Social platforms have evolved significantly over the past decade. From connecting people, they have grown into complex platforms that provide a variety of entertaining and informative content. Furthermore, the introduction of marketing and e-commerce functions has enabled companies to interact more closely with their target audiences.
90% of social media users follow at least one brand, so social media marketing has become a fundamental element of companies' digital marketing strategies. Brand content can range from short text posts and images to videos and infographics on social media. Awareness, however, can only be maintained when quality content is posted consistently and at the right time.
This is where a social media management platform comes into the picture. By using it, you can coordinate postings across various social networks from a single location. With a scheduling tool, marketers can ensure a brand's ongoing social media presence and influence, thereby increasing conversions or traffic to their websites. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to limit its use to just this function. A well-chosen scheduling tool can enhance brand communication with customers, which leads to a more positive customer experience as well as shorten and automate marketing specialists' work.
While these tools are similar in their core functionality, there may be some differences between them. So the question is, what do you need? Here is a quick overview of the 15 best social media scheduler tools, including their key features, strengths, so that you don't have to spend your time researching them.
Later
Later is the best tool for scheduling content for Instagram. Overall, it helps users schedule content and publish social media posts on six popular platforms, but its main product is undoubtedly planning and managing social media content for Instagram. The publishing tool enables users to add their first comment, Linkin.bio, and location to Instagram posts and tag people and products.
Using the platform, you can add content from Dropbox and Google Drive and use Unsplash's stock photos. Through the tool, brands can interact with social media users on TikTok and Instagram.
Price:
Free (1 user, 1 profile),
Starter: $25/month (1 user and 1 social set),
Growth: $45/month (3 users and 3 social sets),
Advanced: $80/month (6 users and 6 social sets).
Platforms:
Brands can manage their Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn content with Later.
Key features
Content visualizer.
Detailed analytics including audience demographics, post Reel and Stories performance, and Linkin.bio insights.
Later recommends optimal times for publishing.
Ideal for brands that focus their main marketing efforts on Instagram.
Benefits
Hashtag suggestions and saved captions.
Advanced planning and scheduling functions for Instagram content.
Easy-to-use content calendar.
Media library.
MeetEdgar
MeetEdgar is a social media management software that especially targets small businesses, teams, and entrepreneurs. Although it provides fewer functionalities than other tools, MeetEdgar’s main specialty is its content queue which ensures evergreen content. The platform allows you to categorize your content, and the categories also appear in the publication calendar, so you can visualize your publishing strategy.
Price (if billed monthly):
Eddie: $29.99/month (5 social accounts),
Edgar: $49.99/month (25 social accounts).
Platforms:
MeetEdgar supports publishing content to Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Facebook, Google Business Profile, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Key features
Great content visualization.
Customizable content categories.
Helps you repurpose content.
Benefits
Cost-efficient, so it is a great choice for smaller businesses and start-ups.
User-friendly and convenient interface.
You can invite 20 team members.
Sendible
Sendible is a major social media post scheduler platform that assists brands and marketing agencies in their social media marketing endeavors. Their White Label+ package was clearly designed for agencies that manage their clients’ multiple social media campaigns. Through this all-in-one tool, brands can manage their social media schedule for social media and post directly to their blogs - a unique feature among scheduling tools.
Price:
Creator: $29/month (1 user and 6 social profiles),
Traction: $89/month (4 users and 24 social profiles),
White Label: $270/month with 25% off (15 users and 90 social profiles),
White Label+: $750/month (100 users and 300 social profiles).
Custom plan with custom price.
Platforms:
Enables content scheduling to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Business Profile, YouTube, WordPress, and TikTok.
Key features
The publishing calendar provides a great visual representation of contents.
Auto-post directly to most platforms.
Pre-built reports with Google Analytics.
Works on iOS and Android.
Enables tailoring posts to each channel.
Content scheduling in bulk in advance.
Benefits
Allows adding geotags to Instagram posts.
Its image editor helps resize photos or add filters and text to them.
White labeling and custom reporting.
Customer success and training.
Agorapulse
Agorapulse’s strength lies in its team collaboration features and social inbox which handles all your engagement with social media users in one place. The scheduling tool also includes a built-in CRM which helps you segment your audience, label top followers, and eventually find brand advocates. Besides social media scheduling, the platform has a social listening feature as well.
Price (if billed monthly):
Free (1 user and 3 social profiles),
Standard: $69/user/month (10 social profiles),
Professional: $99/user/month (10 social profiles),
Advanced: $149/user/month (10 social profiles),
Custom with custom price.
Platforms:
You can connect your Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google Business Profile accounts to Agorapulse.
Key features
Unified content calendar.
Content library.
Social inbox for managing all your interactions with your audience.
White label reporting.
Google Analytics and Canva integration.
Mobile-friendly (works on iOS and Android).
Chrome extension.
Benefits
AI-powered content creation assistant.
Through GA integration, Agorapulse provides Social Media ROI estimates.
In-built CRM and social listening features.
Buffer
Buffer is one of the best social media scheduling tools on the market because of its easy-to-navigate dashboard, user-friendly calendar, and content planning and publishing tools. Buffer's subscription plans support content scheduling to multiple platforms, and the Team package allows co-working between team members.
With the social media scheduler, you can create and plan social media content in bulk and schedule your campaign's posts in advance. The software comes with a number of features for content creation from an AI assistant to previews of posts. It integrates with Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox and content can be exported to the platform from Canva.
Price:
Free (max. 3 channels),
Essentials: $6/month per channel,
Team: $12/month per channel,
Agency: $120/month for 10 channels.
Platforms:
With Buffer users can manage their content on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Google Business Profile, Shopify, and Pinterest.
Key features
Easy-to-use, straightforward publishing calendar.
You can engage with your audience on the platform.
First comment scheduling for Instagram.
Buffer AI Assistant.
Tailor posts to each network.
Mobile-friendly (works on iOS and Android).
Browser extension.
Benefits
Supports more than 30 third-party software integrations, including Zapier and MailChimp.
Landing Page builder.
Social media and email support.
Offers a 14-day trial for each of its subscription packages.
Free plan (with limited features).
CoSchedule
CoSchedule offers a full-fledged marketing calendar with versatile editorial tools. This platform is primarily recommended for marketers running campaigns or posting content on multiple platforms simultaneously and wanting to see their work in one place. Thus, CoSchedule's greatest strength is its visually appealing, drag-and-drop calendar. It also includes many features valuable for creating content, such as templates and AI prompts, which help optimize and customize posts.
Price (if billed monthly):
Free Calendar (1 user, 2 social profiles)
Social Calendar: $29/user/month (up to 3 users, 5 social profiles),
Content Calendar: custom price (up to 5 users, 10 social profiles),
Marketing Suite: custom price
Platforms:
Social media marketing managers or freelancers can connect Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok to CoSchedule.
Key features
Advanced social media marketing calendar enabling you to overview all your marketing activities.
Direct publishing for Instagram Creator and Business accounts.
Provides the best time for publishing.
Bulk scheduling.
Customer support.
Benefits
AI assistant for content creation.
WordPress plugin.
Basic support for the free plan.
Apart from the many in-built features, CoSchedule offers numerous free tools and resources on its website from caption and blog title generator to headline analyzer.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is currently one of the most popular and best scheduling tools in the market. Along with its common content planning and scheduling features, Hootsuite has also caught up with the AI-powered trend of topic creation and includes post and caption ideas, a solution for rewriting your top-performing post that can be reused later, and a tool that helps you get content inspiration from the web.
You can monitor your connected accounts' content feeds, and your audience's reactions, and communicate with users through Hootsuite Streams, a centralized inbox. The suite also includes competitive benchmarking and recommends the optional time to publish.
Price (billed annually):
Professional: €99/month (1 user, 10 social accounts),
Team: €249/month (3 users, 20 social accounts),
Enterprise Custom: custom price (starts with 5 users and 50 social accounts).
Platforms:
Businesses are able to plan and schedule content on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn content with Hootsuite.
Key features
Bulk scheduling.
Link shortener and tracker.
Asset library.
Hashtag suggestions.
The Streams feature shows your content feeds, plus you can track your audience and interact with them.
Optimal time for posting recommendations.
Benefits
Offers a 30-day trial for its two plans.
More than 130 app integrations, including Canva, Google Drive, and Dropbox.
A themed catalog of ideas if you're running out of inspiration.
Free images by Pixabay.
SocialPilot
SocialPilot is an all-in-one social media management platform. It is a top choice for marketing professionals and brands, and caters to small and medium-sized businesses as well as large companies with its diverse capabilities which range from team collab and client approval features to content creation and customization and social inbox for monitoring the audience’s interaction.
Price (if billed monthly):
Professional: €30/month (1 user, 10 social media accounts),
Small Team: €50/month (3 users, 20 social media accounts),
Agency: €100/month (6 users, 30 social media accounts),
Agency+: €200/month (unlimited users, 50 social media accounts).
Platforms:
SocialPilot lets marketing teams organize their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, and TikTok content.
Key features
Easily manageable content calendar.
Bulk scheduling.
Social inbox to respond to comments and track clients’ reactions.
Content tailored to the requirements of all platforms.
AI-generated topic and caption ideas.
Benefits
For later use, you can save and store posts and hashtag groups in your content library.
Numerous app integrations, including Slack, Zapier, and Canva.
Browser extension.
Self-service knowledge base.
Pallyy
Pallyy was clearly designed to help small businesses and one-person marketing teams. Besides its free plan, it offers a premium package that is among the cheapest on the market. In its free plan, Pallyy offers features that other services only include in their paid subscriptions, such as Instagram's first comment, publishing preview, bio link URL, and competitor monitoring - even though you can only track one competitor in the free version.
Price (if billed monthly):
Free (1 user, 1 social set),
Premium: $18/month (1 user, 1 social set).
Platforms:
Content scheduling for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Key features
Straightforward content calendar.
Helpful visual planner.
Best time for posting recommendations.
AI caption generator (available even in the Free plan, although with limitations).
Content preview and drafts.
Competitor insights.
Benefits
Thanks to its budget-friendly pricing, Pallyy is ideal for local and small businesses or personal brands.
Invaluable design and editorial tools focusing on Instagram marketing.
Loomly
Loomly's strength is that it can significantly increase the reach and success of a social media campaign. One of the core features of the platform is audience targeting, which is included in all packages - although it only works on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Also, Loomly includes the same content planning and organizing features as other social media tools, such as an asset library, content ideas, optimization, preview, and automated publishing.
Price (if billed monthly):
Base: $42/month (2 users, 10 social accounts),
Standard: $85/month (6 users, 20 social accounts),
Advanced: $175/month (14 users, 35 social accounts),
Premium: $369/month (30 users, 50 social accounts),
Enterprise: You need to request a quote.
Platforms:
Loomly integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Business Profile, TikTok, and Snapchat and also enables connecting a custom channel.
Key features
With Loomly’s tools, you can refine your content to meet different platform prerequisites.
The tool provides post ideas.
Content preview and editing.
Audience targeting options for Facebook and LinkedIn organic posts.
Benefits
Four out of their five plans provide integrations with apps, such as Slack, Zapier, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, and Giphy.
Target your ideal customer based on age, gender, location, and interests.
SocialBee
The SocialBee platform not only lets brands schedule social media posts but also optimizes their content strategy. You can group posts into categories to help you keep track of which types of posts you have shared with your audience so far and ensure variety in your content styles. Additionally, you can see if there is too much content of one type - for example, product presentations - and too little of another - such as blog posts - to avoid overwhelming people with repetitious publications.
Price (if billed monthly):
SocialBee has standard plans for small businesses and robust plans for agencies.
Subscription offers for entrepreneurs and SMBs:
Bootstrap: $29/month (1 user, 1 workspace, 5 social profiles),
Accelerate: $49/month (1 user, 1 workspace, 10 social profiles),
Pro: $99/month (3 users, 5 workspaces, 25 social profiles).
Plans for agencies:
Pro50: $179/month (5 users, 10 workspaces, 50 social profiles),
Pro100: $329/month (5 users, 20 workspaces, 100 social profiles),
Pro150: $449/month (5 users, 30 workspaces, 150 social profiles),
Platforms:
SocialBee supports the integration of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, TikTok, and YouTube.
Key features
AI-powered caption and topic generator.
Content categorization.
Bulk content imports.
Repurposing posts.
Hashtag collection.
Benefits
Prompt templates for caption generation.
One of the best scheduling tools for generating evergreen content and optimizing your social media strategy.
NapoleonCat
NapoleonCat is a popular social media tool with an abundance of functionalities. The platform tries to meet the needs and preferences of one-person brands and freelancers, small and medium-sized businesses as well as large companies and marketing agencies. Thus, it is packed with planning, publishing, collaboration, engagement, analytical, and reporting tools.
Price (if billed monthly):
Standard: $32/month (1 user, 3 profiles),
Pro: $76/month (1 user, 3 profiles),
Custom: starts from $465/month
By moving the slider to the right, the platform will calculate the additional fee for more users or profiles.
Platforms:
With NapoleonCat you can manage your social media content on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Google Business Profile.
Key features
Label or categorize your content for an easier overview of your strategy.
Customize posts to each platform.
Plan and manage Instagram Reels, Carousels, and Stories on one platform.
Available on iOS and Android.
Team workflow features.
Social inbox for community engagement.
Benefits
Detailed analysis and reporting in all plans.
Competitor and benchmark analysis.
Planoly
Planoly is a suitable social media scheduling tool for content creators, marketing consultants, and small teams if their content relies mainly on visuals. Planoly’s platform offers a variety of content creation solutions, including design, editing, and writing. Besides a hashtag manager and a stock photo library, it also recommends trending sounds and videos.
There's a whole emerging market of tools created especially for creators, and Planoly is yet another tool that does just that. But apart from that, there are, above all, influencer analytics, media kit creation, and brand collaboration tools and platforms. Take HypeAuditor for Influencers, which can be a striking example of a multifunctional platform for creators. So, getting back to Planoly,... The platform’s packages are very affordable, and it focuses on content creation, scheduling, and planning.
Price:
Starter: $13/month (1 user, 1 social set),
Growth: $23/month (3 users, 1 social set),
Professional: $43/month (6 users, 2 social sets).
Platforms:
The social media scheduling tool integrates with Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Key features
Upgrade content from Canva, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
Reminder for manual posting.
Publishing review.
Stock photo library.
Link in bio can be customized.
Email support.
Benefits
E-Commerce feature: Sellit - although you have to upgrade to use it.
Hashtag manager.
Weekly trends.
Onlypult
Onlypult is one of the rare social media scheduler tools that support content organizing and planning on more than the usual 6 to 7 social media channels. For content marketers seeking to extend their content strategy to a variety of channels and engage their audiences with distinct content types, this tool is a secret weapon. Keeping up with the requirements of all these platforms can be challenging, which is perhaps why OnlyPult's Publishing toolkit is so comprehensive.
Price (if billed and paid monthly):
Start: $25/month (1 user, 5 profiles),
SMM: $35/month (2 users, 10 profiles),
Agency: $65/month (5 users, 25 profiles),
Pro: $99/month (10 users, 50 profiles).
Onlypult also offers a Custom plan tailored to unique needs and requirements.
Platforms:
Onlypult supports the following social channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, YouTube, TikTok, Tumblr, WordPress, Telegram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Pinterest, and Medium.
Key features
Works on iOS and Android (mobile-friendly),
We can't list all of the content planning and publishing features. Here are a few:
Photo and video editor,
Hashtag library,
Stock images,
Drafts,
Post templates.
Benefits
Onlypult has a multilingual interface.
Posting to several social media profiles at the same time.
Social listening capabilities.
Considering its diverse features and functionalities, it is very cost-friendly.
Metricool
Metricool is one of the few scheduling tools that offers enough features even in its free package to handle your social media marketing effectively. Not only does the suite suggest when to post, but it also highlights the times in your calendar when your community is most active on social media. Seeing this visual representation will further motivate you to post at times when you can broaden your reach, as well as engage your community.
Price (with annual payment):
Free,
Starter: from $18/month,
Advanced: from $45/month,
Enterprise: from $139/month.
Platforms:
With Metricool, social media managers can manage their content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile.
Key features
Auto-publish content to numerous platforms.
Leverage the platform’s suggestions when it is the best time to publish content.
Ensured publishing consistency with autolists.
Image and video editor.
Media library.
AI writing assistant.
Benefits
Provides a free plan.
Competitor analytics.
Hashtag analysis.
Canva integration.
FAQ
What is a social media scheduling tool?
A social media scheduling tool helps companies, social marketers, and even content creators plan social media posts in advance and schedule content publication. Despite the differences between each software, they all provide the same benefits in the end. Users can schedule social media content for multiple platforms, including Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, to ensure consistency in posting. Social media management tools are incredibly helpful for companies of all sizes. Micro- and small businesses don't need their own marketing team to continuously engage their followers. With a social media scheduling app, they can plan publication times. For larger businesses, they can schedule and publish content on 4 to 5 different social media channels considering their audiences' time zones.
The majority of social media marketing tools provide a content calendar, making it easier to visualize and maintain a balanced content or social strategy. Another key feature is the analytics dashboard, which allows social media managers to evaluate the performance of their posts and campaigns. Some tools enable multiple users to collaborate on social content together and integrate with email marketing or CRM platforms.
Is there a free social media scheduling tool?
The good news is that there are free social tools, which are handy for small brands that don't necessarily have a budget for these services. Generally, free tools are valuable for any company to get a feel for a platform before subscribing. Bear in mind, though, that free plans come with limitations. They are usually limited to one user and allow only a limited number of posts and profiles. There are also no - or very basic - analytics and reporting features available with free solutions. Here are a few marketing tools that offer a free plan:
Buffer,
Later,
Agorapulse,
Metricool,
CoSchedule
Pallyy,
Socialoomph.
How do I schedule all my social media?
The process of scheduling content on numerous social networks can be done manually, however, it will still take several individuals a considerable amount of time. Even then, mistakes can still creep into the process. The easiest way to plan and organize your organic posts is with a scheduling tool for social media. These services allow you to create content, schedule publication, and promote it across multiple social media platforms in a timely manner.
Select a marketing tool that fits your needs and budget.
Link your social media accounts to the post scheduler tool.
You can use a social media calendar to plan your posting timeline and to schedule content in advance.
Develop topics and ideas that will appeal to your audience and that you will use for social media campaigns.
Create content, including videos and image posts, blog articles, etc.
Plan your posts for multiple social platforms ahead of time with a social media scheduler. With the top social media scheduling tools, you can customize each post to meet the requirements of each platform.
Check your content for errors and make sure the timing is right.
The tool automatically publishes content at the pre-set time.
By scheduling social media posts, you will maintain a consistent presence on social media, helping you stay top of mind with your audience. Furthermore, a social media scheduling tool will help you build relationships with them and keep them engaged, ultimately leading to a desired action.
How do social media scheduling tools work?
These tools all have a sort of content scheduling option. With them, you are able to consistently post on the social media channels of your choice at the best time of day so that you achieve the greatest reach and engagement possible. Apart from their main functions, scheduling tools may have minor differences between them. Some scheduling tools work with most social networks, while others only work on certain social media platforms. There are some tools that allow you to publish your articles on blogging platforms, while others let you integrate apps. In either case, choose a tool that meets most - if not all - of your needs, is user-friendly, and is within your budget.
As soon as you find the best social media management tool, connect your social media accounts to it. As part of this step, you authorize the tool to access your accounts and post on your behalf.
After creating your social media content, upload it to the platform. You can make your post more engaging by using a tool that offers design and editing solutions. Additionally, you can optimize each one for the formal prerequisites of the platform, ensuring that you meet the character limits and image size requirements.
Then you can set the time when your posts appear on each platform. Consider when your target audience is most active; to do this, you need to be aware of the demographic data of your audience, particularly the location data. Your audience may be in a different time zone than you.
Fortunately, you can preview and edit the scheduled content. Check the text and images again to ensure they appear as you intended. Verify that the content includes the proper mentions, keywords, and hashtags.
Use content queues. Using this strategy, you maximize your publication continuity while creating categorized content repositories on the platform that you can reuse in the future.
The majority of social media scheduling tools come with analytics capabilities. Using performance insights like reach, clicks, conversions, and engagement will help you improve your content strategy and social media marketing efforts.
