What Is the Best Time to Post on TikTok? We Looked at The Data

5 min read

Listen up, creators: when you post on TikTok does matter. That means sometimes the best thing to do is to hold onto that video you’re excited to post for the next day, when it’ll have a better chance of getting seen.

But when it comes to the exact times that are best to post on TikTok, advice is all over the place. I dug into data from Buffer and Sprout Social about optimal TikTok posting times, and hoo boy, the two social brands could not be less aligned on the topic. We’ll get into that, but first, let’s dive into why posting time matters as much as it does.

Why Posting Time Actually Matters on TikTok

It all comes down to how the TikTok algorithm works and what it considers when choosing which content to promote in the For You feed.

TikTok's algorithm uses early engagement velocity (views, likes, and shares in the first few hours after posting) to decide how widely to push a video. Posting when your target audience is active gives your content the best chance of being seen and getting early engagement.

What Are The Best Times to Post on TikTok?

Best we can do is “Monday.”

Jokes aside, the data from Buffer and Sprout Social only agreed on Monday.

For context:

Sprout Social’s data is based on 2 billion engagements across 307,000 global social profiles, collected between November 2025 and February 2026.
Buffer’s data is based on 7 million TikTok posts published through Buffer (it’s not clear when these posts were published, but the report was published in 2026).

Both Sprout and Buffer point to Monday as a strong day to post; Sprout identifies Monday as a high-engagement day (with 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. as the ideal window), and Buffer ranks Monday as the second-best day to post overall, with 1 p.m. as a peak slot.

Aside from Monday, the two reports point in almost opposite directions:

Sprout says the best post window is weekday afternoons: Tuesday through Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. It also says weekends (especially Sunday) are the worst time to post. Their theory is that people scroll on TikTok during the afternoon work slump and evening commute, and disconnect more from their phones on the weekends.
Buffer says the best times to post are Sunday at 9 a.m., Monday at 1 p.m., and Saturday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. It ranks Saturday as the single best day of the week to post based on the theory that evenings (6 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and weekends are when people have "sound-on" attention to spare, while weekday afternoons (12 p.m. to 5 p.m.) are actually the weakest window across most days.

Basically, Sprout Social’s best window to post is similar to Buffer's worst window to post, and Buffer's best days are similar to Sprout's worst days.

Given that, plus the fact that the "best time to post on TikTok" recommendations floating around search results don't trace back to any real TikTok Newsroom post or Creator Portal announcement, the best move is to ignore all that noise and use TikTok Analytics to find YOUR best times to post instead.

How to Find Your Best Time to Post on TikTok

Using TikTok’s native analytics tool, TikTok Analytics, is one of the best ways to figure out when to post, because it’s based on your actual audience behavior, not random benchmarks. TikTok Analytics shows you when your followers are most active so that you can plan posts around times they’re likely to be scrolling.

It’s more useful than a universal posting-time recommendation because every account is different. Your ideal posting time depends on things like your audience’s location, age, habits, and even the type of content you publish.

So, rather than taking Sprout’s and/or Buffer’s suggestions, use TikTok Analytics to determine your optimal posting window instead. Here’s how:

Open TikTok and go to your profile.
Hit the Settings (≡) menu, then tap TikTok Studio.
At the top, you’ll see Analytics. Tap on this section, then scroll over to the Viewers and Followers tabs.

I’m not very active on TikTok, so my Analytics tool has nada for me.

If your TikTok Analytics are similarly sparse, the best thing to do is start posting content to gather some data. Try posting at three different times for three weeks and tracking the watch time/shares for your content. As your content reaches more people, TikTok Analytics will have more data to work with when identifying the most active times for viewers and followers.

Now It’s Time to Go

If you're looking for a universal answer for when the best time to post on TikTok is, post on Monday and call it a day. See what I did there?

But if you actually want to grow, skip the internet's guessing game and let your own TikTok Analytics tell you when your audience starts scrolling. The data's already there; you just need to post enough to see it.

On that note, we’ve got more TikTok resources for you:

Explore Manychat for TikTok

Frequently asked questions

There isn’t one universal best time to post on TikTok. Data from Sprout Social and Buffer actually points to very different optimal posting windows. Sprout Social recommends weekday afternoons, particularly Tuesday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., while Buffer identifies Sunday at 9 a.m., Monday at 1 p.m., and Saturday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. as some of the best times to post.

Because the research varies so much, your best time to post on TikTok will depend on your specific audience and when they're active.

There’s no definitive best time to post on TikTok for every day of the week. In fact, two major 2026 studies offer nearly opposite recommendations. Sprout Social found that weekday afternoons tend to perform well, while Buffer found weekends and evenings can be particularly strong. The one thing both studies agree on is that Monday is a good day to post on TikTok. Sprout Social recommends 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, while Buffer identifies 1 p.m. as a peak time for Monday posts.

Rather than treating these times as hard-and-fast rules, use them as starting points while you determine when your own followers are most active.

The best way to find your best time to post on TikTok is to use TikTok Analytics. Unlike general posting-time studies, TikTok Analytics is based on your actual audience behavior and shows when your viewers and followers are most active.

To find this information, open your TikTok profile, go to TikTok Studio, select Analytics, and check the Viewers and Followers tabs. Your ideal posting time may vary based on your audience's location, age, habits, and the type of content you create.

Yes, when you post on TikTok, timing can matter because it can affect how much early engagement your video receives. TikTok's algorithm considers early views, likes, and shares when deciding how widely to distribute a video in the For You feed. Posting when your target audience is already active gives your video a better opportunity to be seen and generate that early engagement.

That doesn't mean there's one magic posting time, though. The goal is to publish when your audience is most likely to be scrolling.

If you don't have enough TikTok Analytics data to identify your best posting time, start testing different posting windows. Try publishing at three different times over three weeks and track metrics such as watch time and shares. As you publish more content and reach more viewers, TikTok Analytics will have more information to determine when your viewers and followers are most active.