Social media is an integral part of the marketing plan for many entrepreneurs and businesses. Although social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest make it possible to get your message in front of a huge audience, the process of managing social media profiles can be quite cumbersome.
It takes a lot of effort to maintain an active presence on social media, especially if you’re using several different platforms.
Fortunately, there are a number of tools that make it much easier for you to manage your profiles, plan, and schedule your posts. Here you’ll find details of the best social media scheduling tools that can help you to save countless hours while having a more effective social presence.
The Best Social Media Scheduling Tools
While all of the tools covered in this article will help you to schedule your social media posts, each one has its own unique features and functionality. Check out the descriptions of each to see which one will be the best fit for you.
Sendible is a very powerful tool that has earned the top spot on our list with features that you’ll love. While it does include a social media scheduler, Sendible is much more than that.
In terms of scheduling, Sendible allows you to tailor your content for each platform, rather than forcing you to share the same thing everywhere. Use different hashtags and emojis for different platforms, change the images, or tailor the content in whatever way makes the most sense.
You can schedule content as far into the future as needed, so you can set up posts for large periods of time. Sendible allows you to schedule posts, images, and videos individually or in bulk, which can save loads of time.
Sendible also allows you to organize posts into campaigns and schedule them at specific times and intervals. This is perfect for evergreen content that you want to promote on a regular basis.
The publishing calendar makes it easy for you to get a visual view of the content that will be shared.
Another time-saving feature is the RSS Auto Poster, which posts automatically from an RSS feed but gives you control over when and where.
If you use Canva to design images, you’ll love the intregration that makes your Canva designs easily accessible from Sendible.
In addition to the scheduling features, Sendible offers a wide range of other features like reporting, monitoring of brand mentions, and collaboration.
While Sendible is appropriate for any type of business, it’s especially powerful for agencies and freelancers that manage social profiles for clients. You can set up individual dashboards for clients and provide custom reporting that they will love.
Pricing: Sendible’s pricing starts at $29 per month ($24 per month if paid annually), which allows you up to 12 services (a service is a connection to a social platform) and up to 8 quick reports.
Higher-priced plans ($99 – $299 per month) offer more users, services, and quick reports. A 14-day free trial is available for each plan.
Highlights of Sendible
- Schedule posts individually or in bulk.
- Integrates with a huge number of platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, as well as blogging platforms like WordPress (self-hosted), WordPress.com, Blogger, Tumblr, and Medium.
- Advanced collaboration tools for teams or for working with clients.
- Detailed insights through analytics and reporting.
Agorapulse provides a powerful social media dashboard, including a social media scheduler. But like Sendible, Agorapulse is much more than simply a scheduler.
With the help of Agorpulse, you can schedule your content for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
You can take advantage of features like bulk scheduling to save time and queue categories to have plenty of content ready to share at any time. You can schedule one-time posts, or set it to re-publish regularly at specific intervals. The scheduling functions will give you complete control over the content that you share and when you share it.
Agorapulse also provides plenty of features related to collaboration that make it well-suited for teams or for anyone who manages profiles for clients. You’ll also get access to detailed reports that show you exactly which content is getting results.
Pricing: Agorapulse starts at $99 per month ($79 per month if paid annually). This plan allows you to manage a total of 10 social profiles with 2 user accounts. Higher-priced plans range from $199 per month to $499 per month and provide more users and social profile connections.
Agorpulse provides a wealth of features and functionality, but it’s also one of the higher-priced options. One of the reasons why we have Sendible ranked higher is because the starting plan is much more affordable for small businesses and solopreneurs.
Highlights of Agorapulse
- A wide range of publishing features that allow you to easily schedule your posts according to your needs.
- Schedule evergreen content to be shared over-and-over again.
- Queue categories that allow you to store unlimited posts for particular themes.
- Advanced tools for collaboration and reporting.
MeetEdgar allows you to schedule and automate your content for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Although it offers social media scheduling like all of the other tools covered on this page, MeetEdgar also has some unique features that make it stand out.
The MeetEdgar Google Chrome extension makes it easy to automatically generate up to five pre-written social media posts per article, which is an incredible feature that can save you loads of time. Edgar can automatically create your posts for you by finding quote-worthy text within the article.
Another standout feature is A/B testing, which allows you to test different messages to see which ones generate the best engagement from your followers.
You’ll also have the ability to use category-based publishing and continuous posting to keep sharing your evergreen content. It will even adjust your content using different variations to prevent any issues from Twitter for sharing the same content multiple times.
Pricing: MeetEdgar starts at $19 per month, but for that price you will only be able to connect 3 social accounts and schedule 10 posts per week. The $49 per month plan allows you to connect up to 25 social profiles.
Highlights of MeetEdgar
- Automatically creates social posts for you based on the content of the article.
- Category-based scheduling allows you to easily manage the different themes or topics of your content.
- Continuous posting of your important evergreen content.
Like Sendible and Agorapulse, SproutSocial is a feature-rich tool that could be used by entrepreneurs to manage their own social profiles or agencies that manage profiles for multiple clients. It integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
You can use SproutSocial’s visual calendar to easily manage your posts across multiple social platforms. You’ll have full control over when and where your content is published, and SprotSocial gives you the option to automatically post your content when it is most likely to generate engagement.
SproutSocial also makes it easy to track performance and find your content that generates the best results. Customizable reporting tools make it easy to see how you’re doing and what needs to be improved.
Pricing: SproutSocial is a robust tool, and that’s reflected in the pricing. The lowest-priced plan starts at $99 per month and allows you to manage up to 5 social profiles. Higher-priced plans are available for $149 and $249 per month, which allow you to manage up to 10 social profiles.
Highlights of SproutSocial
- A shared calendar allows you, and other team members, to visualize the content that will be posted/shared.
- Automatically schedule your content when it is likely to get the best response and engagement.
- Customizable reporting tools to help you tweak and improve.
SocialBee is an excellent option for entrepreneurs and small business that are looking for an affordable social media scheduling tool.
With the help of SocialBee, you can publish to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business.
You can create posts manually, use a CSV file to bulk important multiple posts, or have posts created automatically from any RSS feed.
SocialBee makes extensive use of categories. You can create evergreen categories that get recycled over-and-over again. Other categories can be set to share once, which is ideal for time-sensitive content. Your sharing schedule can be set up by category, giving you full control over the content that is shared and the frequency.
You’ll also get access to some additional features like reporting and audience analyis. However, SocialBee is one of the newer platforms and their feature list is not as extensive as some others like Sendible, Agorapulse, and SproutSocial. But for scheduling, it offers everything you need at a great price.
Pricing: SocialBee starts at $19 per month, which allows 1 user to manage 5 social profiles, 10 content categories, 10 RSS feeds, and 1,000 posts per category. Other plans offer higher limits for $39 – $79 per month.
Highlights of SocialBee
- Category-based scheduling that allows you to control when and where your content is shared.
- Excellent scheduling features at an affordable price.
- Limited features (at this time) outside of scheduling.
Tailwind is different than any of the other tools mentioned in this list. It only integrates with Pinterest and Instagram, but it’s the best scheduler available for those platforms. With Pinterest and Instagram being extremely important for some businesses and brands, you may want to consider Tailwind as a way to increase your reach on these platforms.
Pinterest can be a time-consuming platform since most users regularly pin a several times per day. Tailwind makes it easy to schedule pins for the times when your followers are most active.
You can create board lists to easily schedule your pins to multiple boards based on the topics of those boards. You’ll get detailed analytics and reporting to help you see which pins and boards are the most effective.
I’ve used Tailwind for Pinterest for a few years and I’ve found it to be a great value. It saves me several hours per month compared to when I used to do everything manually.
For Instagram, Tailwind allows you to easily schedule photos and videos at the best times when your audience is most engaged. It will even suggest hashtags that can help to get more exposure for your content.
Pricing: Although Tailwind integrates with both Pinterest and Instagram, you’ll need to purchase each separately. Pricing starts at $9.99 per month for Pinterest and $9.99 per month for Instagram. Those plans each allow you to manage 1 user account and unlimited scheduling.
Highlights of Tailwind
- The most feature-rich scheduler for Pinterest and Instagram.
- Affordable pricing that allows unlimited scheduling.
- Detailed analytics and reports to help you maximize your results.
SmarterQueue integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. While it does include some analytics and monitoring features, it’s somewhat similar to SocialBee in terms of focusing mostly on being a great social media scheduler.
With SmarterQueue, you’ll set up categories for your content, and each category will have its own queue and posting plan. This allows you to have a great deal of control while still making it possible to automate the majority of the work.
Your evergreen content can be set to be shared over-and-over on autopilot.
SmarterQueue will also help you to find content that has been proven to get engagement, so you can share it through your profiles.
You’ll have access to a social inbox where you can view and respond to messages from multiple platforms.
Pricing: SmarterQueue starts at $16.99 per month (paid annually), which allows you to manage 4 social profiles with up to 10 posts per day through each profile. You’ll be able to create 10 content categories and store up to 500 posts in the queue.
Higher-priced plans offer higher limits, or you can create a custom plan that will fit your specific needs without paying for extras that you don’t want.
Highlights of SmarterQueue
- Create content categories for full control over your scheduling and re-sharing.
- Re-publish evergreen content on autopilot.
- Content curation tools that make it easy to find content that is proven to generate engagement.
- Analytics and reporting to help you fine-tune your approach.
If you’re looking for a simple, affordable social media scheduler, Post Planner could be a good option. At the moment, it only supports Twitter and Facebook. However, LinkedIn is set to be added soon, and then others like Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
Post Planner allows you to bulk upload or create posts manually. The discovery engine also helps you to find content that is likely to generate engagement, which can also be shared through your profile.
You can view your publishing schedule to control when all of your posts are published, or allow Post Planner to publish them at the best time for each social network.
Pricing: Post Planner starts at just $3 per month (billed annually). This starter plan allows you to manage 3 social profiles, publish 30 posts per day, and have 300 posts scheduled. Other plans are available for $12 – $24 per month, or $9 – $19 if billed annually.
Highlights of Post Planner
- Affordable scheduler for Twitter and Facebook with other platforms to be added.
- Discovery engine helps you to find content that will create engagement.
- Simple sharing tools without many additional features.
Buffer is a very popular tool, partly because it offers a free plan. If you’re looking for a very basic scheduler, the free plan from Buffer myay be an option. With the free plan you can manage 3 social profiles but only 10 scheduled posts.
Buffer’s free plan could be a good starting point, but the main purpose of scheduling your social media posts is to save time. The limitation of only 10 scheduled posts means that you won’t be able to schedule a lot of content in advance in order to save time.
I personally use Buffer’s free plan to schedule Tweets. I’ll go through my RSS reader in the morning and pick out a few items to share and I schedule those tweets to go out throughout the day.
With Buffer, you can post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. You’ll be able to analyze the results through reports that measure engagement and effectiveness.
Pricing: Buffer’s paid plans start at $15 per month (or $12 per month if billed annually). That plan allows you to manage 8 social accounts and schedule up to 100 posts. Plans with higher limits are priced at $65 – $99 per month (or $56 – $85 per month if billed annually).
Highlights of Buffer
- Limited free plan available.
- Analytics and reports to help you track your results
- Schedule to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Hootsuite offers more than 35 different integrations, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others. You’ll be able to schedule your content very easily across multiple platforms.
You’ll also get social media monitoring to follow topics and respond quickly. Analytics and reporting help you to see what content is generating results, and you can easily promote your best content from the Hootsuite dashboard.
Hootsuite also offers collaborative features and functionality that make it easy for teams to work together in a cohesive manner.
Pricing: The lowest-priced plan is offered at $29 per month (billed annually). That plan allows you to manage 10 social profiles with unlimited scheduling. Other plans range from $129 per month to $599 per month (billed annually), or you can contact them for pricing on a custom plan.
Highlights of Hootsuite
- Huge number of integrations available with more than 35 to choose from.
- Social media monitoring, including a social inbox.
- Unlimited scheduling offered on all plans.
How to Choose the Right Social Media Scheduling Tool
Now that we’ve looked at 10 of the best social media scheduling tools, you may be wondering which one is right for you. Here are a few questions that you should ask yourself.
Which Social Networks Do You Use?
Not every tool will integrate with the same social networks and platforms. In fact, there is a wide variety. Be sure that any tool you choose will integrate with the platforms that are most important for you. One of the reasons we have Sendible ranked at the top of our list is because it integrates with so many different platforms.
Do You Manage Social Profiles for Clients?
Are you looking for a tool that you’ll use to manage your own social profiles, or are you an agency or freelancer that manages profiles for clients? If you do client work, you’ll love tools like Sendible and Agorapulse, and your clients will love the reporting that you’re able to provide.
On the other hand, if you’re only managing your own profiles, you don’t need to be swayed be features that won’t matter to you.
Which Features are Most Important to You?
Although each of these tools allows you to share and schedule your content, they all work differently and each one has some unique features.
Be sure to think about your own situation and determine which features would be the most beneficial for you. Don’t settle for an option that doesn’t provide you with the most important features.
This could include things like MeetEdgar‘s automated social content, Sendible‘s integration with Canva, or SmarterQueue‘s content curation tools.
Will You Be Working with Teammates?
Some of these tools (like Sendible, Agorapulse, and SproutSocial) offer a wide range of features that allow multiple team members to collaborate very easily. If you work on your own, this may not be a concern to you, but if you have other people on your team, be sure to pay attention to these features.
What is Your Budget?
Of course, price is always a factor too. While some of these tools can be expensive, fortunately, others are more affordable. Decide how much you are willing and able to pay, and find an option that is within your budget.
Social media is an important part of your business and it can also demand a lot of time and effort from you and your team. Thankfully, the tools covered in this article can save you countless hours and help you to get better results with your own social media marketing.
