Three steps.
Likes are free. Boosts are optional. The top spot expires.
You are listing on a public leaderboard (not posting on Instagram): each entry can point to your website or product page, or to your Instagram profile.
60-second scan
📸
Post fast
Photo and email is enough. A product or Instagram link is optional.
🚀
Climb daily
Free likes move your rank. Paid boosts are optional acceleration.
♻️
Season resets
Each week starts a fresh race, so nobody owns #1 forever.
🏆
Permanent proof
Top finishers stay discoverable through the Hall of Fame and season archive.
Season loop
Carryover is proportional to the time left in the season, so earlier purchases keep meaningful value instead of falling off a hard cliff.
20%
24h left
43%
72h left
71%
120h left
Returning challenger bonus (last season):
Rank #2 starts with 300 bonus points. Rank #10 starts with 75.
- 1
Post a photo and your link
Free, and about a minute. Add your product site or Instagram profile. No account needed to start.
- 2
Collect free likes
One like from a real visitor is 1 point.
- 3
Boost to climb faster
$1 adds 200 points instantly. Optional.
The rule that matters
Boosts melt 20% a day
On boards where paid spots are permanent, #1 becomes unreachable, everyone below gives up, and the board dies. Here the leader is always sliding back toward the pack, so the climb stays possible and the crown is always genuinely up for grabs.
Then it ends
72 hours at #1, maximum
Counted cumulatively, so you cannot game it by dropping to #2 for an hour. Hit 72 hours and you retire undefeated into the Hall of Fame, which is permanent and keeps your link live for good. Retiring is the win condition, not a penalty.
Every number
- 1pt
- per free like
- 200pts
- per $1 boosted
- 20%/day
- boosts melt
- 72h
- max at #1
- 7days
- per season
- 5×
- likes via your link
- 500/day
- like cap per entry
- 10
- entries unlock a category
What you get
A spot people actually look at
Placement in front of everyone browsing the board, not buried on page nine.
Real likes from real people
Every one from a human who chose your photo. No bots, ever.
A tappable link to your product or profile
Every click counted publicly on your entry. Point it at your website, product page, or Instagram.
Share cards that look good
Auto-built for your rank, so posting it to your story takes one tap.
A permanent trophy page
Reach #1 and your Hall of Fame entry stays up for good, link live forever.
Boosts are non-refundable. We never ask for your Instagram password and never touch your account - Limelight is an independent leaderboard, not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.
The fine print
All of it, in full. A board people do not trust is a board nobody pays to be on.
How is the order decided?
One like from a real person is 1 point. There is no secret weighting and no algorithm deciding who deserves attention - the order is just points, highest first. Ties go to whoever got there first.
What are the free ways to climb?
- Anyone can like your entry once a day. No account needed, so sending people to your page actually converts.
- Likes from people who arrive through your share link are worth 5 points instead of one.
- Liking other entries earns you points too, up to 20 a day.
- An entry can collect up to 500 likes a day. The cap exists so free points stay meaningful and cannot simply be farmed.
What happens when a season ends?
Seasons close Sunday at midnight Eastern, every 7 days. The top ten are recorded permanently, then like-points reset to zero and everyone starts level. Fifty-two chances a year to win something, instead of one race that was decided in week one.
Can I change my photo?
Your title, message and link can be edited any time, for free. Your photo is different, because likes belong to the photo that earned them:
- Swapping your photo clears your like-derived points, and the new image goes live straight away.
- You can pay to keep your likes instead - $1 per 500 points preserved.
- Points you bought are never cleared. You paid for those, and they stay with you.
- Whoever is holding #1 gets 3 free swaps that keep their likes.
The point is to stop the bait-and-switch: collecting votes on one image and then replacing it with an advert misrepresents everyone who voted.
How do categories work?
Each category gets its own board and its own crown once it reaches 10 entries. Until then everyone competes on the main board.