We have been covering social media automation tools since long and published detailed comparison of popular tools like Buffer, SocialPilot and hootsuite.
Recently, we received various emails asking for best alternatives of Buffer, one of the most popular social media automation tools. Buffer is no undoubtedly an amazing and leading tool but there are some tools which offers similar features at less price. Yes, we found that the price structure of Buffer starts from $5 per month per channel! yes, what if you want to publish on multiple channel? you will have to pay extra while other Buffer alternatives offers same feature at very less price. We will cover them in later section of this blog but before that, lets have a look at while you should use Buffer alternatives to automate your social media publishing work.
Take a look at below screenshot we taken from January 2022 Statista report about most popular social network in the world ranked by total number of monthly active users in million.
Facebook is leading the chart with over 2910 Million active users in January 2022 followed by Youtube on 2nd position.
What does it mean?
This clearly depict that, your social media strategy must not limited to only single social media channel. Yes, you must target audience on all different channels depending upon your target audience. Lets for example, if you are targeting Female audience in fashion niche, you must include Pinterest as it is having over 60% of Female active users.
By analyzing given statistics, any social media marketing plan must include multiple channel and when you target multiple channel, you must require time to design and publish creative by considering individual channel. This is where it comes handy to use Buffer alternative social media tools to publish / schedule and analyze the social media post at cheap price.
Before we start our list, lets have a look at some of the features and pricing offered by Buffer:
Buffer App and Its Feature / Pricing
As with Buffer, social media marketers can write a bunch of posts at one time and schedule them through Buffer to be posted throughout the day/week/month without extra intervention. In fact, Buffer was created to schedule Twitter updates through smarter sharing and since its launch; several features have been added to make it much more relevant for modern businesses.
Whether you have access to internet or not, Buffer allows for posts to be added in a queue and timely posts them in social profiles. Buffer scheduling is also compatible with mobile apps. Buffer also provides feed automation feature for awesome and business users.
Since its inception, Buffer have changed their pricing structure periodically which increased at large extent force individual to think for better alternatives.
Let me share their current pricing for reference:
As you can see, the pricing structure of Buffer app is based on channel and if you are publishing on multiple channel, you will have to pay extra per month per channel.
To make your decision easier, here we have listed some of the most popular tools you can try to migrate your publishing work from Buffer app.
Buffer App Alternative Social Media Tools
The list starts with my all time favorite tool, social pilot.
#1 Buffer Alternative – SocialPilot
SocialPilot has been and still remains one of the most popular social scheduling and marketing tools for businesses and brands worldwide. The platform is designed to help marketers be more efficient in online marketing, especially through social media and save themselves a lot of money and time in the process.
SocialPilot’s bulk scheduling allows for scheduling of posts across several social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and more. Marketers will just need to upload a CSV file containing the post and the timing and SocialPilot takes care of the rest. The link shortening feature of SocialPilot too is relevant when trying to post longer URLs.
SocialPilot tool allows users to add & manage RSS feed directly from the dashboard. Users can also set the frequency of RSS feed for various blog’s depending on the number of articles they publish on their blogs. You can also stop feed automation at any time by just clicking on Active button.
They are offering 4 different plans and their professional plan start at just $30 per month allows you to connect 10 social media channels with upto 5 schedule posts from RSS Feeds.
#2 Buffer Alternative – Agorapulse
Agorapulse is in my top 3 list for Buffer alternatives as they don’t just provide all amazing feature, but it is one of those early tools in this niche. It will allow you to schedule your post which improves your social media strategy. You can use the extension of the RSS feed using it and auto post RSS feed to Twitter.
AgoraPulse is currently offering 4 different plans mentioned below:
- Free plan – allows you to connect 3 social profiles and 1 user
- Pro plan @ $79 per month – 10 social profiles and 2 users
- Premium plan @ $199 per month – 20 social profiles and 4 users
- Enterprise plan => You will have to contact them for pricing
#3 Buffer Alternative – Hootsuite
If you are looking for best buffer alternative app, I can name Hootsuite in top 3 list without any doubt. One of the most popular app offers their professional plan at just $49 per month which includes:
- Up to 10 social media profile
- 1 user
- Unlimited message scheduling and real time analytics.
Hootsuite too supports automatic bog content distribution across social networks through RSS feeds. It even offers the convenience of automatic shortening of links using services like Bit.ly and awesome to make the post relevant for Twitter.
Hootsuite scheduling will automatically take up blog posts and new updates and shortens the URL to be sent as a tweet. You also have the option to filter out posts by defining specific keywords.
#4 Buffer Alternative – IFTTT
IFTTT is another web based service that enables users in creating conditional statements that trigger posts based on feeds in Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and other channels. For example, if a certain user includes a hash tag that you have defined, his feed would be collected and added to your library or posted onto your networks.
IFTTT is especially useful when you are trying to bring together all photo feeds across the globe into a single platform. Of course, the photos collected should have the hash tag you have defined.
Their FREE forever plan offers 5 Applets with unlimited Applet runs and FREE mobile app access. You can try their FREE plan to test the functionality and can opt for Pro plan offers 20 Applets.
#5 Buffer Alternatives – dlvr.it
This tool has been especially promising for individuals and businesses managing a social media marketing and publishing. With dlvr.it you can not only schedule posts but also have it shared across your social and blogging networks automatically. This helps increase the reach of the posts while keeping your platform active.
As an alternative to Buffer App, dlvr.it also shows the performance stats of tweets, shares and likes. This information can be later analyzed to better your social strategies. dlvr.it claims to provide automation to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other social media sites using their RSS feeds feature.
They are offering 3 different plans in which the FREE plan allows you to connect 2 platoforms and 3 feeds/site. Checkout their pricing page to learn more about various plan and its features.
#6 Buffer App Alternative – Coschedule
Coschedule is the of the best tool to create automation for your social media post. It will improve your workflow if you are active on social media and need to be free from regular posting on different platforms. Furthermore, there is quite a competitive pricing and a free plan is also available.
They are offering 3 different plans: FREE, Pro and Marketing Suite. The FREE Forever plan provides you to connect upto 2 social media profiles with unlimited marketing projects and content. Checkout their pricing page provided below to learn about all different plans and facilities.
Conclusion:
When we talk about app to use as Buffer alternatives, we really respect the amazing tool the Buffer team have developed. Its all about target audience and the value for money. If you are individual or small agency and looking for low cost social media automation tools, these can be your best alternative to move from Buffer and can save huge while not compromising the features. These tools will save a lot of time and there is always something more productive you can do as compared to these repetitive tasks! Some of the features are paid and you can always try them before making your purchase decision.