Welcome to the only Social Upgrade review you’ll ever need!
Today, I bring you the meat and potatoes of this service. You’ll learn:
- Is Social Upgrade safe to use?
- Can it grow your profile?
- Is it worth giving a shot?
The answers may not be what you hoped for, so stick around to find them out.
Those of you in a hurry can check out the brief summary below.
Let’s get into it!
Social Upgrade Key Points:
- Social Upgrade closed its service
- It was sued by Instagram
- It was an automated engagement bot
- It’s wiser to grow your account organically.
- Try growth tools like Nitreo, Kenji, and Upleap.
- Use the code GROW20 for a 20% discount.
Most Popular Instagram Growth Tools Rated
| Service | Our Grade | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nitreo.com | 4.6 | $49 |
| Upleap.com | 4.3 | $39 |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | $49 |
| Flock Social | 4 | $49 |
| Stellation Media | 3.9 | $99 |
| Jumper Media | 3 | N/A |
| Kicksta | 2.3 | $49 |
| Trusy Social | 2.3 | $97 |
| Ampfluence | 1.8 | $129 |
What is Social Upgrade?
Let me rephrase this question – What was Social Upgrade?
In case you didn’t know, Social Upgrade closed earlier this year. It earned a lawsuit from Instagram, and that was the end of it. I’ll discuss why and how this happened in a bit, but now, let’s talk about what the company did.
Social Upgrade promoted itself as an organic growth service. It talked of dedicated managers running your growth campaign, doing everything by hand. The website (now deceased) looked sleek and professional, and everything seemed to be in order.
But, behind this glittering facade laid nothing but a simple auto-engagement bot.
Why did Social Upgrade close?
Well, it worked in direct violation of Instagram’s Terms and Conditions and got caught. On top of that, it betrayed the trust of its customers.
Social Upgrade used the accounts of its customers to like (without permission) other users’ posts. Such actions put those profiles at risk of being suspended.
How Social Upgrade Works?
We’ll switch to past tense now.
There are two things that we need to differentiate – what Social Upgrade claimed to do and what it actually did.
This company offered to grow Instagram accounts using advanced targeting and engagement. It was the so-called “hands-free” service, which meant that it did all the work. All you had to do was register, provide some initial information, and pay.
Also, they said how their customers were assigned dedicated account managers. These were people who coordinated your growth and did everything for you (more on this in a bit).
OK, this was Social Upgrade’s story, now let’s see what their actions were really like.
The mere existence of their “managers” can be brought into question. There’s no proof that a human from this company ever laid eyes on a customer’s account, let alone did something with it.
The tool was essentially a bot that engaged with your target audience. It also showered accounts with fake likes to stimulate growth. As you may know, Instagram doesn’t approve of this. The platform regularly caught people using Social Upgrade and action-blocked them.
What’s even worse is that the service didn’t use this engagement solely for your benefit. A portion of it went to accounts that were of no interest to you but were also Social Upgrade’s customers.
The company created a vicious cycle of inter-engagement between their user base. However, the users weren’t aware of this, and it wasn’t good for their profiles.
All in all, it was a disaster waiting to happen. And it did happen, in early 2020.
Features of Social Upgrade
The exact features of Social Upgrade were wrapped in mystery. You couldn’t really find a clear, concise explanation of what steps they took to grow an account. Despite this secrecy, I managed to extract what I believe to be the essence of Social Upgrade. Here it is:
Automated Engagement
There was not much talk about automation on Social Upgrade’s website. The company just said how they provide organic growth.
After its demise, I found out that this wasn’t true. There was nothing even remotely organic about what they did.
As I said, it just performed basic auto-engagement to try and get someone to notice you. Of course, there was also the horrible misuse of your account to send likes to their other customers.
Targeting and Filtering Options
Social Upgrade’s targeting was nothing out of the ordinary. It only offered three options – geotags, hashtags, and usernames. As for filters, you could blacklist usernames that you wanted to stay away from.
Account Manager
The man, the myth, the dedicated growth manager. Like I hinted earlier, no one knows for sure whether such a person even existed.
My firm conviction is that this was a marketing trick to lure in unsuspecting Instagrammers. And I guess it worked, as Social Upgrade reached a considerable level of popularity.
Pricing of Social Upgrade
When it came to pricing, Social Upgrade kept things simple. They offered two monthly plans – Standard, which cost $39, and Turbo, for $99.
Expensive? Yes, but not as expensive as Social Upgrade’s promises. The service said how the Turbo plan could double your account in size and that the Standard could do a bit less.
Considering that Social Upgrade resorted to bots, they might have even done it. However, the engagement you’d receive would’ve been mostly fake.
Is Social Upgrade Legit?
If you’ve come this far in the article, I’m sure you know the answer. Social Upgrade was as far from legit as possible. Based on Trustpilot.com reviews, their former customers agree with me.
Now, brace yourself for a shock.
After Social Upgrade shut down their services, they kept charging users for the next few months! Some of these poor people had to cancel their credit cards to stop this.
Is Social Upgrade Safe?
Social Upgrade was certainly not safe. I read numerous reports from customers who had their accounts blocked by Instagram.
The service got too sloppy and aggressive with engagement. It only took several minutes for IG to detect it.
Top Social Upgrade Alternatives
Since Social Upgrade isn’t an option anymore, I’d like to introduce you to a few better options. Here are some of the leading organic growth services on the market.
| Service | Our Grade | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nitreo.com | 4.6 | $49 |
| Upleap.com | 4.3 | $39 |
| KENJI.AI | 4 | $49 |
| Flock Social | 4 | $49 |
| Stellation Media | 3.9 | $99 |
| Jumper Media | 3 | N/A |
| Kicksta | 2.3 | $49 |
| Trusy Social | 2.3 | $97 |
| Ampfluence | 1.8 | $129 |
Social Upgrade Pros and Cons
Time for a quick recap of all you learned about Social Upgrade:
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Quick and easy likes | It closed in early 2020 |
| Instagram sued it | |
| It provided fake engagement | |
| Used its users’ accounts without their knowledge | |
| Charged customers even after it closed | |
| Customer support was hard to reach |
Social Upgrade Review: The Bottom Line
Social Upgrade is gone, and I hope it doesn’t resurrect; at least not in the same form. The things this company did messed up a lot of accounts.
My last piece of advice would be to look out for “services” like this one. There are quite a few of them still up and running.
Organic growth is the only thing that counts, friends. It may not be the fastest, but it’ll get you where you need to be.