11 Buffer Alternatives for Businesses With Nobody to Write Posts

SocialBee is the closest thing on this list to what we make, and on networks it does more. Its AI is pitched as more than a caption helper: it plans the posts, writes them and makes images for them.

It publishes to ten networks, Google Business Profile among them, which matters if customers find you on Google. There is no free plan. A 14-day trial with no card is how you find out if it fits.

Bootstrap at $24 a month billed yearly costs more than three Buffer Essentials channels at $15 billed yearly, and less than five at $25 billed yearly. Without a yearly bill, Bootstrap is $29 month to month and three Buffer channels are $18 month to month. The bigger gap is the writing: on Buffer you start every post, and SocialBee says its AI writes them, pictures included.

Metricool prices by brand, not by channel. The free plan never expires and needs no card: 1 brand, 20 posts a month and 30 days of analytics. That makes it a fair way to try a Buffer alternative for months, not days.

Its AI drafts the words when you give it a topic, and Autolists can keep recycling posts you already have. The approval step on Advanced is unusual at the price: a reviewer outside your business approves from an emailed link, with no account.

Both have a free plan that does not run out. Buffer's covers 3 channels, and Metricool's covers 1 brand and 20 posts a month, without LinkedIn or X.

Metricool Starter is $20 a month billed yearly, or $25 month to month, for up to 5 brands. Three Buffer Essentials channels are $15 billed yearly, or $18 month to month, so Buffer is cheaper for a few channels. Metricool gives you an AI that drafts the text from a topic, and approvals that reach people outside your business, from Advanced at $53 a month billed yearly. Buffer Team approvals cover team members only.

Publer looks a lot like Buffer: a free plan for up to three accounts, up to 10 scheduled posts at a time per account, and paid plans priced by how many accounts and members you add.

We could not confirm that its AI writes posts, so plan on writing them yourself. If you already do, and Buffer suits you apart from the price, this is the shortest move on the list.

For one channel, Publer Professional is from $4 a month billed yearly, or $5 month to month, against Buffer Essentials at $5 billed yearly, or $6 month to month. The pages we read give no price for each extra account, so price your own setup on Publer's plans page before you assume it stays cheaper.

SocialPilot sells flat plans with a set number of accounts: 7 on Essentials, 15 on Standard, 25 on Premium and 50 on Ultimate. Users go 1, 3, 6, then unlimited.

Its AI is listed as writing posts, not only captions, and posts can repeat on a schedule. Approvals come in two steps: for your own team from Standard, and for clients from Premium.

SocialPilot Essentials is $25.50 a month billed yearly for 7 accounts, where five Buffer Essentials channels are $25 billed yearly. SocialPilot Essentials is $30 month to month, the same as five Buffer channels at $30 month to month. Past five channels SocialPilot costs less, and its AI is listed as writing whole posts. Below that, Buffer is cheaper and has a free plan.

Later grew up as an Instagram planner and still reads like one. The visual calendar and the link-in-bio page are why people pick it.

Starter covers 1 social set of 8 profiles and 1 user. There is a 14-day trial rather than a free plan.

On yearly bills, Buffer is cheaper up to three channels, at $15 billed yearly, and Later Starter at $18.75 billed yearly wins from four channels up. Later Starter is $25 month to month, and Buffer passes it at five channels, $30 month to month. Later's AI writes captions from a few keywords, and there is no free plan to fall back on.

Hootsuite has been doing this since 2008 and connects more third-party tools than anything else here. Its AI is listed as generating posts and images, not only captions.

It also has the highest entry price on this list. When we read the pricing page it printed every price per user per month, billed yearly, and no month-to-month price.

One Hootsuite seat on Standard is $99 a month billed yearly, for 10 social accounts. Ten Buffer Essentials channels are $50 billed yearly, so Buffer costs about half before you count what the AI does. Hootsuite lists AI that generates posts and images, and Buffer's AI drafts a caption. Approvals cost more on Hootsuite: they sit on Advanced at $399 per user billed yearly, where Buffer Team is $10 per channel billed yearly.

Agorapulse treats the inbox as part of the job rather than a bolt-on. Publishing, engagement and reporting come on one subscription instead of three.

It is priced per user, and that is the number that decides whether it fits. Reporting is included at every tier, which is the real answer if thin analytics is why you are leaving Buffer.

One Agorapulse seat on Standard is $79 a month billed yearly, or $99 month to month, for 10 social profiles. Ten Buffer Essentials channels are $50 billed yearly, or $60 month to month. What the extra buys is the inbox and reporting at every tier. For three people, Agorapulse Standard is $237 a month billed yearly, because it charges per user.

Sprout Social is built around its reporting. If you need a detailed report every month, that report is what you are buying.

Pricing is per seat, and profiles are capped at 5 on the two cheaper tiers. There is a 30-day trial and no free plan.

One Sprout seat on Essentials is $79 a month billed yearly, or $99 month to month, for 5 profiles. Five Buffer Essentials channels are $25 billed yearly, or $30 month to month. Two Sprout seats on Standard are $398 a month billed yearly. Unless reporting is the job, that is a lot to pay to replace a scheduler.

Planable is built around sign-off. The approver sees a preview that looks like the published post, with the conversation beside it instead of in an email thread.

It bills per workspace, and users inside a workspace are unlimited. There is no trial clock: the first 50 posts are free with no time limit and no credit card.

Buffer Team gives your team approvals at $10 per channel billed yearly, or $12 month to month. Planable Basic is $33 per workspace billed yearly, or $39 month to month, with two approval types and unlimited users in the workspace. For three channels Buffer Team is cheaper, at $30 billed yearly. What Planable adds is the preview, and a sign-off step that is the whole point of the product.

Sendible is built for people who post on behalf of others. Plans are sold by workspaces of 6 social profiles each, with unlimited users on every plan.

Every plan has client dashboards, where client users "preview and approve content". Buffer has nothing like it: its approvals are on Team, for team members.

Sendible Core is $29.75 a month billed yearly, or $35 month to month, for one workspace of 6 profiles. Five Buffer Essentials channels are $25 billed yearly, or $30 month to month. The prices are close, but Sendible gives clients a way to approve, and the Buffer pages we read do not.