Socialbee is a pretty capable social media management tool with dozens of features to speed up social media scheduling, planning, and content creation. Still, I tested the platform and I found that its ample feature set comes with a learning curve, which can lead to...
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“The team loved it from the start. Planable helps us overview the entire marketing efforts.“
A social media scheduler is a powerful time-saving tool that helps marketing teams stay consistent, organized, and efficient. By automating post scheduling, teams free up time to focus on what truly matters: crafting creative strategies that engage and grow their audience.
So say goodbye to scheduling social media posts manually! There are several platforms available online: from simple social media calendars to advanced content planners and organizers that are designed to simplify your entire marketing workflow.
After managing social content for agencies and in-house teams, and working hands-on with most major content scheduling tools, I’ve learned the features that actually prevent bottlenecks: a clear content calendar, smooth collaboration, fast approvals, and reliable platform integrations. Based on that, I’ve rounded up the best scheduling tools for every team size and budget.
Quick summary: our top 5 social media schedulers
Tool
Ideal for
1. Planable
Agencies and teams managing many social accounts
2. Hootsuite
Enterprise-level management and analytics
3. Sprout Social
Big teams that need social listening
4. Buffer
eCommerce brands and simple scheduling
5. Coschedule
Small projects and solo marketers
1. Planable
Ideal for
Agencies and teams managing many social accounts
2. Hootsuite
Ideal for
Enterprise-level management and analytics
3. Sprout Social
Ideal for
Big teams that need social listening
4. Buffer
Ideal for
eCommerce brands and simple scheduling
5. Coschedule
Ideal for
Small projects and solo marketers
Must-have features in any social media scheduling tool
Although many platforms, like Facebook or Linkedin, allow social media teams to schedule posts using native content planners, doing it manually for each platform is far from an efficient scenario, especially when working with multiple platforms and accounts.
If you’re already gravitating toward choosing a social media scheduling tool for your team, here are four points you should scout for:
Drag-and-drop content calendar
Basic but true: a visual, straightforward posting calendar is the backbone of social media scheduling tools.
Visual planning helps social media marketers gain a holistic overview of their social posts and keep track of what’s coming next. Scheduling content on a timeline also ensures no overlapping or gaps in posting.
In addition, some tools provide labels or tags to differentiate types of content or its purposes.
Client friendly collaboration tools for any type of feedback
Collaboration is core to any social media workflow. Your social media scheduler should let your team create, review, and edit content in one place, without jumping between tools, tabs, or losing feedback in email threads.
If you work with multiple clients, external sharing is essential too, so they can review and approve posts quickly, with no login required.*
Approval workflow with automatic posting to social media
Social media managers can ditch emailing posts and visuals back and forth and opt for a customizable approval workflow. Approvals greatly complement any content workflow, whether in-house approval on a social media post from brand and legal teams or an external greenlight from the client.
Bonus points if the social media planning tool has multi-layered approvals and auto-publishing mode after the final one.
Platform integration variety to post to multiple social networks at once
Look for a social media scheduler with robust integrations. Small teams may need just the essentials at the beginning, but bigger teams or agencies risk bottlenecks without support for multiple accounts and emerging platforms. Choose tools that can grow with you to avoid switching later.
12 best social media scheduling tools to consider
Managing social media without a dedicated scheduling tool is like trying to juggle with one hand tied behind your back: messy and unsustainable.
While some platforms offer native planners, they’re no match for the flexibility and efficiency of these specialized tools I handpicked for you.
1. Planable: best social media scheduling tool for multi-accounts
Planable is the best content scheduler for batch posting and seamless collaboration workflows. You can plan, approve, and schedule content on the main social platforms, as well as other types of written content, using the Universal Content feature.
The content calendar has multiple views: grid, feed, calendar, and list. Teams can organize any written content using labels and filters. So label your posts by topic, campaign, brand, client’s favorite color, or anything else of matter to your team.
Grid view in social media scheduler app Planable
Key features
Streamlined feedback: All team members and stakeholders can comment, suggest edits, and approve content in context.
Visual content calendar: Drag-and-drop scheduling and previews give a clear, at-a-glance view of your social campaigns for the team and clients.
Custom approval workflows: Set multi-level internal and client approvals, assign tasks, lock content after approval, and automate social media posting.
Productivity tools:AI-assisted writing and reusable templates speed up content creation and reduce writer’s block.
Actionable analytics: Track growth, performance, and cross-channel metrics in one clean dashboard for fast insights and professional reporting.
Cross-channel analytics view in the same place you schedule social media posts
I like the way the page is laid out, unlike other BIG scheduling companies which are really ugly. We can see the posts as they will actually look on the platforms.
We find the ability to collaborate and to get client approval is vital for our business, and planable is really the only solution out there to do that. Being able to set up schedules and to push to multiple channels, it really saves time.
My clients like the app for approval. My Social Media Manager loves Planable for its easy of use, viewing and managing posts. – Victoria B., Principal Marketing Specialist.
Planable integrates with 9 social media platforms:
Facebook: publish on pages and groups at the same time
Pricing: With the free plan, you can test all the platforms’ features to create up to 50 posts. After that, paid plans start at $33 per month.
Drawback: The platform has no social media listening or monitoring.
How to schedule posts with Planable
Create a post in your workspace in Planable: add text, videos, pictures, gifs, or anything else you’d like to share with the audience.
Scheduling a social media post to Facebook and LinkedIn from the Planable app
Turn on the Sync on toggle to publish the post across several social media platforms.
Ask Planable’s AI to make your post punchier or rephrase the message for another platform!
Using Planable AI when scheduling a social media post to rewrite the caption
Addlabels to easily filter your posts later.
Creating and adding labels for scheduled posts in Planable
Add a date and time for your post to go live.
Scheduling a post in Planable
ChooseRecycle post in the calendar picker to reuse the post several times (you can still tweak each scheduled post individually).
Schedule a recurring social media post in Planable
Press Schedule and pour yourself a cup of coffee. Well done!
Takeaway: Planable is a solid social media scheduler option for team approval workflows, especially for social media planning + content collaboration. It’s particularly well-suited for agencies, marketing teams with external stakeholders, or any team that wants a clean, very visual way to manage post approvals. Give it a try for free.
2. Hootsuite: for enterprise-level social media management
Hootsuite, a market pioneer in social media management, allows users to manage their social media presence from a single dashboard.
The interface provides an in-depth breakdown of marketing activities. It enables you to respond quickly to mentions with the help of a social inbox feature.
Its social media calendar, though not the most modern-looking one, comprehensively overlooks all the posts planned across multiple platforms.
Hootsuite’s newest update, OwlyAI, helps avoid writer’s block and generate new relevant ideas for social media posts to fill in the gaps in the social media calendar.
Key features
Recommendations on hashtags and the best time to publish posts for peak engagement.
Batch scheduling across all your accounts and direct publishing.
Integrations: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.
Pricing: Hootsuite has a free trial period and three paid plans starting from $99/month.
Drawback: Hootsuite doesn’t have a free plan and is relatively expensive for small businesses or individual creators.
Takeaway: If you’re looking for a time-proven solution to maintain your social media posting schedule and manage your social media accounts, Hootsuite will do just fine.
3. Sprout Social: social media scheduling tool for big teams
Sprout Social is an all-in-one tool loaded with features. Its impressive toolset includes scheduling and planning, social listening, social analytics, social inbox, mentions, and even employee advocacy.
Marketing managers choose Sprout Social when they want to bring in the heavy ammo of the social media world.
Sprout’s social media scheduler tool makes scheduling posts across multiple accounts much easier with batch planning and a visual calendar.
Key features
Interactive content calendar where teams can draft posts, access the media asset library, and organize posts across profiles and campaigns.
In-depth social analytics on campaigns, content performance, and competitor analysis.
Social listening to monitor brand mentions and create relevant content.
Integrations: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Google Business Profile.
Pricing: The platform has a free trial period, and its paid plans start at $249/month, with each additional user costing $199/month.
Drawback: Sprout Social is expensive and doesn’t have a free plan. In most small to medium business cases, it’s an overkill. Besides, many users mention that its customer support quality doesn’t fit the price.
Takeaway: Sprout Social is a good choice for enterprise companies that want to keep a close eye on their social media performance and have the budget to do so.
4. Buffer: content scheduling app for eCommerce brands
Buffer is designed to optimize social media publishing and scheduling. The platform strongly emphasizes building an organic audience, with its key features like social inbox and comments sentiment analysis reflecting this approach.
Its integration with Shopify also makes it a solid choice for eCommerce businesses.
The post planner allows tailoring posts for each social media platform, so your Instagram posts can have different captions than Facebook ones. You can schedule content automatically or choose your own custom time for posting.
Collaboration tools, including different roles and permissions, approvals, and team drafting to stay on the same page.
Account management for handling multiple brands from one platform.
Integrations: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, TikTok, Google Business, Pinterest, Twitter, Mastodon, and Shopify
Pricing: Buffer offers a free plan with up to 30 monthly scheduled posts per channel. To upgrade, there are three paid plans starting from $6/month per channel.
Drawback: The platform can’t automatically publish TikToks and Instagram Stories — only through reminders. The pricing is a little confusing, as users pay per channel, so if you decide to explore another social platform, you would need to pay extra.
Takeaway: Buffer is one of the simple yet effective social media management tools that ticks all of the boxes for small teams focusing on particular channels. It’s a neat platform for content curation to ensure you execute your social strategy at its best.
5. Coschedule: social media scheduler for small projects
CoSchedule is a project management tool that prioritizes efficient workflows for all marketing activities, including the brand’s social media schedule.
It offers a marketing calendar to help social media professionals streamline content curation across social channels and save time scheduling content.
CoSchedule’s marketing calendar is more of a post planner than a full-scale social media tool. Users can schedule one-time social media posts or create a social campaign consisting of several messages.
CoSchedule also has analytical tools to track social media campaigns, like the Top Content report. This report gathers content that gained the most engagement on one page, making it easy for social marketers to identify the top-performing formats.
Key features
Best Time Scheduling tool to schedule posts with confidence for maximum reach.
ReQueue Bucket automatically reshares your evergreen content across platforms when there’s a gap in the social media schedule.
Social media optimizer to adapt your caption to different social platforms.
Integrations: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, WordPress, MailChimp, and other marketing platforms.
Pricing: CoSchedule has a free version of the marketing calendar and a pro version for $29/month per user.
Drawback: The publishing tool only allows Business profiles to publish directly on Instagram. Features like collaboration and content templates are only available in the pro version.
Takeaway: CoSchedule is among those nifty and simple publishing tools that suit teams aiming to ease their processes and make them more transparent. It works great as a free tool with basic functionality as long as you don’t need some spectacular toolbox.
6. Later: social media scheduler for visual posts
Later started as Instagram-only social media scheduling tool. In the meantime, it expanded to other networks, including Facebook, TikTok, Linkedin, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Later has a visual content calendar that allows marketers to manage multiple social media accounts across different channels.
Being somewhat Instagram and TikTok-oriented, Later has recently joined forces with Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform. This partnership complements Later’s collab features, allowing social marketers to collaborate with creators and influencers through one social media management tool.
Later doesn’t have flashy content features but offers straightforward content creation and scheduling in just a few clicks. It has built-in content creation tools such as a media library, cropper, hashtag suggestions, and a UGC finder to source content generated by your target audience.
Key features
Bulk scheduling across multiple channels and auto-publishing for all supported social media platforms.
Visual drag-and-drop content calendar to plan and schedule posts.
Social media analytics to track performance.
Pricing: Later has a free plan, and its paid plans begin at $18/month.
Drawback: The free plan is a bit tight on features: for instance, social media analytics is only available in paid plans.
Takeaway: Later is a great tool to schedule your posts and stay on track for small teams and solo creators. If you prioritize Instagram or another platform for visual content like Pinterest or TikTok, consider giving Later a try.
7. Zoho Social: scheduling tool for social media with complex analytics
Zoho Social is a nifty tool for businesses and agencies to enhance social media marketing. This comprehensive platform offers many features to help you effectively reach and engage with your target audience.
If you need a less extreme version of Sprout’s feature list and reporting, Zoho Social is your candidate.
With Zoho Social, social media managers can schedule and manage content across several media channels more efficiently. Users like Zoho for its data-based predictions on the best time to post and other optimization and its detailed reports.
Key features
Bulk schedule to transfer posts from a spreadsheet to ZohoSocial content calendar.
Social analytics and a set of custom and pre-built reports to better understand our audience.
Mobile app to schedule and track posts on the go.
Integrations: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Google Business Profile.
Pricing: Zoho Social has a free plan, so it’s suitable for free social media hassle. You also have five paid plans starting from $15/month.
Drawback: Although Zoho has collaboration features, roles, and approvals, they’re pretty simple and don’t fit more complicated workflows.
Takeaway: Zoho’s strong suit is analytical reports and many data-driven approaches to social media marketing. So if you are looking for a smart post planner, try Zoho.
8. Agorapulse: social post scheduler with built-in brand monitoring features
Agorapulse is an affordable jack-of-all-trades solution among social media tools. The platform ticks all the right boxes: schedule and publish content, engage with the audience through comments and direct messages, listen to brand mentions, and report on content performance.
Its multi-platform publishing option saves a lot of time regarding content planning and helps you stay consistent across all channels.
Besides, Agorapulse works as a project management tool where teams can collaborate, assign posts to each other, and leave comments to tweak copy or visuals.
Key features
Smart customizable social inbox to gather all the mentions, comments, and reviews and filter them with labels and tags.
Integration with Google Analytics 4 to get a holistic overview of how social content performs in terms of ROI.
Media library to organize and store all branding materials and quickly access them during content planning.
Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, YouTube, and TikTok.
Pricing: Agorapulse offers a 30-day free trial to get started. After that, there are four paid plans available, beginning at $99/month (billed monthly).
Drawback: Agorapulse doesn’t support Pinterest publishing. Approval workflows, Canva integration, bulk publishing, and some other features are only available in the Professional plan.
Takeaway: Agorapulse is a nice option for those who want to give social media scheduling tools a try in general: it has all the necessary features and suits smaller teams best.
9. Sendible: social media scheduling platform for medium-sized marketing agencies
Sendible positions itself as the top social media management tool for agencies and offers a range of plans to cater to different organizations. It supports social media scheduling, offers content recommendations, and provides reporting on campaigns and a social inbox.
Key features
An integration with Canva allows marketers to tap into their design library when creating a new post.
Queues of thematic content to keep your editorial calendar filled to the rim.
Content social sharing feature to automatically post important updates and find relevant content to share on your accounts.
Integrations: Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, WordPress, Medium, and Tumblr.
Pricing: Sendible has a 14-day free trial period and three paid plans starting from $24/month.
Drawback: Sendible currently doesn’t support scheduling for Pinterest. Additionally, its engagement tools are limited to Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Takeaway: Sendible is a steady option with enough functionality to cover the needs of a professional social media team. It is clumsy UX-wise but compensates with a nice list of features for a reasonable price.
10. Statusbrew: social listening tool with advanced reporting
Statusbrew is one of the most affordable social listening tools. It enables users to create polished, customizable report templates for a deep dive into social media performance.
The social media scheduler includes tools for benchmarking your performance against competitors, AI-powered sentiment analysis, and advanced comment moderation to refine and enhance your overall social media strategy.
Key features
Schedule content for multiple social pages with channel-specific editing options.
Automate responses and manage social media interactions through a unified inbox.
Use an integrated CRM to track every contact received via social platforms.
Protect your brand’s reputation by hiding or deleting comments on organic and dynamic posts, based on sentiment and keyword filters.
Integrations: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Google Business Profile.
Pricing: Statusbrew provides a 14-day free trial so you can test the platform. Once the trial ends, users can choose from four paid plans starting at $89/month (billed monthly).
Drawbacks: Statusbrew can feel overwhelming for first-time users due to its complex interface, and it offers limited social media scheduling customization options. Editing content already scheduled for multiple posts can be challenging, making adjustments less seamless.
11. Loomly: affordable social media automation software for small teams
Loomly is a versatile social media scheduling tool designed for marketers wanting efficiency and organization in their workflows.
It offers scheduling to most social media platforms, planning, engagement tracking, advanced analytics, and social media reports, making it a well-rounded social scheduler.
Loomly simplifies the user journey with features like the Calendar Wizard, which guides users through connecting social media accounts, setting up preferences, and initiating scheduling workflows for multiple social accounts.
Built with collaboration in mind, the social media scheduling tool has team-based functionalities such as post approvals, commenting, and role assignments. However, some advanced features, like custom workflows and roles, are limited to higher-priced plans, which might not suit smaller teams with tight budgets.
Key features
Cross-platform scheduling: publish and schedule posts across popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Inspiration tools: use the RSS feed integration and trending topic suggestions to generate post ideas.
Collaboration capabilities: assign roles, comment on posts, and manage approval workflows for all social media channels.
Custom notifications: receive post scheduling updates through push notifications, Slack, or Microsoft Teams for enhanced productivity.
Integrations: Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Pinterest, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, Threads, YouTube and Snapchat.
Pricing: Loomly comes with a 15-day free trial. Following the trial, there are two paid plans to pick from, with prices starting at $65/month (billed monthly).
Drawbacks: The platform lacks social listening capabilities and integrations with tools like Google Analytics. The learning curve for new users may also pose challenges, especially for those unfamiliar with its user interface.
12. HubSpot social media management for social inbox management
HubSpot provides a dedicated social media management platform includes all the features you need to schedule content at just the right time for maximum engagement.
Its AI uses social media performance data to provide ideal posting time suggestions, content, and campaign ideas for maximum results.
Plus, HubSpot includes a particularly handy social inbox management tool. You can set up keyword monitoring streams to monitor and respond to comments across social.
Linking the social media management tools with HubSpot’s CRM also reveals extra details about your contacts and how they previously interacted with your company.
Key features
Suggests multi-channel campaign ideas and ideal posting time suggestions based on data like your social performance, company details, marketing best practices, and more.
Sends email alerts whenever people mention specific keywords in comments.
Measure cross-channel campaign performance with the platform’s built-in analytics, and gauge social media ROI with the platform’s CRM integration.
Pricing: The social media management platform is included in HubSpot’s Marketing Hub Professional Package, which costs $800/month.
Drawbacks: You cannot use the social media management tool as a standalone product, it only comes bundled with other marketing automation tools. Smaller teams might find it overwhelming if they don’t need the full marketing suite or the in-depth integration across all marketing efforts.
Social media scheduling FAQs
Can I schedule social media posts for free?
Yes! Planable has a free trial period: you have 50 posts to get familiar with the platform and get a taste of hassle-free social media management.
What is the best way to schedule social media posts?
Although some social platforms have built-in scheduling tools, a third-party social media scheduling tool like Planable is a significantly easier and faster way to keep track of your social media efforts and manage multiple accounts.
What is the best social media scheduling tool?
Planable, if you’re looking for seamless collaboration features and smooth approval workflows. Try it for free, and you’ll get what all the buzz is about!
A social media scheduler saves you the hassle
Social media schedulers are a lifesaver if you’re aiming to keep your posts regular and your audience engaged, all without the extra stress.
These tools simplify the whole planning process, giving you back those precious hours to focus on creative ideas and strategic moves. And if you’re just getting your feet wet, Planable has got your back with a free plan for your first 50 posts.
Content marketer with a background in journalism; digital nomad, and tech geek. In love with blogs, storytelling, strategies, and old-school Instagram. If it can be written, I probably wrote it.