Hootsuite Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
Hootsuite alternatives: Postiz, Mixpost, Buffer, Publer and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•4 min read•Social Media & Ads
Verdict:Hootsuite suits marketing teams that manage many social accounts, need approvals and want monitoring and reporting in one dashboard. Leave it when the per-seat price outruns the number of people actually posting, or when you only schedule a handful of accounts. Hootsuite's Standard plan is listed at $99 per user a month on annual billing, so a team of three pays close to $300 before add-ons. Buffer is the easiest cut: its free plan covers three channels, and its paid tier is far cheaper per channel. Publer suits a solo creator who needs basic scheduling for a few accounts, with a free plan of one user. Mixpost is the self-hosted route. Its Lite edition is free and MIT-licensed, so you keep the data and pay only for your server, but there is no team inbox to replace the one you lose. Postiz is also self-hosted and AGPL-3.0, with hosted plans that carry no free tier, so it fits a technical operator. Later is the pick when your work is visual and centred on Instagram and Pinterest, though it has no free plan. The trade-off is simple: the cheaper tools drop listening, approvals and enterprise reporting, so keep Hootsuite if those features run your process.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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-hosted social scheduling | 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 | Scheduling for your own brands without a fee | Docs only |
| Buffer | Free (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel); paid from $5 per channel/month, Essentials, billed annually ($60 a year) | Web | Small teams scheduling a few channels | 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 | Solo creators on a tight budget | Docs only |
| Later | Paid from $18.75 per month, billed yearly (Starter: 1 social set, 30 scheduled posts per profile per month; 14-day free trial) | Web browser | Visual planning for Instagram and Pinterest | Docs only |
| Sprout Social | Paid from $79 per seat/month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), Essentials | Web | Social media management | 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 | Social media management | Docs only |
| SocialBee | Paid from $24 per month, billed annually (Bootstrap; $29 billed monthly) | Web browser | Social Media Scheduling | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free self-hosted scheduler for your own brands (Mixpost is the pick)
- You want a self-hosted tool under AGPL-3.0 (Postiz is the pick)
- You schedule a few channels for a small team (Buffer is the pick)
- You are a solo creator who posts to a few accounts (Publer is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Hootsuite features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Hootsuite today: Paid from $99 per user/month, billed annually (Standard, 10 social accounts) (Hootsuite pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Hootsuite alternatives
Hootsuite has no free plan, only a 14-day trial with daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts. Standard starts at $99 per user per month billed annually and includes 10 social accounts, so a small team with more profiles has to step up to Professional at $199 per user, which allows unlimited accounts. Advanced runs up to $399 per user, and every extra user is another seat at the plan's rate. Cost per seat is the usual reason people compare alternatives.
Postiz
Compared with Hootsuite: Open-source scheduler you host yourself under AGPL-3.0; the hosted plans have no free tier. Against Hootsuite you save the subscription and take on your own server, and you give up Hootsuite's support and enterprise approvals.
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-hosted social scheduling.
Worth knowing: Postiz calls self-hosting a secondary option; new agent features ship on the hosted platform first.
Mixpost
Compared with Hootsuite: Mixpost Lite is free, self-hosted and MIT-licensed. Compared with Hootsuite it covers scheduling for your own accounts with no per-user fee, but it lacks Hootsuite's monitoring and team inbox features.
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: Scheduling for your own brands without a fee.
Worth knowing: Pro and Enterprise ($1,199 one-time) are paid self-hosted editions.
Buffer
Compared with Hootsuite: Free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel. Against Hootsuite it is simpler and cheaper per channel at $5 a month billed annually for Essentials, but it offers less social listening and fewer team roles.
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: Small teams scheduling a few channels.
Publer
Compared with Hootsuite: Free plan allows one user and three social accounts, with 10 scheduled posts per account. Against Hootsuite it is a low-cost scheduler at $4 a month on annual billing for Professional, but it does not match Hootsuite's analytics depth.
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: Solo creators on a tight budget.
Later
Compared with Hootsuite: No free plan; the Starter plan is $18.75 a month billed yearly for one social set. Compared with Hootsuite it focuses on visual planning for Instagram and Pinterest, so you gain a calendar-first view and lose broad multi-network coverage.
Price: Paid from $18.75 per month, billed yearly (Starter: 1 social set, 30 scheduled posts per profile per month; 14-day free trial) (Later pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Visual planning for Instagram and Pinterest.
Other popular options (paid)
Sprout Social
Compared with Hootsuite: Essentials is $79 per seat per month billed annually ($99 monthly) for 5 profiles, below Hootsuite Standard's $99, but profiles are fewer and there is no free tier. Standard is $199 and unlimited profiles start at $299.
Price: Paid from $79 per seat/month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), Essentials (Sprout Social pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Metricool
Compared with Hootsuite: A free plan covers 1 brand with 20 scheduled posts, and paid Starter is $20 monthly for up to 5 brands. You give up Hootsuite's enterprise controls, but the price gap is large for small teams.
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).
SocialBee
Compared with Hootsuite: Bootstrap is $24 per month billed annually ($29 monthly), far below Hootsuite's per-user $99. There is no free plan, and you get less enterprise reporting, but scheduling and content categories are its focus.
Price: Paid from $24 per month, billed annually (Bootstrap; $29 billed monthly) (SocialBee pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want a free self-hosted scheduler for your own brands: Mixpost
- You want a self-hosted tool under AGPL-3.0: Postiz
- You schedule a few channels for a small team: Buffer
- You are a solo creator who posts to a few accounts: Publer
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Postiz, Mixpost, Buffer, Publer, Later: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Hootsuite. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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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 and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Hootsuite, Postiz, Mixpost, Buffer, Publer, Later, Sprout Social, Metricool, SocialBee. 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.