Best Free Social Media Schedulers 2026: 7 Options Compared
Best free Social Media Schedulers compared: Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Planoly and 3 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Social Media & Ads
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Free (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel); paid from $5 per channel/month, Essentials, billed annually ($60 a year) | Web | A simple weekly posting queue | Docs only |
| Publer | Free (1 user, 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 24-hour post history); paid from $4 per month, Professional, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly) | Web | Several accounts on a budget | Docs only |
| Metricool | Free (1 brand, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days of analytics); paid from $20 per month, Starter for up to 5 brands, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) | Web | One brand that wants analytics | Docs only |
| Planoly | Free (Free plan available on the Planoly mobile app only, 10 uploads per month); paid from $14 per month (Starter, 1 social set and 1 user); annual billing saves up to 15% | Web, iOS, Android | Instagram planning from your phone | Docs only |
| Meta Business Suite | Free (Free to use; Meta publishes no separate pricing page) | Web, iOS, Android | Facebook and Instagram only | Docs only |
| Mixpost | Free (Mixpost Lite is free, self-hosted and open source); paid from $299 per one-time, self-hosted Pro with 1 year of updates | Web, Self-hosted | A scheduler on your own server | Docs only |
| Postiz | Free (Open-source code you host yourself; the hosted plans have no free tier, only a 7-day trial); paid from $23 per month, hosted Standard, billed annually ($29 billed monthly, 5 channels) | Web, Self-hosted | Self-hosting with wide network support | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You post a few times a week from a laptop (Buffer is the pick)
- You manage three small accounts (Publer is the pick)
- You schedule Instagram from your phone (Planoly is the pick)
- You want no scheduled-post cap (Mixpost is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
A scheduler does one job: publish posts at the time you choose. Free plans limit that job by queue size, so count how many posts you queue ahead. Buffer's free plan gives 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each, enough for a few posts a week. Publer matches it at 10 scheduled posts per account across 3 accounts, but keeps only 24 hours of post history. Metricool is stricter, with 20 scheduled posts a month for a single brand. Planoly's free tier is mobile-only with 10 uploads a month, so it fits a phone-first Instagram routine. Mixpost Lite and Postiz remove the queue limit by running on your own server; Mixpost Lite is MIT-licensed and Postiz is AGPL-3.0, though Postiz's hosted service has no free plan. Meta Business Suite schedules Facebook and Instagram posts natively and is described as free by third-party guides. Before you choose, list the networks you post to, because free tiers drop some, and Publer's free plan excludes X. Also check whether a scheduled post can include first comments, carousels or video. Scheduling in batches once a week saves more time than any tool feature, and a calendar view matters more than analytics if posting is all you need.
Buffer
Free plan: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel. A clean queue and calendar; paid Essentials starts at $5 per channel a month billed annually.
Price: Free (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel); paid from $5 per channel/month, Essentials, billed annually ($60 a year) (Buffer pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: A simple weekly posting queue.
Compare: Buffer alternatives
Publer
Free: 1 user, 3 accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account and 24-hour post history. Professional is $4 a month billed yearly.
Price: Free (1 user, 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 24-hour post history); paid from $4 per month, Professional, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly) (Publer pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Several accounts on a budget.
Metricool
Free allows 1 brand and 20 scheduled posts a month, with 30 days of analytics. A monthly cap rather than a per-account queue.
Price: Free (1 brand, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days of analytics); paid from $20 per month, Starter for up to 5 brands, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) (Metricool pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: One brand that wants analytics.
Compare: Metricool alternatives
Planoly
Free plan is mobile-app only with 10 uploads a month; Starter is $14 a month. Built around visual feed planning.
Price: Free (Free plan available on the Planoly mobile app only, 10 uploads per month); paid from $14 per month (Starter, 1 social set and 1 user); annual billing saves up to 15% (Planoly pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Instagram planning from your phone.
Compare: Planoly alternatives
Meta Business Suite
Native scheduling for Facebook and Instagram; third-party guides call it free, but Meta's own page only returned a login.
Price: Free (Free to use; Meta publishes no separate pricing page) (Meta Business Suite pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Facebook and Instagram only.
Compare: Meta Business Suite alternatives
Mixpost
Mixpost Lite is MIT-licensed, free and self-hosted, with no queue cap from the vendor. Pro is $299 one-time for self-hosting.
Price: Free (Mixpost Lite is free, self-hosted and open source); paid from $299 per one-time, self-hosted Pro with 1 year of updates (Mixpost pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (Lite) (open source).
Project activity: 3.9k GitHub stars · latest release 2.6.0 (Mar 16, 2026) · last commit Mar 16, 2026
Best for: A scheduler on your own server.
Worth knowing: Pro and Enterprise ($1,199 one-time) are paid self-hosted editions.
Postiz
Open-source AGPL-3.0 scheduler you host yourself; the hosted plans offer only a 7-day trial and Standard costs $23 a month billed annually.
Price: Free (Open-source code you host yourself; the hosted plans have no free tier, only a 7-day trial); paid from $23 per month, hosted Standard, billed annually ($29 billed monthly, 5 channels) (Postiz pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 39.4k GitHub stars · latest release v2.25.3 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026
Best for: Self-hosting with wide network support.
Worth knowing: Postiz calls self-hosting a secondary option; new agent features ship on the hosted platform first.
Compare: Postiz alternatives
Which one to pick
- You post a few times a week from a laptop: Buffer
- You manage three small accounts: Publer
- You schedule Instagram from your phone: Planoly
- You want no scheduled-post cap: Mixpost
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Planoly, Meta Business Suite, Mixpost, Postiz: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Planoly, Meta Business Suite, Mixpost, Postiz. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.