Buffer

Overview

Buffer gives small business owners a single place to plan, schedule, and publish content across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Threads, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, and Mastodon. The free plan connects up to 3 channels and holds 10 scheduled posts per channel at no cost. Paid plans start at $5 per month per channel and unlock unlimited scheduling, advanced analytics, a hashtag manager, and first-comment scheduling. One verified user reports saving 4 to 5 hours every week using Buffer. The AI Assistant helps you draft and repurpose content on every plan, including free. Buffer integrates with Canva, Google Drive, Dropbox, Zapier, and WordPress. Over 100,000 businesses and individuals use the platform, which published nearly 8 million posts last month. Nonprofit organizations qualify for a 50% discount on paid plans.

Features

• Schedule posts to 11 social platforms with automatic or reminder-based publishing
• AI Assistant available on all plans for drafting and repurposing content
• Advanced analytics with best-time-to-post suggestions and audience demographics on paid plans
• Community inbox to reply to comments across multiple platforms from one dashboard
• Content approval workflows and custom access permissions on the Team plan

Best for

Buffer works best for small business owners who manage two to five social media accounts and want to batch-schedule content without hiring a social media manager. It also fits businesses where a part-time employee or contractor helps create content and needs a simple approval workflow before posts go live.