Buffer is free for up to 3 social channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel, for one user, with no time limit (checked Nov 6, 2026 on buffer.com). When a post publishes, its slot frees up again, so the limit is the size of the queue, not a monthly count. The cheapest paid plan, Essentials, is $5 a month per channel billed yearly. Every price in this post was checked on Nov 6, 2026 from the vendor's own pricing page, in US dollars.
Is Buffer free?
Yes. Buffer's pricing page labels the Free plan “Free forever” and lets you “Connect up to 3 channels” with “10 scheduled posts per channel - refill anytime.” The Free plan includes 1 user, 100 saved ideas, unlimited drafts, Buffer's AI Assistant, 5 AI reply suggestions a week and analytics with a 30-day history. Performance reports, custom analytics and custom UTM parameters are marked “Not included”. Buffer's FAQ explains the refill: “Once a post is published, the slot becomes available again.”
How many posts can you schedule on Buffer's free plan?
Buffer's Free plan holds 30 scheduled posts at most at any one time: 10 per channel across 3 channels. There is no monthly post cap on the page. A person posting once a day to Instagram, LinkedIn and Bluesky can keep about a week and a half queued on each and top it up as posts go out. A person who batches a month of content on Sunday cannot. Buffer supports 12 networks on its pricing page, from Instagram and TikTok to Mastodon, Bluesky and Substack.
Is Buffer free forever?
Buffer's Free plan has no expiry date, and the pricing page says so in two words: “Free forever”. Buffer's FAQ says its pricing “was last updated in November 2025”, so the Free plan's limits have now held for a year. The paid plans come with a 14-day free trial, and nonprofits get 50% off paid plans, per the same FAQ.
What Buffer costs after the free plan
Buffer charges per channel, and the rest of the plan is the same size whether you connect one account or ten. On Nov 6, 2026 the pricing page lists these prices with yearly billing.
Essentials, $5 a month per channel, billed as $60 a year per channel, with unlimited scheduled posts, unlimited ideas, 1 user and advanced analytics.
Team, $10 a month per channel, billed as $120 a year per channel, with everything in Essentials plus “Unlimited team members”, approval workflows and access levels.
Buffer's FAQ says yearly billing saves 20%, and that the first 10 channels are priced at the standard rate, with cheaper channels after that. So the three channels from the Free plan cost $180 a year on Essentials, or $360 a year on Team.
Buffer's free plan does not count posts per month. It counts the queue: 10 slots per channel, refilled every time one publishes. It is the only big scheduler we checked whose free plan is built around a queue rather than a monthly quota.
Is Hootsuite free?
No. Hootsuite has no free plan on Nov 6, 2026, only a 14-day free trial on each paid tier. Hootsuite's FAQ says “Paid plans start at $99 for a Standard plan, $199 for a Professional plan,” up to $399 for Advanced, priced per user and billed yearly. Standard manages up to 10 social accounts. Trial accounts have daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organisation.
Later has no free plan either. Its Starter plan is $18.75 a month billed yearly for 1 social set of 8 profiles, 1 user and 30 posts per profile, after a 14-day trial. Sprout Social starts at $79 per seat a month billed yearly ($99 billed monthly) with a 30-day trial and no free plan (all checked Nov 6, 2026).
Who still gives you a free social scheduler?
Three paid tools and two open source projects still give scheduling away. Of the 214 social media tools in the AppClap catalog (Nov 6, 2026), 107 have a free tier and 8 are open source.
Metricool. Metricool's Free plan manages 1 brand, schedules “up to 20 posts per month” and keeps 30 days of analytics. Starter is listed “From $20/month” for up to 5 brands.
Pallyy. Pallyy's Free plan is “One social set, 15 scheduled posts a month, image posts only.” Pro is $25 a month for 1 social set with unlimited posts.
Postiz. Postiz is AGPL-3.0 with about 41,000 GitHub stars, and its README says self-hosting is “Free forever” with unlimited channels and posts (repo). Postiz's cloud has no free plan: a 7-day trial, then $29 a month for 5 channels.
Mixpost. Mixpost Lite is free and MIT licensed with about 3,900 stars (repo), and publishes to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon only. Mixpost Pro is $299 once for your own server.
| Tool | Free plan (Nov 6, 2026) | Free limit | Cheapest paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Yes, no expiry | 3 channels, 10 queued posts each, 1 user | $5/mo per channel, yearly |
| Metricool | Yes | 1 brand, 20 posts a month | From $20/mo |
| Pallyy | Yes | 1 social set, 15 posts a month, images only | $25/mo |
| Hootsuite | No, 14-day trial | n/a | $99/mo per user, yearly |
| Later | No, 14-day trial | n/a | $18.75/mo, yearly |
| Sprout Social | No, 30-day trial | n/a | $79/mo per seat, yearly |
| Postiz | Self-hosted only | No limit when self-hosted | Cloud $29/mo |
The AppClap flat-price test, where a tool passes when the price on its pricing page is the price on the invoice, splits this group cleanly. Buffer passes channel by channel: the bill is the sticker times the number of channels. Later adds AI credits and extra social sets on top. Self-hosted Postiz and Mixpost Lite pass because there is no invoice. We compared the open source options in more depth in the open source Buffer alternatives.
Why the paid plans still sell
Buffer's paid plans exist because the Free plan stops exactly where a business starts. A second person on the account needs Team. A fourth channel needs a paid plan. Reports a client will read need Essentials. And Hootsuite's and Sprout Social's prices buy a social inbox, approvals and support that an agency running twenty brands genuinely uses. For one founder posting to three accounts, Buffer Free is enough. For a team, the honest comparison is Buffer Team at $10 a channel against Hootsuite at $99 a person.
How to read a social scheduler's pricing page
- What is counted? Channels (Buffer, Postiz Cloud), seats (Hootsuite, Sprout Social), social sets (Later, Pallyy) or posts per month (Metricool Free, Pallyy Free).
- Is free a plan or a trial? Buffer, Metricool and Pallyy have plans. Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social and Postiz Cloud have trials.
- How many people can log in? Buffer Free and Essentials allow 1 user. Buffer Team allows unlimited.
- What happens at the limit? On Buffer Free the queue is full until a post goes out.
- Which networks are included? Mixpost Lite posts to three. Buffer lists twelve.
What we do about it
AppClap reads pricing pages so you do not have to, and we never take vendor money. The Buffer alternatives and Hootsuite alternatives pages list everything we track in social scheduling.
Or describe what you need in plain words: a free social media scheduler for three accounts.
Sources: buffer.com, Pricing and FAQ; hootsuite.com, Plans; later.com, Pricing; sproutsocial.com, Pricing; metricool.com, Pricing; pallyy.com, Pricing; postiz.com, Pricing; mixpost.app, Pricing; GitHub repos gitroomhq/postiz-app and inovector/mixpost; AppClap catalog counts, Nov 6, 2026. All checked Nov 6, 2026.
