Guides

Free social media scheduler options: 9 free plans compared

Nine of the 25 schedulers we checked on 10 October 2026 have a free plan with confirmed limits: Buffer, Metricool, Pallyy, Planable, Planoly, post bridge, Publer, Typefully and Zoho Social. Buffer and Publer leave the most room for a few channels. Planable suits a team testing approvals. Weekbird has no free plan.

Mirza Pašić11 Oct 2026

Key takeaways

Nine of 25 schedulers we checked on 10 October 2026 offer a free plan with limits we could confirm on the vendor's pricing page.
Buffer and Publer each allow 10 scheduled posts per channel across 3 channels, the most queued posts of the free plans we checked.
Monthly caps differ: Metricool allows 20 posts, Pallyy 15, Typefully 10 and Planoly 10 uploads on its mobile app.
Planable gives you 50 posts in total with no time limit, which suits a trial of team workflows more than ongoing publishing.
Weekbird has no free plan; paid plans start at $24 a month after a 7-day trial that requires a card.

Nine of the 25 social media schedulers we checked on 10 October 2026 offer a free plan with limits we could confirm: Buffer, Metricool, Pallyy, Planable, Planoly, post bridge, Publer, Typefully and Zoho Social. If you want a free social media scheduler for a handful of channels, start with Buffer or Publer. Each lets you queue 10 posts per channel across 3 channels.

The other 16 tools either have no free plan or did not state one. Three more advertise a free tier we could not confirm in enough detail to list here. Free plans change often, so check the vendor's pricing page before you commit.

We read each limit from the vendor's own pricing page on 10 October 2026. "Not stated" means the page did not say, not that the feature is missing.

Buffer: channels: Up to 3; post limit: 10 scheduled per channel; users: 1; analytics: Basic, 30 days; API or MCP: 1 API key; main catch: No approvals
Publer: channels: 3 accounts; post limit: 10 scheduled per account; users: 1; analytics: 24-hour post history; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: No X
Metricool: channels: 1 brand; post limit: 20 a month; users: Not stated; analytics: 30 days; API or MCP: Metricool MCP; main catch: No LinkedIn or X
Pallyy: channels: 1 set, up to 11 accounts; post limit: 15 scheduled a month; users: 1; analytics: 30 days; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: Image posts only
Typefully: channels: 1 social set; post limit: 10 a month; users: 1; analytics: Not stated; API or MCP: API and MCP; main catch: Small monthly cap
Planoly: channels: 1 of each channel; post limit: 10 uploads a month; users: 1; analytics: Not stated; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: Mobile app only
Zoho Social: channels: 1 brand, 6 channels; post limit: Not stated; users: 1; analytics: Not stated; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: 5 AI credits
Planable: channels: Not stated; post limit: 50 posts in total; users: Not stated; analytics: Not stated; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: Cap does not reset
post bridge: channels: Not stated; post limit: 5 posts; users: Not stated; analytics: Not stated; API or MCP: Not stated; main catch: Very small cap

Free plan limits by tool

Buffer

Buffer's free plan covers up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each, for 1 user. You get basic analytics with 30 days of history, a community inbox and 1 API key limited to 3,000 requests per 30 days. Approvals are not included. Our Buffer alternatives page compares its paid plans.

Publer

Publer allows 3 social accounts, 10 scheduled posts per account and 25 drafts for 1 user. X is excluded on the free plan, and post history lasts 24 hours.

Metricool

Metricool's free plan gives 1 brand 20 posts a month on every network it supports except LinkedIn and X. It keeps 30 days of analytics and lets you track 5 competitor profiles. See Metricool alternatives for how its paid tiers price per brand.

Pallyy

Pallyy gives you 1 social set with up to 11 accounts and 15 scheduled posts a month. The free plan handles image posts only, and Pallyy does not ask for a card.

Typefully allows 1 social set, 1 user and 10 posts a month, and its pricing page lists agents, API and MCP on the free plan. Planoly's free plan runs in the mobile app only, with 10 uploads a month. Zoho Social gives 1 brand with 6 channels, 1 team member and 5 AI credits; its page does not state a post cap.

Planable and post bridge

Planable counts your first 50 posts as free, with no time limit and no card. The cap does not reset each month. post bridge allows 5 posts for free users.

Which free plan fits which job

Match the plan to the work you do each week.

A creator on X or LinkedIn: try first: Typefully or Buffer; why: Typefully includes API and MCP; Buffer covers 3 channels
A small business on 2 or 3 networks: try first: Buffer or Publer; why: 10 queued posts per channel
A business posting images to many accounts: try first: Pallyy; why: Up to 11 accounts in one set
A business that wants competitor tracking: try first: Metricool; why: 5 competitor profiles, but no LinkedIn or X
A small team testing approvals: try first: Planable; why: 50 posts to test the workflow
An agency: try first: A paid plan; why: Free plans allow 1 user or 1 brand

Agencies run into the single-user and single-brand limits on day one. A free plan works for testing an agency workflow, but not for running clients on it.

When free stops being enough

Expect to upgrade when one of these happens:

You hit the post cap. Ten queued posts per channel covers about two weeks of posting every weekday. A monthly cap of 10 to 20 posts covers less.
A second person joins. Every free plan with a stated user limit allows 1 user.
A client or manager needs to approve posts. Buffer's free plan has no approvals, and the others do not list them.
You need a network the plan excludes. Publer drops X; Metricool drops LinkedIn and X.
You want to compare this quarter with last quarter. Free analytics history stops at 30 days or less.

Before you upgrade, price the paid plan by how the vendor counts: per channel, per brand or per seat. Our social media management tools guide explains those pricing models, and all alternatives lists dated prices.

Where Weekbird fits

Weekbird has no free plan. Each plan starts with a trial that requires a card. Solo costs $24 a month per brand, or $19 a month billed annually, and includes unlimited scheduled posts. Client approvals and the Inbox for comments and reviews are on the Team and Agency plans. If a free plan's post cap is what stops you, compare the Weekbird plans with the paid tier of the tool you use now.

Questions

For a few channels, Buffer and Publer give you the most queued posts: 10 per channel across 3 channels, as of 10 October 2026. Publer's free plan excludes X.

Are free schedulers limited in posts?

Yes. Each free plan we checked with a stated limit caps posts, from 5 on post bridge to 20 a month on Metricool. Buffer and Publer cap scheduled posts per channel instead of per month.

Does Weekbird have a free plan?

No. Weekbird offers a trial that requires a card, then paid plans from $24 a month per brand.