Free plans, compared on the whole job
Free AI social media managers, compared
Five tools keep a free plan with no end date and an AI feature on it. On 2 October 2026 only SpeedRun Social's free plan did the whole job, writing the post, making the image and a short video, and publishing it; Publer's came closest, with AI text and photos but no video.
Free here means no end date and no card. Trials are listed further down, with what each costs when it ends.
An AI social media manager writes the post, makes the picture and publishes it on a schedule. Five tools keep a free plan with no end date that includes some AI, and they do very different amounts of that job: one does all of it, one does most of it, and three help with the words and leave the pictures to you.
We sell SpeedRun Social, the one whose free plan does all of it, so read the table with that in mind. Its free plan is one campaign a week, three posts, a short video and a cross-post, with a watermark on the media. The others let you publish more of your own posts for free; ours makes the posts for you.
Free plans that schedule without AI, a free allowance that runs out after a number of posts, and tools that offer a trial instead of a free plan are listed after the table, each with what it costs once the free part ends.
Five free plans, the whole job cell by cell
Each cell was read on 2 October 2026 from the vendor's own pricing page and says only what that page said. "Output not stated" and "use not stated" mean the page names an AI feature without saying what it produces. The order is how much of the whole job each free plan does, then how much it lets you post.
| Tool | Writes the post | Makes the image | Makes a short video | Publishes | Approval step | Free plan limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpeedRun Socialours | Yes, from your own site | Yes | Yes, 1 a week | Yes, after your approval | Every post | 1 campaign a week, watermarked |
| Publer | Yes, AI Assist from a prompt | Yes, AI photos | No | Yes, 3 accounts, no X | No | 10 scheduled posts per account |
| Buffer | Refines your text | No | No | Yes, 3 channels | No | 10 scheduled posts per channel |
| Metricool | AI assistant, output not stated | No | No | Yes, no LinkedIn or X | No | 20 scheduled posts a month |
| Zoho Social | 5 AI credits, use not stated | No | No | Scheduling listed from Standard | No | 1 brand, 6 channels |
What each free plan leaves out
SpeedRun Social
SpeedRun Social's free media carries a watermark, the allowance is one campaign a week rather than an open queue, and it publishes the posts it writes rather than posts you wrote elsewhere. It is our product, so treat this row as the entrant's own account.
Publer
Publer's free plan cannot connect X, holds 10 scheduled posts per account and keeps published posts for 24 hours. Its AI prompts are unlimited only on the paid Business plan, and it makes no video.
Buffer
Buffer's free plan has one user and 10 scheduled posts per channel, and its AI polishes your text rather than writing from a blank page. It lists no image or video generation on any plan.
Metricool
Metricool's free plan covers one brand, 20 scheduled posts a month and no LinkedIn or X, and its pricing page does not describe what its AI assistant produces.
Zoho Social
Zoho Social's free plan covers one brand on 6 channels with one team member and 5 AI credits, and its pricing page lists content scheduling among the features of the paid Standard plan.
Free, but without AI or with an end
Pallyy
Pallyy keeps a free plan for one social set with 15 image posts a month, but lists AI captions on its paid Pro plan, so the free plan is a scheduler, not an AI manager.
Typefully
Typefully keeps a free plan with 10 posts a month on X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack, and keeps its AI writing on Creator, $99 a year with annual billing only.
Planable
Planable makes the first 50 posts free with no time limit, an allowance rather than a monthly plan, and Basic costs $39 per workspace a month billed monthly once those posts are used.
Trials, not free plans
Predis.ai
Predis.ai offers 3 free days that start with a card, charged when the trial ends; Core is $32 a month billed monthly and does not post automatically.
Ocoya
Ocoya offers a 7-day trial on every plan; Starter is $29 a month billed monthly.
Later
Later offers a 14-day trial; Starter is $25.00 a month billed monthly with 5 AI credits.
SocialPilot
SocialPilot offers a 14-day trial with no card; Essentials is $30 a month billed monthly with 500 AI credits.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite offers a 14-day trial; Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually, and its plans page prints no month-to-month price.
What the next step up costs
SpeedRun Social
SpeedRun Social's Starter, $49.99 a month billed monthly or $39.99 a month billed annually, removes the watermark and adds 1,500 credits a month, about 50 image posts or 27 videos by the pricing page's own estimate.
Publer
Publer's Professional, $5.00 a month billed monthly or $4.00 billed yearly per social account, adds unlimited scheduling and X; Business, $10.00 a month billed monthly or $8.00 billed yearly, adds unlimited AI prompts.
Buffer
Buffer's Essentials, $6 a month per channel billed monthly or $5 billed yearly, removes the post limit; Team, $12 a month per channel billed monthly or $10 billed yearly, adds people and approvals.
Metricool
Metricool's Starter, from $25 a month billed monthly or $20 a month billed annually, adds LinkedIn and unlimited publishing for up to 5 brands.
Zoho Social
Zoho Social's Standard, US$15 a month billed monthly or US$10 a month billed annually, adds 14 channels, 40 AI credits and content scheduling.
Where every limit and price came from
- SpeedRun Social's free plan: 300 credits a month refilled forever, one free campaign a week (3 posts, 1 video, 1 cross-post), no card, watermarked media on free. Every post waits for your approval before it publishes, and a social account must be connected before anything goes out. SpeedRun Social's paid plans are $49.99, $99.99 and $199.99 a month billed monthly, or $39.99, $79.99 and $159.99 a month billed annually. speedrunsocial.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Publer's plans page listed a free plan at $0.00 with 1 user, 3 social accounts excluding X, 10 scheduled posts per account and a 24-hour post history, and an OpenAI-powered AI Assist under Included In All that it describes as generating content and creating photos. Professional read $5.00 a month billed monthly or $4.00 billed yearly, and Business, with unlimited AI prompts, $10.00 billed monthly or $8.00 billed yearly, per social account. publer.com/plans, read 2 October 2026
- Buffer's pricing page headed its free plan "Free forever" for up to 3 channels, with 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user and an AI Assistant described as refining and repurposing your content with unlimited credits. Essentials read $6 a month per channel billed monthly or $5 billed yearly, and Team $12 a month per channel billed monthly or $10 billed yearly. buffer.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Metricool's pricing page listed a free plan at $0 a month for 1 brand on every network except LinkedIn and X, with up to 20 scheduled posts a month, 30 days of analytics and an AI social media assistant. Starter read from $25 a month billed monthly or from $20 a month billed annually. metricool.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Zoho Social's pricing page, on its For Businesses tab, listed a free plan for 1 brand on 6 channels with 1 team member and 5 AI credits, and listed content scheduling among the features its Standard plan adds. Standard read US$15 a month billed monthly or US$10 a month billed annually, with 14 channels and 40 AI credits. zoho.com/social/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Pallyy's pricing page listed a free plan for one social set with 15 scheduled posts a month, image posts only and no card, and listed AI captions on its paid Pro plan, $25 a month billed monthly or $20 a month billed yearly. pallyy.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Typefully's pricing page listed a free plan with 1 social set and 10 posts a month on X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack, and kept its AI writing features on Creator, $99 a year with annual billing only. typefully.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Planable's pricing page made the first 50 posts free with no time limit and no credit card, after which Basic read $39 per workspace a month billed monthly or $33 billed yearly. planable.io/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Predis.ai's pricing page listed no free plan: every plan starts with 3 free days, and the page says it takes a card to start the trial and charges it when day 3 ends. Core read $32 a month billed monthly or $24 billed yearly, with no auto posting. predis.ai/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Ocoya's pricing page listed no free plan, only a 7-day free trial on every plan. Starter read $29 a month billed monthly or $290 a year billed yearly, with 300 credits a month. ocoya.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Later's pricing page listed no free plan, only a 14-day free trial. Starter read $25.00 a month billed monthly or $18.75 a month billed yearly, with 5 AI credits a month. later.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- SocialPilot's plans page listed no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no credit card required. Essentials read $30 a month billed monthly or $25.50 a month billed annually, with 500 AI credits. socialpilot.co/plans, read 2 October 2026
- Hootsuite's plans page listed no free plan, only a free 14-day trial. Standard read $99 per user a month billed annually, with no month-to-month price printed, and Standard lists post and image generation with AI. hootsuite.com/plans, read 2 October 2026
How the free plans were compared
The stake first: we build SpeedRun Social, it heads the table, and the table shows why: its free plan is the only one here that does the whole job. A comparison written by one of the compared is worth reading only when it says so before the table, so it does.
On 2 October 2026 each vendor's own pricing page was opened in a real browser, its address checked against the one requested, and both billing modes selected in turn. Nothing comes from a review site, another list or an assistant's answer.
What counts as free: a plan with no end date that needs no card. A trial is not a free plan however long it runs, and an allowance that ends after a number of posts is listed apart from the table.
What counts as an AI social media manager: a free plan that includes an AI feature and publishes. The order is how much of the whole job the free plan does, writing the post, making the image, making a short video and publishing it, then how much it lets you post.
No ratings, stars or customer counts. We are new and have very few customers, so a score from us would imply a test nobody ran. Free plans change without notice, and the links exist so you can check theirs and ours.
Free AI manager questions, answered
Is there a free AI social media manager?
Yes. On the pages read on 2 October 2026, five tools kept a free plan with no end date and an AI feature on it: SpeedRun Social, Publer, Buffer, Metricool and Zoho Social. Only ours writes, designs and publishes on the free plan, and it is 300 credits a month refilled forever, one free campaign a week (3 posts, 1 video, 1 cross-post), no card, watermarked media on free.
Which free AI tool makes images and videos?
SpeedRun Social makes both on its free plan, one short video a week. Publer's AI Assist creates photos on every plan, free included, but makes no video. Buffer, Metricool and Zoho Social list no image or video generation on their pricing pages.
Can a free AI tool post to social media for me?
Four of the five publish on the free plan, within limits: Publer to 3 accounts excluding X, Buffer to 3 channels, Metricool to one brand's networks except LinkedIn and X, and SpeedRun Social to the accounts you connect, once you approve each post. Zoho Social's page lists content scheduling among the features of its paid Standard plan.
What is the catch with free AI social media tools?
Each free plan caps something: posts, accounts, AI use or the look of the media. Ours watermarks its media and makes one campaign a week; Publer's leaves out X and keeps posts for 24 hours; Buffer's AI only polishes your text; Metricool's skips LinkedIn and X; Zoho Social's lists scheduling among its paid Standard features.
What does it cost when the free plan runs out?
On the pages read on 2 October 2026: Publer Professional at $5.00 a month billed monthly per social account, Buffer Essentials at $6 a month per channel billed monthly, Zoho Social Standard at US$15 a month billed monthly, Metricool Starter from $25 a month billed monthly, and SpeedRun Social Starter at $49.99 a month billed monthly. The yearly prices run lower, and each vendor's are in the section above.
Should a small business start on a free AI tool?
Yes, as a test before paying for anything. Run one real week through two free plans, compare what each leaves you to do yourself, and only then decide whether the time it saves is worth a paid plan.
Run one week through two free plans
Put the same business through our free plan and one other from the table, then compare what each one leaves you to write, design and post yourself. Ours needs no card and has no end date.
Every limit on this page was read on 2 October 2026 from the vendors' own pricing pages. Free plans change; the links exist so you can check theirs and ours.