Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting

Buffer’s Free plan suits light publishing across a few accounts. Loomly and Planable focus on content review, while Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Agorapulse combine publishing with customer messages and reporting. Influence suits businesses that want to prepare posts with an assistant, review them and schedule them across their accounts.

Tools by use case Publishing prices for your accounts

Facts checked: October 12, 2026

Tools by use case

The main differences are how each tool handles publishing, team review, customer messages, reporting and software integrations.

Publishing prices for your accounts

One account means one profile or Page. Posting an announcement to five accounts counts as five publications.

These plans cover publishing. Inbox, reporting and approval features differ by plan.

Which work are you comparing?

Example account and post counts

Connected accounts

Publications each month

People using the tool

Businesses or brands

Most accounts on one network

X accounts within that total

Some plans charge per account, person, brand or social set. A social set can limit how many accounts you can connect on each network. Posts are split evenly across accounts in these examples. Posting more often to one account may require a higher plan.

Billing period

Price basis · USD

Standard US prices, excluding taxes, promotions and optional extras. Required extras are included where their prices are available.

Amounts use your selected currency, fixed comparison exchange rates and rounded local prices. Annual totals are the full-year bill.

Publishing price comparison: 5 connected accounts · 60 publications each month · Monthly billing

Total for the billing periodMonthly billing · USD

Buffer$30
Essentials
Later$25
Starter
Publer$20
Professional
SocialBee$29
Bootstrap
PostEverywhere$19
Starter
Influence$39
Growth

The table shows priced plans with enough publishing capacity for these accounts and posts. Features such as team approvals may require a higher tier. Free plans are covered below.

Publishing prices for your accounts · USD · US standard reference
Matching plan	Total for the billing period	What the plan includes
BufferEssentials	$30billed each month	People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: 5 × $6 = $30 Plan source
LaterStarter	$25billed each month	Accounts in base plan: 8 · People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: Base price: $25 Plan source
PublerProfessional	$20billed each month	People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: ($20 + 0 × $2) = $20 Plan source
SocialBeeBootstrap	$29billed each month	Accounts in base plan: 5 · People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: Base price: $29 Plan source
PostEverywhereStarter	$19billed each month	Accounts in base plan: 5 · People in base plan: 2 US price calculation: Base price: $19 Plan source
InfluenceGrowth	$39billed each month	Monthly publications included: 150Plan source

Prices for 3, 5 and 10 accounts

US monthly prices for one business, one person and twelve posts per account.

Connected accounts	Publications each month	Buffer Essentials	Influence
3	36	$18	$19 · Starter
5	60	$30	$39 · Growth
10	120	$60	$39 · Growth

Buffer Essentials is $1 cheaper. Buffer Free can also cover this setup if ten queue slots per channel are enough.
Buffer is $9 cheaper. Sixty publications exceed Influence Starter’s monthly allowance.
Influence costs $21 less for ten accounts and 120 monthly posts.

Buffer Free includes three channels with ten queued posts per channel. Each published post frees a queue slot, so you can post more than ten times a month by refilling it. The lifetime connection limit is eight distinct channels. The paid examples use Essentials.

Buffer includes its AI Assistant and API on the Free plan.

Buffer · Plan source

Publish across several accounts

Buffer, Later, Publer, SocialBee and PostEverywhere offer different ways to plan and queue posts. Influence adds assistant-led drafting, review and scheduling for a business’s accounts. Buffer can cost less for a few accounts; Influence can cost less as the number of accounts and posts grows.

Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting: Publish across several accounts
Tool	Best suited to	What to keep in mind
Buffer Buying guide	Solo publishing across a few channels. A Free plan is available.	Paid prices rise with each channel. Essentials covers one person; team review requires another plan.
Later Buying guide	Visual planning across the accounts included in a social set.	Two accounts on one network can require more sets than four accounts on different networks.
Publer Buying guide	Queued posts, recurring content and publishing automation.	AI, analytics and API/MCP features differ between Professional and Business.
SocialBee	Organizing and recycling a library of social posts.	Profile, workspace and user allowances vary by tier, as do approval and recycling features.
PostEverywhere	Publishing across accounts through the app, API or MCP.	Accounts, users, workspaces, AI allowances and supported formats vary by plan.

Plan content and get it approved

Loomly, Planable, SocialPilot, Sendible and ContentStudio support planning and team review. Client access and approval stages depend on the plan. Influence’s review of a draft before publication does not replace a multi-person approval chain or client portal.

Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting: Plan content and get it approved
Tool	Best suited to	What to keep in mind
Loomly Buying guide	A social calendar with team review and approvals.	Starter includes twelve accounts and three users. Other roles and approval features depend on the plan.
Planable	Teams that need several stages of content approval.	Workspace and post limits affect the price. Analytics and inbox products are extra; a full annual total was not available in the checked sources.
SocialPilot Buying guide	Teams and agencies managing profiles and client reviews.	Client access, approvals, AI allowances and extra accounts differ by tier.
Sendible	Agencies sharing publishing work across client workspaces.	Workspaces and profiles have separate limits. Current public plans are Core, Plus and Premium.
ContentStudio	Content planning and publishing across workspaces.	Users, account add-ons and approval requirements affect the plan. A basic scheduler covers only part of this work.

Handle customer messages and reports

Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Agorapulse, Metricool and Zoho Social combine publishing with different inbox and reporting features. Their prices can include charges for users, brands and add-ons. A lower-cost scheduler will not replace an inbox or a report your team relies on.

Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting: Handle customer messages and reports
Tool	Best suited to	What to keep in mind
Hootsuite Buying guide	Publishing, customer messages, monitoring and reports in one place.	User counts and advanced reports or approvals affect the tier. A current monthly price was not available in the checked public sources.
Sprout Social Buying guide	Teams whose customer service or reporting needs go beyond scheduling.	Essentials is narrower than the full care suite. Prices are per user, with extra charges for some analytics and listening features.
Agorapulse Buying guide	Teams managing customer messages, publishing and client reports.	Each user costs extra. The ten included profiles are shared across the team.
Metricool Buying guide	Brand analytics and reports alongside scheduled posts.	Each brand has a specific account mix. X connections and some reporting features cost extra.
Zoho Social	Brand-based social management, particularly for teams already using Zoho.	Each brand has a defined account mix. Extra users and advanced reporting or approvals can increase the price.

Coordinate broader marketing work

CoSchedule, Planable and ContentStudio serve teams coordinating a wider content calendar. Article deadlines, design tasks and campaign dependencies need more than a social publishing schedule.

Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting: Coordinate broader marketing work
Tool	Best suited to	What to keep in mind
CoSchedule Buying guide	A marketing calendar for social posts and other content work.	Extra profiles, people and X connections can increase the price. Its wider project coordination is not included in a basic social scheduler.
Planable	Teams that need several stages of content approval.	Workspace and post limits affect the price. Analytics and inbox products are extra; a full annual total was not available in the checked sources.
ContentStudio	Content planning and publishing across workspaces.	Users, account add-ons and approval requirements affect the plan. A basic scheduler covers only part of this work.

Connect software or AI assistants

PostForMe provides a publishing API; Postiz offers hosted and self-hosted options. PostEverywhere, Buffer, Publer and Influence also offer API or assistant connections. Supported networks, operations and usage limits differ. Self-hosted software still needs infrastructure and maintenance.

Social media tools compared: publishing, approvals and reporting: Connect software or AI assistants
Tool	Best suited to	What to keep in mind
PostForMe	Software that needs a publishing API billed by successful posts.	Your application still needs its own customer interface, account connections and review flow.
Postiz	Developers choosing between hosted and self-hosted publishing.	Prices below cover hosted plans. Self-hosting adds infrastructure, maintenance and provider setup.
PostEverywhere	Publishing across accounts through the app, API or MCP.	Accounts, users, workspaces, AI allowances and supported formats vary by plan.
Buffer Buying guide	Solo publishing across a few channels. A Free plan is available.	Paid prices rise with each channel. Essentials covers one person; team review requires another plan.
Publer Buying guide	Queued posts, recurring content and publishing automation.	AI, analytics and API/MCP features differ between Professional and Business.

See Influence's developer workflow

Where Influence fits

Influence prepares posts from your business facts and media, lets you review each account’s version, and schedules the approved posts. Standard plans include 50, 150 or unlimited monthly publications. Each account posted to counts separately; AI credits and supported post formats also vary.

Existing reports, inbox conversations and client approval setups do not transfer with your posts. When switching, move a few future posts first and remove their old schedules to avoid duplicates.

Get started See the publishing workflow See Influence plans

The current signup requires a card before the seven-day trial. Charging starts after the trial under the selected plan's terms.

Switching from a particular tool?

Each guide covers five alternatives, their costs and features, and what would change if you switched.

Hootsuite

Buffer and Influence suit simpler publishing needs. Agorapulse and Sprout Social offer broader inbox and reporting tools. Here is how their costs and features differ.

Sprout Social

Agorapulse and Hootsuite cover customer messages; Metricool focuses on brand reports. Influence suits publishing. Sprout Essentials is also an option for up to five profiles.

Buffer

Buffer costs less in our three- and five-account examples. At ten accounts and 120 monthly posts, Influence Growth costs $21 less. Publer, Metricool and Later offer other trade-offs.

Later

Later prices depend on your mix of social accounts. Buffer charges per channel; Loomly and Planable offer team review, while Influence handles drafting and publishing.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse charges per person and shares profile capacity across the team. Sprout Social and Hootsuite offer broader management tools; Influence focuses on publishing.

Loomly

Planable offers required and multi-level approvals; SocialPilot separates manager and client review. Buffer and Influence suit simpler publishing needs.

Metricool

Metricool groups accounts by brand. Agorapulse and Sprout Social offer reporting and customer care; Buffer and Influence suit publishing-focused work.

CoSchedule

Loomly and Planable focus on content review, SocialBee on recurring posts, and Influence on drafting and publishing. Wider project planning may still need CoSchedule.

SocialPilot

Sendible offers client workspaces, Agorapulse combines inboxes and reports, and Metricool organizes brand analytics. Influence suits one business’s publishing.

Publer

Buffer offers a free queue, SocialBee handles evergreen content, Postiz supports hosted or self-hosted publishing, and Influence prepares posts with an assistant.

Questions before you switch

What is the best social media management tool?

Buffer is a good starting point for a few accounts and a light posting schedule. Influence is worth considering for a business publishing across more accounts with an assistant. Teams that need customer service, client reports or multi-person approvals are better served by the tools listed for those uses.

Does the lowest advertised price mean the lowest bill?

The total depends on how the tool charges for accounts, people and brands, plus any add-ons. A per-person or per-account price can grow well beyond the advertised starting price. Monthly and annual plans also have different payment terms.

Can an AI assistant publish without review?

Influence requires review and approval before publishing changes. Connecting an assistant grants access, but does not approve future posts. Images need visual review; videos need review while signed in to Influence.

Can I move all my history when I switch?

Analytics history, inbox conversations and approval records may stay with your old tool. There is no assumed one-click transfer. Export records you need before ending that subscription, then move a few future posts and check that they publish correctly.

Sources and pricing

Prices and plan details were checked on the date above. The linked sources list each provider’s current terms.

See Influence plans