Buffer

What it is

Buffer schedules social media posts. You connect a channel, write a post once, adapt it per network, and put it in a queue that publishes at the times you set. It supports Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky and Mastodon, with publishing behaviour that varies by platform and account type.

Around the queue sit the pieces that make posting a routine rather than a scramble: an ideas space for drafts you have not scheduled yet, analytics on what performed, and an AI Assistant available on every tier, including five AI reply suggestions per week on the free plan.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits solo operators and small teams who post consistently on a handful of channels and want to batch that work into one sitting a week. The per-channel pricing is the tell: Buffer is designed for someone with three or four accounts, not for an agency managing forty.

It is a weaker fit for teams that need approval chains, social listening across a brand, or reporting for clients. Those needs point to a heavier platform such as Hootsuite. And if you post reactively rather than on a schedule, a scheduler solves a problem you do not have.

Pricing

Buffer is freemium and priced per channel, which is unusual and matters. The free plan covers up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 100 stored ideas and 30 days of analytics history. Essentials is $5 per month per channel, or $60 billed yearly, and adds unlimited scheduling, unlimited analytics history and unlimited AI replies for one user. Team is $10 per month per channel, or $120 billed yearly, and adds unlimited team members with approval workflows.

Multiply before you compare. Four channels on Essentials is $20 per month, not $5, and that per-channel shape is what makes Buffer cheap for a focused presence and expensive for a broad one.

Set it up

Official guide: Getting started with Buffer's publishing features

1. Create a Buffer account on the Free plan, which allows up to 3 channels (a channel is one social media account, such as your Instagram or LinkedIn). Connect only the channels you really post to. Before you start, log in to the social account you want to connect, in another tab of the same browser. Your Buffer account is now on the Free plan.
2. In Buffer, click "+ New" in the top navigation bar and select "Connect a New Channel". Choose the social network, follow its prompts and approve the access it asks for. This lets Buffer post to that account for you. The channel now appears in your channel list.
3. Click "Publish" on the left side of the dashboard, then click your connected channel. Click the settings cog next to the channel name and replace the listed city with one in your timezone. Scroll down to "Posting Times" and add a time for every day, for weekdays only, or for a single day. Your posting slots, the times Buffer posts at, are now set.
4. Click the blue "+ New" button at the top of the dashboard to open the composer. Select your channel and write your text. On the left side, choose "Next Available", then click "Schedule Post". Buffer posts this on your real account at that slot, so use a post you are happy to publish. The post is now scheduled for the next open slot.
5. Repeat step 4 for three more posts in one sitting. The Free plan allows 10 scheduled posts per channel. Each post takes the next open slot. You now have four posts scheduled, one after another, at your posting times.

When this works, Buffer publishes your posts on its own at the times you set, from a list of scheduled posts you fill whenever you have time.

On Team ($10/mo per channel ($120 billed yearly)): unlimited team members and approval workflows, where a post waits for a manager to approve it before it goes out.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is that it stays out of the way. Buffer does scheduling, an AI assist and readable analytics, and does not try to become a marketing suite. For one person keeping three channels alive, that restraint is the feature.

The limitations follow the same restraint. Per-channel pricing punishes breadth. Team collaboration only arrives on the Team plan at $10 per channel per month. There is no listening or monitoring layer for tracking brand mentions. And publishing capability differs by network and account type, so a personal account and a business account do not get the same options. See Buffer vs Hootsuite if you are weighing scope against simplicity.