The Best Social Media Schedulers in 2026, Free and Paid

On 1 November, I scheduled 30 posts in 5 minutes.

A week of clips from my podcast, Profitable Founder. Two a day on Instagram, two on X.

I didn't open a calendar. A small script that Claude Code wrote for me sends each clip to Pozy with its time. Pozy posts it.

So what I need from a scheduler is simple: my AI or a script must be able to do the scheduling.

The tool I use is the Pozy social media scheduler. I co-founded Pozy with Borja, so read my first pick with that in mind.

The other 7 here are the ones people compare it with.

#How I compared them

I haven't used all 8 for a month each.

Here's what I did instead:

• I opened every pricing page on 7 November 2026 and copied the real numbers. Each price below says which page it comes from.
• I read the small print on each free plan: posts, channels, which networks are missing.
• I checked who lets an AI assistant post for you.

Two rules for the prices. "Billed yearly" is lower than monthly, and most of these pages show it first, so I compare yearly prices everywhere. And a "user" or a "seat" means one person who logs in.

#What it really costs for your setup

The cheapest tool depends on how many accounts you run and how many people log in. Prices are per month, billed yearly, before tax, from each pricing page on 7 November 2026.

How I counted. 3 accounts means Instagram, X and LinkedIn. The 10 accounts don't need X. Pozy's 10 accounts are its Team plan, which has no limit on people. Publer's price per account drops as you add more (from its own calculator), and a team adds 2 members. Later needs its Growth plan past 8 profiles, plus $3.75 for a third user. Metricool counts "brands", and one brand holds one account per network, so 10 accounts take 1 to 10 brands: $20 up to 5 brands, $36 up to 10. Teams need its Advanced plan. Sprout needs Professional past 5 profiles. Hootsuite is at full price: on 7 November a sale took 50% off Standard. Pozy adds X's own price for each X post (1.5 cents, 20 cents with a link), and Metricool charges $10 a month for each X account.

#1. Pozy

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on pozy.ai/pricing): $29 a month, or $23 billed yearly, for 5 channels and 1 person. Team is $39 a month, or $31 billed yearly, for 10 channels and as many people as you want. 7-day free trial, card required.

Pozy lets your AI do the posting. There's a calendar, but I barely open it.

You can work two ways. Add Pozy to Claude with one link (ChatGPT needs its developer mode turned on), then ask in plain words. Or have a script send posts, like mine does for my podcast clips. Pozy also takes a spreadsheet of posts at once (bulk scheduling).

What it does well:

• Every feature is on every plan. No feature tiers.
• It reads your numbers, so your AI can see what worked last week.
• Your AI can post an Instagram trial Reel: Instagram shows it to people who don't follow you first. It's a free way to test a new hook (how trial Reels work).
• It connects through MCP, the open standard AI assistants use to reach other apps: add Pozy to Claude.

Where it's weaker: there's no free plan. Posts to X cost extra, at the price X charges us: 1.5 cents a post, 20 cents with a link.

#2. Buffer

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on buffer.com/pricing): Free for 3 channels. Essentials is $5 a channel a month, billed yearly ($60 a year per channel). Team is $10 a channel. 14-day trial.

Buffer's free plan connects 3 channels, with 10 posts queued per channel at a time. Once one goes out, you can add another. Fine for a week ahead. Not for a month planned in one sitting.

You pay per channel, so a small account stays cheap. Buffer lists 12 networks on its pricing page, including Bluesky, Threads and Google Business Profile. Every plan, even free, connects to ChatGPT and Claude, and includes its API, the door other apps use to post for you.

Where it's weaker: a team pays twice as much per channel, $10 instead of $5.

#3. Metricool

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on metricool.com/pricing): Free for 1 brand. Starter from $20 a month billed yearly ($25 monthly) for up to 5 brands. Advanced from $53 a month billed yearly. X is an add-on: $10 a month for each X account.

The free plan has 30 days of analytics, 5 competitors to watch and 20 scheduled posts a month. Its pricing page also lists a Metricool MCP on the free plan, to connect it to an AI assistant.

Where it's weaker: the free plan leaves out LinkedIn and X. And on paid plans, X costs $10 a month per account on top.

#4. Publer

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on publer.com/pricing): Free for 3 accounts. Professional is $5 an account a month, or $4 billed yearly. Business is $10, or $8 billed yearly. 7-day trial on Professional.

Publer is the cheapest here for 1 to 3 paid accounts.

The free plan gives 3 accounts and 10 scheduled posts per account. Paid plans add unlimited scheduling, first comments and threads. For every 9 accounts, the 10th is free. Its Business plan lists access to Publer's API and an MCP.

Where it's weaker: you can't connect X on the free plan. And free only keeps your published posts for 24 hours.

#5. Later

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on later.com/pricing): Starter is $18.75 a month billed yearly. Growth is $37.50. Scale is $82.50. 14-day free trial.

Later's plans are built around Instagram and TikTok, with a "best time to post" for both on Starter.

Starter covers one "social set": one Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads and Snapchat. You can schedule 30 posts per profile each month, and you get a link in bio page.

Where it's weaker: X isn't in Later's social set at all. If X is where your people are, look elsewhere.

#6. Loomly

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on loomly.com/pricing): Starter is $49 a month billed yearly ($588 a year): 12 social accounts, 3 users. Beyond is $249 a month billed yearly.

Starter already gives 12 accounts and 3 people, with approval steps, link shorteners and reports.

Where it's weaker: you pay for the team even if you're alone. And its integrations page lists no X (checked 7 Nov 2026).

#7. Hootsuite

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on hootsuite.com/plans): Standard is $99 a user a month, billed yearly, for 10 social accounts. Professional is $199. Advanced is $399. 14-day free trial. On 7 November a fall sale offered 50% off Standard.

You get one inbox for every account, a way to follow what people say about your brand, and an AI assistant. Its plans page lists a connection to Claude and ChatGPT on Enterprise only, and it reads listening data. It doesn't post for you.

Where it's weaker: the price. One person on Standard pays $1,188 a year at full price. During the trial, posting is capped at 10 to 20 posts a day, and bulk scheduling is off.

#8. Sprout Social

Price (checked 7 Nov 2026 on sproutsocial.com/pricing): Essentials is $79 a user a month billed yearly ($99 monthly), for 5 profiles. Standard is $199 a user, also 5 profiles. Professional, $299 a user, has no profile limit. 30-day free trial, no card needed.

Its bigger plans add one inbox, review management and reports on your competitors. Essentials keeps it to publishing, best send times and post reports.

Where it's weaker: you stay at 5 profiles until $299 a user. A team of 3 on Professional pays $897 a month.

#Which one should you pick?

• You want it free: Buffer if you post on 3 channels. Metricool if you want the numbers too.
• You pay for 1 to 3 accounts, alone: Publer.
• Your feed is Instagram and TikTok: Later.
• You're a team of 3: Publer ($32, X included), Pozy's Team plan ($31 plus X per post) if your AI does the posting, or Loomly ($49) for approvals.
• You answer a lot of messages as a team: Hootsuite.
• You report to a boss: Sprout Social.
• You'd rather tell your AI what to post: Pozy. That's why we built it.

#Questions

What is the best free social media scheduler? Buffer, if you post on up to 3 channels and don't need more than 10 posts queued per channel. Metricool, if you want analytics too and don't need LinkedIn or X. Publer, if you don't post on X.

What is the cheapest social media scheduler? It depends on your setup. For 1 to 3 accounts alone, Publer ($9.60 a month for 3, billed yearly). For a team of 3 with 10 accounts: Publer is $32 with X included, Pozy's Team plan $31 plus X per post, Loomly $49. The setup table above has every tool's number.

Is Pozy free? No. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required. After that it's from $23 a month billed yearly. Cancel before the 7 days end and you pay nothing for the plan.

Can Claude or ChatGPT schedule my posts? Yes, if the scheduler can be connected to them. That's what MCP does: it lets your AI use another app for you. Pozy, Buffer (every plan, free included), Metricool and Publer's Business plan list a Claude or ChatGPT connection on their pricing pages. Ask your AI to show you the plan before it posts.