Price check
Advertised prices are almost all “from” prices. The column that matters is what you pay once a normal small-business stack — say four connected channels — is actually wired up. Ordered from cheapest entry price to most expensive.
| Tool | Entry price | Real cost at 4 channels | Platform coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publer | Free plan (3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts each). Professional from $5/mo for 1 account, about $4/mo per extra account | ≈ $17/mo (1 included + 3 extra accounts) | Up to 13 platforms |
| Buffer | Free plan, then from $5/mo per connected channel | $20/mo (4 × $5) | Mainstream networks; price scales with every channel added |
| Metricool | Free plan (limited posts), then Starter from €16/mo | ≈ €16/mo for one brand's connected profiles | Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, more on paid plans |
| Later | No free plan — 14-day trial, then roughly $18.75–$82.50/mo | ≈ $18.75+/mo on the entry tier | 7 networks |
| DM IQ | Free plan (100 users/mo, 3 workflows, all channels). Pro $24/mo billed annually, $30 month-to-month | $24/mo — same price at 4 channels or 19 | 19 platforms on every paid plan, incl. Ghost, Webflow, Shopify Blog, Dev.to, Hashnode, beehiiv, Kit |
| SocialBee | No free plan — Bootstrap roughly $29/mo ($24/mo annual) for 5 profiles | ≈ $24–29/mo | Mainstream networks; extra profiles sold in bundles |
| Hootsuite | Plans start around $99/mo, no meaningful free tier | $99+/mo | Confirm current list on Hootsuite's plans page |
Competitor pricing from official pricing pages and help centres, last checked August 2026; “≈” figures are our arithmetic on the published per-channel rates. Plans change — confirm on each provider's site. Full breakdowns: Buffer, Later, Hootsuite, Metricool, Publer.
Starting-at maths
Per-channel pricing (Buffer, Publer) is the cheapest way to start and the most expensive way to grow. Flat pricing (DM IQ, SocialBee) costs more on day one and stops moving. Here is where the lines cross, using each tool’s published rates.
1–2 channels
Publer or Buffer
$5–10/mo. A flat-rate plan is overkill; a per-channel scheduler wins outright.
3–4 channels
Publer, Buffer, Metricool
$16–20/mo. DM IQ's $24 flat is close but not the lowest number on the invoice.
5–6 channels
Roughly a tie
Buffer hits $25–30/mo; Publer ≈ $21–25/mo; DM IQ stays $24/mo (annual).
7+ channels
DM IQ
Buffer at 7 channels is $35/mo, at 19 channels $95/mo. DM IQ is $24/mo for all 19 — the more you connect, the wider the gap.
FAQ
It depends on how many channels you connect. For one or two accounts, per-channel tools are cheapest: Publer's Professional plan starts around $5/mo for one account and Buffer charges $5/mo per channel. Once you pass roughly six channels, a flat-rate plan wins — DM IQ's Pro plan is $24/mo billed annually for all 19 platforms, whereas Buffer at 19 channels would be $95/mo. Publer, Buffer, Metricool and DM IQ all also have genuinely free plans.
In 2026 the realistic range is $0 (free tiers from Publer, Buffer, Metricool, DM IQ) to about $5–20/mo for a small per-channel setup, $24–30/mo for flat-rate plans like DM IQ Pro or SocialBee Bootstrap, and $99+/mo for enterprise suites like Hootsuite. Watch for the two things that move the bill: per-channel or per-profile add-ons, and the monthly-vs-annual gap (DM IQ Pro is $24/mo annual or $30/mo month-to-month).
For a low-volume account, often yes. The catch is what each free plan limits: Publer caps scheduled posts per account and excludes X, Metricool caps monthly posts, and Buffer caps channels. DM IQ's free plan limits usage (100 users/month, 3 active workflows) rather than platform access — all 19 channels are available — so it works until you outgrow the volume, not the network list.
DM IQ's free plan covers 100 users per month with access to all 19 channels, and Pro is a flat $24/month billed annually — no per-channel fee. Buffer's per-channel pricing ($5/mo per channel) adds up as you connect more networks; Later has no free plan at all.
No. DM IQ's Pro plan is a flat $24/month billed annually and includes all 19 channels — connecting more platforms doesn't raise the price the way Buffer's per-channel model does.
DM IQ's free plan (100 users/month, 3 active workflows) includes access to all 19 channels — you're limited by usage volume, not by which platforms you're allowed to connect.
Hootsuite's plans start around $99/month with no meaningful free tier, aimed at enterprise budgets. DM IQ starts free and its Pro plan is $24/month billed annually — see the full comparison on the DM IQ vs Hootsuite page.