The best Metricool alternatives in 2026, by what you need
Metricool is $25 a month for 5 brands, but a second login means Advanced at $67. Eight alternatives compared on price, teams, X, Mastodon and analytics.
Short answer
For a team without Metricool's $67 Advanced plan, look at Buffer, SocialPilot or SocialBee. For X and Mastodon without a per-account add-on, Publer or PostDaily. For an inbox and review monitoring, Vista Social. For Instagram and TikTok planning, Later. Metricool is free for one brand, then $25 a month for up to 5 brands, with one login.
People leave Metricool for one of four reasons. Starter has a single login, so a second person means Advanced, from $67 a month for 15 brands. X costs $10 a month per account, and the free plan can't connect X or LinkedIn. Metricool doesn't publish to Mastodon. And the free plan stops at 20 posts a month. The right alternative depends on which one it is. Few tools match Metricool's analytics at its price, so each entry below says where it falls short. Every price below comes from each vendor's own pricing page and help centre, read on 11 and 12 November 2026 (Metricool's and Later's re-read on 13 November), in US dollars. To see every tool priced at the same size, read the cheapest social media schedulers.
The eight at a glance
| Tool | Starts at | Priced by | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | $6 per channel a month | Channel | 3 channels | A team on a few channels |
| SocialPilot | $30 a month ($25.50 yearly) | Bundle of accounts and users | No | A team of three with an inbox |
| SocialBee | $29 a month ($290 a year) | Bundle of profiles | No | Recycling evergreen posts by category |
| Publer | $4 per account a month from 3 accounts ($5 for one) | Account and member | 3 accounts (not X) | X and Mastodon for little per account |
| Vista Social | $99 a month ($80 yearly) | Bundle of profiles | No | An inbox and review monitoring |
| Zoho Social | $15 a month ($10 yearly) per brand | Brand | 1 brand, can't schedule | One brand on many networks |
| Later | $25 a month ($18.75 yearly) | Social set | Help centre only | Instagram and TikTok planning |
| PostDaily | See the pricing page | Plan | 1 channel (not X) and 5 scheduled posts a month | Seats included, X and Mastodon |
If a second person is the problem
Buffer
Buffer charges per channel, and its Team plan has unlimited users and approvals at $12 per channel a month ($10 billed yearly). Three people on 5 channels pay $60 a month, against $67 for Metricool's Advanced; on 10 channels they pay $120. Essentials is $6 per channel ($5 yearly) for one user, with reports and analytics, and the free plan covers 3 channels with 10 posts queued on each. Buffer publishes to 12 networks, including X, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack. The catches: the bill grows with every channel, so one person on 25 channels pays $120 a month where Metricool's Starter covers 10 brands for $45, and approvers need a Buffer login. Buffer pricing, worked out, PostDaily vs Buffer, and the best Buffer alternatives.
SocialPilot
SocialPilot sells bundles of accounts and users. Standard is $50 a month ($42.50 billed yearly) for 15 accounts and 3 users, with the social inbox, analytics and manager approval, which is less than Metricool's Advanced. Premium, $100 ($85) for 25 accounts and 6 users, lets a client approve from an emailed link without logging in and adds competitor reports. Extra accounts are $4 a month and extra users $5. The catches: an account is one profile, where a Metricool brand holds one on every network, so 15 accounts cover fewer clients; Essentials, at $30 for 7 accounts, is one user with no analytics or inbox; it doesn't publish to Mastodon; and there's no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card. SocialPilot pricing, worked out, and PostDaily vs SocialPilot.
SocialBee
SocialBee sorts posts into categories and can recycle evergreen ones on a schedule. Bootstrap is $29 a month ($290 a year) for 5 profiles and 1 user, with the inbox and 3 months of analytics. Accelerate, $49 ($490 a year), has 10 profiles, 2 years of analytics, CSV uploads and post approval, and an extra user is $10 a month, so a team of three on it pays $69. The catches: 5 profiles is 5 accounts in all, where Metricool's $25 covers 5 brands with a profile on each network; whoever approves needs a SocialBee account in a role that can also publish; Mastodon is reminder-only, through its mobile app; and there's no free plan, only a 14-day trial. SocialBee pricing, worked out, and PostDaily vs SocialBee.
If you post to X or Mastodon
Publer
Publer charges per account. Professional is $4 a month per account from three accounts ($3.20 yearly; one account alone is $5), with X, Bluesky and Mastodon included, and each extra member is $2 a month, so a team of three on 10 accounts pays $40 a month. Business, at $7 per account ($5.60 yearly), adds analytics and reports, best times, competitor analysis and Publer's API; the same team pays $69 on it. The free plan covers 3 accounts (not X), with 10 posts per account at a time. The catches: matching Metricool's reports means the Business rate on every account, each profile has a daily posting cap, Publer's plans page and help centre disagree on whether approvals start on Professional or Business, and a client approves as a member of your workspace. Publer pricing, worked out, and PostDaily vs Publer.
PostDaily
PostDaily is our product, so weigh this accordingly. Its analytics cover your own posts over a much shorter history, with no competitor tracking or ads reporting, so if reports are why you use Metricool, stay there. It fits a small team that publishes. Plans include seats and a channel allowance at one price, X is included on paid plans within a monthly X budget, and a client approves from a review link with no account on the Pro plan. It publishes to Bluesky, Mastodon, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube and Pinterest, without Google Business Profile. The free plan covers 1 channel (not X) and 5 scheduled posts a month, less than Metricool's. PostDaily vs Metricool says where Metricool is still the better choice.
If you need an inbox as well
Vista Social
Vista Social is a full suite sold in bundles. Professional is $99 a month ($80 billed yearly) for 15 profiles and 2 users, with an inbox for every network, review monitoring on Facebook and Google, competitor and scheduled reports and the Vista Page link in bio. A client approves without an account from Advanced, $199 a month for 30 profiles and 3 users. The catches: Professional costs about four times Metricool's Starter, users are few, X costs $29 a month per profile against Metricool's $10, there's no Mastodon, and there's no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card. Vista Social pricing, worked out, and PostDaily vs Vista Social.
Zoho Social
Zoho Social also sells plans by the brand, one profile on each network it supports. Standard is $15 a month ($10 billed yearly) for one brand on 14 channels, Mastodon, Bluesky and Snapchat among them, with scheduling and summary reports. Premium, $65 ($40 yearly), adds 3 users, approvals, the inbox, custom reports and Zoho CRM and Desk links. The catches: many brands cost far more than on Metricool (Agency is $320 a month, $230 yearly, for 10 client brands, against $45 for 10 on Metricool's Starter), a client signs in to approve, and the free plan can't schedule: posts go out straight away. Zoho Social pricing, worked out, and PostDaily vs Zoho Social.
If Instagram and TikTok are the whole job
Later
Later is built around Instagram and TikTok: you plan from a visual grid, and it has a link-in-bio page. Starter is $25 a month ($18.75 billed yearly) for one social set, one profile on each of 8 networks, with one user, 30 posts per profile a month and 3 months of analytics history. Growth, $50, adds a second set and user, 180 posts per profile, a year of history, approvals and an inbox. The catches: Metricool's $25 covers 5 brands where Later's covers one, and Metricool keeps unlimited history; Later doesn't publish to X, Bluesky or Mastodon; a client who approves needs a seat; and its free plan appears only in its help centre. Later pricing, worked out, PostDaily vs Later, and the best Later alternatives.
When to stay with Metricool
Stay if analytics is why you open it: up to 100 competitors and unlimited history on Starter, ads reporting, and a Looker Studio connector on Advanced. Stay too if you work alone across many small brands, where $25 a month for 5 brands ($20 billed annually) is hard to match, or if you post to Google Business Profile or Twitch. Metricool pricing, worked out shows what 1, 10 and 25 brands cost.
Metricool alternative questions
What is the best free alternative to Metricool?
Buffer is free for 3 channels and Publer for 3 accounts (not X), each with 10 posts queued per channel or account at a time. PostDaily's free plan covers 1 channel (not X) and 5 scheduled posts a month. Zoho Social's free plan can't schedule, and Later's appears only in its help centre.
What is cheaper than Metricool for a team?
Metricool needs Advanced, from $67 a month, for a second login. SocialPilot's Standard is $50 for 15 accounts and 3 users, Publer is $40 a month for 3 people on 10 accounts, and Buffer's Team is $12 per channel with unlimited users. A Metricool brand holds a profile on every network, so compare by accounts, not brands.
Which Metricool alternatives include X?
Buffer, Publer's paid plans, SocialPilot, SocialBee and Zoho Social publish to X with no separate X charge on their pricing pages, and PostDaily includes X on paid plans within a monthly budget. Vista Social charges $29 a month per X profile, and Later doesn't publish to X.
Which Metricool alternatives publish to Mastodon?
Buffer, Publer, Zoho Social (Standard and up) and PostDaily. SocialBee only sends a reminder from its mobile app, and SocialPilot, Vista Social and Later don't support it.
Which alternative has analytics closest to Metricool's?
Publer's Business plan has competitor and hashtag analysis, Vista Social has competitor reports from Professional, and SocialPilot has them on Premium. Metricool's Starter tracks up to 100 competitors with unlimited history for $25 a month, which is hard to match.
Which alternative lets a client approve without an account?
Vista Social (Advanced), SocialPilot (Premium) and PostDaily, as Metricool does on Advanced. Buffer, SocialBee, Zoho Social and Later need the approver to have a login, and in Publer the client approves as a workspace member.
Last checked against each vendor's own pricing page and help centre.
