They schedule your posts. Postlefy also makes them.
Buffer and Hootsuite are great calendars — but you still write every caption and design every image. Postlefy is the affordable alternative: it schedules your own posts too, and it can create them and run your social for you — at a fraction of the price.
Do the math
Buffer and Hootsuite bill you every month whether you post or not. Postlefy only charges when you publish. Drag the sliders.
Post 12×/month and you'd pay about $0.40 — ~99% less than Buffer or Hootsuite.
That's about $355 saved a year versus the cheaper of the two.
Buffer Essentials $6/channel/mo ($5 billed annually); Hootsuite Standard $99/mo (1 user) — both are flat monthly fees whether you post once or a hundred times. Postlefy is 1 credit per post to all your platforms and credits never expire, so a quiet month costs almost nothing. Prices as of September 2026; check each provider for current rates.
The same job, three ways
Where the other two stop at organizing what you already made, Postlefy starts a step earlier — at making it.
Buffer & Hootsuite pricing as of October 2026. Postlefy: 1 credit = 1 post to all your platforms.
Buffer vs Hootsuite: free plans compared
Short answer: only Buffer has a free plan, and it's small. Hootsuite gives you a trial, then a monthly bill. Here's what you actually get for $0 — and after.
Buffer
- Free plan
- Yes — free forever
- What you get
- 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 1 user
- After that
- Essentials from $5 per channel / month (billed yearly)
Hootsuite
- Free plan
- No free plan
- What you get
- A 14-day free trial — no card needed
- After that
- Standard from $99 / month (billed yearly)
Postlefy
- Free plan
- Yes — 50 free posts to start
- What you get
- No card, every platform in one go, credits never expire
- After that
- Pay only when you post — from ~$0.03 a post, no monthly fee
Checked October 2026 on buffer.com/pricing and hootsuite.com/plans — prices change, so check their sites too.
What only Postlefy does
True autopilot
Set your brand once and it generates and publishes on a schedule. The other two need you to build every post by hand.
It makes the content
Captions, branded design cards, AI carousels, AI images, even AI video — created for you, not just tweaked after you write it.
Brand-aware by default
Learns your colors, voice, and logo from your Instagram or website, then applies them to every card automatically.
Broad platform reach
Posts natively to 13 networks — Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, Telegram, Discord, TikTok photos, YouTube Shorts & Google Business.
Playing fair — where they still lead
These are real strengths, and they're why big teams pay the premium. Postlefy's answer isn't to match them — it's that most people shouldn't need them.
Hootsuite
- Enterprise social listening & competitor monitoring
- Paid-ad management
- Big-team approval workflows, SSO & compliance
Buffer
- Very mature analytics & reporting
- Huge integration library (Canva, Zapier, and more)
- Flexible per-channel pricing for agencies
Common questions
Is Buffer free?
Yes. Buffer has a free-forever plan for up to 3 channels and 1 user, with up to 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time (a slot frees up when a post goes out). Paid plans start at $5 per channel per month, billed yearly.
Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
No. Hootsuite offers a 14-day free trial with no card needed. After that, plans start at $99 a month for Standard, billed yearly.
Buffer vs Hootsuite — which is better if you want free?
Buffer — it's the only one of the two with a free plan. It suits a small account that posts now and then. Hootsuite is built for bigger teams and has no free plan, only a trial.
What's the most affordable alternative to Buffer and Hootsuite?
Postlefy. You start with 50 free posts (no card), then pay only when you post — from about $0.03 a post, with no monthly subscription. It schedules your own posts, and it can also write and design them for you.
See all the Buffer alternatives →
Stop managing posts. Let them post themselves.
Buffer and Hootsuite help you manage posting. Postlefy does the posting for you — it creates the content and runs your social on autopilot, at a fraction of the price.
Start with 50 free posts →No card needed · credits never expire