TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- Hootsuite has no free plan and starts at $99 a month on annual billing.
- Buffer is the cheapest at $5 per channel a month and keeps a free plan.
- Vista Social covers 13 networks with 15 profiles for about $79 a month on annual billing.
- Ten profiles cost about $50 (Buffer) to $99 (Hootsuite) a month.
- Count profiles, not brands: one brand on five networks is five profiles.
Short answer: Hootsuite now starts at $99 a month and has no free plan, so most small teams look elsewhere. Buffer is the cheapest serious option at $5 per channel a month and keeps a free plan. Vista Social gives the most networks per dollar (13, including Reddit, Snapchat, Bluesky and Google Business) at $79 to $99 a month for 15 profiles. SocialBee suits solo creators at $24 a month. Metricool and Publer have the most useful free plans after Buffer. Updated October 29, 2026.
How we checked: plans, limits, networks and trials come from each vendor's own pricing and help pages, read October 29, 2026. Several pricing pages only render monthly prices in the browser; where we could not read a figure, we say so rather than guess. The 10-profile cost table is our own arithmetic.
Social media schedulers at a glance
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid (annual billing) | Profiles on that plan | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | No | Standard $99/user/month | 10 | 14 days (capped posting) |
| Buffer | 3 channels, 10 queued posts each | Essentials $5/channel/month | Pay per channel | 14 days |
| Vista Social | No | Professional $79/month ($950/year; $99 monthly) | 15 | 14 days, no card |
| SocialBee | No | Bootstrap $24/month ($29 monthly) | 5 | 14 days, no card |
| Later | Not shown on its pricing page | Starter $18.75/month | 8 (one social set) | 14 days |
| Sprout Social | No | Essentials $79/seat/month ($99 monthly) | 5 | 30 days, no card |
| Metricool | 1 brand, 20 posts a month, no LinkedIn or X | Starter $20/month ($25 monthly) | 5 brands | No general trial shown |
| Publer | 3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts each | Professional from $5/month | From 1 | 7 days (Business: 14) |
| Agorapulse | 10 scheduled posts at a time | Standard $79/user/month ($99 monthly) | 10 | 30 days |
What managing 10 profiles costs a month
| Tool and plan | How it is priced | 10 profiles, 1 user (our math) |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer Essentials | $5 per channel, annual billing | $50 |
| Agorapulse Standard | $79 per user, 10 profiles included | $79 |
| Vista Social Professional | $950 a year, 15 profiles | About $79 |
| Hootsuite Standard | $99 per user, 10 accounts | $99 |
Which networks each tool posts to
- Vista Social: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business, Reddit, Snapchat and Tumblr: the widest list here.
- Buffer: Bluesky, Facebook, Google Business, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Pinterest, Substack, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube.
- SocialBee: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business and Bluesky.
- Later: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and Snapchat; no Bluesky or Google Business listed.
- Hootsuite: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, WhatsApp, Pinterest and Bluesky; Google Business through a separate app.
AI writing features
Every tool here now writes captions with AI, but the allowances differ. Buffer includes its AI Assistant on every plan, the free one too. SocialBee includes unlimited AI content generation. Vista Social gives 1,000 AI credits a month on Professional. Later's Caption Writer and Sprout's Trellis run on monthly credits (Sprout: 100 per seat, with Trellis Plus at $28 a seat extra). Publer's AI Assist is unlimited on Business.
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Which one to choose
- Solo or tiny budget: Buffer (free plan, then $5 a channel) or Publer's free plan.
- Solo creator who wants evergreen content recycling and AI help: SocialBee at $24 a month.
- Agency or brand on many networks: Vista Social, 15 profiles and 13 networks for about $79 a month on annual billing.
- You need analytics more than scheduling: Metricool.
- Large team that needs approvals and a unified inbox: Sprout Social or Agorapulse (both have 30-day trials).
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Hootsuite?
Buffer: it has a free plan for 3 channels and paid plans at $5 per channel a month on annual billing, so 10 profiles cost about $50 a month against Hootsuite Standard's $99.
Does Hootsuite have a free plan in 2026?
No. Hootsuite offers a 14-day trial, with posting capped during the trial, and plans start at $99 per user a month on annual billing for 10 accounts.
Which social media scheduler supports Bluesky?
Buffer, Vista Social, SocialBee, Hootsuite, Metricool, Publer and Agorapulse all list Bluesky. Later's pricing page does not.
Which social media scheduler has the best free plan?
Buffer (3 channels with 10 queued posts each, plus its AI Assistant), Publer (3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts each, X excluded) and Metricool (1 brand, 20 posts a month, no LinkedIn or X).