Later review
by LaterSocial media management tools
A visual social media planner sold as flat plans of "Social Sets" and users, with approvals and an inbox on Growth from $37.50 a month billed yearly.
- Free plan
- Card required
- Self-serve
- Flat rate
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Worth the price (main value)
- Easy to adopt
A 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.
Later prices plans by Social Sets rather than seats: Growth, at $37.50 a month billed yearly, includes two sets (up to 16 profiles), two users, approval workflows and the Social Inbox, and an extra user is $3.75 a month. Link in Bio pages, a visual calendar and AI caption help come with every paid plan. It suits creators, brands and small teams centred on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest; teams that publish to X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile will need another tool for those.
- Flat plans with published add-onsGrowth includes 2 Social Sets and 2 users; extra sets are $11.25 and extra users $3.75 a month billed yearly, so the scenario costs $41.25 a month.Evidence: Pricing page (2026-10-16)
- Approvals and inbox on GrowthGrowth adds internal approvals, external review links and the Social Inbox (beta) for Instagram and Facebook messages and comments and TikTok comments.Evidence: Help center: plan reference guide, approvals and Social Inbox articles (2026-10-16)
- Link in Bio on every planEvery plan, Free included, has a Link in Bio page with unlimited buttons and linked Instagram and TikTok posts.Evidence: Pricing page (2026-10-16)
- Best for
- Creators, brands and small teams whose social work centres on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
- Good to know
- Later no longer publishes to X and does not support Bluesky or Google Business Profile; listening and competitor benchmarking start on Scale.
How Later compares
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 | Later | Buffer | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | 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. | Worth the priceScheduling for every major network, priced per channel with unlimited team members on Team, and a free plan to start. | 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 | 7.4Best | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | 14-day free trial | 30-day free trial |
| Card to start | Card required | No card needed | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $18.75/mo | $5/channel/mo | $99/user/mo | $79/seat/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Tiered | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Flat plan with Social Sets (one profile per network) and users; extra sets and users as add-ons | Per connected channel per month, lower per channel above 10 | 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 in the help center (1 Social Set, 1 user, 12 posts per profile a month); 14-day trial, card required | Free plan: 3 channels, 1 user, 10 scheduled posts per channel; 14-day Team trial, no card | 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) | $41.25/mo on Growth ($37.50 + 1 extra user at $3.75), computed | $100/mo on Team (10 × $10), computed | $297/mo on Standard (3 × $99), computed | $897/mo on Professional (3 × $299), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $50 on Growth ($25 / $50 / $110 for the three listed plans) | $12 per channel on Team for channels 1–10 ($6 on Essentials) | $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 | Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Snapchat; not X | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Mastodon | 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 | Growth and Scale | Team | Advanced ($399 per user, annual) and Enterprise | Professional and up; external approvers on Advanced |
| Unified inbox | Social Inbox (beta) on Growth: Instagram and Facebook messages and comments, TikTok comments | Community inbox for comments on every plan; no direct messages | Comments and messages on every plan | Smart Inbox for comments and messages from Standard (not on Essentials) |
| Social listening | Scale: mentions, brand health and competitor benchmarking | Not offered | 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 | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 listed in the trust center (archived copy) | Blog post says "SOC 2 compliant", report type not stated; ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type II audited annually; ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type 2 audit; ISO/IEC 27001:2013 |
| SAML SSO | Legacy Enterprise plan only | Not stated | Enterprise only (priced by sales) | SAML 2.0; set up through Enterprise or a customer success manager |
| DPA | On request by email, with the reasons | Published (linked from the legal page) | Published, with an electronic signature option | Published and part of the terms |
| Bottom line | 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, 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, 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: Later: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Buffer: 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.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 6.0 / 10, Good
- scenario plan priced; can be bought online; month-to-month price published; extra users or profiles priced; pricing page says yearly billing gives 3 months free (25% off); a help article says 4 months free; 100 extra AI credits are $3.75 a month billed yearly ($45) on the pricing page and $40 a year in the help center; the plan reference guide calls the Social Inbox Scale-only in its introduction and lists it on Growth in its table; the Free plan is described in the help center but not shown on the pricing page
- Free plan and trial
- 9.0 / 10, Excellent
- free plan, 8 profiles, 1 user, 12 scheduled posts per profile, 14-day trial
- Price for 3 users, 10 profiles
- 8.9 / 10, Excellent
- $41.25/mo on Growth, annual terms: $37.50 for 2 Social Sets and 2 users, plus 1 extra user at $3.75 (billed yearly); assumes the 10 profiles include no more than 2 on any one network, so they fit in 2 Social Sets; each further set is $11.25
- Networks and publishing
- 6.5 / 10, Good
- 7 of 10 networks (not X, Bluesky, Google Business Profile); approval workflows on the scenario plan; bulk scheduling not listed
- Engagement and reporting
- 7.2 / 10, Good
- unified inbox on the scenario plan; social listening on a higher self-serve plan; competitor analytics on a higher self-serve plan; custom or branded reports on a higher self-serve plan
- Security and team controls
- 7.0 / 10, Good
- SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001; 2FA; no DPA published; SAML SSO not listed; roles or permissions on the scenario plan
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Later'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.
What the public pages show
We read Later's pricing page and its FAQ, the terms, privacy notice and agreements page, the media kit page and help center articles on plans, Social Sets, add-ons, the trial, supported platforms, approvals, the Social Inbox, competitor benchmarking, analytics export, security, two-factor authentication, GDPR and the DPA, refunds and cancellation on Oct 16, 2026; we did not sign up, start a trial or call any API. The help center blocks our fetches, so its articles were read through the help center's public article data. The trust center returned 403, so we used its Internet Archive copy of Aug 25, 2026, which lists SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001.
The plans are easy to price once Social Sets are clear: a set holds one profile per supported network, so 10 profiles spread over several networks fit in 2 sets. Growth includes 2 sets and 2 users; one more user is $3.75 a month billed yearly. The trial asks for a card and converts to a paid plan unless cancelled.
Some points need care. Support for X ended on Aug 28, 2025. A few details differ between the pricing page and help articles: the size of the yearly discount, the yearly price of extra AI credits, and which plan has the Social Inbox. The Free plan is described in the help center but not on the pricing page.
Strengths
- Lowest scenario price here
3 users and 10 profiles cost $41.25 a month billed yearly on Growth with one extra user, with approvals and the inbox included.
vs Buffer: Buffer’s Team plan costs $100 a month for 10 channels; Hootsuite costs $297 for 3 Standard seats.
- Messages and comments in the inbox
The Social Inbox (beta) on Growth handles Instagram and Facebook direct messages and comments and TikTok comments.
vs Buffer: Buffer’s community inbox handles comments only.
- Add-ons priced on the page
Extra Social Sets ($11.25), users ($3.75) and 100 AI credits ($3.75) have published monthly and yearly prices on Growth and Scale.
vs Sprout Social: Sprout Social does not publish the price of extra profiles.
- Listening on a self-serve plan
Scale ($82.50 a month billed yearly) adds brand mentions, brand health, future insights and Instagram competitor benchmarking for up to 20 competitors.
Things to know
- No X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile
The supported platforms article says X support ended on Aug 28, 2025, and lists Bluesky and Google Business Profile as unsupported; YouTube is Shorts only.
- No bulk upload or API described
We found no CSV bulk scheduling and no developer documentation on Later’s pages; Quick Schedule drags media into recurring slots instead.
- DPA and SSO by request
A DPA is sent on request by email, with the reasons it is needed; SSO is on the legacy Enterprise plan only.
Workaround: Two-factor authentication with an authenticator app is available to all accounts.
- Trial needs a card
The trial steps ask for card details and the plan converts to paid unless cancelled; plans are non-refundable except case by case.
Workaround: The Free plan in the help center lets you try scheduling without a card.
Pricing reality
Later sells flat plans by Social Sets and users. For our scenario, Growth ($37.50 a month billed yearly) includes 2 sets and 2 users; one extra user at $3.75 brings it to $41.25 a month ($495 a year), or $55 month to month (computed), before tax. This assumes no network has more than 2 of the 10 profiles; each further set is $11.25, and from 6 sets Scale ($82.50 with 6 sets and 4 users) costs less. Growth allows 180 posts per profile a month and 50 AI credits. Listening, competitor benchmarking and custom analytics need Scale. Nonprofits get 50% off yearly Growth.
Exit path
Analytics export to CSV per dashboard section from Starter up (graphs cannot be exported), and Scale adds downloadable custom analytics. The pages do not describe exporting scheduled or published posts. All account data can be requested by email and is sent as a zip file, under the GDPR article.
Compared with
- Pick Later when
- You want Instagram and Facebook direct messages in the inbox and the lowest scenario price ($41.25 a month on Growth, annual).
- Pick Buffer when
- You publish to X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile, or want CSV bulk upload, an API and unlimited users.
- Pick Later when
- You focus on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest and want approvals on the plan that fits the scenario.
- Pick Sendible when
- You publish to X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile, or want unlimited users and CSV bulk scheduling on every plan.
- Pick Later when
- You want approvals and an inbox for a small team at a fraction of a per-seat price.
- Pick Sprout Social when
- You need X, Reddit or Google Business Profile, bulk scheduling, an API, or a DPA and SSO without a request.
Choose it if
- Your social work centres on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Threads.
- You want approvals and an inbox for a small team on a low flat price.
- You use a Link in Bio page and want it in the same tool.
Look elsewhere if
- You publish to X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile.
- You need CSV bulk scheduling, an API, SSO or a self-serve DPA.
Bottom line
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.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Flat plan with Social Sets (one profile per network) and users; extra sets and users as add-ons |
| Free option | Free plan in the help center (1 Social Set, 1 user, 12 posts per profile a month); 14-day trial, card required |
| Reference scenario (3 users, 10 profiles, annual) | $41.25/mo on Growth ($37.50 + 1 extra user at $3.75), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $50 on Growth ($25 / $50 / $110 for the three listed plans) |
| Networks for publishing | Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts), Pinterest, Threads, Snapchat; not X |
| Approval workflows | Growth and Scale |
| Unified inbox | Social Inbox (beta) on Growth: Instagram and Facebook messages and comments, TikTok comments |
| Social listening | Scale: mentions, brand health and competitor benchmarking |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 listed in the trust center (archived copy) |
| SAML SSO | Legacy Enterprise plan only |
| DPA | On request by email, with the reasons |
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 Later 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 Later yet.
Later lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Starter (billed yearly), costs $18.75/mo.
- LaterFreeFree$0Described in the help center, not on the pricing page
- 1 Social Set, 1 user
- 12 posts per profile a month
- Link in Bio page
- Introductory analytics
- LaterLowest priceStarter$18.75/moBilled yearly; $25 month to month; 1 Social Set (8 profiles), 1 user, no add-ons
- 30 posts per profile a month
- 5 AI credits a month
- Analytics with CSV export
- Link in Bio
- LaterGrowth$37.50/moBilled yearly; $50 month to month; 2 Social Sets (16 profiles), 2 users
- 180 posts per profile a month, 50 AI credits
- Approval workflows and external review links
- Social Inbox (beta)
- Extra Social Set $11.25, extra user $3.75 (yearly)
- LaterScale$82.50/moBilled yearly; $110 month to month; 6 Social Sets (48 profiles), 4 users
- Unlimited posts, 100 AI credits
- Social listening: mentions, brand health, future insights
- Instagram competitor benchmarking
- Custom analytics with scheduled reports
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: later.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.