How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Buffer is the simplest low-cost switch, with a free plan and per-channel pricing that stays cheap for one or two brands.
- Agorapulse is the strongest pick for teams that live in the inbox, and it still offers a usable free plan.
- Hootsuite and Sprout Social cost more, but they suit larger teams that need listening, approvals, and deep reporting.
- Sendible stands out for agencies because every plan includes unlimited users instead of per-seat billing.
- Later fits visual-first brands, while SocialBee fits creators who reuse evergreen content by category.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Buffer | Simple scheduling on a budget | $6 per channel/month | Yes |
 Hootsuite | Large teams and social listening | $99 per user/month | Free trial (30 days) |
 Later | Visual planning for Instagram and TikTok | $25/month | Free trial |
 SocialPilot | Agencies managing many accounts | $30/month | Free trial (14 days) |
 Agorapulse | Inbox management and team collaboration | See website | Yes |
 Sprout Social | Deep analytics for growing teams | See website | Free trial (30 days) |
 Sendible | Agencies that need unlimited users | $35/month | Free trial (14 days) |
 SocialBee | Evergreen content recycling | $29/month | Free trial (14 days) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best Metricool alternatives
#1Buffer
Best for: Simple scheduling on a budget4.3/5 on
G2 (1,041 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit buffer.com
Starting price$6 per channel/month
Free planYes
Buffer keeps the workflow small. You add posts to a queue, set time slots, and the tool publishes in sequence across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Google Business, Mastodon, X, and Substack. That breadth matters if you post to newer networks alongside the big ones, and the mobile app lets you manage the queue away from your desk.
The free plan covers three channels, which is enough to test the tool on your main accounts before paying. Paid plans bill per channel, so the cost grows in a straight line as you add accounts. For a solo creator with two or three channels, that stays cheaper than most rivals. The trade is depth: Buffer answers what you published and how it performed at a basic level, but it does not track competitors or hashtag performance the way Metricool does. If those reports drive your decisions, pair Buffer with a separate analytics check or pick a different tool on this list.
What we like- Clean queue-based scheduling
- Free plan for up to 3 channels
- AI assistant for drafts and rewrites
Watch out for- Analytics stay basic on lower plans
- No competitor tracking like Metricool
#2Hootsuite
Best for: Large teams and social listening4.3/5 on
G2 (7,433 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit hootsuite.com
Starting price$99 per user/month
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Hootsuite is the enterprise end of this list. Its homepage centers on spotting trends, tracking competitors, and answering questions from your own social data in plain language, with an AI teammate called Hootsuite Wisdom that drafts posts and turns analytics into next steps. Bulk scheduling and recommended posting times keep large calendars moving, and the platform now connects to AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini through MCP connectors.
That power comes with a price structure built for teams, not solo creators. Every user costs $99 per month on the Standard plan, so a five-person team pays far more than it would on a flat-rate tool. There is no free plan, only a trial, so you should use the trial to confirm the listening streams and reports match your needs before committing. For a brand that tracks competitors daily and runs approvals across departments, the cost can be justified. For a small business, it is usually more than necessary.
What we like- Trend tracking and competitor monitoring
- Bulk scheduling and AI drafting
- Strong enterprise security
Watch out for- Per-user pricing adds up fast
- No free plan, only a trial
#3Later
Best for: Visual planning for Instagram and TikTok4.5/5 on
G2 (384 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit later.com
Starting price$25/month
Free planFree trial
Later began as a visual planner, and that heritage still shows in its calendar and Link in Bio products, which track transactions driven from a bio link. The homepage today leads with influencer marketing, including creator matching and campaign measurement, which reflects where the company now puts its weight. For a brand that works with creators, that combination is a real advantage: scheduling, creator discovery, and campaign reporting sit in one place.
For a pure Metricool replacement, the fit is narrower. Later works best when Instagram and TikTok dominate your plan, and lower plans cap the number of posts per profile. Check those caps against your posting volume before switching, since a brand that publishes daily across five networks can hit them quickly. The trial is the right way to test whether the visual workflow and the influencer tools both earn their place in your week.
What we like- Visual calendar and Link in Bio tools
- Influencer marketing features
- Strong creator data
Watch out for- Homepage now leads with influencer marketing, not scheduling
- Post caps on lower plans
#4SocialPilot
Best for: Agencies managing many accounts4.5/5 on
G2 (846 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit socialpilot.co
Starting price$30/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
SocialPilot pitches itself on an easy interface and economical pricing, and its plan structure backs that up: one monthly price covers a bundle of social accounts rather than billing per seat or per channel. That makes the monthly bill predictable for an agency adding its tenth or twentieth client, and client approvals plus white-label reports are built for that workflow. Bulk scheduling helps when you load a month of client content in one sitting.
The catch, as with several agency tools, is that the cheapest plan leaves out some depth. Full analytics and inbox features sit on higher tiers, so an agency that sells reporting as a service should price the plan that actually includes those reports, not the entry plan. The 14-day trial gives enough time to connect real client accounts and test approvals. SocialPilot is a strong value pick when your main need is publishing volume across many accounts at a flat price.
What we like- Flat pricing that covers many accounts
- Client approvals and white-label reports
- Bulk scheduling
Watch out for- Homepage extract is thin on feature detail
- Analytics need a higher plan for full depth
#5Agorapulse
Best for: Inbox management and team collaboration4.5/5 on
G2 (975 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit agorapulse.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Agorapulse organizes social work around the inbox. Comments, mentions, and direct messages from every network land in one stream where you can assign them, label them, and save replies for common questions. That structure matters once reply volume grows past what one person can triage in a native app, and the platform adds scheduling, shared calendars, listening, and reports on top. Its Social ROI feature ties organic posts to traffic, leads, and sales through Google Analytics, which is rare at this price level.
The free plan is genuinely usable: one user, three social profiles, ten scheduled posts, a basic inbox, and basic reporting. That is enough for a small brand to run its core accounts without paying. Paid pricing is the one fuzzy area, since comparison sources disagree on the entry figure, so check the vendor pricing page before budgeting. Support is a stated strength, with same-day responses and a high satisfaction rating. Pick Agorapulse when replying to your audience is the job, not just publishing to it.
What we like- Centralized inbox with assignments and labels
- Free plan with 3 profiles
- Social ROI reporting
Watch out for- Paid pricing varies by source, so confirm on the pricing page
- Listening depth trails Hootsuite
#6Sprout Social
Best for: Deep analytics for growing teams4.4/5 on
G2 (6,880 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit sproutsocial.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Sprout Social covers the full cycle: plan and schedule content, engage with customers, analyze performance, and track trends across networks. Its integration list is wide, spanning TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, WhatsApp, Reddit, Yelp, Salesforce, Slack, Zendesk, Shopify, and Adobe Express, which helps when social data must flow into support or sales tools. The platform also includes influencer marketing features for finding brand-safe creators and measuring campaigns end to end.
The trade is cost and commitment. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial, and Sprout prices at the premium end of this list, with plans spanning a wide range depending on seats and features. That makes it a poor fit for a solo creator, but a sensible one for a team that reports social results to leadership and needs reliable data across many profiles. Use the trial to test the reports you actually present each month, since those reports are what you are paying for.
What we like- Strong analytics and listening
- Wide integration set including Salesforce and Zendesk
- Influencer tools
Watch out for- No free plan
- Pricing sits at the premium end of this list
#7Sendible
Best for: Agencies that need unlimited users4.5/5 on
G2 (905 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit sendible.com
Starting price$35/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Sendible removes the seat tax that makes Hootsuite and Sprout expensive for teams. Every plan, starting with Core at $35 per month, includes unlimited users, so you can onboard your whole internal team and invite clients without the bill jumping per person. Workspaces keep each client brand separate with its own accounts, approval queues, and reports, and granular permissions stop clients from seeing each other's work. A CSV bulk import moves scheduled posts from another tool in minutes.
Publishing covers Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Business Profiles, Threads, and Bluesky, with scheduling, monitoring, and insights for each. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card required, and the white-label portal is an add-on for Elite and Enterprise plans rather than a standard feature. For an agency whose main cost worry is seats, Sendible is the most direct answer on this list.
What we like- Unlimited users on every plan
- White-label option on higher plans
- CSV bulk import for migration
Watch out for- No free plan, only a trial
- White-label costs extra on Elite and Enterprise
#8SocialBee
Best for: Evergreen content recycling4.7/5 on
G2 (477 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit socialbee.com
Starting price$29/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
SocialBee organizes content by category, which is its defining idea. You sort posts into groups such as tips, promotions, or questions, set a weekly schedule per category, and the tool cycles through them so evergreen content keeps working instead of being posted once and forgotten. An AI post generator writes captions, images, and hashtag ideas from a prompt, and Copilot builds a posting strategy from your website and goals. That combination suits creators and small businesses that must stay consistent without writing fresh posts every day.
The Bootstrap plan at $29 per month connects up to five social profiles, but analytics history is limited to three months, and CSV imports, hashtag tools, bulk editing, post approvals, and branded report exports are missing. Accelerate at $49 per month adds those plus two years of analytics history. SocialBee is the right pick when your bottleneck is content volume and consistency, not reporting depth.
What we like- Category-based scheduling that recycles evergreen posts
- AI post generator and Copilot strategy tool
- Workspaces per brand
Watch out for- Analytics history is only 3 months on the entry plan
- Approvals and branded reports need higher plans
How we chose
We compared tools that cover the same ground as Metricool: scheduling across major networks, analytics, and team or client workflows. Each vendor homepage was opened to confirm the product exists, the domain belongs to that product, and the current positioning matches what the article claims. Prices come from vendor pricing pages or the vendor homepage itself, and where sources disagreed we wrote See website rather than pick a number. Tools that shut down, redirect to another company, or lack a working official site were left out. The list mixes budget tools with enterprise platforms so a solo creator and an agency can both find a fit.
What to check before you switch
Start with your posting volume and your reporting needs, since those two facts rule most tools in or out. Count your social profiles and your monthly posts, then check the plan limits: Buffer bills per channel, Later caps posts per profile on lower plans, and SocialBee limits analytics history on its entry plan. If you manage clients, check approvals and white-label options before price, because a cheap tool without approvals creates manual work that costs more than the subscription.
Next, test the inbox and the reports during the trial, not just the scheduler. Scheduling is the easy part, and most tools do it well. The differences show up when a customer complains on three networks at once, when a client asks for a monthly report, or when a post fails and nobody notices. Connect your real accounts, publish a week of real content, and read the reports you would actually send to a boss or a client. That week of testing tells you more than any feature list.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Metricool?
Yes. Buffer has a free plan for up to three channels, and Agorapulse has a free plan with one user, three profiles, and ten scheduled posts. Both cover basic scheduling and reporting. If you need competitor tracking or unlimited posts, you will need a paid plan on some other tool.
Which Metricool alternative is best for agencies?
Sendible and SocialPilot are the strongest agency picks. Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan, which keeps team costs flat. SocialPilot uses flat pricing across many accounts with client approvals and white-label reports. Pick Sendible when seat costs worry you, and SocialPilot when you want the lowest flat price for many accounts.
Which alternative has the best analytics?
Sprout Social and Hootsuite lead on analytics depth, with listening, competitor tracking, and presentation-ready reports. Metricool itself is strong on analytics, so a switch driven by reporting should go to one of these two rather than to a budget scheduler. Agorapulse sits in the middle, with solid reports plus Social ROI tracking.
Can I keep my scheduled posts when I switch?
Most tools support bulk import, and Sendible accepts scheduled posts through a CSV file. Other tools require reconnecting accounts and rebuilding the queue, so export your content calendar before cancelling Metricool. Plan the move over a quiet week to avoid gaps in posting.
Does Buffer really cost only $6 per channel?
Buffer bills per channel on its Essentials plan, so three channels cost about $18 per month before any annual discount. That stays cheap for a small account set, but the bill grows with each channel you add. Count your channels first, since ten channels cost far more than the headline figure suggests.
Sources we checked (8)
- https://buffer.com
- https://www.hootsuite.com
- https://later.com
- https://www.socialpilot.co
- https://www.agorapulse.com
- https://sproutsocial.com
- https://www.sendible.com
- https://socialbee.com
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.