If Pinterest drives your traffic — Tailwind
Their Pinterest scheduling is purpose-built and better than ours. The free plan is only 5 posts a month, but the paid tiers are worth it if Pinterest is your channel.
Free plans compared · 2026-08-17
Every free social media scheduler, and what it actually gives you
9 of these 17 tools have no free plan at all — only a trial. Of the 8 that do, every single one caps how much you can post.
The caps range from 5 posts a month to 20, or a rolling queue of 10. That is the number worth comparing, and it is usually the one buried furthest down a pricing page.
Free tiers, ranked by what they let you post
| Tool | Free plan | Post limit | Cheapest paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| VideoToReels | 5 channels | None | $10/mo |
| Buffer | 3 channels · 10 queued posts per channel | 10 scheduled posts per channel — a rolling queue, not 10 per month | $5 per channel/mo |
| Metricool | 1 brand · 20 posts/month · no LinkedIn or X | 20 scheduled posts per month | from €20/mo |
| Publer | 3 accounts · 10 posts each · no X | 10 scheduled posts per account | from $5/mo per account |
| Planoly | Mobile app only · 10 uploads/month | 10 uploads per month | $14/mo |
| Tailwind | 5 posts/month · 1 account · Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook only | 5 posts per month | $17.99/mo billed yearly |
| CoSchedule | 1 profile · 15 scheduled messages · 1 user | Up to 15 scheduled social messages | $19/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly) |
| Pallyy | 1 social set · 15 posts/month · 1 user | 15 posts per month | $15/mo |
| Planable | First 50 posts total — lifetime, not monthly | 50 posts in total, ever — there is no monthly reset | $33/workspace/mo |
| Later | None — trial only | — | $18.75/mo billed yearly |
| Hootsuite | None — trial only | — | $99/user/mo billed yearly |
| Sprout Social | None — trial only | — | $79/seat/mo billed yearly ($99 monthly) |
| SocialBee | None — trial only | — | $29/mo |
| Vista Social | None — trial only | — | $79/mo |
| Loomly | None — trial only | — | $49/mo billed yearly ($65 monthly) |
| Agorapulse | None — trial only | — | $79/user/mo |
| Sendible | None — trial only | — | $35/mo |
| Postiz | None — trial only | — | $29/mo |
Every figure was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-08-17. Vendors change pricing often — check theirs before deciding, and tell us if you spot something stale.
Which one should you actually pick?
If you need client sign-off before publishing — Planable
Their approval workflow renders each post exactly as it will appear and lets clients comment inline without an account. Nothing else in this list does it as well.
If you run paid ads alongside organic — Metricool
Their Meta, Google and TikTok Ads reporting sits next to organic analytics. Their free plan is thin (20 posts a month, no LinkedIn or X) but the paid analytics are strong.
If you are an agency billing clients — Sendible or Agorapulse
Client workspaces, white-label reports and a real social inbox. Both are priced for agencies and worth it at that scale.
If you want to own your data — self-host Postiz
It is open source and self-hostable. With ops capability, it is cheaper than any hosted plan at high channel counts.
If you post short-form video to several channels — us
5 channels free with no post cap, video validated against each platform's rules before it queues, and X included. That is the specific case we are built for.
Questions people actually ask
Which social media scheduler has the best free plan?
On post volume, ours — 5 channels and unlimited scheduled posts, with no monthly cap. Among the others, Buffer's free plan is the most usable (3 channels, 10 queued posts each) and Publer's is close behind, though it excludes X. Tools like Tailwind (5 posts a month) and CoSchedule (15 messages) are free in name more than in practice.
Is a free social media scheduler good enough for a small business?
Usually yes, if it covers your channels and does not cap your posting. The limits that actually bite are the number of connected channels and the number of posts you can queue — not the advanced features most small businesses never open.
Why do so many schedulers have no free plan?
Social APIs cost money — X's in particular — and a free user who connects five channels and posts daily is a real expense. Most vendors respond by removing the free tier or metering posts. We meter AI usage instead, because that is where our marginal cost actually sits, and leave scheduling uncapped.
Which free plans exclude X/Twitter?
Publer excludes X from its free plan entirely, Metricool excludes both X and LinkedIn, and Planable excludes X publishing from its free allowance. Vista Social sells X as a $29/month add-on on top of a paid plan. X is included on every VideoToReels plan, free included. Checked 2026-08-17.
What is the catch with your free plan?
AI features are metered. You get 50 starting credits once when you sign up, and the free plan does not include a recurring monthly credit allowance — so heavy AI use eventually needs a paid plan. Scheduling, channels and analytics are not metered.
The one free plan that doesn't count your posts
5 channels, unlimited scheduling, X and LinkedIn included. No card, no expiry.
Start free