Metricool vs Later, priced from the source
Metricool vs Later for a 1 to 3 person business
Two schedulers that both open at $25 a month, compared on the eight things that decide the purchase: price, accounts, scheduling, AI, approvals, analytics, support and the free tier. Every figure was read off each vendor's own pricing page on 15 September 2026.
Metricool is the pick when the job is measuring a feed on a budget: its free plan covers one brand, twenty posts a month and five competitor profiles, and its paid plans price by the number of brands under management.
Later is the pick when you shoot your own photos and want a visual calendar: its entry plan is one social set of eight profiles with link-in-bio and thirty posts per profile a month.
Both entry plans cost $25 a month, and neither writes the posts for you, which is the gap SpeedRun Social fills.
Where every number came from
- The pricing page carried an Annual/Monthly toggle reading "Annual (save up to 24%)" and a EUR/USD toggle with USD as the default. Billed monthly it listed Free at $0 a month, Starter from $25 a month with "Up to 5 brands for $25/month" and "Up to 10 brands for $45/month", and Advanced from $67 a month with "Up to 15 brands for $67/month", "Up to 25 brands for $107/month" and "Manage up to 50 brands for $210/month". Billed annually Starter read from $20 a month for 5 brands or $36 a month for 10, and Advanced from $53 a month for 15 brands, $85 a month for 25 or $159 a month for 50. Add-ons listed Twitter/X at $10 a month per connected account and Advanced Analytics starting at $12 a month. A footnote read "The prices indicated do not include any applicable VAT." metricool.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- The Free plan was listed at $0 a month and described as managing 1 brand, managing social networks except LinkedIn and Twitter, scheduling up to 20 posts a month, analyzing 5 competitor profiles and keeping 30 days of analytics, with an AI social media assistant and Metricool MCP. The FAQ read "Yes! You can use Metricool for free, forever." metricool.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- The Advanced plan was described with a "Post approval system", "Team and client management" and "Role management", and the Custom plan listed a "Dedicated account manager". metricool.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- The pricing page defaulted to yearly billing with a toggle reading "Bill Yearly ... 3 months free | 25% off". Billed monthly it listed Starter at $25 a month, Growth at $50 a month (marked "Most popular") and Scale at $110 a month. Billed yearly the same plans read $18.75, $37.50 and $82.50 a month. The page led with "Manage your entire social media strategy. Free for 14 days" and each plan card read "Start 14-day free trial", so no free plan appeared. later.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- Starter carried 1 social set of 8 profiles, 1 user and 30 posts per profile a month; Growth carried 2 social sets of 16 profiles, 2 users and 180 posts per profile a month; Scale carried 6 social sets of 48 profiles, 4 users and unlimited posts. Extra Social Sets were listed at $15 a month each, extra users at $5 a month each, and extra AI credits at $3.75 a month for 100 credits. later.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- AI content tools were metered as monthly credits: 5 on Starter, 50 on Growth and 100 on Scale, with the note "1 credit generates 3 ideas or 1 caption." Platform analytics history ran up to 3 months on Starter, up to 1 year on Growth and up to 2 years on Scale. later.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
- The feature table read "Content Approval Workflow: No on Starter, Yes on Growth and Scale", and support ran "Basic customer support" on Starter up to "Priority support" on Scale. later.com/pricing, read 15 September 2026
Metricool and Later, side by side
Eight facts that decide the purchase, each cell labelled by billing mode and sourced below.
| What to compare | Metricool | Later |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Starter is $25 a month for up to 5 brands, or $20 a month billed annually; the 10-brand card is $45 a month. | Starter is $25 a month for one social set, or $18.75 a month billed yearly; Growth is $50 a month and Scale $110 a month. |
| Social accounts | Free manages 1 brand; Starter covers up to 5 brands at $25 a month or 10 at $45 a month, one profile per network per brand. | Starter is 1 social set of 8 profiles; Growth is 2 sets of 16 profiles; Scale is 6 sets of 48 profiles. |
| Scheduling limits | Free caps at 20 posts a month; the paid plans list unlimited publishing under a fair-use note. | 30 posts per profile a month on Starter, 180 per profile a month on Growth, unlimited on Scale. |
| AI writing | An AI assistant with 5 credits per brand a month on Free, 20 on Starter and 35 on Advanced. | AI content tools with 5 credits a month on Starter, 50 on Growth and 100 on Scale; 1 credit makes 3 ideas or 1 caption. |
| Approval flow | A post approval system is listed on the Advanced plan, not on Free or Starter. | Content approval workflow is off on Starter and on for Growth and Scale. |
| Analytics | Free keeps 30 days of analytics and 5 competitor profiles; paid plans add unlimited history and up to 100 competitors. | Platform analytics reach 3 months on Starter, 1 year on Growth and 2 years on Scale. |
| Support | No named support tier on the pricing page; a dedicated account manager is listed on Custom. | Basic customer support on Starter, human support above it, priority support on Scale. |
| Free tier | A permanent free plan at $0 a month for one brand, with the FAQ reading "free, forever". | No free plan; the page leads with a free 14-day trial. |
Every cell above was read off metricool.com/pricing or later.com/pricing on 15 September 2026 and links back to the page it came from. Prices move, so open each vendor's pricing page before a number here decides anything.
One section per deciding factor
Price: both open at $25 a month, then they split
Metricool's Starter is $25 a month for 5 brands, or $20 a month billed annually, and its next card is $45 a month for 10 brands. Later's Starter is $25 a month for one social set of 8 profiles, or $18.75 a month billed yearly, and its Growth plan is $50 a month. The two entry prices are the same number buying different things: brands for Metricool, profiles and users for Later.
Accounts: a brand ladder versus a social set
Metricool prices by brand and lets each brand hold one profile per network, so the plan you need is decided by how many businesses you manage. Later prices by social set, where one set is one profile of each of its eight supported platforms, so the plan is decided by how many profiles and users you need. A single-location business fits either; the difference shows up the moment you run a second brand.
Scheduling: a free cap versus per-profile meters
Metricool's free plan caps at 20 posts a month and its paid plans list unlimited publishing under a fair-use note. Later meters the schedule per profile: 30 posts a month on Starter, 180 on Growth and unlimited on Scale. The cap that bites first depends on how many profiles you post to, which is a Metricool strength on the free plan and a Later strength nowhere on the free plan, since Later has none.
AI writing: a credit is a different unit in each
Metricool grants AI assistant credits per brand a month: 5 on Free, 20 on Starter and 35 on Advanced. Later grants 5, 50 and 100 credits a month across its three plans and states that 1 credit makes 3 ideas or 1 caption. Both write the words; neither renders the image and the video from your brand, which is the part of the job both leave to you.
Approval and analytics: where each paid tier draws the line
Metricool puts its post approval system on the Advanced plan only, so a Starter buyer approves nothing in a workflow. Later turns its content approval workflow on at Growth, leaving it off on Starter. On analytics, Metricool keeps 30 days on Free and unlimited history on paid plans, while Later runs 3 months, 1 year and 2 years by tier.
Free tier: a forever plan versus a 14-day clock
Metricool publishes a permanent free plan at $0 a month, one brand, 20 posts a month and 5 competitor profiles, and its FAQ says you can use it free forever. Later publishes no free plan at all; its page leads with a free 14-day trial. On the free tier the two tools are not the same offer, and that single difference decides the purchase for anyone testing on $0.
What changed recently
This page re-read both pricing pages from scratch on 15 September 2026. The Metricool comparison elsewhere on this site was checked 18 August 2026 and the Later one 28 August 2026, so the figures here are the newer read and the ones to trust for today.
The headline fact held across the two reads: both vendors still open their entry plan at $25 a month, Metricool still publishes a permanent free plan and Later still publishes none. The annual modes are the same too, so nothing on this page contradicts the earlier two pages, and the older pages simply carry older check dates.
How this page was priced
The stake first: we build SpeedRun Social, and this page ends by setting our plans beside the two tools. A price sheet written by a rival earns a reader's time only when the rival says so up front, which is why this disclosure sits above the numbers rather than in a footer.
On 15 September 2026 every Metricool figure above was read off metricool.com/pricing, every Later figure off later.com/pricing, and each one links back to the page it came from. Nothing here is restated from a review site, a roundup or an AI answer.
Both vendors publish a monthly and an annual mode, so every price on this page carries its label: a month, billed annually, or billed yearly. Neither vendor told us anything; the numbers are what their own pages printed on the day we read them.
There are no scores, stars, testimonials or customer counts on this page. We are new and have very few customers, and a rating would imply a bake-off nobody ran. Prices move, so open the linked pages before any number here decides anything.
Metricool vs Later, answered plainly
metricool vs later: which should I pick?
Metricool if you want a permanent free plan that measures one brand with 5 competitor profiles, and a paid ladder that prices by the number of brands. Later if you shoot your own photos and want a visual calendar, with one social set of 8 profiles on the entry plan. Both open at $25 a month, and neither generates the posts, which is the tie a buyer breaks on SpeedRun Social.
Is Metricool cheaper than Later?
At the entry, they are the same: both list $25 a month billed monthly. On annual billing Later edges ahead at $18.75 a month billed yearly against Metricool's $20 a month billed annually, but Metricool's entry price buys 5 brands while Later's buys one social set. Cheaper depends on what the dollar has to cover.
Does Later have a free plan?
No. Later's pricing page leads with a free 14-day trial and carries no permanent free tier. Metricool does: a free plan at $0 a month for one brand, 20 posts a month and 5 competitor profiles, with its FAQ saying you can use it free forever.
How many social accounts do I get with each?
Metricool's free plan manages 1 brand, its Starter covers up to 5 brands at $25 a month or 10 at $45 a month, and each brand holds one profile per network. Later's Starter is one social set of 8 profiles, its Growth is 2 sets of 16 profiles, and its Scale is 6 sets of 48 profiles.
Which has better AI writing, Metricool or Later?
Both meter AI writing in credits and neither publishes a free, unlimited writer. Metricool grants 5 credits per brand a month on Free, 20 on Starter and 35 on Advanced; Later grants 5, 50 and 100 credits a month, and states 1 credit makes 3 ideas or 1 caption. Neither renders the image and video from your brand, which is where SpeedRun Social's generation sits.
Can I approve posts before they go live in both?
Not at every tier. Metricool lists a post approval system on its Advanced plan only. Later turns its content approval workflow on at Growth and Scale and leaves it off on Starter. On the entry plans, neither gives you a formal approval queue.
How much does SpeedRun Social cost next to these?
Paid plans are $49.99, $99.99 and $199.99 a month, flat per workspace and not per user, with image and video generation included on every tier. The free plan underneath 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. Unlike both tools, the image, the video and the caption are generated for you rather than assembled from content you produced first.
How current are the figures on this page?
Every number was read on 15 September 2026 from metricool.com/pricing or later.com/pricing, and each claim links back to the page it came from. The two vendors reprice on their own schedules and do not tell us first, so treat this page as a snapshot and recheck their pricing pages before a figure decides for you.
Judge both on the free tier
Metricool keeps a permanent free plan and Later runs a 14-day trial. Ours is the entry with no countdown on it: 300 credits a month refilled forever and one free campaign a week.
Every Metricool and Later figure on this page was read on 15 September 2026 from the pricing pages of both vendors. Prices move; the links above exist so you can check theirs and ours.