Buffer Alternatives in 2026: 9 Social Schedulers Compared

Buffer is a simple scheduler priced per channel. That keeps the starting price low and the product easy to learn, and it’s why most people try it first. The reasons people look elsewhere are visible on Buffer’s own pricing page on 9 October 2026:

• The price scales with channels. Essentials is $6 per channel per month ($5 billed yearly), and Team is $12 ($10 yearly). Connect five channels on Team and you’re paying five times the rate.
• Essentials is one user. Unlimited team members, approval workflows and access permissions start on Team.
• The free plan is small. Three channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel and a 30-day analytics history.
• Some features sit on paid tiers. First-comment scheduling, the hashtag manager and performance overview are marked as not included on Free. Branded reports are Team only.

If one of those is the problem, here’s how the alternatives price the same job. The first two picks are the cheapest ways to schedule across many accounts. The rest add approvals, analytics or inbox features. If you’re a larger team, see our guide to Hootsuite alternatives.

The alternatives

1. Publer: the low-cost option

Publer has a free plan with one user, one workspace and three social accounts (X isn’t allowed on free). It’s limited to 10 scheduled posts per account. Professional is $5 a month, or $4 billed yearly, and adds unlimited scheduling, unlimited workspaces, first comments and threads, and X support. Business is $10 a month ($8 yearly) and adds unlimited AI prompts, analytics, best-time suggestions, competitor analysis and API access.

Publer prices by the number of social accounts you select, with every tenth account free, so check the total for your own count. Limit: collaboration and approval workflows depend on adding members, and the page prices those separately.

2. SocialPilot: flat plans with accounts and users included

Essentials is $20 a month ($17 billed yearly) for five accounts, one user and 500 AI credits. Standard is $40 ($34 yearly) for 10 accounts, three users, bulk scheduling and a social inbox. Premium is $100 ($85 yearly) for 20 accounts, six users, client approval and white-label reports. Extra accounts are $4 a month. All plans offer a 14-day trial with no card.

Limit: approvals and white-label reports only start on Premium.

3. Later: visual planning with bundled social sets

Later sells “social sets” of eight profiles (one each of its eight platforms). Starter is $25 a month ($18.75 billed yearly) for one set, one user, 30 posts per profile and five AI credits a month. Growth is $50 ($37.50 yearly) for two sets, two users, approvals, a social inbox and 180 posts per profile. Scale is $110 ($82.50 yearly). Every plan has a 14-day trial.

Limit: the post caps are per profile per month, and extra users cost $5 each on Growth and Scale.

4. Metricool: scheduling and analytics priced by brand

Metricool’s free plan covers one brand and 20 scheduled posts a month, but not LinkedIn or X. Starter is from $20 a month billed yearly ($25 monthly) for up to five brands, with unlimited publishing and a LinkedIn connection. Ten brands is $36 ($45 monthly). Advanced starts at $53 ($67 monthly) for 15 brands and adds team and client management and post approvals.

Limit: the price is set by brand count, so the cost jumps if you manage many separate brands.

5. Typefully: for writers who work on X first

Typefully is an editor and scheduler for X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack. Free allows 10 posts a month. Creator is $99 a year (annual billing only) and adds AI writing features and X analytics. Business is $18 per social set a month billed yearly, with comments, roles and unlimited users.

Limit: it covers text networks. If you post to Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, it’s the wrong tool.

6. Planable: approvals first

Planable prices per workspace rather than per channel. Basic is $33 a workspace a month for 60 posts, four social pages, unlimited users and two types of approval. Pro is $49 for 150 posts, 10 pages and three types of approval. The first 50 posts are free with no time limit. Analytics and a social inbox are paid add-ons.

Limit: the page doesn’t state whether the displayed price is monthly or yearly, so confirm at checkout.

7. Sendible: unlimited users and AI credits

Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan. Core is $35 a month ($30 billed yearly) for one workspace and six profiles, with unlimited scheduling and unlimited AI credits. Plus is $99 ($84 yearly) for three workspaces, 18 profiles and approvals. Premium is $199 ($169 yearly). White label is an add-on. There’s a 14-day trial with no card.

Limit: the workspace model is built for agencies, so a solo creator pays for structure they won’t use.

8. Hootsuite: a full suite, per seat

Hootsuite’s Standard plan is $99 per user a month billed annually, for up to 10 social accounts. Professional is $199 for unlimited accounts, and approvals start on Advanced at $399. Every plan includes its Wisdom AI assistant, and there’s a 14-day trial with no card. There’s no free plan, and the page doesn’t show a monthly-billing price.

Limit: it costs far more than Buffer for one person.

9. Sprout Social: depth over price

Sprout’s Essentials plan is $79 per seat a month billed yearly ($99 monthly) for five profiles. Standard is $199, Professional is $299 for unlimited profiles, and Advanced is $399, all per seat on annual billing. Plans include 100 AI credits per seat a month, and there’s a 30-day trial with no card.

Limit: it’s priced for teams that run engagement and reporting at volume.

Quick comparison

How to choose

1. Price your real setup. Count your accounts, users and clients, then total each tool. Buffer charges per channel, SocialPilot and Sendible give a bundle, Publer charges per account and Later per set.
2. Match the networks. Typefully is for text networks. Later is built around Instagram and TikTok. Metricool’s free plan skips LinkedIn and X.
3. Decide when you need approvals. Buffer needs Team, SocialPilot needs Premium, Sendible needs Plus and Planable has them from Basic.
4. Compare annual and monthly rates. Typefully’s Creator plan is annual only, and Hootsuite’s page shows only annual prices.
5. Be clear on what AI you need. Most plans include some. If you need posts written in your own voice, scheduling tools won’t do that on their own. See our guide to AI social media post generators.

If the hard part is writing, not scheduling

A scheduler moves a post out the door. It doesn’t write it. If you’re an executive or a company leader whose posts need to sound like you and stay inside disclosure rules, Parlance is a voice-trained content system built for public-company CEOs and the IR and comms teams around them. One brief becomes a LinkedIn post, X thread, blog post, email and press release, and it isn’t a scheduler, so you’d pair it with one of the tools above. It’s invite-only.

Get a voice-matched sample from Parlance →

Disclaimer: we own Parlance (which is how we know it’s good).