Your feed shouldn’t switch off when people look at it.
Elfsight makes polished no-code widgets - Instagram Feed is one of 90-odd. Every plan has a monthly view limit, and go past it and the widget is paused until the next month. Feedframer is an Instagram data API with no view meter at all. Here is where each one makes sense.
Feedframer
Instagram data - you build the UI
- ✓REST, GraphQL & RSS
- ✓No view limits on any plan
- ✓CDN-hosted media
- ✓Server-side token refresh
Elfsight
No-code widget builder
- ✓Visual editor with lots of templates
- ✓Works on almost any site builder
- ✓Bundle of 90+ apps available
- ✓Free installation help on paid plans
Elfsight: a widget you configure, not data you own
Elfsight’s Instagram Feed is a hosted widget. You set the layout, colours and post count in their editor, paste a snippet into your site, and it renders in your visitors’ browsers. It is good at that, and for a café or a salon website with nobody to write code it is a sensible pick.
What you do not get is the data. The posts live inside Elfsight’s widget; there is no REST, GraphQL or RSS endpoint for you to build on, so an app, a custom Next.js component or an email campaign is outside what it is for.
Views are the meter - and the cut-off
Elfsight counts a view every time the widget loads on a page. For the single Instagram Feed app the Free plan allows 200 views a month with Elfsight branding. Basic is $5/mo billed yearly ($6 monthly) for 5,000 views; Pro is $10/mo for 50,000; Premium is $20/mo for 150,000; Enterprise tiers go higher.
Their pricing page is clear about what happens next: exceed the monthly limit and the app is temporarily deactivated. On a busy homepage, 200 views is gone in an afternoon, and a good month can quietly blank your feed.
We do not count views. Feedframer Free is 1 account, 6 posts, unlimited API calls, and Premium is $6/mo or $60/yr for up to 5 accounts and 100 posts each. Put the feed behind your own cache or CDN and traffic spikes are simply not our concern.
The honest trade-off
Elfsight is the quicker route if you want something good-looking on a site today and nobody will touch code. Our website route means someone renders JSON - a few lines in most frameworks, but still a few lines.
If you already have a developer, or you want Instagram in more than one place (site, app, newsletter), owning the data is the better deal, and it is cheaper than Elfsight’s paid tiers once you have real traffic.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Feedframer | Elfsight |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Instagram data API | Hosted no-code widget |
| Data access | REST, GraphQL, RSS | Widget only (no public feed API found) |
| Free plan | 1 account, 6 posts, unlimited API calls | 1 widget, 200 views/mo, Elfsight branding |
| View limits | None on any plan | Monthly cap on every tier; widget pauses when exceeded |
| Starting paid price | $6/mo or $60/yr | $5/mo billed yearly ($6 monthly), 5,000 views |
| Design | Yours - any framework | Templates and a visual editor |
| Email newsletters | RSS feed for Mailchimp, Klaviyo etc. | Not designed for email |
| Other widgets | Instagram only | 90+ apps (reviews, forms, chat and more) |
Elfsight prices and limits read on elfsight.com/pricing on 30 October 2026, for the single Instagram Feed app. Theirs may have changed - check before you buy.
Choose Feedframer when…
- ✓ Your traffic is more than a trickleNo view meter means no surprise blank feed in a busy month.
- ✓ You want the data, not just a widgetUse the same posts on your site, in an app and in a newsletter.
- ✓ You care about page weight and design controlRender it yourself and you ship only the markup and styles you need.
- ✓ You want RSS for emailDrop the feed URL into Mailchimp or Klaviyo and latest posts appear in campaigns.
Choose Elfsight when…
- Nobody on the team writes codeThe editor and copy-paste snippet are genuinely easy.
- Your site gets very little trafficIf you stay under the view cap, a basic plan is cheap.
- You want lots of different widgetsThe all-apps pack covers reviews, forms, chat and more under one bill.
Pricing side by side
Feedframer
Free – $6/mo
- • Free: 1 account, 6 posts, unlimited API calls
- • Premium: up to 5 accounts, 100 posts each
- • $60/yr if you pay annually
- • No view limits, ever
Elfsight
$0 – $20/mo (and up)
- • Free: 1 widget, 200 views/mo, branding
- • Basic $5/mo yearly: 5,000 views
- • Pro $10/mo yearly: 50,000 views
- • Premium $20/mo yearly: 150,000 views
Moving from Elfsight?
If you have a developer (or are one), moving is a short job.
- Sign up to Feedframer and connect your Instagram Business or Creator account.
- Copy your REST or GraphQL endpoint from the dashboard.
- Swap the Elfsight snippet for a component that fetches and renders your posts.
- Cancel the Elfsight plan once the new feed is live.
You lose the visual editor and templates. You gain a feed that never pauses for traffic, plus data you can reuse anywhere.
FAQ
Is Feedframer an Elfsight alternative?
For an Instagram feed on a site you can add a bit of code to, yes. If you need a no-code widget, Elfsight (or a similar builder) is the better fit.
What happens when Elfsight runs out of views?
According to Elfsight’s pricing page, exceeding the monthly view limit temporarily deactivates the app until the limit resets or you upgrade.
Does Feedframer limit views?
No. We do not count views or API requests on any plan; the limits are accounts and posts.
Do I need to refresh Instagram tokens myself?
No - we renew tokens on our servers before they expire.
Can I use Feedframer without coding?
For email, yes - RSS works in most newsletter tools. For a website you will need someone to render the JSON.
Try Feedframer free
Connect an Instagram account, call the API and see your posts as JSON in minutes. No card, no view meter.
Get started freeAlso comparing? See Feedframer vs Juicer, SnapWidget, Behold and Smash Balloon.