The best time to post in MAX: when to post in the channel

The best time to post to MAX according to the entire messenger is late evening and midnight. For the week of October 18-24, 2026, according to datool.ru , the most views on the post were collected by publications published at 23:00 (an average of 2,399), at 0:00 (2,342) and at 22:00 (2,162) in Moscow. Least of all are the posts published at 6:00 (1,105) and at 10:00 (1,205). The difference between the best and the worst hour is more than twice.

The main reason is competition in the feed. At 10:00 Moscow time, MAX channels published 378,783 posts per week, and at 23:00 — 83,296, 4.5 times less. In the late evening, your post competes for attention with a much smaller number of other publications.

But these are averages throughout the messenger, and you can't transfer them directly to your channel. Below is the data on the hours and days of the week, reservations, because of which the overall picture may be deceiving, and how to find the best time for your channel: where on the channel page is the "Best time for a post" block and how it counts. At the end, an experiment plan for four weeks.

Views per post by hour: total MAX data

Post views are the sum of views of publications published in a given hour divided by the number of such publications. The formula is: views per post = views of posts of the hour = posts of the hour with views. Time is Moscow time, the week is October 18-24, 2026, there are about 5.19 million posts in total. On average, the post gained about 1,420 views per week.

The strongest hours for post views:

• 23:00 — 2 399. Almost 1.7 times higher than average.
• 0:00 — 2 342.
• 22:00 — 2 162.
• 21:00 — 1 966.
• 1:00 — 1 920.

The weakest:

• 6:00 — 1 105. The "cheapest" hour of the week.
• 10:00 — 1 205. The hour when there are the most publications.
• 5:00 — 1 215.
• 9:00 — 1 233.
• 13:00 — 1 255.

From 9:00 to 15:00, views on the post stay around 1,200-1,300, after 16:00 they begin to grow and by 23:00 they reach a maximum. The same curve is shown by the "Best time to post" block on the "MAX Statistics" page, and the caption to the weekly map there says: "The posts published in 0:00, 22:00, 23:00".

Why there are more views at night: competition in the feed

Look at how the publications themselves are distributed. From 9:00 to 13:00 Moscow time, 28.4% of all posts of the week are published, and from 22:00 to 2:00 — only 6.2%. In the morning and afternoon, the channels publish the most, and the reader sees dozens of new posts in their subscriptions. In the evening, the flow subsides, and each publication gets more attention.

There is a second reason. A post that came out late in the evening meets a person in the morning as one of the first in the feed and continues to gain views while the other channels are just starting to publish. Therefore, the late evening works as a "queue for the morning".

The hourly rhythm of publications is discussed in detail in the article about publications in MAX by the hour, and the "day of the week × hour" map is in the article about when MAX publishes.

Reservations: why the big picture can not be transferred to your channel

MAX averages throughout are a good hint, but not a recipe. That's what can distort them.

Who publishes at night

Post views are very dependent on the size of the channel. During the week of October 18-24, the post of the channel up to 100 subscribers gained an average of 18 views, the channel for 10-100 thousand - 7,415, and the channel from 100 thousand to 1 million — 44,814. At the same time, large channels publish much more often: about 145 posts per week for a channel per 100 thousand – 1 million subscribers versus 11 for a channel up to 100.

If the share of posts by major news channels is higher at night than during the day, the average views of the night hour will increase, even if the night does not give anything to a particular small channel. This is a sampling bias: the "night" post on average belongs to a different channel than the "morning" one.

Moscow time

All hours on datool.ru — in Moscow. If your audience is in Vladivostok, 23:00 Moscow time is 6:00 am for the reader. Set the clock to the local time of your audience.

Subject and format

The news channel, the recipe channel and the school teacher's channel are read at different times. Useful posts are often opened during the day, entertaining ones in the evening. The big picture does not take into account your theme.

Ads

The share of advertising posts also varies by the hour: from 1.7% at 2:00 to 5.7% at 20:00 Moscow time. If you are an advertiser, the evening slot at the channel may cost more and be more busy with someone else's advertising.

Days of the week: on weekends, the post gains more

By day the picture is similar: where there are fewer posts, there are more views per post. For the week of October 18-24:

• Sunday — 1,670 views per post with 594,168 posts.
• Saturday — 1,487 with 620,455 posts.
• Monday — 1,408, Tuesday - 1,380, Wednesday - 1,371.
• Thursday — 1,350, Friday - 1,348 with 825,518 posts — the busiest day.

The post on Sunday averaged 24% more views than on Friday. If important material can be released on the weekend, it's worth checking on your channel.

How to find the best time of your channel on datool.ru

For your channel, look not at the general MAX, but at the history of your posts. There are several blocks about this on the channel page, and they are considered a little differently.

The "Best time to post" block in the "Coverage" tab

The main block is in the "Coverage of publications" tab (for example, at RIA Novosti). How does it count:

1. The day is divided into seven windows in Moscow: 0-7, 7-10, 10-13, 13-16, 16-19, 19-22 and 22-24 hours.
2. For each window, the median of coverage is taken — how many views a "regular" post published in this window has gained. The median, not the average: one viral post does not make the window the best.
3. Only posts older than two days are counted — fresh views are still growing.
4. The median of the window is compared with the median of all posts of the period. Windows and days of the week where less than five posts are not involved.

The block gives the answer in the following words: the best window and how many percent of the post in it is gaining more than usual, the spare window, the weakest window ("the usual post is N instead of M"), the strongest and weakest day of the week. Below is the band of the day: the richer the color of the window, the stronger it is.

If the best window is less than 5% stronger than the norm, the block honestly writes: "Exit time has almost no effect on coverage." If there are few posts (there are not at least two windows of five posts older than two days), there will be no conclusions at all.

The block is open after free registration. The guest has access to a period of 7 days, after registration — up to 30 days, the owner who confirmed his channel, and subscribers — all periods up to a year.

Block "Post coverage by exit hour"

In the same place, in the "Coverage" tab, there are 24 columns: the median coverage of posts of each hour and the dotted line of the median of all posts. Purple bars are higher than normal, gray bars are lower, pale bars are hours where there are less than five posts and the number is random. The three best hours have been signed. For more information about the tab, see the article about post views and coverage in MAX.

Other blocks about time

• Dashboard, "When and how much it publishes." The "day of the week × hour" heat map and the "Best time" line are the three hours in which posts older than two days have the highest average coverage. Only hours where there are enough posts are taken into account: at least three and at least half of the average fraction of an hour. By subscription.
• "Engagement", "When they react". The same map, but based on ER — reactions to views. The "best time" here is three hours with the highest ER, where at least three posts have been published. The owner of his channel and by subscription.
• "Publication schedule", "Free and tight hours". The index of views of the hour (100 is the average post of the channel) next to how much the channel publishes at that hour. Free — they read from 10% better than average, and posts are no more than one and a half times against the average hour; tight — there are a lot of posts, but they read worse than average. By subscription.

Why block responses may differ: the dashboard counts the average, the "Reach" tab counts the median, and the "Engagement" tab counts reactions, not views. If all three point to the same time, that's a strong signal. If they diverge, it means that the time of your channel has little effect or it is blocked by individual hits.

Experiment plan: how to check the best time in four weeks

Blocks datool.ru they show what happened. To find out what will happen, you need an experiment.

1. Fix the starting point. Open the "Best time to Fast" for 30 or 90 days and write down the median coverage and the best window.
2. Select two windows. Your usual (for example, 10-13) and candidate are usually the best block window or evening of 19-22 / 22-24 from the general MAX data.
3. Alternate windows by day. Even—numbered days are a familiar window, odd—numbered days are a new one. So the days of the week will be distributed equally.
4. Keep the rest unchanged. The same format and the same length of posts, do not include advertising in the comparison.
5. Type at least five posts in each window — the "Coverage" block, otherwise the window does not take into account. 10-15 is better.
6. Wait two days after the last post — fresh posts are still gaining views.
7. Compare it. Select the experiment period in the "Coverage" and see which window has become the best and by how much. The difference is less than 5% — noise, time has almost no effect.
8. Check the reactions. In the "Engagement" tab, see if the ER has dropped: a late post may gain views, but fewer reactions.

If you publish several times a day, do not transfer all posts, but one main one. How often to publish, we discussed in the article about the publication schedule of the MAX channel.

Frequent questions

At what time is it better to publish a post in MAX?

According to datool.ru during the week of October 18-24, 2026, the most views per post are collected by publications at 23:00, 0:00 and 22:00 Moscow time — about 2,160-2,400 against about 1,420 on average. Least of all — at 6:00 and 10:00. For your channel, check the "Best time to post" block in the "Coverage" tab.

Why are there more views in the evening than in the morning?

In the evening there is less competition: at 23:00 there are 4.5 times fewer posts than at 10:00. In addition, the evening post in the morning greets the reader as one of the first in the feed and continues to gain views.

How datool.ru considers the best time for my channel?

In the "Coverage" tab, the day is divided into seven windows in Moscow. For each, the median of views of posts older than two days is taken and compared with the median of all posts of the period. Windows with less than five posts do not participate. If the best window is less than 5% stronger than the norm, the block says that time has almost no effect on coverage.

Why does the block say that time has almost no effect on coverage?

This means that the difference between the best window and a regular post is less than 5%. This is a frequent result for channels whose subscribers read everything in a row, and for channels with a short history. In this case, publish when it's convenient, and think about the content and format.

On what day of the week is it better to publish in MAX?

On the weekend. For the week of October 18-24, the post on Sunday averaged 1,670 views, on Friday — 1,348, 24% less. Everyday life is almost the same among themselves. The strong and weak day of its channel shows the same block "The best time to fast".

The result

The overall picture of MAX is unambiguous: late evenings and weekends give more views per post, because there is less competition in the feed during these hours and days. But the average messenger mix channels of different sizes and themes, so for your channel, focus on the "Best time to post" block in the "Coverage" tab and check its conclusions with an experiment. The general MAX hours are updated every week on the MAX Statistics page, and if your channel is not already in the catalog, you can add it.