Cheap Social Media Schedulers in 2026: Every Price, Verified
The cheap end of this market runs on per-unit prices that multiply, promo rates posing as list prices and add-ons for the network you need. Every price here was read from the vendor's own page, sorted ascending, traps labelled.
“Cheap” is where scheduler marketing gets slippery: per-channel rates that look tiny until you multiply, yearly promos posing as list prices, add-ons for the one network you actually need. So this page does the boring thing — every price below was read from the vendor’s own pricing page on 23 August 2026, the table sorts by price with no respect for who wrote the article, and the traps get their own section.
Every price, ascending
| Tool | Cheapest paid path | 10 accounts costs | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Social | $10 /mo billed annually | n/a (1 brand per plan) | 1 brand, limited |
| Publer | $5 /account /mo ($4 yearly) | about $50 /mo | 3 accounts, no X |
| Buffer | $5 /channel /mo billed yearly | $50 /mo | 3 channels |
| SocialPilot | $20 /mo ($17 yearly) · 5 accounts | $40 /mo (Standard) | Trial only |
| Metricool | $20 to $36 /mo by brands | depends on brands | 1 brand, 20 posts /mo |
| Social Magnum | $24 /mo flat ($19 yearly) · 10 accounts | $24 /mo | 2 accounts, 15 posts /mo |
| SocialBee | $29 /mo ($24.20 yearly) · 5 profiles | $49 /mo (Accelerate) | Trial only |
Read the third column twice. The tools that look cheapest per unit (Publer, Buffer) and the tool that looks mid-table (Social Magnum) swap places entirely once you count ten real accounts — the per-unit models double ours.
The real free plans
- Social Magnum: 2 accounts, 15 posts a month, forever. No card.
- Metricool: 1 brand, 20 posts a month, with real analytics attached.
- Buffer: 3 channels, 10 queued posts per channel.
- Publer: 3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts each, no X, 24-hour post history.
- Zoho Social: 1 brand, limited features.
Missing on purpose: Hootsuite (no free plan, $99 per user per month), Later (trial only), SocialBee and SocialPilot (trials only), Loomly ($65 entry, no free plan).
Best value under $25: Social Magnum (ours)
The reason our own tool sits here rather than at the top of the table: $24 a month flat ($19 billed yearly) is not the lowest sticker on the page — it is the most product per dollar once you count what rides along. 10 accounts, 2 people, unlimited posts, AI captions and images, post approvals, a unified inbox with auto-replies, CSV bulk scheduling, RSS auto-posting, and an MCP connection for AI agents — pieces the cheaper rows sell as add-ons, higher tiers, or not at all. Paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Skip it if: you need X, LinkedIn or Google Business publishing (not covered), or you truly run one brand lightly — then Zoho at $10 or a free plan is the honest answer.
Cheapest flat plan: Zoho Social
Zoho Social at $10 a month billed annually is the lowest real price in the category for one brand, and the $30 and $40 tiers stay cheap. The catch is fit: it shines inside the Zoho ecosystem (CRM, Desk) and feels dated outside it.
Cheapest per account: Publer
Publer from $5 per account a month ($4 yearly), with every tenth account free, is the budget king for rosters of one to four accounts. Watch the two flags its own page carries: X connections are paid-only, and per-account maths grows linearly — ten accounts land near $50.
Cheapest for agencies: SocialPilot
SocialPilot at $20 a month ($17 yearly) for 5 accounts, $40 for 10 with 3 users, and $200 for 40 with unlimited users is the lowest sane path to volume client scheduling, with white-label reports at the $100 tier.
What cheap tools hide
- Per-unit pricing. $5 per channel or account sounds tiny; multiply by your roster before comparing to any flat plan.
- Promo rates dressed as prices. Later’s $18.75 headline is a yearly 25%-off promotion; Loomly’s $49 annual rate locks you for 12 months.
- The X add-on. Metricool and Publer both charge extra for X even on paid plans; Social Magnum does not publish to X at all — check the network you need before the price.
- Post caps. Free and cheap tiers meter posts (Buffer 10 queued per channel, Metricool 20 a month, Later 30 per profile, our free plan 15 a month). Caps are fine — unlabelled caps are not.
How to pick
The short version
- 1
One brand, inside Zoho: Zoho Social at $10 is the cheapest real scheduler going.
- 2
One to four accounts: Publer from $5 per account, or a free plan outright.
- 3
A small team posting daily across 5 to 10 accounts: Social Magnum at $24 flat carries the most product per dollar — ours, and the table above shows the cheaper rows.
- 4
Agency volume: SocialPilot from $20; SocialBee if evergreen recycling earns its $29.
- 5
Starting from zero: take the free plans (Social Magnum, Metricool, Buffer, Publer, Zoho) and let the one you keep opening win.
Related reading: the best social media schedulers in 2026, the best Buffer alternatives and the best Hootsuite alternatives.