SaaS directory

Best Social Media Management Tools: 11 tools compared for 2026

Social media management tools let teams plan, schedule and publish posts across networks, monitor mentions and messages, and report on performance from one dashboard. Larger platforms add approvals, social listening and a shared inbox.

Researched by Max Benz · Facts checked October 24, 2026 · How we research

Tools compared: 11
Publish prices: 10 of 11
Free plan or trial: 10 of 11
Median G2 rating: 4.5

Social Media Management Tools at a glance

Social Media Management Tools, sorted by number of G2 reviews
Tool	Best for	Pricing model	Starting price	G2 rating
Hootsuite	Teams that need scheduling, inbox and listening in one suite and can budget per user.	per user	$99 per user per month (Standard, annual billing basis)	4.3 (7,400 reviews)
Sprout Social	Mid-size and enterprise teams that value reporting and a unified inbox.	per user	$79 per seat per month (Essentials, annual); $99 monthly	4.4 (6,867 reviews)
Loomly	Small marketing teams and agencies that want an approval workflow in the cheapest tier.	per social account bundle (users and accounts rise by tier)	$49/month billed yearly ($65/month billed monthly)	4.6 (1,794 reviews)
Sprinklr	Large enterprises with many brands, markets and compliance workflows.	custom	Contact sales	4.1 (1,182 reviews)
Buffer	Creators and small businesses with a few channels.	per channel	$5 per channel per month (Essentials)	4.3 (1,039 reviews)
Agorapulse	Agencies and small teams that prioritize inbox and comment moderation.	per user, with social profile limits	$79/user/month (Standard, billed annually)	4.5 (968 reviews)
Sendible	Agencies managing many client brands (workspaces) with many teammates, since users are unlimited.	per workspace/profile bundle; unlimited users	$35/month (monthly billing; third-party listing, not confirmed on the vendor page)	4.5 (900 reviews)
SocialPilot	Agencies and small teams that want client management and white-label reports at low entry prices.	tiered by social accounts and users, with per-account and per-user add-ons	$17/month billed yearly ($20/month billed monthly)	4.5 (844 reviews)
Later	Solo creators, small brands and small teams that plan visual Instagram and TikTok content.	flat per plan with social set and user limits	$18.75/month (Starter, billed yearly)	4.5 (370 reviews)
Metricool	Freelancers and small agencies managing 5 to 50 brands on a budget.	per brand	$0 (Free, 1 brand); $20/month billed annually (Starter, 5 brands)	4.5 (101 reviews)
Planoly	Solo creators and small brands planning Instagram-first visual feeds.	per social set and user	$14/month (Starter, 1 social set, 1 user)	4.3 (67 reviews)

Prices as published by each vendor on October 24, 2026. "Contact sales" means no public price. G2 ratings read on the same day.

What social media management tools cost per seat

Published per-seat pricing, checked October 24, 2026
Tool	Per seat per month	Billing	Annual discount	Minimum seats	20 users per year
Hootsuite	$99 (Standard, 'from', annual billing basis)	Monthly and annual.	Annual gives a lower per-user rate; percentage not published.	1+ seats listed.	$99 x 20 users x 12 months = $23,760 per year at the Standard 'from' price (annual basis); Standard allows only 10 social accounts.
Sprout Social	$199 (Standard, as listed); Essentials $79 annual but only 5 profiles.	Monthly and annual.	Essentials only: $79 annual vs $99 monthly (about 20%)	Not published	$199 x 20 seats x 12 = $47,760 per year at Standard (assuming the listed price is per seat per month); Essentials $79 x 20 x 12 = $18,960.
Loomly	Not published	Monthly and annual.	About 25% ($49 vs $65 on Starter, $249 vs $332 on Beyond)	Starter caps at 3 users; no per-seat pricing.	Beyond (unlimited users): $249/month x 12 = $2,988/year on yearly billing; $332 x 12 = $3,984/year on monthly billing.
Buffer	Not published	Monthly and annual.	About 17% ('save 2 months'); FAQ says 20%.	Priced per channel, not per seat.	Priced per channel, not per user. Example: 20 channels on Team = $120 x 20 = $2,400 per year (Team has unlimited users)
Agorapulse	$79 (Standard, annual) or $99 monthly, per user.	Monthly and annual.	About 20% on Standard (vendor says up to 20%)	Not published	Standard annual: 20 x $79 x 12 = $18,960/year (monthly billing: 20 x $99 x 12 = $23,760). Profile limits per user not verified.
Sendible	Not published	Monthly and annual.	About 15% (vendor 'Save 15%' toggle)	None (unlimited users)	Plus (approvals, unlimited users): $99/month x 12 = $1,188/year on monthly billing (third-party listed price)
SocialPilot	$5 per additional user per month (add-on, Standard and Premium); plans include 3 or 6 users.	Monthly and annual.	About 15% (vendor 'Save 15%')	None; Standard includes 3 users.	Standard: $34 + 17 extra users x $5 = $119/month, x 12 = $1,428/year (assumes the $5 add-on price applies on annual billing; not stated). Alternative: Ultimate unlimited users $170 x 12 = $2,040/year.
Later	Base $37.50/month (billed yearly) for Growth includes 2 users; each extra user $3.75/month.	Monthly and annual.	25% off / '3 months free' per vendor page.	Not published	Growth yearly: $37.50 + 18 extra users x $3.75 = $105.00/month, x12 = $1,260/year (2 social sets only; extra sets $11.25/month each)
Metricool	Not published	Monthly and annual.	About 20% vs monthly.	Not published	Not published
Planoly	$47/month Pro includes 6 users (about $7.83 per user); extra users $3/month.	Monthly and annual.	Up to 15%, per pricing page.	Not published	Monthly billing, Pro: $47 + 14 extra users x $3 = $89/month = $1,068/year (extra social sets not included; annual prices not published)

"20 users per year" is calculated only from published list prices on the plan a 20-person team would realistically need. Taxes, discounts and add-ons are not included.

Costs buyers often miss

Hootsuite: Extra user seats (price not published).
Sprout Social: Listening (price not published); Premium Analytics (not published); Employee Advocacy (not published).
Loomly: No extra-user or extra-account add-ons published.
Agorapulse: Extra profiles $10 or $15/month each; Advanced Listening, Advocacy, Competitive Benchmarking (quote); X Lite / X Plus (quote).
Sendible: White label (Elite and Enterprise), price not published; Extra workspace (adds 6 profiles), price not published.
SocialPilot: Extra social account $4/month; Additional user $5/month (Standard, Premium).

How to compare social media management tools

Scheduling and publishing. Calendar, queue and bulk scheduling are the core workflow.
Supported networks. Coverage of LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, X and others varies.
Analytics and reporting. Client and exec reports show ROI.
Social inbox and engagement. Unified replies save community-manager time.
Social listening. Brand monitoring is gated behind higher tiers.
Approvals and collaboration. Agencies and teams need roles and review steps.
Pricing model. Per user and per social profile limits drive cost.
Target company size. Solo creators and enterprise suites differ.

Social Media Management Tools by buying criteria
Tool	Scheduling and publishing	Supported networks	Analytics and reporting	Social inbox and engagement	Social listening	Approvals and collaboration	Pricing model	Target company size
Hootsuite	Scheduler, bulk scheduling, best-time-to-post recommendations; bulk scheduling unavailable during the trial.	Says 'all major social networks' without a list; listening covers 30+ networks.	Post performance, sentiment, industry benchmarks, scheduled and custom reports; GA4 and Adobe Analytics ties on Enterprise.	Unified inbox for public and private messages with saved replies, auto-tagging, assignment and skill-based routing.	Trend, hashtag and topic search plus sentiment; advanced listening on Enterprise.	Approval workflows listed as a feature; plan gating not stated on the page.	Per user per month; extra seats bought as needed.	Small teams to enterprise (three self-serve tiers plus Enterprise)
Sprout Social	Compose box, calendar, Sprout Queue, ViralPost; CSV bulk scheduling up to 350 messages on Professional and Advanced.	Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest, TikTok.	Group, profile and post reports on all plans; competitor reports on Professional and up; scheduled reports on Advanced.	Smart Inbox with moderation and case management; tagging on Professional and Advanced.	Paid add-on (Query Builder, Listener Insights) on Standard and up.	Message approval on Professional and Advanced; external approval on Advanced.	Per seat per month; tiers by profile count and features.	SMB to enterprise.
Loomly	Calendar scheduling with unlimited calendars on all plans; link shorteners.	Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Threads.	Advanced analytics on Starter; scheduled reports only on Beyond.	Reply to interactions, saved replies and conversation assignment on both paid plans.	Limited: 2 searches per month on Starter, 5 on Beyond.	Approval workflows and roles on Starter; custom roles and workflows on Beyond.	Bundles of social accounts plus users; Beyond and Enterprise have unlimited users.	Small teams and agencies.
Sprinklr	AI recommendations for posting times, hashtags and tone; automatic repurposing by region, audience, channel.	30+ social and messaging channels per vendor (list not published on page)	Unified dashboards, campaign attribution, audience insights, AI summaries of dashboards.	Engagement tools respond across platforms; AI sorts by channel, sentiment, intent (not called 'unified inbox')	Included via Sprinklr Insights product; sold as separate suite.	Automated approval workflows, role-based access, audit trails, shared content libraries.	Custom quote, modular suites.	Enterprise.
Buffer	Unlimited scheduled posts on paid plans; 10 per channel on Free; ideas library.	G2 reviewers name Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X; full current list not verified.	Advanced analytics on Essentials and Team.	Not verified	Not verified	Approval workflows and custom permissions on Team only.	Per connected channel, not per user.	Solo creators to small teams.
Agorapulse	Unlimited scheduling and unified calendar; CSV bulk upload (200 posts) and queues from Advanced.	Multi-network publishing; X handled via paid X Lite/X Plus add-ons; full list not verified.	Basic and white-label reports from Standard; team reports Professional; scheduled reports, ads reporting, PowerPoint export Advanced; retention 6/12/24 months.	All-in-one inbox on all plans incl. Google reviews moderation; saved replies and bulk actions from Advanced.	Advanced Listening is a separate add-on, price on demo.	Simple approvals from Professional; multi-step approvals and custom roles on Custom.	Per user per month plus profile limits.	Small teams and agencies; enterprise via Custom.
Sendible	Scheduling, bulk scheduling, smart queues (10 on Core up to unlimited on Elite), daily send limits of 100 to 500 per workspace.	Not verified	Standard reports on Core; custom branded reports from Premium.	Monitoring and replying included from Core.	Monitoring included; depth by plan not published.	Assignment and approvals from Plus; advanced user permissions from Elite; unlimited users on all plans.	Per workspace and profile bundle, unlimited users; extra workspace adds 6 profiles.	Agencies and multi-brand teams.
SocialPilot	Bulk scheduling from Standard; content library on all plans.	Not verified	Analytics on all plans; PDF and scheduled reports from Standard; competitor and custom reports from Premium; history 3/12/24 months by tier.	Social inbox from Standard.	Not described on pricing page.	Content and manager approval from Standard; client approval and client management from Premium.	Tiered by accounts and users with $4 extra account and $5 extra user add-ons.	Solo, small teams and agencies.
Later	Visual calendar, smart scheduling and best-time-to-post; post caps per profile per month: 30 (Starter), 180 (Growth), unlimited (Scale)	Instagram, Facebook, TikTok named on pricing page for best-time features; full network list not verified.	Platform analytics history: 3 months (Starter), 1 year (Growth), 2 years (Scale); custom and Meta Ads analytics on Scale only.	Social inbox from Growth plan; not on Starter.	Scale plan only (competitive benchmarking, brand health, brand mentions)	Internal and external approvals, custom roles and permissions from Growth; not on Starter.	Flat price per plan bundling social sets and users; extra sets and users sold as add-ons.	Creators and small teams on Starter/Growth; larger teams via Scale and enterprise agreements.
Metricool	Unlimited publishing under fair use on paid plans; Free limited to 20 posts per month.	Inbox covers Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business Profile; LinkedIn from Starter; X needs a paid add-on.	PDF/PPT reports and unlimited analytics history from Starter; custom report templates and Data Studio connector on Advanced.	Inbox on all plans for several networks; LinkedIn from Starter.	No named listening feature; competitor analysis (5 profiles Free, 100 Starter) and hashtag search instead.	Post approval and role management only on Advanced and Custom.	Priced by number of brands, not users.	Freelancers and small agencies.
Planoly	Visual calendar, scheduling or reminders for native posting, unlimited uploads on paid plans.	Instagram, Facebook, X, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, TikTok (one account per channel per social set)	Not verified	Auto-replies and Instagram DM automation on all paid plans.	Not verified	Not verified	Per social set plus per user add-ons.	Solo creators to small agencies.

The 11 tools in detail

Hootsuite

Per-user social media suite covering scheduling, a unified inbox, analytics and listening, with SSO reserved for Enterprise.

Starting price: $99 per user per month (Standard, annual billing basis)
Pricing model: per user
G2 rating: 4.3 (7,400 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Scheduler, bulk scheduling, best-time-to-post recommendations; bulk scheduling unavailable during the trial.
Supported networks: Says 'all major social networks' without a list; listening covers 30+ networks.
Analytics and reporting: Post performance, sentiment, industry benchmarks, scheduled and custom reports; GA4 and Adobe Analytics ties on Enterprise.
Social inbox and engagement: Unified inbox for public and private messages with saved replies, auto-tagging, assignment and skill-based routing.

Choose it if

Teams that need scheduling, inbox and listening in one suite and can budget per user.
Organizations wanting an annual-invoiced Enterprise contract.

Skip it if

Solo creators or small businesses on a tight budget (cheapest plan starts at $99 per user per month)
Teams needing SSO without going to Enterprise.

Worth knowing

Card prices assume annual billing; monthly billing costs more per user.
Trial caps posting at 10 to 20 posts per organization per day and blocks bulk scheduling.
SSO is Enterprise only; Enterprise is quote-only with a demo, not a trial.

Full Hootsuite review · Hootsuite alternatives

Loomly

Calendar-first social media scheduler with built-in approval workflows, priced by social accounts rather than per user.

Starting price: $49/month billed yearly ($65/month billed monthly)
Pricing model: per social account bundle (users and accounts rise by tier)
G2 rating: 4.6 (1,794 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Calendar scheduling with unlimited calendars on all plans; link shorteners.
Supported networks: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Threads.
Analytics and reporting: Advanced analytics on Starter; scheduled reports only on Beyond.
Social inbox and engagement: Reply to interactions, saved replies and conversation assignment on both paid plans.

Choose it if

Small marketing teams and agencies that want an approval workflow in the cheapest tier.
Teams that want unlimited users at the Beyond tier instead of paying per seat.

Skip it if

Teams that need a large social listening quota (2 to 5 searches per month)
Buyers who need SAML SSO or a published SOC 2 report for Loomly itself.

Worth knowing

Operated by Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A. under the current Terms, so renewal pricing and policy follow that company's terms.
Yearly plans cannot be terminated early; Terms auto-renew at the then-current fee, non-refundable.
Price per account bundle: moving from Starter (3 users) to Beyond is $49 to $249/month on yearly billing, a 5x jump, and it is the only way to get more than 3 users.

Full Loomly review

Sprinklr

Enterprise unified customer experience platform whose Sprinklr Social suite covers publishing, engagement and listening across 30+ channels.

Starting price: Contact sales
Pricing model: custom
G2 rating: 4.1 (1,182 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: AI recommendations for posting times, hashtags and tone; automatic repurposing by region, audience, channel.
Supported networks: 30+ social and messaging channels per vendor (list not published on page)
Analytics and reporting: Unified dashboards, campaign attribution, audience insights, AI summaries of dashboards.
Social inbox and engagement: Engagement tools respond across platforms; AI sorts by channel, sentiment, intent (not called 'unified inbox')

Choose it if

Large enterprises with many brands, markets and compliance workflows.
Teams that want social, listening and customer care on one platform.
Buyers who need US or EU data hosting and a negotiated DPA.

Skip it if

Small businesses and solo creators (no public pricing, sales-led)
Teams that want a quick self-serve start.
Buyers sensitive to complexity; reviewers cite a learning curve.

Worth knowing

No public price list: Sprinklr is sold as separate suites (Social, Insights, Marketing, Service) so social-only buyers should specify scope.
Hosting is in US or Europe and is chosen during contracting.
A global DPA is offered but is attached to the MSA during negotiation.

Full Sprinklr review

Buffer

Low-cost, per-channel social scheduler with a free plan, aimed at creators and small teams.

Starting price: $5 per channel per month (Essentials)
Pricing model: per channel
G2 rating: 4.3 (1,039 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Unlimited scheduled posts on paid plans; 10 per channel on Free; ideas library.
Supported networks: G2 reviewers name Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, X; full current list not verified.
Analytics and reporting: Advanced analytics on Essentials and Team.
Approvals and collaboration: Approval workflows and custom permissions on Team only.

Choose it if

Creators and small businesses with a few channels.
Teams wanting a free tier to start.

Skip it if

Teams needing social listening or a deep shared inbox (not found on pricing page)
Buyers needing SSO or audit logs (not published)

Worth knowing

Upgrading from Free means paying for all connected channels, including the original three.
Annual discount shown as 'save 2 months' (about 17%) on cards but 20% in the FAQ.
API keys: 1 on Free, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Team.

Full Buffer review

Agorapulse

Per-user social media suite with a strong inbox and reporting, aimed at small teams and agencies.

Starting price: $79/user/month (Standard, billed annually)
Pricing model: per user, with social profile limits
G2 rating: 4.5 (968 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Unlimited scheduling and unified calendar; CSV bulk upload (200 posts) and queues from Advanced.
Supported networks: Multi-network publishing; X handled via paid X Lite/X Plus add-ons; full list not verified.
Analytics and reporting: Basic and white-label reports from Standard; team reports Professional; scheduled reports, ads reporting, PowerPoint export Advanced; retention 6/12/24 months.
Social inbox and engagement: All-in-one inbox on all plans incl. Google reviews moderation; saved replies and bulk actions from Advanced.

Choose it if

Agencies and small teams that prioritize inbox and comment moderation.
Teams wanting white-label reports from the entry plan.
Buyers who want EU (AWS Ireland) data hosting.

Skip it if

Solo creators on a tight budget (entry is $79 per user per month annual)
Buyers needing SSO below the Custom plan.
Teams needing paid-campaign tracking depth (lowest G2 feature score)

Worth knowing

Priced per user: 20 users on Standard cost $18,960/year annual billing.
Data hosted in AWS Ireland region, a plus for EU buyers.
Security page claims AWS certifications, not its own SOC 2 or ISO.

Full Agorapulse review

Sendible

Agency-oriented social media tool with unlimited users on every plan, priced by workspaces and social profiles.

Starting price: $35/month (monthly billing; third-party listing, not confirmed on the vendor page)
Pricing model: per workspace/profile bundle; unlimited users
G2 rating: 4.5 (900 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Scheduling, bulk scheduling, smart queues (10 on Core up to unlimited on Elite), daily send limits of 100 to 500 per workspace.
Analytics and reporting: Standard reports on Core; custom branded reports from Premium.
Social inbox and engagement: Monitoring and replying included from Core.
Social listening: Monitoring included; depth by plan not published.

Choose it if

Agencies managing many client brands (workspaces) with many teammates, since users are unlimited.
Teams that need approvals and assignment from the second tier.

Skip it if

Solo creators on a tight budget (cheapest paid tier is about $35/month)
Teams needing SSO below the Enterprise tier.

Worth knowing

Users are unlimited on every plan; cost scales by workspaces and profiles instead.
Approvals and assignment start at Plus, not Core.
SSO is Enterprise only; white label is a paid add-on on Elite and Enterprise.

Full Sendible review

SocialPilot

Low-cost social media scheduler for agencies and small teams with per-account add-ons and client approval workflows.

Starting price: $17/month billed yearly ($20/month billed monthly)
Pricing model: tiered by social accounts and users, with per-account and per-user add-ons
G2 rating: 4.5 (844 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Bulk scheduling from Standard; content library on all plans.
Analytics and reporting: Analytics on all plans; PDF and scheduled reports from Standard; competitor and custom reports from Premium; history 3/12/24 months by tier.
Social inbox and engagement: Social inbox from Standard.
Social listening: Not described on pricing page.

Choose it if

Agencies and small teams that want client management and white-label reports at low entry prices.
Teams that can size cost with cheap extra accounts ($4) and users ($5)

Skip it if

Teams needing SSO or API below the custom Enterprise plan.
Buyers needing documented social listening.

Worth knowing

Entry price of $17/month (yearly) is the lowest of the three in this batch, but Essentials has only 1 user and no inbox.
SSO and API access are Enterprise only; Ultimate adds enforced 2FA.
Annual subscriptions are non-refundable per terms; monthly refund only if canceled within a day of charge.

Full SocialPilot review

Later

Visual-first social scheduler (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest focus) that sits inside a larger creator and affiliate marketing company.

Starting price: $18.75/month (Starter, billed yearly)
Pricing model: flat per plan with social set and user limits
G2 rating: 4.5 (370 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Visual calendar, smart scheduling and best-time-to-post; post caps per profile per month: 30 (Starter), 180 (Growth), unlimited (Scale)
Supported networks: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok named on pricing page for best-time features; full network list not verified.
Analytics and reporting: Platform analytics history: 3 months (Starter), 1 year (Growth), 2 years (Scale); custom and Meta Ads analytics on Scale only.
Social inbox and engagement: Social inbox from Growth plan; not on Starter.

Choose it if

Solo creators, small brands and small teams that plan visual Instagram and TikTok content.
Teams that want a published, low flat price per social set rather than per-user pricing.
Brands that also run influencer or affiliate programs through the same vendor.

Skip it if

Enterprise teams needing SSO, SCIM or audit logs (none documented on public pages)
Teams needing a shared inbox on the cheapest plan (inbox starts at Growth)
Buyers who need social listening below the top Scale plan.

Worth knowing

Pricing is per plan with set and user caps, not per seat: Growth includes 2 users and extra users cost $3.75/month each.
Starter allows no add-ons at all, so a second user forces an upgrade to Growth.
Later is now part of a creator and affiliate marketing company (Mavrck merge 2024, Mavely 2025), and enterprise deals sit under a separate SaaS agreement.

Full Later review

Metricool

Social media scheduler and analytics tool priced per number of brands, with a free plan for one brand.

Starting price: $0 (Free, 1 brand); $20/month billed annually (Starter, 5 brands)
Pricing model: per brand
G2 rating: 4.5 (101 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Unlimited publishing under fair use on paid plans; Free limited to 20 posts per month.
Supported networks: Inbox covers Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business Profile; LinkedIn from Starter; X needs a paid add-on.
Analytics and reporting: PDF/PPT reports and unlimited analytics history from Starter; custom report templates and Data Studio connector on Advanced.
Social inbox and engagement: Inbox on all plans for several networks; LinkedIn from Starter.

Choose it if

Freelancers and small agencies managing 5 to 50 brands on a budget.
Teams that want analytics and reporting bundled with scheduling.

Skip it if

Teams needing approval workflows on a low tier (approvals start on Advanced)
Enterprises needing published SSO or deep social listening.

Worth knowing

Priced per brand, not per user; user limits are not published on the pricing page.
Approvals gated to Advanced (15+ brands, from $53/month annual)
X (Twitter) needs a paid add-on.

Full Metricool review

Planoly

Visual social media planner for creators and small teams, priced by social sets and users.

Starting price: $14/month (Starter, 1 social set, 1 user)
Pricing model: per social set and user
G2 rating: 4.3 (67 reviews)
Scheduling and publishing: Visual calendar, scheduling or reminders for native posting, unlimited uploads on paid plans.
Supported networks: Instagram, Facebook, X, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, TikTok (one account per channel per social set)
Social inbox and engagement: Auto-replies and Instagram DM automation on all paid plans.
Pricing model: Per social set plus per user add-ons.

Choose it if

Solo creators and small brands planning Instagram-first visual feeds.
Small teams of 1 to 6 users with predictable account counts.

Skip it if

Agencies needing listening, reporting depth or approvals (not verified on pricing page)
Teams that need guaranteed auto-posting reliability, per review complaints.

Worth knowing

A social set is one account per channel, so 6 sets on Pro cover 6 accounts per network.
Extra users cost only $3 to $5 per month.
Free option exists only in the mobile app, 10 uploads per month.

Full Planoly review

Frequently asked questions

What are social media management tools?

Which social media management tools publish their pricing?

10 of the 11 tools we compared publish prices: Hootsuite ($99 per user per month (Standard, annual billing basis)); Sprout Social ($79 per seat per month (Essentials, annual); $99 monthly); Loomly ($49/month billed yearly ($65/month billed monthly)); Buffer ($5 per channel per month (Essentials)); Agorapulse ($79/user/month (Standard, billed annually)); Sendible ($35/month (monthly billing; third-party listing, not confirmed on the vendor page)); SocialPilot ($17/month billed yearly ($20/month billed monthly)); Later ($18.75/month (Starter, billed yearly)); Metricool ($0 (Free, 1 brand); $20/month billed annually (Starter, 5 brands)); Planoly ($14/month (Starter, 1 social set, 1 user)). The others quote on request, so ask for a written quote that names the seat or spend basis, the term and the renewal uplift.

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

Hootsuite (free trial), Sprout Social (free trial), Loomly (free trial), Buffer (free plan, free trial), Agorapulse (free trial), Sendible (free trial), SocialPilot (free trial), Later (free trial), Metricool (free plan) and Planoly (free plan, free trial), according to the vendors' sites on October 24, 2026.

What do social media management tools cost for a team of 20?

Calculated from published list prices: Hootsuite: $99 x 20 users x 12 months = $23,760 per year at the Standard 'from' price (annual basis); Standard allows only 10 social accounts; Sprout Social: $199 x 20 seats x 12 = $47,760 per year at Standard (assuming the listed price is per seat per month); Essentials $79 x 20 x 12 = $18,960; Loomly: Beyond (unlimited users): $249/month x 12 = $2,988/year on yearly billing; $332 x 12 = $3,984/year on monthly billing; Buffer: Priced per channel, not per user. Example: 20 channels on Team = $120 x 20 = $2,400 per year (Team has unlimited users); Agorapulse: Standard annual: 20 x $79 x 12 = $18,960/year (monthly billing: 20 x $99 x 12 = $23,760). Profile limits per user not verified; Sendible: Plus (approvals, unlimited users): $99/month x 12 = $1,188/year on monthly billing (third-party listed price); SocialPilot: Standard: $34 + 17 extra users x $5 = $119/month, x 12 = $1,428/year (assumes the $5 add-on price applies on annual billing; not stated). Alternative: Ultimate unlimited users $170 x 12 = $2,040/year; Later: Growth yearly: $37.50 + 18 extra users x $3.75 = $105.00/month, x12 = $1,260/year (2 social sets only; extra sets $11.25/month each); Planoly: Monthly billing, Pro: $47 + 14 extra users x $3 = $89/month = $1,068/year (extra social sets not included; annual prices not published). Tools that quote on request are not included.

Which social media management tools are rated highest on G2?

Among tools with at least 20 G2 reviews: Loomly 4.6 from 1794 reviews, Agorapulse 4.5 from 968 reviews, Sendible 4.5 from 900 reviews. Ratings were read on October 24, 2026; small review counts move quickly, so read recent reviews from companies your size.