Social media cross-promotion lets you take great content and give it a second or third life, amplifying your reach across platforms and in front of new audiences. When you adapt your message for each channel, you create a ripple effect that boosts visibility and...
The 4 best Publer alternatives for collaborative social media scheduling
Publer is a social media management tool used to schedule posts to multiple platforms, discover trending content, and sell online via link-in-bio tools. However, its limited mobile functionality, basic analytics, and per-account pricing model can make it frustrating for teams managing multiple social profiles. Platform-specific issues, like manual tagging or Facebook Groups complications, add even more friction.
Switching can bring all sorts of benefits in addition to saving time. You can find more customizable approval workflows, more expansive collaboration features, more detailed insights, plus tools that generally empower your team to produce more engaging content. Multiple social media collaboration tools stand out as great Publer alternatives, and I’ll list some favorites below.
Why you should consider a Publer alternative
Publer has got features for bulk scheduling, recycling content, and cross-posting on social media (all done from the Calendar Planner), but also for pulling content suggestions from a variety of RSS feeds (which you can schedule automatically with a couple of clicks). It also publishes to 11 platforms, plus Telegram and WordPress.
However, plenty of users are unhappy with the pricing. The free plan is very limited (1 user, 3 accounts, 10 posts per account), and although paid tiers appear to start at reasonable prices, you have to pay more every time you add more users and more social profiles. This makes content planning for different platforms depend heavily on your available budget.
People also report issues with media storage, plus dissatisfaction with the way key features like analytics and history are paywalled by pricier tiers (most wish they were accessible with cheaper plans or at least available as add-ons).
Collaboration
Publer organizes its collaboration features around workspaces. They’re the place where teams can centralize client management by handling multiple brands and their accounts on multiple social media platforms.
Team members, clients, and freelancers can be invited to contribute, plus there’s the option of leaving feedback via Internal Notes.
Collaborative planning happens in the Calendar, which various users report issues with (like the need to tweak and customize posts manually for specific social media networks, content not being published as scheduled, problems with accounts staying connected, and so on).
Approvals
Publer has a 2-tiered system enabling users to set internal or external approvals. You can manage permissions for each workspace and assign people different roles (admin, editor, or client).
Clients can be given permission to connect their social accounts or create/customize posts. Once they’re in, they also get an accurate post preview for each of their social media channels.
On the other hand, there aren’t as many options for customizing approval workflows as with other tools.
he mobile app offers a pretty clunky experience for approving on the go, activity history is locked in pricier tiers, plus there’s no way to send someone a guest link without having them log in.
Analytics
Publer analytics come in 3 main flavors: post insights, hashtag analysis, and competitor analysis. You can see the reach rate and engagement rate for each post, but also total reactions for recently used hashtags. Competitor-wise, you get access to data like follower growth, posting times, most-used formats, reach, and top content, complete with post performance.
By far, without a doubt, social media analytics are the main thing users complain about in Publer reviews. People yearn for more detailed social media metrics, deeper insights, comparative data between platforms, improved reporting, plus more customizable dashboards. Just more advanced features and more integrations with standalone reporting platforms.
Key features to look for in a Publer alternative
If you want an excellent tool with more comprehensive features that will save you time, simplify your everyday operations, and enable you to take on more social accounts, here’s what you should focus on:
- Customizable, multi-level approval workflows
- Real-time collaboration through a simple interface
- Content management beyond social media platforms
- Calendar for content planning with multiple views and content categories
- Sync on and sync off for multi-platform scheduling
- Analytics add-ons with more features and detailed reports
- Engagement add-ons, smart social media inbox management included
- Affordable price even with multiple social networks
- Customer support that’s always helpful
Top Publer alternatives to consider in 2025
If you’re an individual creator, consider your long-term goals and avenues for growth. Maybe you want to team up with other creators or improve your relationship with clients, in which case, the next tool you choose for social media management should reflect that.
If you’re part of a larger team, gather input from everyone who will be working with the new software every day. Juniors included! The more a new tool solves everyone’s pain points, the more efficient and creative your team can be in the long run.
1. Planable – best for content creation, collaboration & customizable workflows
Planable’s visual content calendar helps teams schedule, approve, and collaborate on social media posts.
Planable is a powerful social media management software tool. Thanks to its clean and simple interface, it’s enjoyable for both tech-savvy folks and digital newbies. There’s barely any learning curve, unlike with Publer. Getting input and approvals from pretty much any client is surprisingly straightforward, while new team members have been known to take less than an hour from login to posting.
Key features:
- A sturdy calendar for scheduling to 9 platforms, complete with multiple views, bulk options, and accurate post previews
- Universal Content, aka planning and managing blogs, ads copy, briefs, and beyond with embeds and rich text
With Planable’s Universal Content, teams can suggest edits and give feedback on blog drafts and long-form content.
- An engagement add-on with a unified inbox and sorting by status or sentiment
- AI tools for generating ideas, writing and rewriting, or replying to comments
- Tons of platform-specific features, from scheduling Reels and organic targeting on LinkedIn to alt text for Twitter and CTAs on Google My Business
Collaboration
Planable was created to clarify and improve collaboration. Workspaces function as dedicated environments for each client/brand, and comments or posts stay internal until everything is ready. You can also set custom roles and permissions for each team member.
Control team and client permissions in Planable to manage who can view, edit, and publish content.
Accurate feedback flows via real-time comments, annotations, and text suggestions that become individual tasks, easily marked as resolved once done. It also helps with nuanced input that comments can include emojis, GIFs, and attachments. Over time, you can monitor feedback and revert changes via activity history.
Approvals
Each workspace you use gets its own customizable content approval workflows: none, optional, mandatory, or multi-level.
Planable’s multi-level approval feature lets teams and clients approve content in structured workflows.
New clients can be sent guest view links for content plans as well as precise, platform-specific mock-up pages.
Everything is gathered in a single approval inbox, and one-click approvals are just as easy from the Planable mobile app (available both on ioS and Android). Once a post has the green light, you can opt to have it automatically scheduled.
Analytics
Measuring performance is thorough and intuitive in Planable.
Planable’s analytics dashboard provides clear insights into content reach, engagement, and audience breakdown.
Planable’s cross-channel analytics lets you track and compare performance across all your social media platforms in one place. Instead of switching dashboards or juggling spreadsheets, you get a clear overview of results, faster insights, and less reporting hassle.
The analytics feature displays account statistics over customizable periods, top-performing content, and in-depth metrics for each post. Audience data like location, demographics, or professional information is also available.
Neat reports that showcase your impact are easy to generate and then share as PDFs or links. You can rely on automatic monthly reports to inform content upgrades and strategic tweaks..
Pricing:
The free plan includes 50 total posts with no time limit. So, except for posting to Twitter and analytics, you can take your time exploring all the features. Paid tiers start at $39/mo/workspace, billed monthly.
Drawbacks:
Planable doesn’t have direct integrations with CMS platforms for website publishing.
Planable vs. Publer at a glance
If you’re looking to move beyond Publer, here’s how Planable supports your team:
- Approval workflows that are easy to set up and manage
- One-click approvals with easy client onboarding
- Simple scheduling from a reliable visual social media content calendar
- Planning and content creation beyond the socials
- Analytics features available as an add-on
- Engagement tools, also available as an add-on
- Stellar customer support
Takeaway
Social media managers, freelancers, content marketers, and agency folks who want to make the jump to a friendly, customizable tool will get a kick out of Planable. You’ll never lose a post version or miss feedback again, and you’ll feel your social strategy level up.
2. RecurPost – best for optimizing evergreen content & reusing posts
RecurPost is a social media management tool that handles content for 10 platforms and, just like Publer, offers RSS feed integrations, bulk scheduling, and workspace-based collaboration features.
But although Publer gives social media managers tools for creating recurrent posts plus recycling them (repeating content within a limited timeframe, like with seasonal promos vs. timeless re-sharing of top performers at a customizable frequency), RecurPost includes even more advanced features for these same purposes.
Its recycling system works with evergreen content libraries geared towards boosting reach and engagement across social media channels.
Pricing:
Tiers start at $9/mo billed monthly. There’s no free plan, but all except the most advanced plan, Enterprise, come with a 14-day free trial.
Drawbacks:
Multiple users wish for fewer glitches and more customization when it comes to the main planning dashboard, measuring social media performance, and platform-specific features.
3. Post Planner – best for small businesses searching for post ideas
Post Planner helps you schedule posts for multiple social networks (10 vs. Publer’s 11). You can create and organize content while also getting in-depth insights from Dynamic Analytics (key features that sort your post history by a metric of your choice and reschedule top performers).
There’s also a feature for sourcing relevant content from across the web, called Discover, which sorts post ideas by virality, industry, format, or keyword.
Overall, Post Planner offers a way to simplify the way you schedule posts if you work for a small organization and want to spruce up your content strategy with fresh ideas. But Publer has a wider range of powerful features, and actual content creation is smoother.
Pricing:
There’s a free plan for 1 social account, then tiers from $12/mo billed monthly with a 7-day free trial. Non-profits and NGOs get a discount.
Drawbacks:
Users mention unannounced credit card charges and issues getting things resolved with customer support.
4. Loomly – best for campaign and community management
Loomly lets you publish social media posts to 10 platforms, export your content calendar when you want to work offline, and zero in on campaign management (with everything from hashtag suggestions and post templates to performance tracking). Reports to stakeholders can be auto-scheduled.
Use cases vary, extending all the way from education to government organizations, and you’ll find community management tools Publer doesn’t have: a unified inbox, the ability to assign conversations to collaborators, a convo archive, and a library of saved replies.
Pricing:
Pricing isn’t upfront, and according to multiple users, it’s been changing, so it’s best to connect with the Loomly team and get an exact quote. There’s a lifetime 50% discount for NGOs.
Drawbacks:
Users say Loomly is more geared toward enterprise environments rather than individuals or small orgs, especially because of the learning curve. There are also platform-specific publishing glitches for Facebook, Google My Business, and LinkedIn.
Choose the right social media software to schedule posts and improve your workflows
- If you want a collaborative, flexible tool for implementing a content strategy from start to finish, Planable is the best Publer alternative.
- If you’re seeking a way to efficiently reuse social media posts, go for RecurPost.
- If you’re looking for a no-frills scheduler that sources shareable content, then try Post Planner.
- If your goal is to centralize contributions from multiple departments, locations, and audiences in one place, experiment with Loomly.
Check Planable out today – the free plan includes 50 posts, access to all the key features, and no time limit.
Irina is a freelance conceptual copywriter with an ethical edge and an advertising agency background. If she’s not rummaging for good synonyms, she’s probably watching a sitcom or listening to radio dramas with plucky amateur detectives. She loves collage, doing crosswords on paper and shazamming the birds outside her window.