Buffer in 2026: Pricing, Features & How It Compares

Buffer pioneered simple social media scheduling, and for years it was the go-to tool for solo creators who wanted to queue up a few tweets. But Buffer's pricing model hasn't aged well. Every social account you connect is a separate "channel," billed at $6/month on the Essentials plan — or $12/month on the Team plan. Managing five accounts across Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook already puts you at $30-60/month before you've published a single post.

That per-channel math is the number-one reason Buffer users switch to posterly. On our Starter plan you connect up to 5 accounts for a flat $7/month — no per-channel surcharges, no hidden fees. The Pro plan bumps that to 12 accounts for $15/month. For a creator managing half a dozen profiles, that's an annual savings of over $500.

Price aside, the feature gap has widened. Buffer added an "AI Assistant" in 2023, but it's limited to rephrasing existing text. posterly's AI goes further: generate captions from scratch with brand-voice learning, get optimal posting-time recommendations from the AI Agent, and create original images and videos with AI Studio (Nano Banana). These aren't add-ons — they're included in every plan.

Buffer also caps platform support at six networks and has no Google Business Profile integration. If you're a local business that needs GBP posts, review showcases, and profile audits alongside your social scheduling, Buffer simply can't do it. posterly supports 10 platforms today — including GBP, Pinterest, and TikTok — with more on the way.

Switching is fast. There's no data to migrate — just connect your social accounts via OAuth, and you're posting within minutes. Your scheduled posts in Buffer will continue to publish on their timeline; you can let them run out naturally while you start scheduling new content in posterly.