To effectively manage your time when posting across various platforms social media managers often turn to social media scheduling tools. They can help streamline the process.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the tools available for social media scheduling. Each tool offers unique features designed to enhance productivity, from automated scheduling to content optimisation, team collaboration and reporting. 

There are many more tools available, and you should always try a few options to decide which ones might work best for you. Fundamentally, the purpose of each tool is similar, however, they are all structured differently in terms of pricing and user experience/design. 

Please note: costs included below are correct as of 28 April 2024 using information publicly available online. They are subject to change and final pricing can depend on your detailed requirements and the number of users within your organisation that require access.

Adobe Express

Adobe Express enhances social media management with its comprehensive content scheduler. Available on both desktop and mobile, this free tool allows you to plan, create, preview, and schedule posts effortlessly. 

Users can draft and arrange posts with drag-and-drop simplicity. You can also connect multiple social media accounts for seamless publishing, and ensure posts are visually and strategically optimised for audience engagement. 

It supports a wide array of platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Enabling a consistent brand presence and expanded reach across different time zones and markets. 

Adobe Express offers a robust free plan that includes numerous templates, stock photos, and design assets. With an option to upgrade for enhanced features.

  • Website: Adobe Express
  • Cost: Free plan where you can post up to 1000 posts/month in addition to added templates, Stock photos, videos, music assets and fonts. You can upgrade to the Premium Plan (£9.98 per month) to connect up to three accounts to each social channel.
  • Best for: Creative professionals seeking advanced design integration with social media posts. It is ideal for social media managers and small businesses aiming to maintain a consistent brand image and maximise audience engagement without the cost barrier.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a comprehensive tool that provides robust scheduling features alongside social listening and engagement tools. It is designed to streamline content publishing across various platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and more. 

It features auto-publishing, collaboration workflows, and a visually appealing publishing calendar. With robust URL tracking capabilities and a focus on measurable results, Agorapulse helps assess the impact of social media campaigns. 

Additionally, it offers a content library for efficient asset management. What makes it unique is its unified inbox that collects all social media messages, comments, and mentions in one place, simplifying how businesses engage with their audience across platforms. 

Customisable post adjustments ensure platform-specific optimisation and the tool includes both CSV upload and calendar-sharing options.

  • Website: Agorapulse
  • Cost: Free plan where you can schedule 10 posts a month, receive 100 messages/comments and view basic reporting. Paid plans range from 49€ to 119€ per user/month. 
  • Best for: Social media teams seeking a comprehensive tool for collaboration, scheduling, and performance tracking, with a focus on optimising and measuring campaign impact across multiple social networks.

Buffer

Buffer is known for its simplicity and effectiveness in scheduling posts across various social networks. It offers detailed analytics and the ability to tailor posts to each platform directly from one dashboard. 

What’s more, Buffer’s AI Assistant allows you to generate new ideas, repurpose existing posts and re-write copy in any style you like. It can even translate your content!

Buffer also allows users to collaborate with team members, making it a great option for small to medium-sized teams.

  • Website: Buffer
  • Cost: Free plan where you can connect up the 3 channels. You can upgrade to various packages, depending on your needs, ranging from $6 / month – $12 / month. If you have an agency with 10+ channels, you can pay $120 / month.
  • Best for: Small businesses and individual professionals looking for straightforward scheduling and analytics.

HeyOrca

HeyOrca is unique for its client-facing features, such as direct client approvals within the platform. This makes it particularly useful for marketing agencies that manage multiple clients’ social media schedules and content approvals without leaving the tool.

You can link your colleagues and clients to any content you’re working on and as soon as posts are approved, they will go live at the scheduled time.

  • Website: HeyOrca
  • Cost: You only ever pay for the calendars you need. You get unlimited users- whatever plan you are on. Basic plans start from $59 / month, but you can sign up for a free trial without providing any card details.
  • Best for: Agencies requiring client approval workflows and collaborative planning of social content.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most established tools in social media management, supporting a wide range of social networks more than most competitors. 

Hootsuite’s social media tool enables efficient planning and publishing across platforms with features like optimal posting time suggestions and creative AI for captions and content ideas. It offers bulk scheduling for time-saving, gap identification in content calendars, and collaboration features for real-time teamwork. 

Additional tools like a ‘link in bio’ page, Canva integration, and hashtag suggestions enhance content reach and engagement, all accessible from a unified dashboard.

Its standout feature is the ability to monitor multiple streams, track brand mentions, and conduct comprehensive social media audits all within its platform.

  • Website: Hootsuite
  • Cost: The cheapest plan is £89 / month which involves 1 user and 10 social accounts. The team plan is £249 / month. Both have the option for a 30-day free trial.
  • Best for: Large organisations needing extensive platform support and detailed analytics.

Later

Later allows users to visually plan and schedule their posts with a calendar interface and drag-and-drop functionality, making it ideal for influencers and brands focused on visual storytelling. 

It is a multifaceted social media management tool designed to automate posting across multiple platforms. It provides bulk scheduling and auto-publishing features, including single image, video, and carousel posts. 

The service boasts partnerships with key social platforms like TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest, and includes editing tools to optimise content. With Later’s Visual Planner, users can preview and arrange their feeds to ensure brand consistency. The platform is accessible via mobile and desktop, allowing for flexible posting schedules, and includes a Media Library for organising content. 

  • Website: Later
  • Cost: There is a free plan available, but paid plans start at just $16.67 / month. This includes 1 social set and 1 user. Plans increase up to $133.33 / month for agencies or multi-brand businesses, including 15 social sets.
  • Best for: Visual marketers and content creators who prioritise a cohesive aesthetic for their brand’s social media presence

MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar offers a unique evergreen content feature that recycles old posts, ensuring that your content reaches new followers over time. This makes it an excellent tool for maximising the lifespan and reach of your social media content.

Their social media scheduling tool is designed to streamline your content strategy with a limitless content library, enabling automatic repurposing of evergreen posts. 

It offers robust automation for scheduling and time-saving benefits, while also providing analytics to understand post performance. 

  • Website: MeetEdgar
  • Cost: The lowest-priced plan is $24.91 / month which allows for 5 social accounts and 10 weekly automations. The top-level plan is $41.58 / month, which provides 25 social accounts and 1,000 weekly automations. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial.
  • Best for: Entrepreneurs and small businesses seeking to automate and optimise their social media strategy with a focus on recycling evergreen content.

MissingLettr

MissingLettr automates the creation of social media campaigns by turning blog posts into a series of social media posts over the year. Its distinctive feature is its use of natural language processing to pull key quotes from articles, making engaging social content easier to produce. 

You also have access to a comprehensive social media calendar that is designed to help streamline and automate your social media activities. 

It provides a full overview of scheduled campaigns, curated posts, and special offers, with easy editing capabilities. The tool also includes note-taking features to organise your campaign details and visual icons to balance different post types, ensuring a well-organised and diverse social media presence.

  • Website: MissingLettr
  • Cost: The solo plan starts at $15 / month for 1 workspace and 3 social profiles. There are two other plans, which are $59 / month for 10 social profiles and $99 / month for 15 profiles.
  • Best for: Social media managers and content creators looking for an all-encompassing tool to schedule, automate, and manage their social media posts with ease.

Orlo

Orlo integrates social media management with other communication forms like SMS and live chat, providing a more holistic approach to customer interactions. It’s particularly well-suited for UK-based organisations looking to manage all digital communications in one place.

Orlo offers a unified platform for managing communications across various channels, allowing for seamless creation, collaboration, approval, and scheduling of posts. With a content calendar that gives a panoramic view of campaigns and a heat map to optimise post timing, Orlo also features user permissions and a full audit trail for compliance, all accessible via mobile. 

  • Website: Orlo
  • Cost: Request a demo on Orlo’s website to find out pricing info.
  • Best for: Communication teams and social media managers needing a comprehensive tool to streamline multi-channel content strategies and real-time engagement analysis.

Planoly

Planoly is designed specifically for planning and scheduling Instagram posts, stories, and pins on Pinterest. Its visual planner allows users to see exactly how their Instagram feed will look before anything goes live, appealing to brands and influencers who focus on maintaining an aesthetic feed. 

It supports direct auto-posting for various content types like carousels, Reels, and stories. Planoly extends its capabilities across multiple social channels including TikTok, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, enabling seamless multi-channel content management. 

It also features tools for repurposing content across platforms, optimising scheduling with best posting times, and managing content collaboratively with a comprehensive view of the social calendar.

  • Website: Planoly
  • Cost: The starter plan is $14 / month for 1 social set and plans go up to $36.50 / month for 2 social sets and 6 users. All plans offer a 7-day free trial.
  • Best for: Social media managers and content creators looking for a robust visual planning and multi-channel scheduling tool, especially those focused on maintaining a cohesive brand aesthetic on Instagram.

SmarterQueue

SmarterQueue is a comprehensive social media scheduling tool designed for marketers, influencers, and businesses, enhancing efficiency and engagement across platforms. 

It enables unique messaging for different social profiles and offers features like one-click post recycling, direct posting to Instagram including Reels and Stories, and effective hashtag and profile tagging. 

Its visual Instagram planner and bulk upload capabilities streamline content management, while analytics ensure strategic posting. SmarterQueue also includes a mobile app for convenient content scheduling and publishing.

  • Website: SmarterQueue
  • Cost: Prices start at £19.99 / month and vary depending on how many users/posts you require and also the number of social profiles on the account. There is also a free trial available. 
  • Best for: Marketers and social media managers who need advanced scheduling features with an emphasis on recycling content and streamlining posting across multiple platforms.

SproutSocial

Sprout Social is a social media management tool designed for optimising brand growth and enhancing team collaboration. It features intuitive planning and optimal posting time recommendations based on audience data analysis. 

With SproutLink, you can drive traffic to your web pages directly from your social profiles. The platform allows for seamless collaboration with tools for content approval and an integrated asset library. 

Additionally, Sprout Social includes URL tracking to measure social traffic and conversions, alongside features for managing social commerce through scheduled product links and tags.

  • Website: SproutSocial
  • Cost: You can try Sprout Social for free for 30 days. After that, $299 per seat / month is billed.
  • Best for: Larger organisations and agencies seeking comprehensive tools for team collaboration, campaign planning, and data-driven content optimisation.

Have you found this useful? Do you use an alternative solution? Simply email editor@thelighthouse.social with your social media scheduling tool recommendations. If we review the tool and find it valuable to include, we’ll send you a £10 Amazon voucher as a token of appreciation.