Buffer is a popular tool for social media management, with its simple-to-use dashboard and offering an attractive starting price of $6/month for 1 social channel, on a monthly plan. However, if you're managing more than 10 accounts and work with a team, Buffer's Agency plan will cost you upwards of $120/month. This places Buffer on the more expensive side of the spectrum, as shown in our analysis of the most popular 12 social media scheduling tools in 2024.
11 Alternatives to Buffer in 2024
If you're looking for Buffer alternatives that combine scheduling, analytics, and comments management features, here are some of our top picks:
1. Pallyy
Pallyy is a cost-effective alternative to Buffer. Buffer charges $48/month for managing 8 social profiles, while Pallyy's plan starts at only $18/month and comes with additional features. That's more than 50% cheaper than Buffer. It's also 80% cheaper than Hootsuite's $99/month plan for similar features (scheduling, analytics, comments management).
Why choose Pallyy?
Pallyy is an all-in-one, easy-to-use tool for marketers, teams, and agencies looking to manage multiple accounts (or clients) at affordable prices. Plus, it allows you to share content calendars via a URL link with your clients for direct approval - which is pretty cool.
Pallyy's Key Features:
- Social media scheduling to multiple platforms
- Advanced analytics and downloadable reports
- Comments management (reply to social media comments, DMs from a central inbox)
- Team collaboration and tasks
- Content calendar (shareable link)
Standout Feature: Shared content calendar with client approval feature and best times to post
Pricing: Pallyy only has one plan priced at $18/month (14-day trial available)
Users: Marketers, small businesses, agencies
2. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a more advanced marketing tool than Buffer, yet is more affordable for agencies. Hootsuite's Team plan costs $99/month, includes 10 social media accounts, and offers comprehensive social media management features.
When compared to Buffer's Agency plan, priced at $120/month for 10 social channels, it's $20 cheaper to sign up for a Hootsuite plan that also comes with additional features.
Why choose Hootsuite?
Hootsuite has more advanced analytics and team collaboration features, making it better suited than Buffer to large organizations.
Hootsuite's Key Features:
- Social media scheduling and publishing
- Managing more than 10 accounts (or clients)
- In-depth analytics and reports
- Team collaboration tools
- Social listening and engagement features
- Integration with 200+ apps
Standout Feature: Advanced social media management capabilities suitable for large teams
Pricing: Team plan starts at $99/month for 10 social profiles
Users: Larger teams, Agencies
3. Later
Later is a popular alternative to Buffer, made famous for its Instagram-first approach. When comparing pricing, Buffer offers more affordable options. Buffer's Essential plan costs $12/month for 3 social channels and includes advanced analytics, while Later's Starter plan costs $26/month for 1 social set, and only limited analytics. Buffer's Agency plan is also more affordable at $120/month compared to Later's Agency plan at $200/month.
Why choose Later?
If you're predominantly posting to Instagram and want a tool to preview your Stories, Reels, and Instagram feed, with some basic analytics you may consider Later.
Later's Key Features:
- Visual content calendar
- Multi-platform scheduling
- Basic analytics and performance tracking
- Instagram-first features, including grid preview, and hashtag suggestions
Standout Feature: Visual content planner with an Instagram-first approach
Pricing: Starts at $26/month for 1 Social Set, and 1 user
Best For: Small businesses, bloggers, Instagram influencers
4. Planoly
Compared to Buffer and Later, Planoly offers a balance between the two, a drag-and-drop visual planner for Instagram at a mid-range price point. While Buffer is still the cheaper option, Planoly's Starter plan priced at $14/month makes it an affordable tool for new Instagram creators.
Why Choose Planoly?
Planoly is recommended for influencers and creators looking for a tool to visually plan content for Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok with simple scheduling and analytics capabilities.
Planoly's Key Features:
- Visual content planning for Instagram
- Auto-posting and scheduling
- Analytics for Instagram
- Collaborative tools for teams
- Hashtag management
Standout Feature: Instagram grid planning and analytics tools
Pricing: Starter Plan from $14/month (7-day trial available)
Users: Influencers, new content creators
5. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a premium alternative to Buffer analytics, starting at $249/month. It combines scheduling with advanced analytics, competitor benchmarking, and social media listening tools in one dashboard. This makes it more suitable for large teams, managing multiple accounts, and tracking competitors.
Why choose Sprout Social?
If you're looking for detailed analytics, Sprout Social has one of the best analytics and social media listening tools on the market.
Sprout Social's Key Features:
- Social media scheduling and publishing
- Advanced social listening and analytics reports
- CRM integration for managing customer interactions
- Collaboration tools for team management
Standout Feature: Social media listening tools
Pricing: Plans start at $249 per month for 1 user and up to 5 social profiles. Additional users are charged at $199/user
Best for: Agencies, large organizations
6. Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite is a great alternative to Buffer for anyone seeking a completely free social media scheduling tool. You can use this tool to schedule posts and manage ads across the Meta Suite of apps, including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Why choose Meta Business Suite? If you're a small business owner who wants to post content and manage ads on Facebook and Instagram, you will find it convenient to manage it all from one place.
*Note: Managing Facebook ads through the Meta Business Suite dashboard can be quite difficult, even for marketers.
Meta Business Suite Key Features:
- Scheduling for Instagram and Facebook only
- Analytics and insights
- Ad management dashboard
- Team collaboration with assigned page roles
Standout feature: Integration across Meta's suite of apps (Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp) and ad campaign management.
Pricing: Free
Best for: Small business owners
7. Social Pilot
Social Pilot offers a broader range of features compared to Buffer. These include bulk scheduling, analytics, and team collaboration tools. While Buffer's starter plan is cheaper ($6/month), Social Pilot offers more scalable plans for agencies from $100/month.
Why Choose Social Pilot?
Social Pilot caters to white-label agencies that need customization, bulk scheduling, and team collaboration features.
Social Pilot's Key Features:
- Social media scheduling (with bulk scheduling options)
- Analytics and downloadable reports
- Team collaboration with task assignment and approval workflows
- Content curation and RSS feed automation
Standout Feature: Bulk scheduling and content curation capabilities
Pricing: Agency plan at $100/month for 30 social profiles (14-day free trial available)
Users: Large businesses, white-label agencies
8. Mailchimp
Mailchimp includes a variety of marketing tools such as email marketing, landing pages, and basic social media management. This can be an alternative to Buffer for small businesses and marketers who are looking to integrate their website content, email newsletters, and social media posting into one platform.
Why Choose Mailchimp?
If you're a business owner wanting to integrate email marketing with social media campaigns, Mailchimp can help you automate and track conversions across platforms.
Mailchimp's Key Features:
- Email marketing automation
- Landing pages
- Customer journey mapping
- Integration with eCommerce platforms
- Integration with Facebook, Twitter
- CRM tools for audience segmentation
Standout Feature: Integrated email marketing and social media management
Pricing: Starts at $20/month (for 500 email contacts)
Users: Small businesses, marketers
9. ContentCal
ContentCal is a free content scheduler part of the Adobe family. This means you can design your social media posts and schedule them for auto-posting in Adobe Espress.
Why choose ContentCal?
It's a good option for small businesses and creators familiar with using the Adobe suite of apps. You don't get the analytics features you'd get on Buffer, but if you're only looking for a free tool to publish your content, you can consider Adobe's ContentCal.
ContentCal's Key Features:
- Design, schedule, and publish social media content
- Free to schedule posts to 1 account per social network
- Royalty-free images, fonts, and templates from Adobe library
- Work from mobile or desktop
Standout Feature: Integration with Adobe Express
Pricing: Free plan, and Pro plan from $9.99/mo
10. NapoleonCat
NapoleonCat is a social media toolkit for customer support teams. This tool can be an alternative to the Buffer Engage feature for brands who want to measure customer engagement. With NapoleonCan you can work with your team, set up workflows, assign tasks, and automate replies.
NapoleonCat key features:
- Social media publishing
- Social inbox management
- Automated customer communication
- Visual calendar with color coding
- Analytics and reporting
Standout feature: Social media inbox management capabilities
Pricing: from $27/month for 3 profiles, 1 user
Users: Brands with customer service teams
11. Iconosquare
Iconosquare is a strong competitor to Buffer Analytics. While Buffer offers basic analytics, Iconosquare provides more detailed insights, analytics reports, and charts for Instagram marketers. Priced higher than Buffer, with plans starting at $59/month, Iconosquare offers some unique analytics features that justify the premium cost.
Why choose Iconosquare?
Iconosquare is best for businesses and social media managers who prioritize Instagram analytics and want to dive deeper into their performance metrics.
Iconosquare's Key Features:
- Social media scheduling
- Instagram analytics and performance reports
- Comment management tools
- Competitor tracking and benchmark
- Integration with Zappier
Standout Feature: Instagram analytics and reporting, integration with Zappier for automating workflows
Pricing: Plans start at $59/month (free trial available)
Users: Small businesses, marketers, agencies
Social media tools comparison chart
The table below shows a simple comparison of the social media management tools mentioned in this blog post, their key features, pricing, and different user types.
Summary and conclusion
Choosing a social media scheduling tool comes down to your budget and the features you need. These needs can vary from a blogger to a small business and a large marketing team. The best tool for you will depend on your specific needs - whether it's pricing, advanced analytics, team collaboration features, or an Instagram-first approach.
In this post, we have reviewed several Buffer alternatives that include scheduling, analytics, and comments management features:
- Pallyy: Cost-effective alternative to Buffer with advanced analytics and client collaboration features.
- Hootsuite: Comprehensive toolkit with advanced analytics for managing more than 10 profiles.
- Later: Instagram-first approach with grid preview and basic analytics.
- Planoly: Visual Instagram planner with affordable pricing for new creators.
- Sprout Social: Premium analytics and social listening tools for large teams and agencies.
- Meta Business Suite: Free tool for scheduling and managing ads across Facebook and Instagram.
- Social Pilot: Scalable plans with bulk scheduling and team collaboration.
- Mailchimp: Integrated email marketing with basic social media for small businesses.
- ContentCal: Free Adobe-integrated tool for content scheduling and design.
- NapoleonCat: Focuses on social media management for customer service teams.
- Iconosquare: Detailed Instagram analytics and competitor tracking for businesses.
So, give these tools a try to find the perfect fit for your social media management needs.
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