPilot). Sunday is the weakest day overall. Dash Social is the outlier: its 2024 data found late night best and weekday afternoons worst.

### Does posting time matter on TikTok?

Some. Time zone and day are among the details TikTok's For You feed weighs, but TikTok says interactions such as watch time are generally weighted more heavily. What you post matters more than when.

### Which time zone should I use?

Your audience's. Sprout Social and Dash Social report local time, and Buffer, Hootsuite and SocialPilot normalize their times so they apply anywhere. If your viewers are spread out, use the time zone where most of them live.

### Is the best time different for photo posts?

No study we read splits TikTok timing by format. Buffer pools videos, carousels, photos and text posts, so use the same windows for photo posts.

### How does OmniSocials suggest a time to post?

It looks at your workspace's own TikTok posts, weighted toward recent ones. Once TikTok comments are enabled on the channel, it also blends in when your followers are online. Until 15 posts are analyzed, it uses those online hours or labelled industry defaults. Analytics shows a day-by-hour heatmap.