by Buffer, Inc.Social media management tools
A social media scheduler priced per connected channel, with unlimited team members and approval workflows on Team and a free plan for 3 channels.
Scheduling for every major network, priced per channel with unlimited team members on Team, and a free plan to start.
Buffer charges for the channels you connect, not the people who use them: on Team, 10 channels cost $100 a month billed yearly and any number of team members can draft, approve and publish. Publishing covers ten networks plus Mastodon, every plan has the AI Assistant and a community inbox for comments, and the Free plan runs 3 channels with 10 queued posts each. It suits teams that mainly need to plan, approve and publish, rather than listen or answer direct messages.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Social media management tools: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Buffer | Later | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceScheduling for every major network, priced per channel with unlimited team members on Team, and a free plan to start. | Worth the priceA visual planner for Instagram, TikTok and six more networks, with approvals and an inbox on a flat plan that costs less than one seat elsewhere. | Built-in reachPublishing, a shared inbox, listening and competitor benchmarks for every major network in one seat, backed by audited security. | Compliance includedA full social team workspace (inbox, approvals, competitor reports and branded reporting) on one seat, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 behind it. |
| Overall score | 6.6 | 7.4Best | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | 14-day free trial | 30-day free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | Card required | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $5/channel/mo | $18.75/mo | $99/user/mo | $79/seat/mo |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Flat rate | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per connected channel per month, lower per channel above 10 | Flat plan with Social Sets (one profile per network) and users; extra sets and users as add-ons | Per user per month; each plan has a social account allowance | Per seat per month; 5 profiles on Essentials and Standard, unlimited from Professional |
| Free option | Free plan: 3 channels, 1 user, 10 scheduled posts per channel; 14-day Team trial, no card | Free plan in the help center (1 Social Set, 1 user, 12 posts per profile a month); 14-day trial, card required | No free plan; 14-day trial, no card (plans page) | No free plan; 30-day trial, no card |
| Reference scenario (3 users, 10 profiles, annual) | $100/mo on Team (10 × $10), computed | $41.25/mo on Growth ($37.50 + 1 extra user at $3.75), computed | $297/mo on Standard (3 × $99), computed | $897/mo on Professional (3 × $299), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $12 per channel on Team for channels 1–10 ($6 on Essentials) | $50 on Growth ($25 / $50 / $110 for the three listed plans) | $149 per user on Standard ($149 / $299 / $499 for the three listed plans) | $399 per seat on Professional ($99 / $249 / $399 / $499 for the four listed plans) |
| Networks for publishing | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Mastodon | Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Snapchat; not X | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky; Google Business Profile through its app | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Reddit, Snapchat |
| Approval workflows | Team | Growth and Scale | Advanced ($399 per user, annual) and Enterprise | Professional and up; external approvers on Advanced |
| Unified inbox | Community inbox for comments on every plan; no direct messages | Social Inbox (beta) on Growth: Instagram and Facebook messages and comments, TikTok comments | Comments and messages on every plan | Smart Inbox for comments and messages from Standard (not on Essentials) |
| Social listening | Not offered | Scale: mentions, brand health and competitor benchmarking | Quick Search with 7 days of history on Standard; 30 days from Professional | Keyword and brand monitoring from Standard; the Listening add-on through sales |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Blog post says "SOC 2 compliant", report type not stated; ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 listed in the trust center (archived copy) | SOC 2 Type II audited annually; ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type 2 audit; ISO/IEC 27001:2013 |
| SAML SSO | Not stated | Legacy Enterprise plan only | Enterprise only (priced by sales) | SAML 2.0; set up through Enterprise or a customer success manager |
| DPA | Published (linked from the legal page) | On request by email, with the reasons | Published, with an electronic signature option | Published and part of the terms |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Buffer is a straightforward publisher priced per channel, with unlimited users, approvals and a free plan. It covers comments but not direct messages, and lists no listening, SSO or certifications. | From its public pages, Later is the lowest-cost way here to give a small team approvals and an inbox, priced by Social Sets. Its network list leaves out X, Bluesky and Google Business Profile, and listening starts on Scale. | From its public pages, Hootsuite is a broad suite: ten networks, an inbox, listening and competitor benchmarks on Standard, and an audited security file. Seats are priced per user, and approvals start on Advanced. | From its public pages, Sprout Social is the most complete team workspace here, with the inbox, approvals, competitor reports and audits on Professional. It is also the most expensive per seat, and listening is priced by sales. |
Evidence: Buffer: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Later: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Hootsuite: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Sprout Social: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Buffer's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read Buffer's pricing page and its text copy (buffer.com/pricing.md), the legal page with the terms, privacy policy, GDPR section and DPA link, the press page, the developer docs and help center articles on pricing, the trial, channels, users and permissions, bulk upload, Insights, two-factor authentication, payment methods, refunds and cancellation on Oct 16, 2026; we did not sign up, start a trial or call the API. The pricing FAQ says prices were last updated in November 2025.
The model is simple to read: you pay per channel, $5 or $10 a month billed yearly on Essentials or Team for the first 10 channels, with lower rates above that. Team adds unlimited team members, so the user count does not change the price. The 14-day trial runs on Team and needs no card; without a card, the account moves to Free when it ends.
Some details differ between pages: the size of the yearly discount, which plan has branded reports, which payment methods are accepted, and one yearly price above 50 channels. Buffer states it is SOC 2 compliant only in a blog post, without the report type, and we found no trust or security page with certifications.
Team includes unlimited team members, so 3 or 30 people managing 10 channels pay the same $100 a month billed yearly.
vs Hootsuite: Hootsuite and Sprout Social charge per user seat.
Content approval workflows and per-channel access levels come with Team, the first plan with more than one user.
vs Hootsuite: Hootsuite puts approvals on Advanced ($399 per user, annual).
3 channels, 1 user, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, the AI Assistant, the community inbox and Insights with 30 days of history.
vs Hootsuite: Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Sendible offer trials only.
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile and Mastodon.
vs Later: Later no longer supports X and does not list Bluesky or Google Business Profile.
The community inbox manages and replies to comments; the Bluesky help article says Buffer does not offer direct messaging, and mentions are a beta for X only.
Workaround: Teams that answer direct messages often may pair Buffer with each network’s own inbox.
Buffer’s own comparison page with Sprout Social says listening and competitive benchmarking are features Buffer does not have.
No trust or security page lists certifications; a blog post says Buffer is SOC 2 compliant without the report type. SSO and an audit log are not stated.
Workaround: Two-factor authentication is on every plan, and the DPA is linked from the legal page.
The channel is listed as YouTube (Shorts); the help center does not describe publishing long-form videos.
Buffer bills per connected channel, and Team includes unlimited users. For our scenario, 10 channels on Team cost 10 × $10 = $100 a month billed yearly ($1,200 a year), or $120 month to month (computed), before tax. Essentials would cost $50 a month for 10 channels, but it allows only one user. Channels 11 to 25 cost $4 a month each on Team ($40 a year billed yearly), so 25 channels come to $150 a month billed yearly (pricing.md). Nonprofits get 50% off. The help center offers refunds within 7 days on monthly plans and 30 days on annual plans, while the terms say fees are not refundable.
Insights export to CSV, Markdown or PDF on paid plans; Free can only download chart images. Buffer does not export scheduled posts directly (the help center suggests Zapier), but the GraphQL API can read scheduled and sent posts. Personal data can be exported on request under the GDPR section of the legal page.
From its public pages, Buffer is a straightforward publisher priced per channel, with unlimited users, approvals and a free plan. It covers comments but not direct messages, and lists no listening, SSO or certifications.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per connected channel per month, lower per channel above 10 |
| Free option | Free plan: 3 channels, 1 user, 10 scheduled posts per channel; 14-day Team trial, no card |
| Reference scenario (3 users, 10 profiles, annual) | $100/mo on Team (10 × $10), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $12 per channel on Team for channels 1–10 ($6 on Essentials) |
| Networks for publishing | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Mastodon |
| Approval workflows | Team |
| Unified inbox | Community inbox for comments on every plan; no direct messages |
| Social listening | Not offered |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Blog post says "SOC 2 compliant", report type not stated; ISO 27001 not stated |
| SAML SSO | Not stated |
| DPA | Published (linked from the legal page) |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Buffer yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Buffer yet.
Buffer lists 3 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Essentials (billed yearly), costs $5/channel/mo.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: buffer.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, trust, legal and help center pages of three social media management tools on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What 3 users and 10 profiles cost, where approvals, the inbox and listening sit, and who should pick which.
