Buffer vs Later vs Hootsuite: Free Plans and Trials Compared

Of the three best-known social schedulers, only one still has a free plan. Buffer's Free tier connects 3 channels and holds 10 scheduled posts per channel. Later and Hootsuite dropped free plans in favor of 14-day trials, with paid tiers starting at $18.75 and $99 per month on annual billing. This guide reads all three pricing pages as checked on October 10, 2026, lists every cap the free plan or trial states, compares the first paid tier and explains how each vendor counts a channel, a profile or an account. Where a page omits a number, the guide says so.

Start with the unit each vendor bills: channel, social set or account

The three vendors price different things. Buffer bills per channel, where a channel is one connected profile such as an Instagram account or a LinkedIn page. Paid plans multiply the per-channel price by the number connected.

Later bills per social set, defined on its page as a group of 8 profiles, one per network. A brand with one account on each of eight networks fits one set. A second brand needs a second set, even if it uses only two networks.

Hootsuite bills per user seat and caps social accounts per plan: 10 on Standard, unlimited on Professional and above. The seat, not the account, is the multiplier, which suits agencies with many clients and few staff.

The same unit question decides automation bills, as explained in Zapier tasks versus Make credits versus n8n executions. Match the unit to the thing your business has most of before comparing headline prices.

Read every limit on Buffer's free plan, not just the channel count

Buffer Free is listed as "Free forever" with "Connect up to 3 channels" and "10 scheduled posts per channel - refill anytime." The refill wording matters: the cap is on the queue, not on monthly volume. Publishing a post frees a slot.

The rest of the free tier, per the comparison table: 1 user, 100 ideas, 3 tags, 1 saved reply, 5 AI reply suggestions per week, Insights with 30-day history, a community inbox and API access with 1 key and 3,000 requests per month. Notes, approval workflows and the performance overview are excluded.

• Buffer Free: 3 channels, 10 queued posts per channel, 1 user, 30-day analytics, AI Assistant included.
• Later: no free plan listed; each paid tier offers a 14-day free trial with that tier's own limits.
• Hootsuite: no free plan; 14-day trial without a credit card, daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organization during the trial, no bulk scheduling.

Hootsuite's trial terms are the most specific of the three. Its FAQ states "Users can start a 14-day trial without a credit card" and "you won't be charged automatically when it ends." The posting cap during the trial means a two-week content calendar cannot be bulk-loaded to test the tool.

Compare the first paid tier at your real channel count

Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel per month, or $60 per channel per year, with unlimited scheduled posts under a fair-use cap of 5,000, advanced analytics and unlimited AI replies. Team is $10 per channel per month, or $120 per year, adding unlimited team members, approval workflows and branded reports.

By editorial calculation, a brand with 6 channels pays $30 per month on Essentials and $60 on Team. The page notes channels 1 through 10 use the standard rate and the per-channel cost drops above 10.

One inconsistency to confirm in checkout: the page says annual billing saves two months, yet the listed $60 per year equals twelve months at $5.

Later Starter is $18.75 per month billed yearly for 1 social set, 30 posts per profile per month, 1 user and 5 AI credits. Growth is $37.50 for 2 sets, 180 posts per profile and 2 users. Scale is $82.50 for 6 sets, unlimited posts and 4 users. Monthly-billed prices were behind a toggle and not shown in the page text read.

Hootsuite Standard "starts at $99" for 1 user and 10 social accounts with unlimited scheduled posts. Professional starts at $199 with unlimited accounts; Advanced is listed up to $399. The page states displayed prices are based on annual billing and exclude tax, and the monthly-billed fields were blank in the copy read.

Watch the add-on rows that change the total

Later sells add-ons only on Growth and Scale: extra social sets at $11.25 per month, extra users at $3.75 and extra AI credits at $3.75 per 100. Starter states "Extra Social Sets, users and AI credits not available," so a Starter account that needs a ninth profile must move to Growth.

Buffer has no add-on list; the channel count is the only dial. Hootsuite's upgrades are seats and tiers. For an agency, the comparison worth running is Metricool versus Sprout Social on per-brand versus per-seat pricing, where the same choice appears at larger scale.

Analytics depth is the other hidden row. Buffer Free keeps 30 days of Insights; Essentials makes history unlimited. Later Starter reports up to 3 months, Growth up to 1 year, Scale up to 2 years. Hootsuite's page does not state a data range per plan in the text read.

Pick by the limit you will hit first

Choose Buffer Free for a single brand on up to three networks that posts a few times a week. The 10-post queue per channel is the constraint; a daily poster on three channels refills it every ten days.

Choose Buffer Essentials when you want unlimited queueing on the same three to six channels for $15 to $30 a month. Choose Later when the profile count per brand is high and the budget per brand is fixed; one set covers eight networks for $18.75 billed yearly.

Choose Hootsuite when several accounts need to sit under one seat with unlimited scheduling and a no-card trial, and when $99 per month on annual billing fits. Agencies posting for many clients with a small team get the most from the seat model.

For the automation layer behind any of them, the self-hosted option in n8n Cloud versus self-hosted keeps execution costs off the scheduler bill.

Frequently asked questions

Does Hootsuite have a free plan in 2026?

No. As of October 10, 2026, the plans page lists Standard, Professional, Advanced and Enterprise with no free tier. It offers a 14-day trial without a credit card, with daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organization and no bulk scheduling during the trial.

How many posts can I schedule on Buffer for free?

10 scheduled posts per channel across up to 3 channels, with the queue refilling as posts publish, per the pricing page checked October 10, 2026. Essentials, at $5 per channel per month, removes the cap under a 5,000-post fair-use limit.

What is a social set on Later?

A group of 8 profiles, one per network, for a single brand. Starter includes 1 set, Growth 2 and Scale 6, at $18.75, $37.50 and $82.50 per month billed yearly. Extra sets cost $11.25 per month on Growth and Scale only.

Which is cheapest for one brand on six networks?

By editorial calculation from the October 2026 pages: Later Starter at $18.75 billed yearly covers all six in one set with 30 posts per profile. Buffer Essentials costs $30 for six channels with unlimited queueing. Hootsuite Standard is $99 on annual billing.

Bottom line

Buffer is the only free option and the cheapest paid one at low channel counts. Later wins on price per profile once a brand uses many networks. Hootsuite costs the most but bills by seat, offers a no-card trial and does not charge when it ends.

Count channels, profiles and seats for your own setup, price each vendor at that count, and confirm the monthly-billed rates in checkout since two of the three pages hid them behind a toggle. All figures reflect October 10, 2026.