Unclaimed: Are you working at Buffer?
Buffer Reviews: 4.3/5 — Solid Choice
Buffer is a social media management platform that lets users schedule, publish, and analyze their social media content. Buffer offers content planning and creation tools and delivers comprehensive social media analytics, while at the same time supporting team collaboration and ensuring better consistency and efficiency for users’ social media strategies.
| Capabilities |
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Mobile Android, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Buffer charges per channel, and its Essentials plan allows exactly one user account. On a five-channel setup that is $25 a month. Adding a sixth channel costs $5 more. Adding a second person means moving to the Team plan, which doubles the per-channel rate across every channel you already have — so the same five channels become $50. A colleague costs five times what a channel costs, and the pricing page does not put those two numbers anywhere near each other.
- What it is: A social media management tool priced by connected channel rather than by seat.
- Best for: Solo creators and small brands managing a handful of channels.
- Pricing: Free for 3 channels; Essentials $5 and Team $10 per channel per month on yearly billing. Verified July 2026.
- The honest catch: One user on Essentials — the second person doubles your whole bill.
What Is Buffer?
Buffer is a long-standing social scheduling tool, and its commercial model is genuinely unusual: “only pay for the channels you use.” Rather than charging per seat or by post volume, it meters connected channels, letting you add them as you grow and remove them when you don’t.
A channel stepper on the page lets you set your channel count and watch the price move. Both paid plans include unlimited scheduled posts and unlimited ideas, an AI assistant, advanced analytics, a community inbox, hashtag manager, and first-comment scheduling.
The free plan is unusually generous on breadth and tight on depth: three channels, but only 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time — refillable, so it is a queue depth rather than a monthly cap — plus 100 ideas, one user, and API access.
How Buffer Works
- Channels are the meter, not seats or posts.
- The rate is flat per channel — no volume discount at any count.
- Essentials allows one user account.
- Team allows unlimited team members at double the channel rate.
- Yearly billing saves exactly two months.
- API access on every tier, including free.
Buffer Pricing
Captured from Buffer’s pricing page in July 2026 in US dollars, reading both billing toggles and stepping the channel count.
| Plan | Per channel, yearly | Per channel, monthly | Users | API |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, up to 3 channels | $0 | 1 | 1 key, 3,000 req/mo |
| Essentials | $5 | $6 | 1 | 3 keys, 7,500 req/mo |
| Team | $10 | $12 | Unlimited | 5 keys, 15,000 req/mo |
| Channels | Essentials/mo | Essentials/yr | Team/mo | Team/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5 | $60 | $10 | $120 |
| 5 | $25 | $300 | $50 | $600 |
What actually decides your cost:
- The second user is the expensive addition, not the second channel. Essentials permits one user account. Team permits unlimited — but charges double per channel to do it. On five channels that is $25 a month against $50, so bringing in one colleague costs exactly as much as your entire existing subscription. There is no middle option, and no way to add a single extra seat.
- Channels price perfectly linearly. One channel is $5 on Essentials and five channels are $25; one is $10 on Team and five are $50. No discount arrives at any count, which matters because a normal brand presence spans five to eight channels. Budget your channel count times the rate and you have your bill exactly.
- “Save 2 months” on yearly billing is precisely true. Essentials is $6 monthly and $60 yearly — twelve months at $6 would be $72, so you save $12, exactly two months. Team is $12 monthly and $120 yearly against $144, saving $24. Both work out to 16.67%, and both claims check out to the cent.
- The free plan’s limit is queue depth, not monthly volume. Ten scheduled posts per channel, described as “refill anytime” — so it caps how much you can have lined up, not how much you can publish. On three channels that is thirty posts queued. For someone who batches a month of content on a Sunday, it will bind quickly; for someone posting as they go, it may never.
- API access is on every tier including free. One key and 3,000 requests a month free, three keys and 7,500 on Essentials, five keys and 15,000 on Team. Very few tools at this price expose an API on a free plan at all.
- Approval workflows require Team. Access levels and content approval workflows only appear on the top tier — which is consistent, since they are meaningless with one user, but it does mean any process requiring sign-off lands you on the doubled rate.
Who Should Use Buffer
- Solo creators. The clearest case — one person, a few channels, and a bill that scales exactly with what you connect.
- Small brands with focused presence. Three to five channels on Essentials is $15–$25 a month.
- Anyone whose channel mix changes. Add and remove channels freely; the price follows.
- Developers. API access on every plan, including the free one.
It fits poorly for teams, given that the second user doubles the bill; for agencies managing many client brands, where per-channel pricing compounds badly; and for anyone needing approval workflows on a budget.
Honest Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Pay only for connected channels — a genuinely fair model for narrow presences.
- Unlimited scheduled posts on both paid plans.
- A permanently free plan covering three channels.
- The two-month yearly saving is exactly accurate.
- API access on every tier, including free.
- Add and remove channels at will, with the price following.
Limitations
- One user account on Essentials.
- The second user doubles the per-channel rate across every channel.
- No volume discount at any channel count.
- Approval workflows require the Team plan.
- The free plan caps queued posts at 10 per channel.
- Per-channel pricing compounds for multi-brand work.
Buffer Alternatives and How It Compares
- Later is the visual-first option, strongest on Instagram.
- SocialBee offers category-based evergreen recycling.
- Tailwind specialises in Pinterest and Instagram.
- Zoho Social prices by brand rather than channel, and has dedicated agency tiers.
- Hootsuite is the enterprise incumbent, at considerably higher cost.
- Sprout Social targets larger teams with deeper analytics and per-seat pricing.
For a broader survey, browse our social media management directory.
The Verdict
Buffer’s pricing model is the most honest in this category for the person it is built for. Charging per connected channel rather than per seat or per post means a creator with three channels pays for three channels, and can drop one the month they stop using it. Both paid plans include unlimited scheduling, and the free tier covers three channels permanently with API access — something almost nobody else offers at zero. If you are one person managing a focused presence, very little here works against you.
The model turns sharply the moment a second person is involved. Essentials allows exactly one user account, and the only way to add another is the Team plan, which doubles the per-channel rate on every channel you have. A five-channel brand goes from $25 a month to $50 to bring in a colleague — the same increase as adding five more channels. There is no per-seat option and no middle tier, so a two-person team pays the same rate as a twenty-person one, which is generous at the top end and punishing at the bottom. Approval workflows and access levels also live only on Team, so any process requiring sign-off arrives at the doubled price by definition.
Two things worth crediting. The “save 2 months” yearly claim is exactly right — $6 to $60 and $12 to $120, both precisely 16.67%, which is more than several vendors reviewed here this month managed. And the free plan’s limit is worth reading carefully: ten scheduled posts per channel, refillable, is a cap on how much you can queue rather than how much you can publish. If you batch a month of content in one sitting, that will stop you almost immediately; if you post as you go, you may never notice it.
FAQ
How much does Buffer cost?
Captured in July 2026 in US dollars, priced per connected channel. On yearly billing, Essentials is $5 per channel per month ($60 a year per channel) and Team is $10 ($120 a year). On monthly billing those are $6 and $12. A five-channel account costs $25 a month on Essentials or $50 on Team. There is also a permanently free plan covering three channels.
How many users does Buffer allow?
One on the free plan and one on Essentials. The Team plan allows unlimited team members, but charges double per channel — $10 rather than $5 — across every channel on the account. There is no option to add a single extra seat, so a two-person team pays the same per-channel rate as a much larger one.
Does Buffer get cheaper with more channels?
No. The rate is flat at every channel count — $5 per channel on Essentials whether you connect one or ten, and $10 on Team. One channel is $5 and five channels are $25, exactly. That makes the bill trivially predictable, but it also means a broad social presence across eight or more channels costs proportionally more with no volume relief.
Is Buffer’s free plan worth using?
For a light posting schedule, yes. It covers three channels permanently with one user, 100 ideas, the AI assistant, insights, a community inbox, and API access with one key and 3,000 requests a month. The binding limit is ten scheduled posts per channel — a queue depth rather than a monthly cap, refillable as posts go out — which suits posting as you go rather than batching in advance.
What is the difference between Buffer Essentials and Team?
People and process. Both include unlimited scheduled posts, unlimited ideas, the AI assistant, advanced analytics, hashtag manager, and first-comment scheduling. Team adds unlimited team members, access levels, content approval workflows, and a larger API allowance — five keys and 15,000 requests against three and 7,500. It costs double per channel, so the upgrade doubles your whole bill rather than adding a seat fee.
Compare Buffer with other popular tools in the same category.
Despite the fact of being the leading solution when it comes to social media post scheduling, Buffer is really great tool to outsource and maximize engagement on your business or personal pages.
Nothing really. Buffer have a huge market share when it comes to social media scheduling tool and have ton of experience making their product truly effective for their users.
Buffer is great for any aspiring social media content creator to small to medium or big businesses across the board. Anyone truly can benefits from this solution really.
I've been using it for years and it's a very clean space to work on. The white background makes it easy. Love the analytics part, very helpful! Easy to work
It can get pricey as you add multiple social accounts. And it disconnects from channels (but they all do) sometimes.
The ability to post on multiple accounts and channels at the same time and to be able to view it all at once. To get the big picture.
A great platform for social media scheduling, social media analytics, social media monitoring, social media listening and many other features that we use every single day.
There are a few features that we get errors with. Since Buffer is a third-party tool, sometimes the connection between Buffer and the social media platforms becomes disconnected so posts do not go through.
We have used many different third-party tools and Buffer seems to be one of the best with the different features. I also like how they add new features as well to stay relevant.
The best part is tool is very robust. We can login at one place and easily update the post and also set the time. The post will get updated on your selected social platforms.
I don't find anything in the app to dislike, have been using from the last 2years for my clients.
Easy posting, save my time, can easily set time for social post, can post on diff platform. Can easily manage accounts.
The adiditon of calendar + the entire suite of products tie together the publishing workflow perfectly. If you're concerned with publishing quality content quickly with a small-ish team, buffer cant be beat.
The lack of social listening (@'s , replies etc) without the separate app can make the overall social 'management' trickier. If you deal with customer replies / support online you may need another app.
Having a small marketing / social team means that the less time we spend maneuvering a social app, the more time we can focus on streamlining publishing and timing for max impact.
I like how easy it is to create an account and use the scheduling system
I dislike how you can schedule carousel-based posts.
I'm solving a need to be able to schedule IG and FB posts for multiple clients at once.
I am absolutely in love with the calendar view, seeing all my scheduled posts from all my campaigns in 1 neat place. And now with the enhanced Analysing view, being able to discern which posts perform well & understand my social metrics in 1 easy to digest view makes me job loads easier & more enoyable.
Now with the multi-campaign, multi-channel month calendar view & Analysis & Engagement tools, I have nothing to complain about. These were my biggest pain points earlier this year, but Buffer has listened to their customers & given us this much-requested functionality.
I am a 1-person marketing department & I manage a global brand, so being able to plan my social media calendars across various channels, schedule content out weeks & months in advance, as well as be able to easily understand what content on what channels is performing best for our strategy is priceless for me & my limited time.
I usually prepare posts for our startup Instagram account before; sometimes, we have many Instagram posts to prepare for different dates, it can become hard to maintain quickly. After finding Buffer, we didn't miss any dates, and users always get our event dates on time. This app is crucial because event promotions must be published in 3 or 4 months to achieve expected sales; with that time window is easy to forget to post some; fortunately, now we have Buffer.
I wish they could provide the stories schedule with the free plan; we understand that developers need retribution for their work, but for countries where the dollar is not the primary currency, it is expensive to maintain a business account for the price.
We promote and support local electronic music events. We use Instagram to reach a larger audience; Buffer has become our allie, let us relax, and when the time to post comes, we get a handy notification to remind us. This way, we have more time to focus on other tasks, and always be on time to get our followers informed.
I love how you can post all your posts for the week instead of having to post each day or time you want to post. This gives you have the freedom to post any day anytime. You can also schedual posts before you go on vacation. This platform also gives you the option to post on multiple social meida platfoms as well. This is were you save time when you are posting the same thing to all your social platforms.
I'm not too fond of the fact that the videos, album posts need to be pushed through. It would be awesome if they would have it automatically post like the others. Another thing that is not that great is when the post does it actually post as it should. I feel like they need to move buttons around on the site it does get confuing and I put the wrong button and I accdently posts when I was not ready to do that. Then I have to go back and update each account if i have to change wording or time to post.
We are saving time getting all our posts out for the week or the following two weeks. I spend 20-30 min to post for 1-2 weeks of posts which saves tons of time for me when time is tight. This allows us to get our face out in the community to help us drive in more business. This also solves the repedativeness of posting the same thing on 4 different social accounts. This is where is comes in the most handy.
I like how user-friendly Buffer is. Even if you've never used a social media tool before, you'll be able to figure out how to use Buffer quickly and begin utilizing it immediately.
The analytics section of Buffer could be more in-depth, but overall it still provides a decent overview.
The main problem I am solving with Buffer is scheduling out social media posts across my company's LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook pages. Using Buffer, I can schedule campaigns to be posted even when I am on PTO or over weekends.
![Samuel [SAM] J. avatar](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/avatar/image/392903/thumb_square_69ae4e80abbe7efb23b5f1634320fc8b.jpg)
Buffer is an amazing social media organizing tool. Buffer can be used to share content on different social media channels at the same time without logging into respective accounts. Buffer supports multi-media format sharing. All the contents shared using buffer can be tracking using custom URLs. Buffer also provides actionable reports to improve social media activities.
Buffer does not support Linkedin Groups integration.
Buffer is a time-saving tool. We are using Buffer to engage with our social media followers. We have integrated Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin handles with Buffer. Without doubt one can say that Buffer is one of the best tool for small and medium scale enteprises.
It's easy to schedule your social post with this. It's swift and very helpful for small business owners like me. Buffer makes it easier to carry out our tasks in a very straightforward and simple way.
Buffer can't help you reply comments on social post, you'll have to do that yourself. It's sad
Posting one by one through many accounts. Now I can schedule it and buffer will do the work for me.
I can post content across other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and Twitter all at the same time. It's easy to use, scheduling also very simple; I am confident new users will not find it challenging to use. I also like that I don't get signed out when my computer sleeps or my internet turns off.
I cannot post videos! I don't know; maybe the feature is available on the premium version.
Convenience, I manage three social platforms on one buffer account; before Buffer, I have to sign in to those pages to post, but with this, I only need to sign in once to access all three-channels
Buffer is frequently used by me for different projects. It is easy to use. fast account setup and availability of all major social profiles to link. You can share anything in all the social media platforms immediately. It helps in boosting seo. Happy to use this project.
I found that there is a wide difference in plan rates and they are not made justifiable. The free account has big limitations and even the basic account has only one user restriction.
Social media content sharing in one click. Helping SMM strategy. Helping SEO
Buffer is SIMPLE. It's user-friendly and easy to understand. I love being able to show my boss the quick layout to approve posts. The updates to design in the app that I've seen through the years have only made it better, and I plan to use it for a long time in the future.
I wish they'd integrate a TikTok feature, but I know it's coming down the line!
I'm keeping my content consistent across platforms and easily getting my message out to our followers and beyond. I've been a user of Buffer through the past three companies I've worked at, over 7 years. It has been extremely beneficial in allowing me to schedule posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest through these companies, making my content cohesive with a single voice, and allowing me to schedule all my posts in one sitting, so I can focus on other things throughout my work day.
You can customize messaging and content for different platforms
You can't tag people/pages on Facbook/Linkedin
Cuts the time spent on pasting content across different social media platforms
We use Buffer to schedule content publications in the social networks of our organization, I have been able to efficiently control our active accounts and keep them always up to date, through a software that does not represent any complication, its interface is pleasant, it is extremely easy to use and its functionalities and analytics are excellent references to know how we are doing day after day.
Only that the mobile version does not have all the features that the web version has, however I think it is normal, as in many applications.
Buffer has helped us enormously to manage our social networks, we have obtained several benefits with its use, we have been able to keep our publications up to date, we even know the best times to publish and improve the experience of our followers generating customers, business opportunities. It has represented a substantial time savings in the fulfillment of the digital marketing work.
Very easy to use, simple integration, handy mobile app
Not its fault, but scheduling to Insta isn't ideal
Very easy to schedule posts across platform, changing images etc
I have been using buffer for the last year or so to schedule posts on our social media accounts. It's simple to use and helps us understand how our content is doing through their great analytics tool.
I have yet to run into any issue with Buffer. It's been great!
It has eliminated the need to sign in to each of our social media profiles and post at each of them. All I have to do is make the post on Buffer, tell it where to post and at what time. That's it!
Buffer is a tool everyone can use, but they are really perfect for small businesses. They offer many flexible plans but their free plan is still good as well as it offer 3 social accounts, 10 scheduled posts, 1 user. The features I like best about Buffer is: - Bit.ly or Branded Link Shortening. - Support Twitter / FB Pages / Instagram / Pinterest - Auto / Manual Posting Scheduling - App for iOS/Android - Their customer service was seriously fantastic
There is not an option to flag/tag comments automatically the user have to tag the comments manually in they are wishing to do comment moderation.
Its definitely a useful app, that makes my social media schedule less complicated and more effective. I saw improvements up to 350% in traffic to my social media platforms.
Buffer lets me post to both my Facebook & Twitter accounts with the same content saving me a lot of duplicating of work.
A lot of features remain locked unless signing up for a monthly subscription.
Eliminated having to log in to several social media platforms to post content.
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I like that you can schedule multiple platforms at once. You can select one platform to post on and content from that post will populate the other pages. You can select certain times of the day to schedule, select schedule next and the post will be automatically scheduled for that time. You can "post now."
Sometimes content does not autopopulate when creating a post, this has led to content being posted but not fully ready. Uploaded pictures do not always transfer if scheduling for multiple platforms at once. It may appear on the original platform but secondary you must double check to see if it was added.
Eliminating the need to post on each individual platform. The ease of posting being all in one place.
I really like how you can post the same thing on multiple social media sites at the same time, while also being able to edit on each individual one also. Also being able to schedule when to do your posts and at what time makes things so convenient when you are posting social media as part of your job,
One of the big dislikes is how on some pictures I try to post on Instagram, depending if the picture size is different than the normal then it will not post so I have to do it manually on my phone on Instagram which is a pain. That is really my only dislike about Buffer.
I have been able to schedule so many posts for the weekend, when I do not work, so that they can be posted as usual and post at the times I want it to. This makes scheduling posts in advance so easy which is great for when I get busy and either have no time to post anything or if I just forget to post something. That way no matter what, something is being posted and keeping my work's social media up to date everyday.
As a social media professional, Buffer is great for helping to simplify scheduling and to make ideal images and posts to boost engagement. They are certainly a leader in the space and tend to offer services that not even the social media platforms themselves will have available. They have also developed tons of tools to help make your images and files ideal for social media platforms and have so much science behind it. I love it.
It would be great if the Instagram features could be more advanced.
It helps to simplify my job as a social media professional and to help grow business by creating data-driven online marketing.
I have been using buffer for last two years for scheduling posts on social media channels such as facebook and Instagram. This tool is quite easy to use. I can easily attach all my social media profiles with this tool and schedule posts on the best performing times on different social media channels. The analytics feature of this tool helps me to understand what kind of content is working for me on social media and what not.
I use this tool for publishing content on social media and I have faced no problems with this toom
This tool helps me to save a lot of time to schedule posts for my clients on social media and using this tool I can save a lot of time and provide in depth report to my clients. Using this tool, the engagement of my social media posts have increased
I am using a buffer to schedule social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. The interface of this tool is excellent and I can easily connect my social media profiles and easily schedule all my social media posts months in advance. Also, I can easily analyze the performance of all my social media posts. Moreover, I can directly schedule posts on Instagram.
This tool is good and I did not face any problems using this tool
Using this tool, I can easily schedule posts across several platforms at right time that helps me to increase the engagement rate and also helps me to save a lot of time that earlier would go into individually login and scheduling the posts
I love how intuitive Buffer is. The Chrome extension makes it easy to share content from any site across channels. Within the platform, you can create content and then customize for channels, saving tons of time.
Analytics and insights are lacking. You only get basic post performance, and not comprehensive page analytics. Upgrades are expensive and make it difficult to manage multiple accounts affordably.
I am managing multiple social media pages for my business and my clients. The intuitive features have saved me tons of time, allowing me to charge more affordable rates to my clients.
I have enjoyed the free plan for almost 2 years and I must say that it is more than enough for all the needs I have had. I can publish to 3 of the most important social networks, on a scheduled basis, and with great control over the look of my publications
I think that the publishing interface could be a little more intuitive. It's not bad at all, but I thingthere are room for improve.
Social media publishing is a tricky matter. With Buffer you can schedule all your future posts even at specific time. For me, that means pace of mind to don't forget publish anymore.
We use it to schedule our social media post across different channels ( Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin ) well ahead. Great organization tool and allows easy queuing, re-ordering and good consolidated overview of what posts are going out in the next few weeks. Price is extremely reasonable as well. Design-wise, it also support GIFs and Videos and allow good preview ahead of publishing. The UI is great for beginners, with easy learning curve.
The tools is generally great, however, there are times when I have to re-login again instead of staying logged in to the social media accounts I am managing (at least for a period of time) which is quite frustrating.
Easy scheduling and management of social media accounts for company