Social Media Scheduler Pricing Compared: 10 Tools in 2026

TL;DR: Social media scheduler pricing in 2026 splits three ways. Free forever tiers (Buffer, Metricool, Publer) cost nothing but cap channels. Creator tools run roughly $5 to $29 a month. Enterprise suites (Hootsuite, Sprout Social) charge $79 to $299 per seat. Per-channel pricing wins for one account; flat-rate wins once you scale.

Scheduler pricing pages are deliberately confusing. Some charge per channel, some per user seat, some a flat rate per tier, and the number on the homepage rarely matches what you actually pay once you connect every network. This roundup cuts through it. We pulled current pricing for ten major schedulers, verified each figure against the vendor's own page or multiple recent sources, and laid it out in one table so you can compare like for like.

Prices captured July 2026. Scheduler pricing changes often — vendors add tiers, shift per-channel rates, and quietly retire free plans. Treat every number here as a starting point and confirm the current figure on each tool's pricing page before you buy. Where a price would not verify cleanly, we say "check current" rather than guess.

Disclosure: PostJay is our own product. We include it honestly below at its real price (from $9/mo, 7-day trial, no free plan) and hand every rival its genuine wins.

Social media scheduler pricing at a glance

Tool	Free option	Entry paid price	Pricing model	Notable limits
Buffer	Yes — 3 channels, no card	~$5/channel/mo (annual; ~$6 monthly)	Per-channel	Bill scales with every channel; analytics + AI are paid
Metricool	Yes — 1 brand, ~20 posts/mo	~$22–25/mo (Starter, check current)	Per-brand tiers (flat)	Free tier excludes LinkedIn and X
Publer	Yes — 3 accounts, no card	~$5/mo per account ($4 annual)	Per-account (modular add-ons)	Base price covers one account; extras add up
post-bridge	Limited — ~5 posts/mo	$29/mo Creator ($17 annual; check current)	Flat (account cap per tier)	Pricing shifted recently; confirm current tiers
PostJay	No — 7-day trial	$9/mo (Starter)	Flat (account cap per tier)	No free plan; card required for trial
Postiz	Yes — if you self-host	~$29/mo hosted ($23 annual)	Flat (channel cap) / free self-hosted	Self-host means bringing your own API approvals
SocialBee	No — 14-day trial	~$29/mo (Bootstrap; ~$24 annual)	Flat (profile cap per tier)	5 profiles on the entry tier
Later	No — trial only	~$25/mo (Starter; ~$18.75 annual)	Flat (social set of up to ~8 profiles)	30 posts/profile; extra sets and users are add-ons
Hootsuite	No — 30-day trial	~$99/mo (Standard, 1 seat, annual)	Per-seat + account cap	Expensive; monthly billing ~$149
Sprout Social	No — 30-day trial	~$79/seat/mo (Essentials, annual)	Per-seat	Enterprise-priced; ~$99/seat monthly

Numbers reflect what we could verify in July 2026. Annual billing is cheaper than monthly on almost every tool listed. Confirm current pricing before committing.

Buffer

Buffer is the reference point for per-channel pricing. Its free plan connects three channels with roughly ten queued posts each and no credit card, which is genuinely useful for solo creators. Paid starts at about $5 per channel per month on the Essentials plan (annual billing; closer to $6 monthly), with a 14-day trial. The model is honest and cheap at one or two channels, and volume discounts kick in above ten channels. The catch: the bill grows every time you add a network, and analytics plus the AI Assistant sit behind paid tiers. Buffer is best for people posting to a handful of accounts who value simplicity. If you compare it against us directly, see PostJay vs Buffer.

Metricool

Metricool is the pick when free analytics matter. Its free plan covers one brand with around 20 posts per month, competitor tracking, and roughly 30 days of analytics — no card needed. Paid starts around $22 to $25 per month (Starter, check current, since it varies by brand count) and scales by number of brands rather than by channel. The reporting is strong for the price and it supports Google Business Profile. Two honest limits: the free tier excludes LinkedIn and X, and the monthly post cap is tight for active accounts. Metricool suits data-minded solo marketers and small teams who care more about measurement than raw posting volume. Pair it with our best-time-to-post tool to spend that quota well.

Publer

Publer uses a modular per-account model that is one of the cheapest ways to schedule a single network. There is a genuine free plan (three accounts, no card, though X is excluded on free), and paid starts around $5 per month for one account ($4 billed annually). Every extra account and teammate is a paid add-on, so the base price is misleading once you connect several networks — covering all the major platforms can climb toward $40 or more per month. Publer is best for budget-conscious creators focused on one or two networks who want solid drafting and bulk scheduling. For a broader budget-tier comparison, see our best free social media schedulers guide.

post-bridge

post-bridge is a newer creator-focused tool that supports all nine major platforms. It offers a limited free tier (roughly five posts per month) and a 7-day trial. Pricing has shifted recently and sources disagree: the most recent 2026 data lists Creator around $29 per month (15 accounts) and Pro around $49 (unlimited accounts), with about a 40% annual discount bringing Creator closer to $17 — while older listings quote lower figures. Because of that, treat post-bridge's pricing as "check current." It is genuinely affordable and simple, aimed at creators who want cross-posting without complexity. For a deeper look, see our post-bridge alternatives breakdown.

PostJay

PostJay is our own product, so weigh this accordingly. There is no free plan — every tier includes a 7-day free trial ($0 today, cancel anytime), and a credit card is required to start it. Paid begins at Starter $9/mo (5 accounts, 200 AI generations, all nine platforms, plus MCP + REST API and a content calendar), then Creator $19/mo (15 accounts, unlimited posts and AI) and Unlimited $29/mo (unlimited accounts, team, and client approvals). Annual billing gives two months free. The flat model means the price does not climb per channel, which makes the $29 unlimited tier competitive against per-seat and per-channel tools once you run many accounts. See the full pricing or the built-in AI features.

Postiz

Postiz is the open-source option. Self-host it and the software is completely free, supporting 30-plus networks with no subscription. The hosted plan starts around $29 per month ($23 annual) for five channels and roughly 400 posts a month. "Free" here is real but conditional: self-hosting means running your own server and, importantly, obtaining your own platform API approvals — which can take over a month for Meta and YouTube. That is a genuine cost in time and skill even though no money changes hands. Postiz is best for developers and privacy-focused teams who want to own their stack and do not mind DevOps. Everyone else will find a managed tool far less work.

SocialBee

SocialBee's strength is content categories and evergreen recycling, and it prices on a flat per-tier model. There is no free plan, but a 14-day trial is available. The entry Bootstrap plan is about $29 per month ($24 annually) and covers five social profiles, one workspace, and one user. Accelerate at roughly $49 adds more profiles and storage, and Pro at about $99 unlocks 25 profiles and team collaboration. The flat structure keeps costs predictable, but five profiles on the entry tier is tight if you run more than a couple of networks. SocialBee is best for solopreneurs and small businesses who lean on category-based content queues and want set-and-forget recycling.

Later

Later built its name on visual Instagram planning and now prices around "social sets" — bundles of up to about eight profiles. There is no free plan anymore, just a trial. Starter runs about $25 per month ($18.75 annual) for one social set, one user, and 30 posts per profile; Growth is roughly $50 for two sets and two users. Extra social sets, extra users, and extra AI credits are all paid add-ons, so a growing team stacks costs quickly. The visual calendar and link-in-bio tools remain a strong draw for image-led brands. Later is best for creators and small teams whose strategy centres on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. Compare with our Instagram scheduler and Pinterest scheduler.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is the legacy enterprise option, and it is priced like one. There is no free plan — it was retired in 2023 — though a 30-day trial exists (card required). The entry Standard plan is about $99 per seat per month on annual billing (closer to $149 monthly) and covers one user and up to ten social accounts, with unlimited scheduling, OwlyWriter AI, and standard analytics. Advanced/Team jumps to roughly $249 for three users and 20 accounts with approval workflows. It is powerful and mature, with deep listening and analytics, but the per-seat cost puts it out of reach for most creators and small teams. See our Hootsuite alternatives for cheaper routes.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social sits at the premium end and charges per seat. There is no free plan, but a 30-day trial with no credit card is available. Essentials starts around $79 per seat per month on annual billing ($99 monthly), and the ladder climbs steeply: Standard about $199, Professional about $299, and Advanced about $399 per seat, plus custom Enterprise. What you pay for is best-in-class analytics, social listening, and CRM-grade collaboration. For a large marketing team that lives in social data, it can be worth it; for a creator or small business, the per-seat pricing is hard to justify. If you want that polish at a fraction of the cost, most of the flat-rate tools above will do the core scheduling job.

Which scheduler is cheapest for you?

Cheapest for one platform. If you only post to a single network, a free plan wins outright — Buffer, Metricool, and Publer all cost nothing. Among paid tools, Buffer's ~$5 per channel and Publer's ~$5 per account are the lowest entry points, because per-channel pricing is at its cheapest when the channel count is one.

Cheapest for many accounts. Once you run five, ten, or more accounts, flat-rate pricing takes over. PostJay's $9 Starter (five accounts) and $29 Unlimited (unlimited accounts) stay flat while per-channel tools keep billing for every network. A Buffer setup covering ten channels, for instance, costs far more than a single flat plan that includes them all.

Per-channel vs flat, the trade-off. Per-channel tools (Buffer, Publer) reward small setups and punish scale — the bill grows with every network. Flat-rate tools (PostJay, SocialBee, Later, post-bridge) cost more on day one but stay predictable. Per-seat tools (Hootsuite, Sprout Social) are built for teams and priced accordingly. The deciding question is simple: how many channels, and how many people?

Which are truly free. Only Buffer, Metricool, and Publer offer genuine forever-free plans with no credit card. Postiz is free if you self-host and manage your own API access. post-bridge has a limited free tier of about five posts a month. Everything else — Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social, SocialBee, and PostJay — is trial-only, not free. Learn the mechanics in our guide to scheduling posts across every platform.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a social media scheduler cost in 2026?

It ranges from free to hundreds a month. Genuinely free tiers exist (Buffer, Metricool, Publer). Creator-focused paid tools start around $5 to $29 a month, while enterprise suites like Hootsuite and Sprout Social run $79 to $299 per seat. Where you land depends on channel count and whether you pay per channel, per seat, or a flat rate.

What is the cheapest social media scheduler?

For a single platform, Buffer and Publer both start near $5 per channel or account, and their free plans cost nothing at all. For many accounts, flat-rate tools win: PostJay is $9 a month for five accounts and $29 for unlimited, which undercuts per-channel tools that keep charging as you scale up.

Is per-channel or flat-rate pricing better?

Per-channel pricing (Buffer, Publer) is cheapest when you run one or two accounts, but the bill climbs with every network you add. Flat-rate pricing (PostJay, SocialBee, Later, post-bridge) costs more upfront but stays predictable as you scale. Count your channels first: few favours per-channel, many favours flat.

Which social media schedulers are actually free?

Buffer, Metricool, and Publer offer genuine forever-free plans with no credit card, though each caps channels or monthly posts. Postiz is free if you self-host it. post-bridge has a limited free tier of roughly five posts a month. Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social, SocialBee, and PostJay are trial-only, not free.

Does PostJay have a free plan?

No. PostJay does not offer a free plan. Every plan includes a 7-day free trial ($0 today, cancel anytime), and a credit card is required to start it. Paid pricing begins at $9 a month for Starter, with Creator at $19 and Unlimited at $29. Annual billing gives two months free.

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Pricing is only half the decision — the right tool is the one that fits your channels, team size, and budget together. If a flat rate across all nine platforms with built-in AI sounds right, start a 7-day free trial of PostJay (from $9/mo, cancel anytime).