# Buffer review

A social media scheduling, analytics and engagement tool for creators and small businesses, free for 3 channels, with paid plans from $5 per channel per month billed yearly.

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 26, 2026.

> Buffer is a social media publishing and analytics platform from Buffer, Inc., which Joel Gascoigne started in November 2010 to space out his tweets and which has run as a fully remote company since 2013. Users connect channels, write or repurpose posts with the optional AI Assistant, and add them to a queue or visual calendar that publishes automatically at set times, with reminder-based publishing for channels such as Instagram personal profiles and Facebook groups. Insights tracks follower growth, engagement and post performance, the Community inbox handles replies to comments, and Start Page builds a link-in-bio site. Buffer bills per connected channel rather than per user, so a solo creator pays only for the accounts they post to, while the Team plan adds unlimited members, approvals and permissions at no per-seat cost. A GraphQL API and an MCP server let developers and AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT pull analytics and send posts to the queue.

## Facts

- Website: https://buffer.com
- Pricing: Free tier · paid from $5/mo (verified )
- License: Freemium
- Platforms: web, ios, android
- Best for: a solo creator or small business scheduling posts to a handful of social channels without paying per user
- Standout feature: Per-channel pricing with no per-seat fee on the Team plan, coverage of 12 networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Substack, and a free-forever plan for 3 channels.
- Biggest weakness: Buffer's costs scale with every connected channel, so 10 channels cost $60 a month on Essentials and $120 on Team at monthly billing, and Buffer offers no social listening or brand monitoring, which Hootsuite includes from its Standard plan.
- Categories: [Social media management](https://findalternative.to/categories/social-media)

## Pricing snapshot

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0/mo | Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 100 ideas, 1 user, AI Assistant, 30 days of insights history, API with 1 key and 3,000 requests per month. |
| Essentials | $5/mo | Per channel, billed yearly ($6 per channel billed monthly for channels 1-10, falling to $4, $3 and $1 at higher volumes); unlimited scheduled posts (5,000 per channel fair-use cap), advanced analytics, hashtag manager, first-comment scheduling, 1 user. |
| Team | $10/mo | Per channel, billed yearly ($12 per channel billed monthly for channels 1-10, falling to $4, $3 and $2 at higher volumes); adds unlimited team members, approval workflows, access levels and branded reports. |

## Pros and cons

- Pro: Free-forever plan for 3 channels with scheduling, AI Assistant, insights, comment replies and API access.
- Pro: Publishes to 12 networks, including Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, Substack and Google Business Profile.
- Pro: The Team plan adds unlimited users at no per-seat cost, with approval workflows and channel-level access.
- Pro: Volume discounts cut the per-channel rate after 10 channels, and nonprofits get 50% off paid plans.
- Pro: Buffer publishes its revenue, salaries and pricing rationale openly.
- Con: Per-channel billing adds up for agencies and multi-brand teams: 25 channels cost $180 a month on Team billed monthly.
- Con: No social listening, brand monitoring or competitor benchmarking.
- Con: The free plan keeps only 30 days of analytics and 10 queued posts per channel, and approval workflows require Team.
- Con: Card payments only: Buffer does not accept PayPal, checks or bank transfers.

## AI summary

- Buffer's free plan supports up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time.
- Buffer Essentials costs $6 per channel per month billed monthly or $5 billed yearly.
- Buffer Team costs $12 per channel per month billed monthly or $10 billed yearly, with unlimited team members.
- Buffer's public metrics show 302,755 monthly active users, 84,217 customers and $27.6M in annual recurring revenue.
- Buffer publishes to 12 networks, including Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack.
- Buffer's iOS app holds a 4.7/5 rating from 35K ratings on the US App Store.
- Best for: solo creators and small businesses scheduling posts to a few channels without paying per user
- Pricing: Free for 3 channels; Essentials is $6/channel/month ($5 billed yearly) and Team $12/channel/month ($10 billed yearly), with lower per-channel rates beyond 10 channels.
- Top alternatives: Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social, Metricool, Cadenus
- Limitation: Costs grow with every connected channel.
- Limitation: No social listening or competitor benchmarking.
- Limitation: The free plan is limited to 30 days of analytics and 10 queued posts per channel.

## Alternatives

5 vetted alternatives to Buffer: https://findalternative.to/buffer — top picks: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later

## Comparisons

- https://findalternative.to/compare/buffer-vs-hootsuite

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