Prices read from the source
What social media management software costs in 2026
From $0 a month on a free plan to $399 per user a month billed annually. On 2 October 2026 seven of seventeen tools kept a free plan, the cheapest paid plan was Publer's at $5.00 a month billed monthly per social account, and the per-seat suites started at $99 per user a month billed monthly.
Seventeen tools, each priced from its own page on one date, in both billing modes wherever the vendor prints both.
Social media management software costs nothing to about $50 a month billed monthly for one business, and from $99 per user a month billed monthly once a vendor charges by the seat. Seven of the seventeen tools read for this page keep a free plan with no end date, and the paid entry plans start at $5.00 a month billed monthly.
The sticker price is the smaller half of the answer. What the vendor counts decides the bill: a social account, a channel, a brand, a social set, a workspace, a seat or a pile of credits. The same small team can pay $15 a month billed monthly on a per-brand plan or close to $200 a month billed monthly for two people on a per-seat plan.
SpeedRun Social is our product and appears in the table at its real prices, a free plan and paid plans from $49.99 a month billed monthly. It sits first among the free plans because its free plan writes, designs and publishes, the tie-break this page uses, and it is not the cheapest paid plan here; Publer and Buffer are.
Seventeen tools, priced side by side
Every cell was read on 2 October 2026 from the vendor's own pricing page. "Cheapest paid plan" is the month-to-month price of the lowest paid tier; the next column is the same tier prepaid for a year. Free plans sort first, ordered by how much of the whole job each does, and Hootsuite prints no month-to-month price at all.
| Tool | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan, billed monthly | Same plan, prepaid yearly | Top self-serve plan | Billing unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpeedRun Socialours | Yes, writes, designs and publishes | Starter $49.99 | $39.99 a month | Pro $199.99 | Flat per workspace |
| Publer | Yes, 3 accounts, no X | Professional $5.00 | $4.00 a month | Business $10.00 | Per social account |
| Buffer | Yes, 3 channels | Essentials $6 | $5 a month | Team $12 | Per channel |
| Metricool | Yes, 1 brand, 20 posts a month | Starter from $25 | from $20 a month | Advanced up to $210 | Per brand bracket |
| Zoho Social | Yes, 1 brand, 6 channels | Standard US$15 | US$10 a month | Premium US$65 | Per brand |
| Pallyy | Yes, 15 posts a month | Pro $25 | $20 a month | Scale $199 | Per social set |
| Typefully | Yes, 10 posts a month | Creator, annual only | Creator $99 a year | Business $20 per set | Per social set |
| Later | No, 14-day trial | Starter $25.00 | $18.75 a month | Scale $110.00 | Per social set of 8 |
| Ocoya | No, 7-day trial | Starter $29 | $290 a year | Agency $199 | Per plan, shared credits |
| SocialPilot | No, 14-day trial | Essentials $30 | $25.50 a month | Ultimate $200 | Per plan |
| Predis.ai | No, 3-day trial with card | Core $32 | $24 a month | Enterprise+ $249 | Per plan, credits and brands |
| Planable | First 50 posts free | Basic $39 | $33 a month | Pro $59 | Per workspace |
| Loomly | No, free trial | Starter $65 | $49 a month | Beyond $332 | Per plan |
| Vista Social | No, 14-day trial | Professional $99 | $80 a month | Scale $449 | Per plan |
| Agorapulse | No, 30-day trial | Standard $99 per user | $79 per user a month | Advanced $199 per user | Per user |
| Sprout Social | No, 30-day trial | Essentials $99 per seat | $79 per seat a month | Advanced $399 per seat, annual billing | Per seat |
| Hootsuite | No, 14-day trial | Not printed | Standard $99 per user a month | Advanced $399 per user, billed annually | Per user |
Where the prices cluster
Free, with no end date
SpeedRun Social, Publer, Buffer, Metricool, Zoho Social, Pallyy and Typefully keep a free plan. They differ more than their $0 suggests: SpeedRun Social's writes, designs and publishes one campaign a week with a watermark; Publer's covers 3 accounts without X; Buffer's covers 3 channels; Metricool's one brand without LinkedIn or X; Pallyy's 15 image posts a month.
Under $15 a month billed monthly
Publer's Professional plan at $5.00 a month per social account and Buffer's Essentials at $6 a month per channel, both billed monthly, are the cheapest paid ways in. They grow with every account or channel added, so a business on five networks pays five times the sticker.
$15 to $50 a month billed monthly
Zoho Social's Standard, Typefully's Business, Pallyy's Pro, Later's Starter, Metricool's Starter, Ocoya's Starter, SocialPilot's Essentials, Predis.ai's Core and Planable's Basic sit here, along with SpeedRun Social's Starter at $49.99 a month. This is where most one-location businesses land once they outgrow a free plan.
$50 to $100 a month billed monthly
Loomly's Starter at $65 a month and Vista Social's Professional at $99 a month, both billed monthly, sell team features, approval workflows, more accounts and more users, at one fixed price rather than per seat.
From $99 per user a month
Agorapulse, Sprout Social and Hootsuite price by the person. Agorapulse and Sprout Social start at $99 per user a month billed monthly; Hootsuite prints $99 per user a month billed annually and no monthly price. A second person doubles the bill before anything else changes.
What the vendor counts decides the bill
Per social account or channel
Publer counts social accounts and Buffer counts channels, so two Facebook pages and an Instagram account are three of either. The sticker is small and the bill tracks the roster.
Per brand or social set
Metricool and Zoho Social count brands, and Later, Pallyy and Typefully count social sets, a bundle of one profile per network. All the networks of one business fit in one brand or one set.
Per user or seat
Agorapulse, Sprout Social and Hootsuite count people. The roster barely matters; the headcount is the bill.
Per plan or workspace
SocialPilot, Loomly, Vista Social, Ocoya and Planable sell a plan with a set number of accounts and users, and SpeedRun Social charges one price per workspace whatever the roster. Adding a person or a network inside the plan's limits changes nothing.
Credits for AI work
SpeedRun Social, Ocoya and Predis.ai include a monthly credit allowance that AI generation draws down, and Later, SocialPilot and Zoho Social list monthly AI credits too. Read what one credit buys before comparing two plans on price alone.
What the sticker price leaves out
Annual-only pricing. Hootsuite prints its prices billed annually and no month-to-month figure, and Typefully sells Creator on annual billing only. Compare a monthly price with a monthly price.
People. Later's Starter holds 1 user, Publer charges for additional members, and SocialPilot adds $5 a month per extra user on the plans that allow one. A team of three can triple a small plan.
AI allowances. Later's Starter includes 5 AI credits a month and Metricool's page does not say what its assistant produces, while Publer's AI Assist is unlimited only on Business. An AI feature on a pricing page is not a promise of a written week.
Add-ons. Planable sells analytics and the social inbox separately, Metricool sells X access as an add-on, and Predis.ai sells extra brands and channels by the month.
Where every number 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. 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. Nothing in that ladder moves with the number of people or connected accounts; the price is per workspace. speedrunsocial.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Publer's plans page listed a free plan at $0.00 for 3 social accounts excluding X. Professional read $5.00 a month billed monthly or $4.00 billed yearly, and Business $10.00 billed monthly or $8.00 billed yearly, per social account, with additional team members priced separately and Enterprise quoted on request. publer.com/plans, read 2 October 2026
- Buffer's pricing page listed a free plan for up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel. 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, with unlimited team members on Team. buffer.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Metricool's pricing page listed a free plan for 1 brand. Billed monthly, Starter ran from $25 a month for up to 5 brands to $45 a month for up to 10, and Advanced from $67 a month for 15 brands to $210 a month for 50; billed annually, the same tiers ran from $20 to $36 a month and from $53 to $159 a month. 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. Standard read US$15 a month billed monthly or US$10 a month billed annually, Professional US$40 or US$30, and Premium US$65 a month billed monthly, each for 1 brand. 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. Pro read $25 a month billed monthly or $20 a month billed yearly ($240 a year), Agency $99 or $79 ($950 a year) and Scale $199 or $165 ($1,980 a year), with extra social sets at $10 a month. pallyy.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Typefully's pricing page listed a free plan with 10 posts a month. Creator read $99 a year, annual billing only, and Business $20 a month per social set billed monthly or $18 a month billed yearly. typefully.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Planable's pricing page made the first 50 posts free with no time limit. Basic read $39 per workspace a month billed monthly or $33 billed yearly, and Pro $59 a month billed monthly or $49 billed yearly, with unlimited users on both. planable.io/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Later's pricing page listed no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Starter read $25.00 a month billed monthly or $18.75 billed yearly, Growth $50.00 or $37.50 and Scale $110.00 or $82.50 a month, each priced by social set of 8 profiles. later.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Ocoya's pricing page listed no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Starter read $29 a month billed monthly or $290 a year billed yearly, Team $79 a month or $790 a year and Agency $199 a month or $1,990 a year, with shared AI credits on each. ocoya.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- SocialPilot's plans page listed no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Essentials read $30 a month billed monthly or $25.50 billed annually, Standard $50 or $42.50 a month, Premium $100 or $85 a month and Ultimate $200 or $170 a month, each with a set number of accounts and users. socialpilot.co/plans, read 2 October 2026
- Predis.ai's pricing page listed no free plan, only a 3-day trial that takes a card. Core read $32 a month billed monthly or $24 billed yearly, Rise $79 or $55 and Enterprise+ $249 or $212 a month, priced by credits and brands. predis.ai/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Loomly's pricing page listed Starter at $65 a month billed monthly or $49 billed yearly, for 12 social accounts and 3 users, and Beyond at $332 a month billed monthly or $249 billed yearly, with a free trial and no free plan. loomly.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Vista Social's pricing page listed Professional at $99 a month billed monthly or $80 billed yearly for 2 users, Advanced at $199 or $160 a month for 3 users and Scale at $449 or $360 a month for 4 users, each with a 14-day trial and no free plan. vistasocial.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Agorapulse's pricing page listed Standard at $99 per user a month paid monthly or $79 per user a month paid annually, Professional at $149 or $119 a month and Advanced at $199 or $149 a month, with a 30-day free trial and no free plan. agorapulse.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Sprout Social's pricing page listed Essentials at $99 per seat a month billed monthly or $79 per seat a month on annual billing, and Standard at $199, Professional at $299 and Advanced at $399 per seat a month on annual billing, with a 30-day free trial. sproutsocial.com/pricing, read 2 October 2026
- Hootsuite's plans page listed Standard at $99 per user a month, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399, all billed annually with no month-to-month price printed, and a free 14-day trial. hootsuite.com/plans, read 2 October 2026
How these prices were read
The stake first: we build SpeedRun Social, it is one of the seventeen tools in this table, and its row uses the same columns as everyone else's. A price list written by one of the entrants 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. Where a price was drawn outside the page text, the screenshot was read. Nothing comes from a review site, another list or an assistant's answer.
Every figure carries its billing mode. A month-to-month price and a prepaid annual price are both quoted wherever the vendor prints both, because the annual figure is the lower number and quoting it alone flatters the vendor.
The order is the cheapest way in. Free plans come first, and among them the tie is broken by how much of the whole job each one does: writing the post, making the image and a short video, and publishing it. Paid-only tools follow by the month-to-month price of their cheapest plan.
No scores, stars, quoted reviews or customer counts. We are new and have very few customers, so a rating from us would imply a bake-off nobody ran. Prices move, and the links exist so you can check theirs and ours.
Software pricing questions, answered
How much does social media management software cost?
On the pricing pages read on 2 October 2026, from $0 on a free plan to $399 per user a month billed annually. A single business usually pays nothing to about $50 a month billed monthly, and tools priced per seat start at $99 per user a month billed monthly. What the vendor counts, accounts, channels, brands, sets or seats, moves the bill more than the sticker does.
What is the cheapest social media management tool?
Seven tools keep a free plan with no end date: SpeedRun Social, Publer, Buffer, Metricool, Zoho Social, Pallyy and Typefully. The cheapest paid plan was Publer Professional at $5.00 a month billed monthly or $4.00 a month billed yearly per social account, then Buffer Essentials at $6 a month per channel billed monthly or $5 billed yearly.
Is there free social media management software?
Yes, seven of the seventeen tools read here keep one, and they differ a lot. Publer's covers 3 accounts without X, Buffer's 3 channels, Metricool's 1 brand without LinkedIn or X, Pallyy's 15 image posts a month and Typefully's 10 posts a month. Ours 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.
Why do some tools charge per user and others per account?
They bill for the resource they expect to grow with you. Per-user tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Agorapulse charge for each person, so a team of two pays double. Per-account tools such as Publer and Buffer charge for each network you connect. Per-brand and per-set tools such as Metricool and Later count businesses, and flat tools such as SpeedRun Social charge one price per workspace.
Is annual billing worth it?
Only once you know the tool fits. The annual figures read here ran between a tenth and a third below the monthly ones, but a year paid up front is a year committed, and several vendors print the annual figure first. Try the free plan or the trial on the monthly price, then prepay if you are staying.
What does SpeedRun Social cost, and what does it include?
SpeedRun Social is free to start and its 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, flat per workspace. Image and video generation are paid from the plan's monthly credits, so there is no separate media add-on to price.
Price the job, not the sticker
The cheapest line in the table is the cheapest queue, not the cheapest week of finished posts. Ours starts free, writes and designs the posts, and charges one flat price per workspace when you outgrow the free plan.
Every figure on this page was read on 2 October 2026 from the pricing pages linked above. Prices and limits move; the links exist so you can check theirs and ours.