Head-to-head
Buffer vs Metricool
Quick verdict: Pick Buffer if you manage a handful of social accounts and pick Metricool if you manage several brands. The tools bill on different units, so the same setup can be cheaper on either one and there is no winner in the abstract. Work out your account count first, then read the price off the right ladder.
Buffer and Metricool are both social media schedulers with a free plan, and on a feature list they look close. The bill is where they part company: Buffer charges for every social account you connect, while Metricool charges for every brand you manage and lets one brand hold a profile on each network. That single difference is what decides which one is cheaper for you, and it can point either way.
Everything below was read off buffer.com/pricing, its plan-features help article and metricool.com/pricing on August 24, 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, the cell says so rather than estimating one.
Buffer
8.5/ 10
Excellent · Best for simple scheduling
Social media scheduling tool · From $0/mo · founded 2010
Metricool
8.5/ 10
Excellent · Best value for managing many brands
Social media management tool · From $0/mo · founded 2015
On the scores Each score is the editorial rating from that tool's own review on this site, applied to the tool as a whole rather than to this match-up. This page ranks nothing: it lays the two vendors' published plans side by side so you can price your own setup.
01 · Plans and pricing
Plans, prices and limits
USD list prices as of August 24, 2026. Buffer's rows are per connected channel; Metricool's are per plan, sized by brand count. Neither figure includes tax.
| Plan detail | Buffer | Metricool |
|---|---|---|
| Free planbuffer.com/pricing and metricool.com/pricing, read August 24, 2026 | $0. 3 connected channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 100 ideas, 1 user. | $0. 1 brand, every network except LinkedIn and X/Twitter, 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles. |
| Cheapest paid tier, and what it addsbuffer.com/pricing and metricool.com/pricing, read August 24, 2026 | Essentials, $5 per channel per month on yearly billing ($6 monthly). Adds unlimited scheduling, advanced analytics, the hashtag manager and first-comment scheduling. | Starter, $20 a month on annual billing for up to 5 brands ($25 monthly). Adds LinkedIn, unlimited publishing, unlimited analytics history, 100 competitor profiles and PDF/PPT reports. |
| What you are billed forBoth definitions quoted from the vendors' own pricing FAQs, read August 24, 2026 | A channel: one social account. Five brands with an Instagram and a Facebook page each is 10 channels. | A brand: one business or client. Each brand holds one profile per network, so those same five brands are 5 brands. |
| Price for more connectionsbuffer.com/pricing.md and metricool.com/pricing, read August 24, 2026 | Volume ladder on monthly billing: channels 1-10 cost $6 each on Essentials and $12 on Team, 11-25 cost $4, 26-50 cost $3, and 51 and up cost $1 (Essentials) or $2 (Team). | Brand-count steps on annual billing: 5 brands $20, 10 brands $36, 15 brands $53, 25 brands $85, 50 brands $159 a month. |
| Annual discountBoth figures are the vendors' own wording, read August 24, 2026 | Buffer's FAQ says annual billing gives "a 20% discount"; the plan cards show $5 per channel yearly against $6 monthly and label it "save 2 months". | The billing toggle is labeled "Annual (save up to 24%)"; Starter is $20 a month annually against $25 monthly. |
| X / Twitter surchargemetricool.com/pricing add-on grid and buffer.com/pricing.md channel table, read August 24, 2026 | None. X/Twitter is a channel like any other and is billed at the standard per-channel rate. | $10 per connected account per month, on top of the plan, on all three paid tiers. X cannot be connected on the Free plan at all. |
| Analytics depthbuffer.com/pricing.md feature tables and metricool.com/pricing feature grid, read August 24, 2026 | Insights with 30 days of history on Free, unlimited on paid. The performance overview, custom analytics and reports are paid-only; branded reports need the Team plan. Buffer's published plan tables carry no social listening or competitor row on any tier. | 30 days of metric storage on Free, unlimited on paid. Competitor analysis on every plan (5 profiles free, 100 on paid), plus ad reporting. The Advanced Analytics add-on starts at $12 a month on Starter and $36 on Advanced. |
| Scheduling limitsbuffer.com/pricing.md and metricool.com/pricing, read August 24, 2026 | 10 queued posts per channel at a time on Free (a slot frees up as each post publishes); unlimited on paid, under a fair-use cap Buffer states as 5,000 posts per channel. | 20 scheduled posts a month on Free; unlimited on every paid plan, marked as subject to Metricool's Fair Use Policy. |
| Team seatsbuffer.com/pricing.md and metricool.com/pricing, read August 24, 2026 | 1 user on Free and Essentials. The Team plan ($10 per channel yearly, $12 monthly) adds unlimited members with no per-seat fee, plus approval workflows and access levels. | No team members on Free or Starter. Advanced (from $53 a month annually, 15 brands) adds unlimited team members, role management, client access and a post-approval system. |
| Free trialbuffer.com/pricing and support.buffer.com, read August 24, 2026 | 14 days on the paid plans; Buffer's help center says a trial account sits on the Team plan so every feature is visible. | Not published. |
- Buffer states on its pricing page that "our pricing was last updated in November 2025". Metricool publishes no equivalent date.
- Neither set of prices includes tax. Metricool states VAT is calculated before signing; Buffer applies UK VAT to B2C customers there.
- Metricool prices in both euros and dollars, and the euro figures are not a straight conversion (Starter is €16 a month annually against $20). The rows above use the USD toggle.
- Buffer publishes a 50% nonprofit discount on paid plans. Metricool's pricing page does not mention one.
02 · Features
What each one publishes
Every cell below is what the vendor documents on its own pricing or plan-features page. Where a vendor publishes nothing for a capability, the cell says “Not published” rather than guessing at it.
| Area | Buffer | Metricool |
|---|---|---|
| Networks supportedBuffer covers Mastodon, which Metricool's grid does not list. Metricool covers Twitch and ad-account reporting, which Buffer's does not. YouTube support on Buffer is Shorts only. | Instagram (business and creator), Facebook pages and groups, TikTok, LinkedIn pages and profiles, X/Twitter, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon. | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X/Twitter (add-on), YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Twitch, Google Business Profile, plus a website/blog and Facebook, Google and TikTok ad accounts. |
| Best-time recommendationsBuffer's pricing page and its plan-features help article list custom posting schedules on every plan but publish no best-time recommendation feature, so there is nothing to quote. Our Buffer review describes its Recommended Posting Times as strongest on Instagram. | Not published | Best Times, listed as included on every plan including Free. |
| Inbox and engagement | Community inbox on every plan including Free, covering comments on ten networks. AI reply suggestions are capped at 5 a week on Free and unlimited on paid. | Inbox on every plan for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok and YouTube. LinkedIn needs Starter; X/Twitter needs the paid add-on. |
| ReportsThis is the axis Metricool leads on for client work: PDF and PPT client reports arrive one paid tier lower than Buffer's branded reports. | No reports on Free. Essentials adds reports and custom UTM parameters; branded reports are a Team-plan feature. | No reports on Free. Starter adds automated reports and PDF/PPT downloads; customizable templates and the Looker Studio connector need Advanced. |
| AI featuresBuffer publishes no credit cap on its assistant; Metricool publishes an explicit monthly allowance. Neither vendor publishes what one credit buys. | AI Assistant on every plan, described as "unlimited use" for creating, refining and repurposing content. AI reply suggestions in the inbox are metered on Free. | AI assistant metered in credits per brand per month: 5 on Free, 20 on Starter, 35 on Advanced, custom on the Custom plan. Alt-text generation spends the same credits on the lower tiers. |
| API access | On every plan, including Free: 1 key and 3,000 requests a month free, 3 keys and 7,500 on Essentials, 5 keys and 15,000 on Team. | Advanced and Custom only, alongside the Zapier, Make and MCP integrations. |
| White labelBuffer's published plan tables carry no white-label row, so there is no figure or availability statement to quote. | Not published | Listed on the Custom plan only, priced by contacting sales rather than published. |
03 · Who each one fits
Pick by the shape of your accounts
Choose Buffer if
- You run two or three accounts and want the least setup: on Buffer that is $10 to $15 a month on Essentials with yearly billing ($12 to $18 monthly), under Metricool's $20 Starter floor.
- You want to stay free for longer. Buffer's free plan carries no monthly post cap, only 10 queued posts per channel at a time.
- You post to Mastodon, or you want a scheduler that has historically added new networks early.
- You want a paid API on the cheapest tier: Buffer publishes API access on every plan, Metricool from Advanced.
- Your team is many people on few accounts. Buffer's Team plan charges no per-seat fee.
Choose Metricool if
- You manage several clients or brands. One brand covers all of that brand's networks, so the price stops tracking your account count.
- Client reporting matters: PDF and PPT reports land on Starter, a tier below Buffer's branded reports.
- You want competitor tracking and ad reporting in the same dashboard, both of which Buffer does not publish at all.
- You want posting-time guidance on the free plan: Best Times is listed on every Metricool tier.
- You need unlimited analytics history rather than Buffer's 30-day free window, without paying per channel for it.
04 · The verdict
Which one should you pay for?
The arithmetic is simple once the units are clear. A creator with three channels pays $15 a month on Buffer Essentials with yearly billing, against $20 a month for Metricool Starter, so Buffer is cheaper. An agency running five clients with three networks each is 15 channels on Buffer, which is $80 a month on Essentials with monthly billing under the published volume ladder, against $20 a month on Metricool Starter with annual billing for five brands. That is a four-fold gap in Metricool's favor, and it widens as brands are added.
Two published details can flip the sums. Metricool bills X/Twitter as a $10 per connected account per month add-on on every paid tier, and does not allow X on the Free plan at all, so a five-brand agency that posts to X pays $50 a month more than the plan price implies. On the other side, Buffer's cheapest paid tier is per channel, so a single extra Instagram account on a client costs $5 to $6 a month forever, while on Metricool it costs nothing until you cross a brand-count step.
On capability rather than price, the split is just as clean. Metricool publishes competitor tracking, ad-account reporting, PDF and PPT client reports and best-time recommendations, including on plans Buffer has no equivalent for. Buffer publishes a simpler product with API access on every plan, a free tier with no monthly post cap and no per-seat charge on its team tier. Neither of those lists is a score; they are what each vendor documents, and which set matters is a decision about your work, not about the tools.
This comparison is an editorial read of both vendors' published pricing and plan-feature pages, not a product test. Every price, limit and quota above was read on August 24, 2026 and can change without notice; check each vendor's live pricing page before you buy. The two scores come from our Buffer review and Metricool review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Neither is better in general, because they charge for different things. Buffer bills per connected social account at $5 per channel per month on yearly billing ($6 monthly), so a creator with two or three accounts pays $10 to $15 a month on yearly billing ($12 to $18 monthly).
Metricool bills per brand at $20 a month on annual billing for up to five brands ($25 monthly), and one brand covers a profile on each network, so an agency running five clients pays far less than the equivalent 15 Buffer channels. Buffer is the better pick for a few accounts and the simplest setup; Metricool is the better pick for several brands, for competitor tracking and for client reports. Both figures were read off buffer.com/pricing and metricool.com/pricing on August 24, 2026.
The billing unit is the real difference. Buffer defines a channel as one social account, so five brands with an Instagram and a Facebook page each is 10 channels. Metricool defines a brand as one business or client, and each brand holds one profile per network, so the same setup is 5 brands.
Beyond price, Metricool publishes competitor analysis, ad-account reporting, PDF and PPT reports and best-time recommendations, while Buffer publishes API access on every plan including the free one, a free tier with no monthly post cap, and no per-seat fee on its Team plan. Metricool also charges $10 per connected account per month for X/Twitter on its paid plans and does not allow X on its free plan; Buffer bills X like any other channel.
It depends on how many accounts you manage. Below roughly four connected accounts Buffer is cheaper, because Essentials starts at $5 per channel per month on yearly billing against Metricool's $20 a month Starter floor. Above that Metricool pulls ahead quickly: 15 channels on Buffer Essentials with monthly billing costs about $80 a month under its published volume ladder (channels 1 to 10 at $6, 11 to 25 at $4), while the same 5 brands across 3 networks each is $20 a month on Metricool Starter with annual billing. Add $10 per connected account per month if you need X/Twitter on Metricool. All prices read August 24, 2026.
They are limited in different ways, so it depends on your shape. Buffer's free plan connects up to 3 channels with 10 queued posts per channel at a time and no monthly cap, plus 1 user, the AI Assistant, the community inbox and 30 days of analytics. Metricool's free plan covers 1 brand across every network except LinkedIn and X/Twitter, with 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles and 30 days of analytics. If you post often to a few accounts, Buffer's is more generous; if you want one brand's whole network set plus competitor tracking in one view, Metricool's is. Both were read on August 24, 2026.
For most small teams the pricing model settles it. Hootsuite's own plans page states that paid plans "start at $99 for a Standard plan, $199 for a Professional plan, and range up to $399 for an Advanced plan", priced per user per month on annual billing, with a free 14-day trial and no free plan (read August 24, 2026).
Metricool starts at $0 and its cheapest paid tier is $20 a month for up to five brands. Hootsuite buys things Metricool does not sell at that price, including social listening and enterprise governance, which is why our reviews rate Metricool 8.5/10 and Hootsuite 6.5/10 on value for the typical reader rather than on capability. Our Hootsuite review and our Metricool review set out both cases in full.
Metricool, on the published numbers, unless your agency is unusually seat-heavy. Client work needs many brands, client-ready reports and role separation: Metricool's Advanced plan starts at $53 a month on annual billing for 15 brands and adds team and client management, role permissions, a post-approval system and unlimited team members, and PDF and PPT reports arrive one tier earlier on Starter. The equivalent on Buffer is the Team plan, which is where its unlimited-members-no-seat-fee advantage lives, but 15 client channels there is $140 a month on monthly billing under Buffer's published Team ladder (channels 1 to 10 at $12 each, 11 to 25 at $4) against Metricool's $53. Buffer's own review notes analytics and collaboration are lighter than agency-focused suites.
Yes. Both connect through the networks' official APIs and neither asks for your social passwords, so running both against the same accounts is a billing question rather than a safety one. In practice it is worth doing only while you are deciding: both free plans are open-ended, so you can schedule a week on each and compare the analytics and the composer before you pay. What you cannot do is split a plan across them to save money, because each tool bills for the accounts connected to it.
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