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The short answer
Later is $18.75/mo Starter (annual, 25% off). Buffer is $5/mo per channel (Essentials). Later suits visual planning for Instagram-led brands, while Buffer suits the cheapest way to start on one or two channels. Work out which description fits how you actually post, because the feature lists overlap far more than the pricing models do.
Later vs Buffer at a glance
| Later | Buffer | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid price | $18.75/mo Starter (annual, 25% off) | $5/mo per channel (Essentials) |
| Free plan | No | Yes, 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts |
| Best for | Visual planning for Instagram-led brands | The cheapest way to start on one or two channels |
Later
Built around visual planning: a drag-and-drop grid preview, a media library, and Linkin.bio as a real product with shoppable images and tracked links. Starter covers 8 social profiles in one Social Set, with a 30 posts per profile monthly limit that catches people out. Strongest for Instagram-led and TikTok-led brands where feed layout matters as much as schedule. Adds Snapchat, which most of this list does not.
Buffer
Per-channel pricing is the whole story: $5/mo for one channel, so two channels cost $10/mo and ten cost $50/mo. Cheapest entry here for a narrow setup, middling for a wide one. The free plan is permanent, capped at 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts at a time. Publishing-first and deliberately shallow on analytics and inbox. Wide platform coverage including Bluesky, Mastodon, Pinterest and Google Business Profile.
If neither fits
These two are not the only options, and for a lot of people they are not the right two. Everything below is a working alternative, cheapest first.
| Tool | Entry paid price | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publer | $5/mo Professional ($4/mo billed yearly) | Yes, free forever tier | The cheapest paid tier with a real free plan |
| Post Bridge | Around $7.50 to $9/mo (Starter) | Yes, 5 posts/mo | Deliberately minimal publishing |
| Zoho Social | $10/mo (Standard, billed annually) | No | Teams already inside the Zoho suite |
| PostNext.io | 11 EUR/mo (Premium, 15 channels) | Yes, 1,000 posts/mo fair use | AI post and blog generation on a flat price |
| Planoly | Around $16/mo Starter (annual) | Yes, limited to 1 user and 1 social set | Instagram-first visual planning |
| Tailwind | $17.99/mo annual Pin Scheduling ($29.99 monthly) | Yes | Pinterest, and Pinterest SEO in particular |
| FeedHive | $19/mo (Creator, 4 social accounts) | No | Solo creators who want AI recycling |
| CoSchedule | $19/mo Social Calendar (annual) | Yes, Free Calendar with 1 user and 1 profile | A marketing calendar that happens to post |
| Metricool | $20/mo (Starter, 5 brands) | Yes, 1 brand and 20 posts/mo | Analytics depth at a small-team price |
| SocialPilot | $20/mo Essentials ($17/mo annual) | No | Agencies managing many client accounts |
| Sprout Social | $79/seat/mo Essentials (annual), $99 monthly | No, 30-day trial | Enterprise reporting and workflow |
| SocialBee | $29/mo Bootstrap ($20.17/mo annual), 5 profiles | No, 14-day trial | Category-based evergreen recycling |
| MeetEdgar | $29.99/mo Eddie ($24.91/mo annual), 5 accounts | No, 30-day trial | Set-and-forget evergreen automation |
| Sendible | $29/mo Creator (1 user, 6 profiles) | No | White-label agency reporting |
| Planable | $33/workspace/mo Basic | Yes, 50 free posts with no time limit | The cleanest approval and review experience |
| HeyOrca | $35/mo per calendar (Agency Basic) | Yes, light posting on 1 calendar | Client approval workflows |
| Kontentino | $39/mo (Basic, billed annually) | No | Approvals with a brand-safety review step |
| Loomly | $49/mo Starter ($65/mo monthly) | No, trial only | Unlimited calendars and a post-ideas board |
| eClincher | $65/mo (Basic, 10 profiles, 1 user) | No | The closest all-in-one to Hootsuite itself |
| Agorapulse | $79/mo Standard (annual) | Yes, limited | A social inbox without enterprise pricing |
| Mixpost | $299 one-time (Pro), self-hosted | Yes, Lite is open source | Owning your data on your own server |
| Hootsuite | ~$99/user/mo (Standard, list) | No, discontinued | Enterprise listening, ads, support inbox |
Read the full comparisons
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