How much does Buffer cost in 2026?

Essentials, 3 channels: $15 a month on annual billing ($18 billed monthly); Essentials, 5 channels: $25 a month on annual billing ($30 billed monthly); Essentials, 10 channels: $50 a month on annual billing ($60 billed monthly); Team, 5 channels: $50 a month on annual billing ($60 billed monthly). 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each. Checked October 26, 2026.

What is a cheaper alternative to Buffer?

Meta Business Suite (Free for Facebook and Instagram), SocialPilot (Essentials: $17/mo billed yearly for 5 accounts ($20 monthly)), Metricool (Free: 1 brand and 20 posts a month; Starter from $20/mo billed yearly), Postiz (Free to self-host; hosted from $23/mo billed yearly for 5 channels). Enough if you only post to Facebook and Instagram, but it doesn’t cover LinkedIn, TikTok or X.

Social media scheduling and analytics

Should you build your own Buffer?

Q: Should you build your own Buffer?

Buy it. Buffer charges $5 per channel a month on yearly billing, so five channels cost $25, about $900 over three years. The Free plan covers three channels with 10 scheduled posts each. A scheduler is easy to draw, but posting to Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and X means API approvals and rule changes on every platform, and a build would cost about $4,800 over the same period.

Buy it. At $25 a month for five channels, Buffer costs less than the API breakage you’d chase.

BUY

Short answer

Buffer charges $5 per channel a month on yearly billing, so five channels cost $25, about $900 over three years. The Free plan covers three channels with 10 scheduled posts each. A scheduler is easy to draw, but posting to Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and X means API approvals and rule changes on every platform, and a build would cost about $4,800 over the same period.

Buy for 3 years: $900
Build and run for 3 years: $4,825
Verdict: BUY

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Cheaper options

FreeMeta Business SuiteFree for Facebook and InstagramEnough if you only post to Facebook and Instagram, but it doesn’t cover LinkedIn, TikTok or X.CheaperSocialPilotEssentials: $17/mo billed yearly for 5 accounts ($20 monthly)About a third cheaper at five accounts, though the saving is only $8 a month.CheaperMetricoolFree: 1 brand and 20 posts a month; Starter from $20/mo billed yearlyAdds analytics and reports, but the free plan leaves out LinkedIn and X.Open sourcePostizFree to self-host; hosted from $23/mo billed yearly for 5 channelsAn open-source scheduler, but self-hosting means you handle each network’s app approval yourself.

Buffer pricing in 2026

Plan	Billed yearly	Billed monthly
Essentials, 3 channels	$15/mo	$18/mo
Essentials, 5 channels Typical	$25/mo	$30/mo
Essentials, 10 channels	$50/mo	$60/mo
Team, 5 channels	$50/mo	$60/mo

Free plan: 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each

Paying too much? The Free plan is enough if you post a few times a week on up to three channels, since it allows 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time.

Priced per channel, not per user, and read on Buffer’s pricing page. Billed yearly it is $5 (Essentials) or $10 (Team) per channel a month; billed monthly it is $6 or $12. Each plan row multiplies by its channel count. Checked October 26, 2026.

Run your own numbers

Defaults are a typical small team at $30/hour. Change anything.

If you buy Buffer

Plan

If you build it

Your time, $ per hour

Hours to build

Upkeep, hours per month

Hosting and services, $ per month

Buy

$900

Build

$4,825

Buying is about $3,925 cheaper over 3 years.

3-year totals. Building includes your time, upkeep, running costs and one month of an AI app builder ($25). Change any number to match your situation.

What you’d build

Connect accounts with OAuth for two or three networks
A calendar and queue that publishes at set times
Image and link uploads with a preview per network
A simple list of results pulled from each network

Our estimate for hosting plus a small job queue. Platform API fees, such as X’s, are extra.

What you’d give up

Support for every network and every post type
Mobile apps and the browser extension
Analytics, hashtag manager and first-comment scheduling
Team approvals and a shared community inbox

Risks the price doesn’t show

Platform APIsHigh

Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok and X each need app approval and change their rules often.

Silent failuresMedium

A missed post is public, and you won’t notice without monitoring.

Expired loginsMedium

Each network’s login expires, and someone has to reconnect it.

When the verdict flips

Switch to SocialPilot or Postiz once you manage ten or more channels: SocialPilot’s Standard plan covers 10 accounts for $34 a month, against $50 on Buffer Essentials.

Sources

Buffer pricing

Build hours are our estimates for one person using an AI app builder. How we score. Spotted a wrong price? Tell us on X @BuildictHQ.

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