10 Best Platforms to Manage Social Media in 2026, Compared
Compare the 10 best platform to manage social media options on price, free plans, AI help and team seats, with every price checked November 6, 2026.
Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 6, 202614 min readWe compare pricing pages, documentation and public reviews. We never accept payment for rankings.
Key takeaways
- Buffer is the cheapest way in at $6 a channel a month, SocialPilot follows at $20 a month flat, and Later at $25 a month for visual-first teams — all three have a free plan or a trial to start on.
- Buffer, Later, Metricool and Agorapulse still offer free tiers; Hootsuite, Sprout Social, SocialPilot, SocialBee, Sendible and Loomly lead with trials instead.
- The single most important buying factor is the pricing model: per-seat tools cost $99 a person a month at the top end, while per-channel and flat-rate tools stay cheap as your team grows.
- Every tool here schedules to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn; the gaps are X support, approvals and listening, which sit on higher tiers or cost extra.
On this page
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Solo creators and small teams that want the cheapest honest start and pay per channel, not per person | $6/mo per channel | Yes (free plan) |
| SocialPilot | Small teams that schedule in bulk and want the lowest flat monthly price | $20/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Later | Visual-first brands and creators whose Instagram grid has to look right before anything publishes | $25/mo | Yes (limited free) |
| Metricool | Data-led marketers who want deep analytics and competitor tracking at a small-team price | $25/mo | Yes (free plan) |
| SocialBee | Teams that publish the same core content often and want it to keep working without daily effort | $29/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Sendible | Agencies and teams where headcount makes per-seat pricing painful | $35/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Agorapulse | Teams that live in comments and DMs and need to show revenue from social media | $99/mo per user | Yes (Archie plan) |
| Loomly | Small teams where several people must approve posts before they go out | $65/mo | No (free trial) |
| Sprout Social | Established teams that must prove social media works with deep reporting and listening | $99/mo per seat | No (30-day trial) |
| Hootsuite | Mid-market and enterprise teams that want scheduling, inbox, listening and ads in one login | $99/mo per user | No (14-day trial) |
Make one of these tools?
We re-check this list every quarter. Send a correction, request a review, or ask about a clearly labeled sponsored spot.
Request a listingThe best platform to manage social media
Buffer
Best for: Solo creators and small teams that want the cheapest honest start and pay per channel, not per person
Buffer is the simplest way to manage social media for a small team: one dashboard schedules posts across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, X, Pinterest and more, with an AI assistant that drafts and refines captions. The free plan covers three channels and ten scheduled posts per channel, which is enough to test the workflow. Essentials costs $6 a channel a month billed monthly, or $5 billed annually, and adds unlimited scheduled posts, advanced analytics and first-comment scheduling.
The catch is the channel math: five channels cost $30, and ten cost $60, so a brand with many accounts pays more than on a flat-rate plan. Essentials also covers one user, so a team needs the $10-a-channel Team plan for unlimited members and approval workflows. Choose Buffer when you want the cheapest start and you pay per channel, not per person.
What we like
- The cheapest entry here: a real free plan for 3 channels, then $6 a channel a month
- Per-channel pricing means the bill grows with accounts, not headcount
- AI Assistant drafts and refines captions on every plan, including free
- Covers Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, X, YouTube Shorts and Pinterest
Watch out for
- Five channels cost $30 a month and ten cost $60, so many accounts add up fast
- Essentials covers one user — a team needs the $10-a-channel Team plan for approvals
- No social listening and no approval workflows on the entry plan
SocialPilot
Best for: Small teams that schedule in bulk and want the lowest flat monthly price
SocialPilot is the value pick for small teams that schedule in bulk: Essentials costs $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 billed annually, and covers five social accounts, bulk scheduling, a content library and 500 AI credits. The interface is plain rather than pretty, but it does the daily job well — queue posts, reuse evergreen content, and check analytics without switching tools. Standard costs $40 a month and adds the social inbox, three users and team collaboration.
The trade-off is depth: reporting is solid but not as polished as Sprout Social, and white-label reports wait for Premium at $100 a month. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, so budget from day one. Pick SocialPilot when you want the lowest flat monthly price for a small team that mainly schedules and reports.
What we like
- Lowest flat price here: $20 a month for 5 social accounts
- Bulk scheduling and a content library speed up a week of posts
- 500 AI credits a month on the entry plan for captions and ideas
- Standard at $40 a month adds the social inbox and 3 users
Watch out for
- No free plan — only a 14-day trial, so budgeting starts on day one
- Reporting is solid but less polished than Sprout Social or Agorapulse
- White-label reports wait for Premium at $100 a month
Later
Best for: Visual-first brands and creators whose Instagram grid has to look right before anything publishes
Later is built for brands that think in pictures: the drag-and-drop calendar and Instagram grid preview show exactly how a feed will look, and Link in Bio turns a profile link into a shoppable page. Starter costs $25 a month billed monthly, or $18.75 billed annually, and covers one social set — one profile on each supported network — with 30 scheduled posts per profile a month and five AI credits.
The limits to know are the social set and the missing network: a second brand needs Growth at $50 a month, and Later ended support for X in August 2025, so X scheduling needs another tool. The free plan is limited to 12 posts per profile a month and is not listed on the pricing page. Choose Later when Instagram and TikTok lead your content and the grid matters.
What we like
- Best Instagram grid preview here: see the feed before anything publishes
- Link in Bio turns a profile link into a shoppable page on every plan
- Best-time-to-post recommendations on every paid plan
- 5 AI credits a month for captions and content ideas on Starter
Watch out for
- A second brand needs Growth at $50 a month — Starter covers one social set
- Later ended support for X in August 2025, so X scheduling needs another tool
- The free plan is limited to 12 posts per profile a month and is not on the pricing page
Metricool
Best for: Data-led marketers who want deep analytics and competitor tracking at a small-team price
Metricool pairs scheduling with the strongest analytics at this price: Starter costs $25 a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually, for up to five brands, with unlimited posting, LinkedIn connection, competitor tracking for up to 100 profiles, and downloadable PDF and PowerPoint reports. The free plan covers one brand with 20 scheduled posts a month, which is enough to judge the analytics before paying.
The catch is X: no plan includes it, and connecting an X account costs another $10 a month per account. Prices are per brand, not per user, so an agency with ten brands pays $45 a month on Starter. Pick Metricool when reporting and competitor data matter as much as scheduling, and you can live without X or pay the add-on.
What we like
- Strongest analytics at this price: competitor tracking for up to 100 profiles
- Starter includes unlimited posting, LinkedIn and downloadable PDF and PowerPoint reports
- Free plan covers 1 brand with 20 scheduled posts a month
- Priced per brand, not per seat, so adding teammates costs nothing extra
Watch out for
- No plan includes X — connecting an X account costs another $10 a month per account
- Prices are per brand, so an agency with 10 brands pays $45 a month on Starter
- No approval workflow on Starter, only draft-and-review by hand
SocialBee
Best for: Teams that publish the same core content often and want it to keep working without daily effort
SocialBee is the evergreen specialist: posts live in content categories with their own schedules, so a blog post or tip recycles automatically instead of being written once and forgotten. Bootstrap costs $29 a month billed monthly, or $290 a year, and covers five social accounts, unlimited AI content generation, 1,000 posts per category and a 14-day free trial. The AI Copilot drafts captions and the Canva integration designs visuals without leaving the editor.
The trade-off is the single user: Bootstrap covers one user per workspace, and extra users cost $10 a month each. Analytics cover growth and top posts but are lighter than Metricool or Sprout Social, and there is no free plan. Choose SocialBee when you publish the same core content often and want it to keep working without daily effort.
What we like
- Content categories recycle evergreen posts automatically on a schedule you set
- Unlimited AI content generation on every plan, including Bootstrap
- AI Copilot drafts captions and the Canva integration designs visuals in the editor
- Highest G2 score in this list at 4.7 out of 5 from 479 reviews
Watch out for
- Bootstrap covers one user per workspace — extra users cost $10 a month each
- Analytics cover growth and top posts but are lighter than Metricool or Sprout Social
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
Sendible
Best for: Agencies and teams where headcount makes per-seat pricing painful
Sendible is built for agencies: every plan includes unlimited users, so the bill grows with client workspaces, not headcount. Core costs $35 a month billed monthly, or $29.75 billed annually, and covers one workspace with six social profiles, unlimited scheduling, bulk scheduling, the social inbox, standard reports and unlimited AI Assist credits. A 14-day trial needs no credit card.
The limits sit on Core: no approval workflows, no content library and no branded reports — those start on Plus at $99 a month or Premium at $199. Each extra workspace costs $35 a month, so a ten-client agency pays far more than the headline price. Pick Sendible when your team is bigger than your client list and per-seat pricing would punish you.
What we like
- Unlimited users on every plan — the bill grows with workspaces, not headcount
- Core includes unlimited scheduling, bulk scheduling and unlimited AI Assist credits
- Social inbox and standard reports included from the entry plan
- 14-day trial needs no credit card
Watch out for
- Core has no approval workflows, no content library and no branded reports
- Each extra workspace costs $35 a month, so a ten-client agency pays far more than $35
- Reporting depth lags Sprout Social on the entry plan
Agorapulse
Best for: Teams that live in comments and DMs and need to show revenue from social media
Agorapulse is the inbox-first choice: a unified inbox pulls comments, mentions and ad comments from every network into one place, and Social ROI connects organic posts to traffic and leads from Google Analytics. Standard costs $99 a user a month billed monthly, or $79 billed annually, and covers ten social profiles with unlimited scheduling, basic reports and an AI writing assistant. A free Archie plan creates AI-drafted posts for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
The price is the problem for small teams: every user pays the full rate, so three people cost $297 a month billed monthly. Advanced reporting, ROI analysis and competitor benchmarking wait for Advanced at $199 a user a month. Choose Agorapulse when your days are spent answering comments and proving revenue, not just scheduling posts.
What we like
- Unified inbox pulls comments, mentions and ad comments into one place
- Social ROI connects organic posts to traffic and leads from Google Analytics
- AI writing assistant on every plan, plus Archie for repurposing long content
- 30-day free trial with no credit card required
Watch out for
- Every user pays the full rate — three people cost $297 a month billed monthly
- Advanced reporting, ROI analysis and competitor benchmarking wait for Advanced at $199 a user a month
- No listening or Social Inbox on the free Archie plan
Loomly
Best for: Small teams where several people must approve posts before they go out
Loomly is the collaboration pick: post ideas, drafts, approvals and comments live in one calendar, so a post moves from idea to published without leaving the tool. Starter costs $65 a month billed monthly, or $49 billed annually, and covers 12 social accounts, three users, unlimited calendars, approval workflows, advanced analytics and an AI assistant. The interface is plain and the learning curve is short.
The catch is the entry price: at $65 a month it costs more than Buffer, SocialPilot or Later for a similar set of accounts, and custom branding waits for Beyond at $332 a month. There is no free plan, only a free trial with no credit card required. Pick Loomly when several people must approve posts before they go out and you want that workflow built in.
What we like
- Post ideas, drafts, approvals and comments live in one calendar
- Starter covers 12 social accounts and 3 users with unlimited calendars
- AI Assistant chat and post generation included on Starter
- Short learning curve — teams usually go live in under a day
Watch out for
- At $65 a month it costs more than Buffer, SocialPilot or Later for a similar set of accounts
- Custom branding waits for Beyond at $332 a month
- No free plan, only a free trial
Sprout Social
Best for: Established teams that must prove social media works with deep reporting and listening
Sprout Social is the analytics-led suite for teams that must prove social media works: Essentials costs $99 a seat a month billed monthly, or $79 billed annually, and covers five social profiles with scheduling, optimal send times, profile and post reporting and Trellis, its AI agent. The reporting is the deepest here, and the platform scales from one seat to an enterprise with listening and premium analytics as paid add-ons.
The price is the whole story: every seat costs the same, so a five-person team pays $495 a month before add-ons, and the Smart Inbox, approvals and listening are not on Essentials at all. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial. Choose Sprout Social when reporting and listening justify a per-seat budget and a cheaper scheduler would leave you guessing.
What we like
- Deepest reporting here: profile, post and competitor reports from the entry plan
- Trellis, the built-in AI agent, is included on Essentials
- Optimal send times included on every plan
- Scales from one seat to enterprise, with listening and premium analytics as add-ons
Watch out for
- Every seat costs the same, so a five-person team pays $495 a month before add-ons
- Smart Inbox, approvals and listening are not on Essentials at all
- No free plan, only a 30-day trial
Hootsuite
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise teams that want scheduling, inbox, listening and ads in one login
Hootsuite is the veteran all-in-one: one calendar schedules across your accounts, a unified inbox answers messages, and listening and benchmarking run on the same login. Standard costs $99 a user a month billed annually and covers up to ten social accounts with unlimited scheduled posts, AI-generated captions and images, and competitive benchmarking against five rivals. Professional at $199 removes the account cap and adds automation and custom reports.
Two things to know before buying: Hootsuite's monthly-billing rate is $149 a user against $99 billed annually, and every user is a separate charge, so a team of five pays $495 a month on annual billing. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Pick Hootsuite when you want the widest feature set in one login and the per-seat price fits the budget.
What we like
- Widest feature set here: scheduling, inbox, listening, ads and benchmarking in one login
- Standard covers up to 10 social accounts with unlimited scheduled posts
- Wisdom AI drafts posts and images on every plan
- 7,687 G2 reviews, the largest review base in this list
Watch out for
- Hootsuite's monthly-billing rate is $149 a user, alongside the $99 annual-billing rate
- Every user is a separate $99 charge, so a team of five pays $495 a month
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
The best platform to manage social media is the one that fits how your team actually works: some teams live in the publishing calendar, others spend the day answering comments, and agencies need workspaces and approvals. We ranked the ten tools below by fit for the most common buyer — a small business or small team managing a handful of accounts — starting with the cheapest options and ending with the per-seat suites, and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 6, 2026.
How to choose the best platform to manage social media
- Count your accounts first. Buffer charges per channel, Metricool per brand and Sendible per workspace, while Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Agorapulse charge per user. The unit you pay for decides the bill.
- Count your people next. A tool that is cheap for one person can be dear for five: three seats on Sprout Social or Hootsuite cost $297 a month, while Sendible charges the same $35 whether one person or ten use it.
- Decide whether the inbox matters. If most of your day is answering comments and DMs, an inbox-first tool such as Agorapulse earns its price. If you only schedule, Buffer or SocialPilot does the job for far less.
- Check X support before you buy. Later ended support for X in August 2025, and Metricool charges $10 a month per X account as an add-on. Every other tool here covers X on its entry plan.
- Check what the free plan actually holds. Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels, Metricool's covers 1 brand, Later's is capped at 12 posts per profile a month, and Agorapulse's free Archie plan only publishes posts its AI creates.
Social media is one system in your stack, not the whole stack. If the business also needs to be found on Google, our guide to marketing platforms for small business SEO covers the visibility side. And before you publish new pages for the services you sell, run your titles through the free SERP snippet preview tool — it shows exactly how the title and description will look in Google.
Whatever you shortlist, try it with real accounts before you pay. The free plans and trials in this list are long enough to run one genuine week — your profiles, your posts, your comments — and that week tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that scheduled posts actually publish on every network you use, and that the person who answers comments can work in the inbox without fighting the interface.
Social media management pricing: what you will actually pay
Take a three-person team managing five profiles. On list prices billed monthly, the subscription costs $30 a month on Buffer Essentials (5 channels at $6), $20 on SocialPilot Essentials, $25 on Later Starter, $25 on Metricool Starter, $29 on SocialBee Bootstrap, $35 on Sendible Core, $65 on Loomly Starter, $297 on Agorapulse Standard, $297 on Sprout Social Essentials and $297 on Hootsuite Standard at its annual rate. Three of those numbers need adjusting before they are real: SocialPilot Essentials covers one user, so a three-person team needs Standard at $40 a month, and Later Starter covers one user, so two extra users at $5 each bring it to $35 a month.
Over a year on annual billing, the same three people and five profiles cost $300 on Buffer, $204 on SocialPilot Essentials, $225 on Later Starter, $240 on Metricool Starter, $290 on SocialBee Bootstrap, $357 on Sendible Core, $588 on Loomly Starter, $2,844 on Agorapulse Standard, $2,844 on Sprout Social Essentials and $3,564 on Hootsuite Standard. The same team and the same five profiles cost $204 a year at the cheap end and $3,564 at the dear end — a $3,360 gap that comes entirely from per-seat pricing, not from features.
Two costs sit outside every number above. First, the free trials — 14 days on most tools, 30 days on Agorapulse and Sprout Social — end, so budget on the list price from the second month. Second, the add-ons: Metricool charges $10 a month per X account, SocialBee charges $10 a month per extra user, and Sendible charges $35 a month per extra workspace. If you run a second brand, Later needs a second social set on Growth, while Buffer simply charges for the extra channels. For the AI side of the stack, see our guide to AI social media management tools.
Annual billing cuts the bill on every tool here: SocialPilot Essentials drops from $240 to $204 a year, Later Starter from $300 to $225, Metricool Starter from $300 to $240, and Loomly Starter from $780 to $588. The per-seat suites discount too — Agorapulse Standard drops from $3,564 to $2,844 a year for three seats — but a 20% discount on a $99 seat is still a $99 seat. One more cost to check before you commit: a second brand is a second bill on every tool in this list except Buffer, where you only pay for the extra channels.
Know the difference: a scheduler vs a management platform
The confusion in this category is between a scheduler and a management platform. A scheduler posts on a timetable: you load the queue, it publishes, and that is the job. A management platform adds the work around the post — a unified inbox for comments and DMs, listening for brand mentions, approvals before publishing, and reporting that ties posts to traffic and sales. Buffer, Later and SocialBee lean scheduler; Agorapulse, Sprout Social and Hootsuite are full platforms.
There is a second, quieter confusion: a free plan is not the same as a free trial. A free plan, such as Buffer's 3-channel tier or Metricool's 1-brand tier, stays free while you stay inside its limits. A trial, such as Hootsuite's 14 days or Sprout Social's 30 days, ends and the full price starts. Four tools here have free plans; the other six have trials only, so check which one you are signing up for before you build a workflow around it.
A third distinction worth knowing is per-seat versus per-channel versus flat pricing. Per-seat tools charge for every person who logs in, so the bill grows with the team. Per-channel tools charge for every account connected, so the bill grows with the brands. Flat-rate tools charge one price for a bundle of accounts and users. None of the three is wrong — but the wrong model for your team is the most expensive mistake in this list, because it multiplies every month.
Quick comparison: tool type by need
| Buyer | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo creator on a budget | Buffer | Free for 3 channels, then $6 a channel a month |
| Small team, flat price | SocialPilot | $20 a month for 5 accounts, bulk scheduling included |
| Visual Instagram-first brand | Later | Grid preview and Link in Bio, free plan for light posting |
| Data-led marketer | Metricool | Free plan plus deep analytics from $25 a month |
| Evergreen content recycler | SocialBee | Category queues recycle posts automatically, $29 a month |
| Agency with many clients | Sendible | Unlimited users on every plan, Core is $35 a month |
Mistakes to avoid
- Budgeting on the annual price while paying monthly. The $17, $18.75 and $20 annual figures in this list only apply when you pay for the year up front. On monthly billing, SocialPilot costs $20, Later $25 and Metricool $25 — compare tools on the billing cycle you will actually use.
- Ignoring the per-seat multiplier. A $99 tool is not a $99 bill: three people on Agorapulse, Sprout Social or Hootsuite cost $297 a month. Multiply the headline price by every person who needs a login before you compare it with a flat-rate tool.
- Assuming X is covered. Later ended support for X in August 2025, and Metricool charges $10 a month per X account on top of the plan. If X is part of your workflow, confirm support and price before you commit.
- Buying a scheduler when the job is the inbox. If your day is answering comments and DMs, a cheap scheduler saves nothing — the inbox, assignments and saved replies on Agorapulse or Sprout Social are the features you will actually use.
- Building on a free plan without reading its caps. Buffer's free plan stops at 10 scheduled posts per channel, Metricool's at 20 posts a month, and Later's at 12 posts per profile a month. A cap you hit in week one is not a free plan.
How we chose
We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 6, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one, and we ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a small business or small team managing a handful of accounts — not by brand size. G2 ratings were read on the G2 review page for each tool on November 6, 2026. Three prices need a note: SocialPilot's Essentials plan is now $20 a month, down from the $30 shown in earlier roundups; Hootsuite's $99 is the annual-billing rate and its monthly-billing rate is $149 a user, so the chart uses the $99 annual rate; and Metricool's Starter price was confirmed through several independent October 2026 reads of its pricing page, because the plan table did not render in our direct fetch on November 6, 2026. Later's limited free plan is documented in its help center rather than on its pricing page. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.
What to do next
Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and run one real week of posts through it. Check that scheduled posts actually publish on every network you use, and that the inbox and reports match how your team works, before you commit to a year. If the posting is sorted but new customers are not finding you, our monthly SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare AI-led options in our guide to AI social media management tools. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.
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Get a free audit→Sources we checked (20)
- Buffer pricing — buffer.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- SocialPilot pricing — socialpilot.co/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Later pricing — later.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Metricool pricing — metricool.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- SocialBee pricing — socialbee.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Sendible pricing — sendible.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Agorapulse pricing — agorapulse.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Loomly pricing — loomly.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Sprout Social pricing — sproutsocial.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Hootsuite plans — hootsuite.com/plans (checked November 6, 2026)
- Buffer on G2 — g2.com/products/buffer/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- SocialPilot on G2 — g2.com/products/socialpilot/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Later on G2 — g2.com/products/later/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Metricool on G2 — g2.com/products/metricool/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- SocialBee on G2 — g2.com/products/socialbee/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Sendible on G2 — g2.com/products/sendible/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Agorapulse on G2 — g2.com/products/agorapulse/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Loomly on G2 — g2.com/products/loomly/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Sprout Social on G2 — g2.com/products/sprout-social/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Hootsuite on G2 — g2.com/products/hootsuite/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
Shamim
Founder of SerpAstra
A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best platform to manage social media?
Buffer is the best fit for most small teams: a free plan for 3 channels, then $6 a channel a month, with scheduling and AI help included. SocialPilot at $20 a month is the better flat-rate pick, and Later at $25 a month suits visual brands. Hootsuite and Sprout Social fit larger teams that need listening and deep reporting.
How much does a platform to manage social media cost?
Entry prices run from $0 to $99 a month. Buffer, Later, Metricool and Agorapulse have free tiers, and the first paid plans cost $6 a channel to $35 a month. Per-seat suites start at $99 a person a month, so a three-person team pays $297 a month on Agorapulse, Sprout Social or Hootsuite before add-ons.
Which social media management platforms have a free plan?
Buffer has a free plan for 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel, Later has a limited free plan with 12 posts per profile a month, and Metricool has a free plan for 1 brand with 20 posts a month. Agorapulse has a free Archie plan for AI-created posts only. The other six tools offer trials of 14 to 30 days instead.
Is Hootsuite or Sprout Social better?
Hootsuite has the wider feature set, with scheduling, inbox, listening, ads and benchmarking in one login from $99 a user a month. Sprout Social has stronger reporting and its Trellis AI agent on Essentials, also from $99 a seat a month. Teams that need to prove ROI with data usually prefer Sprout; teams that want the broadest coverage usually prefer Hootsuite.
Can these tools post to TikTok and Instagram automatically?
Yes, all ten tools schedule and auto-publish to Instagram and TikTok within each network's API limits, including Reels and Stories on most plans. The gaps are elsewhere: Later ended support for X in August 2025, and Metricool charges $10 a month per X account as an add-on, so check your network list before you buy.
Do I need a platform to manage social media if I only run two accounts?
Probably not. Free native schedulers such as Meta Business Suite and TikTok's own scheduler handle basic posting for one or two accounts. A management platform earns its keep when you run several profiles, collaborate with a team, need approval workflows, or want unified analytics and one inbox for comments and messages.
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