Social Media Management Tools Comparison: 2026 Matrix

Prices verified 30 September 2026 on buffer.com/pricing, planoly.com/pricing, sproutsocial.com/pricing and hootsuite.com/plans.

There is no single cheapest tool in this social media management tools comparison: the 12 tools below bill on six different units, and one is free. Buffer’s and Metricool’s free plans and Meta Business Suite cost nothing. Buffer’s paid plan starts at $6 per channel/month, billed monthly. Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Agorapulse charge per seat instead.

Table of Contents

• What does this social media management tools comparison show at a glance?
• How do 12 social media management tools compare on price?
• Which tools bill per seat, per channel, per brand or per plan?
• What does each tool cost for 1, 3 or 5 people?
• Which social media tools have a free plan or a free trial?
• Which head-to-head comparison matches your situation?
• What do vendors leave out of their own comparison pages?
• How do we compare tools?
• Where does Outfeed AI sit in this matrix, and where does it lose?
• FAQ

What does this social media management tools comparison show at a glance?

It depends on the team. For one person and one account, Buffer Essentials is the lowest paid list price here, at $6 per channel/month, billed monthly. For one person with five accounts, Planoly Starter comes out lowest, at $16 per month, billed monthly. For five people, the per-seat tools cost the most by a wide margin.

How do 12 social media management tools compare on price?

Published entry prices billed monthly run from free to $99 per seat/month, but each tool counts something different, so no row is like for like. Hootsuite publishes only annual rates; its entry plan is $99 per user/month, billed annually.

Disclosure: Outfeed AI makes a competing social media tool. We read every price on the vendor’s own page and recommend the competitor where it fits better.

Notes on the matrix:

• Hootsuite publishes no month-to-month figure, so none is estimated.
• Sendible labels its yearly prices “/yr”, but each is a per-month amount: the monthly price less 15%.
• Planable and Sked Social round their yearly card prices; the matrix divides their yearly totals ($390 per workspace/year, billed annually and $690 per year, billed annually) by 12.
• Metricool’s entry price covers up to 5 brands. Meta has no Business Suite pricing page; its help centre calls the tool free, and ads cost extra.

Which tools bill per seat, per channel, per brand or per plan?

Six billing units cover 11 of the 12 tools (Meta Business Suite is free), and each grows with a different number: headcount, accounts, brands, clients or the next tier. Pick the tool whose unit tracks whatever grows slowest in your team.

The arithmetic behind each model is in per-seat vs per-account pricing.

What does each tool cost for 1, 3 or 5 people?

Billed monthly, one person with five accounts pays from $16 (Planoly Starter) to $99 (Agorapulse Standard or Sprout Social Essentials) a month. Five people with 25 accounts pay from $55 (Planoly Pro) to $1,995 (Sprout Social Professional). Per-seat bills multiply by headcount; the other units mostly don’t.

Each cell is the cheapest list-priced plan that holds the team, named, so read it as a floor. Assumptions:

• A brand is 5 accounts on 5 networks, priced as one social set (Later, Planoly), brand (Metricool) or workspace (Planable).
• Every person on a per-seat plan is a full seat, and account caps are account-wide.
• Metricool’s team management starts at Advanced. Planable Basic holds 4 pages per workspace, so 5 accounts need Pro.
• Free plans, and add-ons without a published price, are left out.

Prices verified 30 September 2026 on agorapulse.com/pricing, buffer.com/pricing, hootsuite.com/plans, later.com/pricing, loomly.com/pricing, facebook.com/business/help/205614130852988, metricool.com/pricing, planable.io/pricing, planoly.com/pricing, sendible.com/pricing, skedsocial.com/pricing and sproutsocial.com/pricing.

Two stand out. Planoly Pro’s 6 social sets and 6 users give it the lowest paid five-person total, and Sked Social sells extra profiles singly, so three people with 10 accounts stay on its entry plan.

Which social media tools have a free plan or a free trial?

Five of the 12 have a free option, but only Buffer’s and Metricool’s are general-purpose schedulers; the others are mobile-only, AI-only or Meta-only. Every tool except Metricool and Meta Business Suite publishes a trial, and only Later’s says it needs a card.

Planable’s 50-post trial has no time limit.

Which head-to-head comparison matches your situation?

Find your need: the named tool does it well, and the link has the arithmetic.

If you need	Read
Buffer: 12 channels, including Mastodon and Substack, plus a free plan	Buffer pricing, channel by channel
Buffer or Later: per-channel billing or social sets	Buffer vs Later
Later: a visual Instagram planner and Link in Bio sales tracking	what Later charges per plan
Buffer or Hootsuite: channel breadth, or listening and a WhatsApp inbox	Buffer vs Hootsuite
Sprout Social: listening with sentiment, and presentation-ready reports	Sprout Social’s per-seat pricing, Hootsuite vs Sprout Social
Metricool: analytics, competitor benchmarks and paid ads across brands	our Metricool review, its brand bundles, Metricool vs Hootsuite
Loomly: approval rounds with post mockups and version history	Loomly pricing, plan by plan
Agorapulse: a shared inbox that also moderates ad comments	Agorapulse’s per-user pricing
Meta Business Suite: Facebook and Instagram at no cost	what Meta Business Suite really costs
Sendible or Planable: unlimited users on every plan	independent schedulers compared
A way off Hootsuite’s per-seat bill	where teams go after Hootsuite
A ranked shortlist, a lower total, or a many-account workflow	our ranked scheduler list, cheaper schedulers by total cost, running many accounts day to day

What do vendors leave out of their own comparison pages?

The month-to-month price, the team total, and the other side of a disputed claim. 10 of the 12 vendors open their pricing page on annual prices, and Hootsuite publishes no monthly figure at all. Two disputes, settled:

• Listening. On both Hootsuite and Sprout Social, “included” means basic monitoring. Hootsuite’s listening page puts basic listening on every plan and the full suite on Enterprise; Sprout Social includes keyword monitoring from Standard and sells full Listening as an add-on with no published price. Detail: Hootsuite vs Sprout Social.
• Hootsuite’s trial. The plans page says 14 days with no card; some third-party listings still say 30. The plans page is current. Detail: Buffer vs Hootsuite.

How do we compare tools?

We read every price on the vendor’s own pricing page, on the date shown, and record the unit it bills on. No figure comes from a review site or from memory.

• USD list prices before tax; promotions, nonprofit and regional discounts are ignored.
• Every price names its basis, billed monthly or annually, and the two are never mixed.
• Where a vendor publishes no figure, we say so rather than estimate.
• Trial and free-plan terms come from the vendor’s help centre when its pricing page is silent.
• Features come from vendor pages, not first-hand testing.
• Prices are re-checked quarterly and whenever a page quoting them changes.
• Rows are alphabetical, never ranked, and we build a competing product.

Where does Outfeed AI sit in this matrix, and where does it lose?

Outfeed AI bills a flat price at Starter and Pro and per seat at Agency, so it sits with the flat-plan tools up to three people and with the per-seat tools from four. It loses on channels (Buffer lists 12; Outfeed publishes to 9) and has no social listening, shared inbox or approval workflow.

Of the tools that bill per seat — Sprout Social and Hootsuite — Outfeed is not one of them at Starter or Pro; our per-seat tier starts at Agency. Agorapulse bills per user as well. That cuts both ways: at five people, only Sprout Social and, billed annually, Hootsuite cost more in the scenario tables.

You describe a post in chat; the assistant drafts it, previews it per platform and schedules it to 9 platforms, with Brand Voice AI from Pro. The limits:

• For listening, a shared inbox or approvals, Sprout Social, Agorapulse and Loomly are the better buys.
• X posts are text-only and capped per billing period by plan.
• TikTok posts publish as private for now, while TikTok reviews the app.
• No free plan. Starter includes a 3-day free trial with 100 AI credits. Card required. Pro and Agency are billed from the first day.

Details: Outfeed AI pricing and our Outfeed AI review. Our free tools need no account.

Try Outfeed AI’s chat-first scheduler

FAQ

How do social media management tool prices compare?

The tools bill on different units, so the lowest price depends on what the bill counts. Buffer’s and Metricool’s free plans and Meta Business Suite cost nothing. Billed monthly, Buffer Essentials is $6 per channel a month and Planoly Starter $16 a month for one social set. Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Agorapulse bill per seat.

What is the difference between Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprout Social?

The billing unit, first. Billed annually, Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel a month, while per-seat Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user a month and Sprout Social Essentials $79 per seat a month. Buffer lists 12 channels, Hootsuite includes basic listening, and Sprout Social’s strength is reporting.

Which social media management tools have a free plan?

Five of the 12 compared here: Buffer (up to 3 channels), Metricool (1 brand, 20 posts a month, no LinkedIn or X), Meta Business Suite (Meta’s own apps), Planoly (mobile app only, 10 uploads a month) and Agorapulse, whose AI-only Archie plan replaced its free scheduler on 6 July 2026.

Which social media management tool suits an agency?

One whose bill tracks what your agency grows slowest. Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan, Planable charges per workspace with unlimited users, and Metricool sells bundles up to 50 brands. Per-seat Agorapulse and Sprout Social cost more as staff grow, but are stronger on shared inbox and listening. Deciding what to sell? See what social media management services usually include. To pitch a client, start from our social media proposal template.

What does one person with five accounts pay on each tool?

For one person with about five accounts, billed monthly: Planoly Starter is $16 a month, Later Starter and Metricool Starter $25 each, and Buffer Essentials $30 for 5 channels. Agorapulse Standard and Sprout Social Essentials cost $99 per user a month, billed monthly.