Best social media scheduling tools in 2026: pricing compared
10 schedulers priced for 1, 4 and 5 accounts. 5 Instagram accounts: ~$20 (Publer) to $99 (Hootsuite). Craft: $39, $19 annual, funnels included.
Social media schedulers look alike on their homepages. The real differences show up in two places: how they count accounts, and what you pay once you have more than one. We priced ten tools for the same four setups, monthly and annually.
This ranking is written by the Craft team, and Craft is on it. We state the criteria openly, take every price from the vendor's own pricing page or help center, and say where each tool wins — including where others are cheaper than Craft.
Prices checked on September 21, 2026. If a price changed, message us and we'll fix the page.
The four setups#
- (A) 5 Instagram accounts.
- (B) mixed: 2 Instagram + TikTok + YouTube (4 accounts).
- (C) 1 Instagram account.
- (D) posting to 5 Instagram accounts + comment auto-replies and DM funnels on one of them. Schedulers don't include funnels, so we add ManyChat Pro ($39 a month, $29 annually, one Instagram account, up to 2,500 active contacts). Craft does it on one plan.
Monthly billing#
| Tool | (A) 5 Instagram | (B) mixed | (C) 1 Instagram | (D) posting + funnels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft | $39 | $39 | $12 | $39 |
| Publer | ≈$20 | ≈$17 | free or ≈$5 | ≈$59 |
| Metricool | $25 | $25 | free or $25 | $64 |
| Buffer | $30 | $24 | free or $6 | $69 |
| Postiz | $29 | $29 | $29 | $68 |
| SocialBee | $29 | $29 | $29 | $68 |
| Later | ≈$95 | $50 | $25 | ≈$134 |
| Planable | ≈$59 | $39 | $39 | ≈$98 |
| Sprout Social | $99 | $99 | $99 | $138 |
| Hootsuite | not published | not published | not published | not published |
Annual billing (per month)#
| Tool | (A) 5 Instagram | (B) mixed | (C) 1 Instagram | (D) posting + funnels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft | $19 | $19 | $6 | $19 |
| Publer | ≈$16 | ≈$14 | free or ≈$4 | ≈$45 |
| Metricool | $20 | $20 | free or $20 | $49 |
| Buffer | $25 | $20 | free or $5 | $54 |
| Postiz | $23 | $23 | $23 | $52 |
| SocialBee | $24.17 | $24.17 | $24.17 | $53.17 |
| Later | $71.25 | $37.50 | $18.75 | $100.25 |
| Planable | $49 | $32.50 | $32.50 | $78 |
| Sprout Social | $79 | $79 | $79 | $108 |
| Hootsuite | $99 | $99 | $99 | $128 |
💡 How we counted. Craft: Solo $12 (1 account), Pro $39 (5 accounts, ~$7.80 each; ~$3.80 annually), Agency $249 (unlimited); annual prices are half. Publer: about $5 for the first account and $4 for each next, up to 3 accounts free — not verified in Publer's calculator; the 5-account figure is from a third-party review, the others are derived from it. Metricool: free plan = 1 brand, 20 posts a month; Starter up to 5 brands $25 ($20 annually). Buffer: $6 per channel ($5 annually); free plan 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each. Postiz: Standard, 5 channels; no smaller cloud plan. SocialBee: Bootstrap, 5 profiles. Later: a social set holds one profile per network; 5 Instagram = Growth ($50, 2 sets) + 3 extra sets at $15 ($11.25 annually); the mixed setup fits in 2 sets. Planable: Basic 4 pages $39 ($32.50); 5 accounts need Pro, about $59 ($49). Sprout Social: Essentials, 5 profiles, one user. Hootsuite: Standard, up to 10 accounts, $99 per user billed annually; no monthly price published.
How accounts are counted#
- Later (social set) and Metricool (brand) hold one profile per network, so 5 Instagram accounts = 5 sets or brands. On Later that costs about $95 a month; on Metricool still $25, because Starter includes 5 brands. Sources: Later, Metricool.
- Postiz allows many accounts of the same network (GitHub).
- Buffer, Publer, SocialBee, Sprout Social, Hootsuite count any connected account on any network.
- Craft: one shared limit per plan, any networks — 5 Instagram, or 5 different networks. The same accounts serve posting and funnels.
The ranking#
We ranked by price for 5 accounts, total price when you also need funnels, network coverage, free plan, and honesty of the pricing (published monthly prices, no hidden per-network rules).
1. Craft — best for posting plus Instagram and Telegram funnels#
Instagram carousels, Reels, videos and photos, plus TikTok and YouTube. The same plan runs Instagram comment auto-replies, DM funnels, Telegram bot funnels, unlimited Telegram broadcasts and a payment step through your own Lava account. Cheapest in setup D by a wide margin, and on annual billing cheaper for 5 accounts than every tool here except Publer ($19 vs $20 on Metricool, $23 on Postiz, $25 on Buffer). Honest: for scheduling only on monthly billing, Publer, Metricool, Postiz and Buffer are cheaper. No Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X or Telegram channel posting, no Stories, no team approvals, no deep analytics.
2. Publer — best price for scheduling#
About $20 for 5 accounts, Telegram channel posting, free for up to 3 accounts. Craft vs Publer
3. Metricool — best analytics for the money#
$25 for up to 5 brands, a free plan with 20 posts a month, MCP on every plan. Craft vs Metricool
4. Buffer — simplest per-channel pricing#
$6 per channel, a useful free plan, Team plan with approvals. Craft vs Buffer
5. Postiz — best open-source option#
About 25 networks, API, webhooks, MCP; self-host for free. Craft vs Postiz
6. SocialBee — content categories#
$29 for 5 profiles. Telegram only via "universal posting".
7. Later — best for one brand across many networks#
Starter at $25 holds one profile of each network. Expensive for several Instagram accounts. Craft vs Later
8. Planable — best for approvals#
Collaboration-first. Basic holds 4 pages for $39.
9. Sprout Social — enterprise suite#
Shared inbox, reporting, team workflows. $99 a month for 5 profiles. Craft vs Sprout Social
10. Hootsuite — enterprise suite, up to 10 accounts#
$99 per user a month, billed annually; strong analytics and team features. Craft vs Hootsuite
Features that separate them#
| Feature | Craft | Publer | Metricool | Buffer | Postiz | Later | Hootsuite / Sprout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram carousels and Reels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| TikTok, YouTube Shorts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Telegram channel posting | — | ✓ | — | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deep analytics | — | not verified | ✓ | ✓ | not verified | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team approvals | — | not verified | not verified | ✓ Team | not verified | not verified | ✓ |
| MCP (Claude, ChatGPT) | ✓ | not listed | ✓ | not listed | ✓ | not listed | not listed |
| Instagram comment auto-reply | ✓ | not listed | not listed | not listed | not listed | not listed | not verified |
| DM + Telegram funnels, payments | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | self-host | — | — |
"Not listed" and "not verified" mean we didn't confirm the feature on the pages we checked.
Schedule posts and build funnels by chatting with Claude or ChatGPT#
Craft has an MCP connector on every plan. Connect Craft to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Claude Code and say "schedule this Reel to Instagram and TikTok for tomorrow at 10:00", then "build a funnel that sends the guide to everyone who comments GUIDE". Metricool and Postiz also offer MCP for scheduling; Craft's connector also builds funnels. Setup guide: Connect your Claude.
See the Craft pricing. Switching? Message us on Telegram. Also: Buffer alternatives · Top 10 chat automation tools
Frequently asked questions#
What is the cheapest social media scheduler for 5 Instagram accounts?#
Publer, at about $20 a month (our estimate). Then Metricool at $25, Postiz and SocialBee at $29, Buffer at $30. On annual billing Craft is $19 — cheaper than all of them except Publer.
Why does Later cost more for several Instagram accounts?#
A social set holds one profile per network, so each Instagram account needs its own set: about $95 a month for 5.
Which scheduler also auto-replies to Instagram comments?#
Craft includes comment auto-replies and DM funnels in the same plan. The other tools here don't list it, so you'd add a funnel tool.
Which schedulers work with Claude or ChatGPT?#
Craft, Metricool and Postiz have MCP servers.
Sources#
All checked September 21, 2026: Craft https://craftopen.space/#pricing · Publer https://publer.com/pricing (calculator not verified) · Metricool https://metricool.com/pricing · Buffer https://buffer.com/pricing · Postiz https://postiz.com/pricing · SocialBee https://socialbee.com/pricing · Later https://later.com/pricing · Planable https://planable.io/pricing · Sprout Social https://sproutsocial.com/pricing/ · Hootsuite https://www.hootsuite.com/plans · ManyChat https://manychat.com/pricing