The best Buffer alternatives in 2026

Buffer is one of the simplest ways to schedule social posts, and its free plan and per-channel pricing keep it cheap for a single person with a few accounts. The trouble usually starts when something changes: a second person joins, the channel count climbs, or you need an inbox for DMs, deeper analytics or listening. At that point it is worth checking what else is out there.

This guide compares Buffer with six alternatives: Publer, Metricool, Later, SocialBee, Hootsuite and Sprout Social. They cover the whole range, from tools that cost about the same as Buffer to full suites that cost ten times more. All prices are USD list prices from each vendor's own pricing page, checked in October 2026.

What matters most when you compare Buffer alternatives:

• How you are billed: per channel (Buffer, Publer), per brand (Metricool), per plan (Later, SocialBee) or per user seat (Hootsuite, Sprout Social).
• Users: how many people are included, and what a second person costs.
• Networks: whether X, LinkedIn, Bluesky or Google Business Profile are supported, and on which plan.
• Approvals: which plan lets a manager or client sign off on posts before they go out.
• Inbox and analytics: whether you can answer comments and DMs, and how much history you keep.
• Free plan or trial: whether you can stay on a free plan or only test for a few days.

Why People Leave Buffer

Buffer's pricing is clear and published in full, so the reasons people move on are easy to trace back to its plans and limits.

A second user means a plan change. Buffer's Essentials plan is for one user. Approval workflows, access levels and extra team members are on the Team plan, which costs $12 per channel per month on monthly billing for the first 10 channels, or $10 per channel per month billed yearly. Essentials is $6 per channel per month monthly, or about $5 billed yearly. So the day a freelancer adds an assistant, the per-channel price roughly doubles.

The bill grows with every channel. Buffer charges for each connected channel. That is cheap for three or four accounts but adds up for a business on six or seven networks. Buffer does give volume discounts above 10 channels ($4 per channel for channels 11 to 25 on both paid plans, then lower again above 25), which helps agencies, but small teams with 5 to 10 channels pay the full rate on every one.

The free plan is tight. Buffer Free covers 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 1 user and 30 days of insights history. That works for a light posting schedule, but anyone who plans a month ahead on daily posting outgrows it quickly.

Engagement is focused on comments. Buffer's community inbox handles comments, with AI and saved replies. Buffer does not list DM management or social listening on its pricing page. Teams that handle customer questions in DMs or want to track brand mentions need something else.

Some channel types are limited. Instagram personal profiles and Facebook groups are supported through notification publishing only, so you get a reminder on your phone and post by hand.

Why many people stay with Buffer

Plenty of people look around and stay, for good reasons:

• The Team plan includes unlimited users. Most rivals charge per seat or cap users per plan. On Buffer, a team of ten costs the same as a team of two for the same channels.
• There is a real free plan. Three channels at $0 is more than Later, SocialBee, Hootsuite or Sprout Social offer.
• The network list is wide. Buffer supports Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube Shorts, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack.
• AI and API on every plan. The AI Assistant is unlimited on all plans, and every plan includes API access (1 key on Free).
• It is simple. The queue and calendar are easy to learn, which matters if non-marketers post too.

How We Compared

We compared plans, limits and features using each vendor's own pricing pages, plan pages and help documentation, checked in October 2026. We did not run hands-on tests of these tools for this article, so there are no timed tasks or screenshots here. Where a vendor does not publish a price (for example Hootsuite's monthly billing or Sprout Social's add-ons), we say so instead of using third-party estimates.

Comparison Table

Prices checked October 2026 on each vendor's pricing page. Prices exclude tax.

Buffer: The Baseline

Buffer is a queue-based scheduler with a visual calendar, drafts, templates and reminders.

Key features

• Queue-based scheduling with a content calendar, drafts, templates and reminders
• First comment scheduling and a hashtag manager on paid plans
• Community inbox for comments, with AI replies and saved replies
• Ideas board for collecting and organizing content ideas
• AI Assistant to write, refine and repurpose posts, unlimited on all plans
• Start Page link-in-bio builder
• Public API on all plans, plus integrations with Canva, Zapier, Make, n8n, ChatGPT and Claude

Pricing

Buffer charges per connected channel, with volume discounts above 10 channels.

• Free: $0 for up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 100 ideas, 1 user and 30 days of insights history.
• Essentials: $6 per channel per month on monthly billing, or about $5 per channel per month billed yearly, for channels 1 to 10. Then $4 per channel for channels 11 to 25, $3 for 26 to 50 and $1 above 50 (monthly prices). One user, unlimited scheduled posts (fair use cap of 5,000 per channel), advanced analytics, reports, hashtag manager and first comment scheduling.
• Team: $12 per channel per month monthly, or $10 per channel per month billed yearly ($120 per channel per year), for channels 1 to 10. Then $4 for channels 11 to 25, $3 for 26 to 50 and $2 above 50 (monthly prices). Unlimited team members, approval workflows, access levels and branded reports.

Buffer's own examples: 10 channels on Essentials cost $60 a month monthly or $50 a month billed yearly; on Team, $120 or $100. There is a 14-day free trial of paid plans, and nonprofits get 50% off.

Publer: Best Buffer Alternative Overall

Publer works the way Buffer does: you pay for each social account you connect. The difference is how much you get per account. Approval workflows, bulk scheduling, unlimited workspaces and X are on the Professional plan, which costs less per account than Buffer Essentials.

Key features

• Calendar scheduling with drag and drop, queue auto-scheduling and an Instagram and TikTok feed preview
• Bulk scheduling through CSV, a bulk uploader and a multi-post scheduler
• Post recycling, recurring posts and Spintax variations (Business)
• Scheduled first comments and X threads, plus auto-share and auto-delete
• Approval workflows and unlimited workspaces with roles on paid plans
• AI Assist for text, images and comment replies, unlimited on Business
• Analytics, best times, hashtag and competitor analysis, API and MCP access on Business

Publer supports Facebook (profiles, pages, locations and groups), Instagram (business and creator), TikTok, X (paid plans only), Threads, LinkedIn (profiles and pages), Pinterest, Mastodon, Google Business Profile, YouTube, Telegram, Bluesky and WordPress.

Pricing

Paid plans are priced per social account, plus a fee for each extra team member. The plan owner is included.

• Free: $0 forever, 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts (no X), 10 scheduled posts at a time per account, 25 drafts and 24 hours of post history.
• Professional: $5 per month for 1 account, $4.50 per account for 2, and $4 per account for 3 or more (monthly billing). Extra members are $2 per month each. 7-day free trial.
• Business: $10 per month for 1 account, $8.50 per account for 2, and $7 per account for 3 or more. Extra members are $3 per month each. 14-day free trial.

Publer says every 10th account and member is free, but its calculator applies this only on yearly billing: 10 accounts on Professional cost $40 a month monthly, or $28.80 billed yearly (9 x $4, less 20%). Publer also offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. VAT is not included.

Pros

• Very low per-account pricing; every 10th account and member is free on yearly billing
• Usable free plan for 3 accounts, no card needed
• Wide network list, including Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky and WordPress
• Approval workflows already on the Professional plan

Cons

• Analytics, best times and competitor analysis are Business only
• Free plan cannot connect X and keeps post history for only 24 hours
• The price grows with every account and member, so you need to do the math
• Publer applies daily posting limits to prevent spam, even on unlimited plans

Who it's for

Small businesses, creators and agencies that like Buffer's model but want approvals, bulk tools and team members without moving to a $10 to $12 per channel plan. If you need analytics, budget for Business at $7 per account.

Metricool: Best for Analytics and Multiple Brands

Metricool combines a planner with long analytics history, competitor tracking and reporting on Facebook Ads, Google Ads and TikTok Ads.

Key features

• Planner with best-time suggestions, autolists and RSS on every plan, poll and PDF scheduling from Starter, and recurring posts on Advanced
• Analytics with unlimited history on paid plans, plus competitor analysis of up to 100 profiles
• Ads reporting for Facebook Ads, Google Ads and TikTok Ads
• Automated PDF and PPT reports; custom templates and a Looker Studio connector on Advanced
• Unified inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn (X with the add-on)
• Flows for comment-to-DM and keyword DM automation, which Metricool currently includes at no extra cost for a limited time

Networks: Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn (paid plans), Google Business Profile and X (paid add-on).

Pricing

Team members are unlimited on Advanced; Free and Starter are single-user.

• Free: $0, 1 brand, all networks except LinkedIn and X, 20 scheduled posts per month, 5 competitor profiles and 30 days of analytics.
• Starter: $20 per month billed annually for up to 5 brands ($25 monthly), or $36 per month for up to 10 brands ($45 monthly). Unlimited publishing (fair use), 100 competitors, LinkedIn, PDF and PPT reports, unlimited analytics history and Canva and Google Drive integration.
• Advanced: $53 per month billed annually for 15 brands ($67 monthly), $85 for 25 brands ($107 monthly) or $159 for 50 brands ($210 monthly). Adds unlimited team members, team and client management, roles, post approval, custom report templates, Looker Studio connector and API.

Add-ons: X costs $10 per month per connected account (paid plans only). Advanced Analytics starts at $12 per month on Starter and $36 per month on Advanced. Metricool's pricing page does not mention a free trial of paid plans; the free plan is free forever.

Pros

• Generous free plan with analytics
• Brand-based pricing with unlimited team members on Advanced
• Analytics, competitor tracking and ads reporting stronger than most schedulers at this price
• Low cost per brand at scale: 50 brands for $159 a month billed annually

Cons

• X costs $10 per month per account extra, and X analytics keep only 30 days
• LinkedIn is not available on Free
• Team members, approvals, roles and API are on Advanced only; Free and Starter are single-user
• Some advanced analytics need a paid add-on

Who it's for

Freelancers and agencies that report to clients and want analytics, competitor data and ads reporting next to the planner. For a single person running one business with one profile per network, Starter is one of the cheapest paid options here.

Later: Best for Instagram and TikTok First Brands

Later is built around a visual planner and is strongest on Instagram and TikTok. It is priced per plan, not per channel or user, and the Growth and Scale plans include more than one user.

Key features

• Visual drag-and-drop calendar across all networks
• Scheduling to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads and Snapchat, with auto publishing listed for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest and LinkedIn
• Link in Bio page with analytics on all plans
• Social inbox for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok conversations (Growth and up)
• Content approval and external comment workflows (Growth and up)
• Competitive benchmarking, brand mentions and brand health on Scale

Later works with "social sets": one profile on each supported network. X is not in Later's list of supported profiles, so it only works for you if you can drop X or post there another way.

Pricing

• Starter: $25 per month, or $18.75 per month billed yearly. 1 social set (8 profiles), 1 user, 30 posts per profile per month, 5 AI credits and 3 months of analytics. No add-ons.
• Growth: $50 per month, or $37.50 per month billed yearly. 2 social sets (16 profiles), 2 users, 180 posts per profile per month, 50 AI credits, 1 year of analytics, approvals, social inbox and UGC collection.
• Scale: $110 per month, or $82.50 per month billed yearly. 6 social sets (48 profiles), 4 users, unlimited posts, 100 AI credits, 2 years of analytics, competitive benchmarking and brand mentions.

On Growth and Scale you can add a social set for $15 per month ($11.25 yearly), a user for $5 per month ($3.75 yearly) or 100 AI credits for $5 per month ($3.75 yearly). Yearly billing saves 25%. There is a 14-day free trial and 50% off annual Growth for nonprofits.

Pros

• Low flat price per plan, with 2 users on Growth and 4 on Scale
• Visual planning made for Instagram and TikTok
• Social sets group one profile per network, useful for brands or clients
• Brand mentions and competitor benchmarking on Scale

Cons

• No X support listed
• Starter caps posts at 30 per profile per month and has 1 user
• The inbox only covers Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
• No free plan

Who it's for

Creators, small brands and small agencies whose work is mostly visual. A two-person team on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest pays less on Later Growth than on Buffer Team.

SocialBee: Best for Evergreen Content and Recycling

SocialBee organizes posts into content categories (for example tips, blog posts and promotions), each with its own posting schedule. Evergreen posts can recycle automatically, so the queue never runs dry. That is the main thing Buffer does not do.

Key features

• Category-based content library with evergreen recycling and content expiry
• Posting schedules per profile, plus best-time suggestions
• AI Copilot that drafts a social strategy and ready-to-use posts; unlimited AI captions and images
• RSS imports and CSV bulk upload
• Engagement inbox: comments, mentions and DMs for Facebook Pages and Instagram Business; comments and mentions for Threads, LinkedIn company pages and X; comments for YouTube
• Workspaces, roles, post approval and internal notes for teams and clients
• Canva, Unsplash and GIPHY integrations; Zapier, Make and Pabbly automation

Networks: Facebook (profiles, pages and groups), Instagram (business and personal), Threads, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business Profile and Bluesky.

Pricing

SocialBee sells plans by number of profiles, workspaces and users.

• Bootstrap: $29 per month or $290 per year. 5 profiles, 1 workspace, 1 user, 10 content categories and 3 months of analytics.
• Accelerate: $49 per month or $490 per year. 10 profiles, 1 workspace, 1 user, 50 categories, 2 years of analytics, bulk editor, CSV uploads and post approval.
• Pro: $99 per month or $990 per year. 25 profiles, 5 workspaces, 3 users per workspace, unlimited categories and exportable reports.
• Agency plans: Pro50 at $179 per month (50 profiles), Pro100 at $329 (100 profiles) and Pro150 at $449 (150 profiles), monthly billing.

Add-ons: an extra user or workspace is $10 per month ($100 per year), and 5 extra profiles are $15 per month ($150 per year). There is a 14-day free trial with full Pro access and no credit card, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. There is no free plan.

Pros

• The best content recycling and category scheduling in this group
• Clear plans with set profile counts
• Unlimited AI generation on every plan
• Inbox covers DMs for Facebook Pages and Instagram Business as well as comments

Cons

• No free plan, only a 14-day trial
• Bootstrap and Accelerate include only 1 user and 1 workspace
• Post approval starts on Accelerate ($49 per month)
• Bootstrap keeps only 3 months of analytics

Who it's for

Small businesses and solo marketers who post the same kinds of content week after week and want the tool to keep the schedule full.

Hootsuite: Best All-in-One Upgrade

Hootsuite is a full social media suite: publishing, an inbox for messages, analytics, ads and listening in one product. Its modules include Perch (publishing), Nest (inbox) and Lumen (listening).

Key features

• Unlimited post scheduling with a content calendar and recommended times to publish
• Unified inbox for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Threads, TikTok, Google Business Profile and WhatsApp messages
• Built-in listening: 7-day Quick Search on Standard; 30-day Quick Search, trend forecasting and exports from Professional
• Competitive benchmarking: 5 competitors on Standard, 20 on Professional and Advanced
• Wisdom AI assistant with 100 AI credits per month on every self-serve plan
• Approval workflows, internal comments and message routing on Advanced
• Social ads publishing, reporting and post boosting on all plans

Pricing

Hootsuite is sold per user seat. All published prices are for annual billing; Hootsuite offers monthly billing but does not show its monthly prices on the pricing page.

• Standard: $99 per user per month billed annually. Up to 10 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts and 100 AI credits per month.
• Professional: $199 per user per month billed annually. Unlimited social accounts.
• Advanced: $399 per user per month billed annually. Adds approvals, message assignment and team reporting.
• Enterprise: custom pricing.

There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and Hootsuite says you are not charged automatically when it ends. Trial accounts have daily posting limits and no bulk scheduling. There is no free plan.

Pros

• Publishing, inbox, analytics, ads and basic listening on every plan
• Unlimited social accounts from Professional
• Built-in listening with an enterprise upgrade path
• No-card 14-day trial

Cons

• $99 per user per month is the entry price, billed annually
• Standard is capped at 10 social accounts
• Approvals and message assignment need Advanced at $399 per user per month
• No free plan, and monthly prices are not published

Who it's for

Mid-size and larger teams that have outgrown a scheduler and want messages, ads and listening in one place. For a small team that only needs scheduling, it costs far more than Buffer.

Sprout Social: Best for Customer Care and Reporting

Sprout Social is built around its Smart Inbox, where comments, DMs and reviews land in one stream, with tools to assign and track conversations. Reporting is included on every plan.

Key features

• Smart Inbox for comments, DMs and reviews with collision detection and case management (Standard and up)
• Publishing calendar, ViralPost optimal send times and Sprout Queue on every plan
• Group, profile and post-level reporting on all plans; competitor and paid reports from Professional
• Review management for Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot and Glassdoor (Standard and up)
• Trellis AI agent with 100 credits per seat per month
• Approval workflows and bulk scheduling from Professional
• Listening as a paid add-on, with AI-built queries, sentiment and spike alerts

Networks on all plans: Instagram, X, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, Threads, YouTube and Reddit.

Pricing

Sprout Social charges per seat.

• Essentials: $79 per seat per month billed annually, $99 monthly. 5 social profiles, publishing and reporting, no inbox.
• Standard: $199 per seat per month billed annually, $249 monthly. 5 social profiles, all-in-one inbox, 10 brand keywords and review management.
• Professional: $299 per seat per month billed annually, $399 monthly. Unlimited social profiles, bulk scheduling, approval workflow and competitor reports.
• Advanced: $399 per seat per month billed annually, $499 monthly. Adds the Sprout API, external approvals, spike alerts, sentiment and helpdesk and CRM integrations.
• Enterprise: custom.

Annual plans are paid upfront for the term. There is a 30-day free trial with no credit card. Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are add-ons priced by demo.

Pros

• Very complete inbox and customer care tools
• Strong reporting on every plan, including Essentials
• All self-serve prices published, monthly and annual
• 30-day trial without a credit card
• 24/5 live phone and chat support on every plan

Cons

• Among the most expensive per seat
• Essentials and Standard include only 5 social profiles; extra profiles have no public price
• Approval workflows start on Professional ($299 per seat per month billed annually)
• Listening and Premium Analytics have no public price
• Essentials has no inbox

Who it's for

Brands where social media is a customer service channel, and teams that need polished reports for management.

Cost Comparison: 6 Channels, 2 Users

To make the pricing models comparable, here is one common setup: a small business or a freelancer with an assistant, managing 6 channels (one each on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest and X) with 2 users. All figures come from the list prices above. Tax is excluded.

How each number is worked out:

• Buffer: Essentials is one user only, so 2 users need Team. Monthly: 6 x $12 = $72. Yearly: 6 x $10 = $60 a month, or 6 x $120 = $720 a year. A solo user on Essentials would pay 6 x $6 = $36 a month, or about $30 a month billed yearly.
• Publer: Professional at 3 or more accounts is $4 each, so 6 x $4 = $24, plus $2 for the second member = $26 a month. Yearly billing is 20% less: $20.80 a month in Publer's calculator. Approvals and X are included. Analytics would need Business: 6 x $7 + $3 = $45 a month.
• Metricool: Six profiles count as one brand, but Starter has no team members, so a second user needs Advanced: $67 a month, or $53 billed annually, plus $10 for X ($77 monthly). Advanced includes approvals and roles. Solo, Starter costs $25 ($20 annually) plus X.
• Later: Starter has 1 user, so 2 users need Growth: $50 a month, or $37.50 a month billed yearly ($450 a year). Growth includes approvals and an inbox, but it covers only 5 of the 6 channels, because X is not supported.
• SocialBee: Bootstrap allows only 5 profiles, so 6 profiles need Accelerate (10 profiles, 1 user) plus one extra user: $49 + $10 = $59 a month, or $490 + $100 = $590 a year. Accelerate includes post approval. Pro ($99 a month) includes 3 users without add-ons.
• Hootsuite: 6 accounts fit in Standard's 10, priced per user: 2 x $99 = $198 a month billed annually, or $2,376 a year. Approvals would need Advanced: 2 x $399 = $798 a month billed annually.
• Sprout Social: Essentials and Standard include 5 profiles and Sprout does not publish the price of extra profiles, so we price Professional, which has unlimited profiles: 2 x $299 = $598 a month billed annually ($7,176 a year), or 2 x $399 = $798 on monthly billing.

What this shows: for a small team, Publer and Later cost less than Buffer Team, and Publer does it with approvals and X included. Metricool costs a little more ($77 against $72 monthly) because a second user needs Advanced, which adds approvals and roles. Against per-seat tools, Buffer Team gets more competitive as the team grows, because it never charges per user. With 6 channels and 6 users, Buffer Team is still $72 a month on monthly billing, while Publer would be 6 x $4 + 5 x $2 = $34 and Hootsuite Standard would be 6 x $99 = $594 a month billed annually.

How to Choose a Buffer Alternative

Start with the reason you are leaving, then match it to a tool.

• "Buffer got expensive when we added a second person." Go to Publer. Its Professional plan has approvals and costs $2 per extra member. Later Growth is also worth a look if you do not need X.
• "I need real analytics and client reports." Go to Metricool. Unlimited analytics history, competitor tracking and PDF or PPT reports start on Starter (one user); team members need Advanced. Agencies with many clients should compare its brand tiers with Buffer's channel volume pricing.
• "Our content is mostly Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest." Go to Later. Its visual planner and social sets are built for this. Check the post caps: 30 per profile per month on Starter, 180 on Growth.
• "We keep running out of posts to schedule." Go to SocialBee. Category queues and evergreen recycling keep the calendar full.
• "We need to answer DMs and track mentions." Look at Hootsuite (inbox and basic listening on every plan) or Sprout Social (stronger inbox and review management, listening as an add-on). Budget at least $99 or $199 per user per month billed annually.
• "I just want it free." Publer Free (3 accounts, no X) and Metricool Free (1 brand, no LinkedIn or X) are the closest to Buffer Free. Compare their limits with Buffer's: 10 queued posts per channel on Buffer and Publer, 20 posts a month on Metricool.

Also check:

• Your networks. If you post on X, rule out Later, and add Metricool's $10 per X account. If you post on Mastodon or Bluesky, Buffer and Publer cover both; Metricool, SocialBee and Hootsuite list Bluesky.
• Who approves posts. Approvals are on Buffer Team, Publer Professional, Later Growth, SocialBee Accelerate, Metricool Advanced, Sprout Social Professional and Hootsuite Advanced.

How to Switch from Buffer

Moving tools is mostly about channels, queued posts and people. A careful switch takes an afternoon for a small account.

1. List what you have. Write down every connected channel, how many posts are queued in each, your posting times and who has access. Note anything that is notification publishing only, such as Instagram personal profiles.
2. Check network support first. Make sure the new tool supports each channel on the plan you plan to buy. The common gaps are X (not on Later; paid only on Publer and Metricool) and LinkedIn (not on Metricool Free).
3. Start a trial or free plan. Publer and Metricool have free plans. Trials: Publer 7 days (Professional) or 14 days (Business), Later 14 days, SocialBee 14 days with no card, Hootsuite 14 days with no card, Sprout Social 30 days with no card. Hootsuite trials have daily posting limits and no bulk scheduling, so test volume after you subscribe.
4. Connect channels in the new tool.
5. Rebuild the queue. Recreate your posting schedule, then move upcoming posts across. If you have many, use the new tool's bulk options: CSV upload on Publer and SocialBee (Accelerate and up), or bulk scheduling on Hootsuite paid plans.
6. Run both for a week. Pause each Buffer queue once the same channel is live in the new tool, so nothing is posted twice.
7. Invite your team and set approvals. Set roles and approval rules before the first client or manager review.
8. Save your reports, then downgrade. Download any Buffer reports you need first, because Buffer Free keeps only 30 days of insights. Dropping to Free (3 channels) keeps a small backup.

Final Verdict

Publer is the best Buffer alternative for most Buffer users. It keeps the per-account model Buffer users know, costs less per account, and puts approval workflows, bulk scheduling, workspaces and X on its Professional plan. For a two-person team on 6 channels, it costs $26 a month on monthly billing against $72 for Buffer Team. Budget for the Business plan if you need analytics.

The other picks depend on your reason for leaving: Metricool for analytics and multiple brands, Later for visual work without X, SocialBee for evergreen recycling, and Hootsuite or Sprout Social when an inbox and reporting matter more than price.

• Stay on Buffer if your team is large and your channel count is modest. The Team plan's unlimited users make it hard to beat once you have more than a few people posting.