Buffervs
Hootsuite
Hootsuite: Full-featured social media management platform with advanced analytics and listening tools, but costs significantly more ($199/mo minimum vs Buffer's $5/mo)
Buffer
Build your audience organically on social media
As of 30 August 2026, Buffer has a free plan and paid plans start at $5/month. Buffer is a social media management platform that helps businesses and individuals plan, collaborate, and publish content across multiple social networks. Softwr lists it under Marketing. Buffer is made by Buffer Inc, launched in 2010, available on Web, iOS, Android.
Overview
What Buffer does
Buffer is a social media management platform that helps businesses and individuals plan, collaborate, and publish content across multiple social networks. With intuitive scheduling, analytics, and engagement tools, Buffer streamlines your social media workflow.
What people use it for
- Social media scheduling
- Content planning
- Performance analytics
- Team collaboration
- Client management
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Buffer.
- The free plan allows 3 connected channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel
- Essentials at $5 a month covers a single user; team members need the Team plan at $10 a month
- Approval workflows and custom permissions are Team tier only
- API access is rationed by plan, from 3,000 monthly requests on free to 15,000 on Team
- Content ideas are capped at 100 on the free plan
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Buffer
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- BuffervsSprout Social
Sprout Social: Enterprise-grade social media management for large teams and agencies, with more sophisticated analytics and team collaboration features
- BuffervsEmplifi
Emplifi: Social listening and engagement platform focused on large brands, with AI-powered insights for social conversation analysis
Pricing
What Buffer costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- 3 connected accounts
- 10 scheduled posts per channel per month
- 100 content ideas
- 1 user
- Basic analytics (30-day history)
Essentials
$5 /mo
- Unlimited scheduled posts
- Per-channel pricing
- Advanced analytics
- Hashtag manager
- First comment scheduling
- API access (3 keys, 7,500 requests/month)
Team
$10 /mo
- Unlimited team members
- Unlimited scheduled posts
- Content approval workflows
- Custom access levels
- Branded reports
- API access (5 keys, 15,000 requests/month)
Capabilities
Features
Post scheduling
Content calendar
Analytics dashboard
Link shortening
Hashtag manager
First comment
Instagram Stories
Shop Grid
Facebook
Integration with Facebook
Instagram
Integration with Instagram
Twitter
Integration with Twitter
LinkedIn
Integration with LinkedIn
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Does Buffer's free plan include all social media platforms?
The free plan supports 3 connected accounts across any of Buffer's 11 supported platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon) with up to 10 scheduled posts per channel per month.
SourceCan I schedule Instagram Stories with Buffer?
No. Instagram Stories cannot be auto-published. Buffer sends a mobile notification to manually post stories, as Instagram does not provide an API for automated Story scheduling.
SourceWhat is Buffer's per-channel pricing model?
Buffer charges per social media account (channel) rather than per user. Channels 1-10 cost standard rates ($5 Essentials or $10 Team), with additional channels beyond 10 discounted per channel.
SourceDoes Buffer have a mobile app and what platforms does it support?
Yes, Buffer offers iOS and Android apps for mobile management. The iOS app supports Mastodon and YouTube comment features, while Android support for these features is in development. Android community access works on the six most recent major Android versions.
SourceWhat discount does Buffer offer for annual billing?
Buffer offers a 20% discount for annual billing across all paid plans, plus an additional 50% discount on paid plans for nonprofit organizations.
SourceCan Buffer integrate with content creation and storage tools?
Yes. Buffer integrates with 24 tools including Canva, Google Drive, Dropbox, Unsplash for media, Zapier and Make for automation, WordPress for publishing, and Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for AI-assisted content creation.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Buffer
- Company
- Buffer Inc
- Based in
- Remote
- Founders
- Joel Gascoigne, Leo Widrich, Tom Moor
Timeline
Buffer over time
Keep looking
Where to go from Buffer
- Buffer alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Buffer pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Buffer badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Marketing softwareThe full category
- Best Marketing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Marketing software for
Compare Buffer with
- Hootsuite
- MoEngage
- Instapage
- Leadpages
- Iterable
- Customer.io
- Mailgun
- Postmark
- Unbounce
- Moz
- Vimeo
- Ahrefs
- Improvado
- Insider
- Invoca
- June
- Kissmetrics
- Instapage
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Buffer, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Buffer
Buffer alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Buffer pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Buffer
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Buffer badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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