Later alternatives: 12 social media management tools compared
Later is most often left by small teams and agencies who started on the cheapest plan and hit a ceiling: a cap on scheduled posts per profile, one user, and an inbox and approvals that only start on the second plan. Others find that the social sets they pay for bundle profiles they do not use. They move to per-channel or per-brand schedulers, workspace-based agency tools, and approval-first tools.
Short answer: The closest replacements for Later in our social media management ranking are Buffer, Publer and Metricool. Choose Buffer if you want to pay only for the channels you use and have no post cap per profile. All 12 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Social Media Management Tools in 2026, and each says where it differs from Later.
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Pricing: Per month by plan, published; 14-day trial
Established in: Canada
Built for: A brand where the Instagram grid is the product
Not for: A B2B company posting mostly to LinkedIn
01
Why buyers look past Later
01
The cheapest plan is one user and a post cap per profile
Later Starter is $18.75 a month billed yearly for one social set (up to 8 profiles, one of each network) and one user. Scheduling is capped at 30 posts per profile per month, counted when a post is scheduled rather than when it is published, and Later states that extra social sets and extra users are not available on Starter. A second person, or a brand that posts daily to several networks, forces the move to Growth.
02
Inbox, approvals and a team begin on the second plan
The social inbox for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok conversations, the content approval workflow, the external comment workflow for stakeholders without an account, and custom roles all start on Growth at $37.50 a month billed yearly, which includes 2 users and 2 social sets with 180 posts per profile. Extra social sets cost $11.25 a month each and extra users $3.75 a month each, so an agency with many clients adds cost per brand.
03
Benchmarking and listening sit on the top plan, and there is no free plan
Competitive benchmarking for up to 20 competitors, brand mentions, brand health and custom analytics are only on Scale ($82.50 a month billed yearly, 6 social sets, 4 users). Later offers a 14-day free trial but no free plan. Analytics history also depends on the plan: 3 months on Starter, 1 year on Growth, 2 years on Scale. Teams that want a permanent free tier, or listening without the top plan, look elsewhere.
Per user per month, published; from $99 on annual billing
The incumbent, priced per user, with approvals on the Advanced plan
you need unlimited accounts and enterprise listening and can pay per user
#13
03
What each one does differently
1
Buffer
United States · Free tier; paid per channel per month, published
Charges per connected channel, not per bundle of eight profiles: the free plan has up to 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel, Essentials is $5 a channel a month on yearly billing with unlimited scheduled posts, and Team is $10 a channel. Approval workflows and unlimited team members sit on Team. It has no visual Instagram grid planner like Later's.
Switch from Later if you want to pay only for the channels you use and have no post cap per profile.
Albania · Free tier; paid per social account per month, published
Prices by number of social accounts and additional members, with a free plan that allows 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account and 1 user. Paid plans have unlimited scheduling and workspaces, and analytics, best times to post and competitor analysis are on the Business plan. The free plan stores post history for only 24 hours.
Switch from Later if you want a free plan or a bill that follows the number of accounts.
Spain · Free tier; paid per month by number of brands, published
Sizes plans by brand rather than by social set: the free plan covers 1 brand with 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles and 30 days of analytics. Starter (from 20 euros a month) allows up to 10 brands with unlimited publishing, and Advanced adds team management and a post approval system. Reporting and competitor tracking are its strength.
Switch from Later if you manage several brands and care more about analytics than about the visual planner.
Romania · First 50 posts free with no time limit; paid per workspace per month, published; unlimited users
Built around approval before publishing, and priced per workspace, not per user: users are unlimited on every plan. Basic is listed at $33 per workspace per month with 60 posts per workspace and 4 social pages, Pro at $49 with 150 posts and required approvals. Analytics ($12) and the social inbox ($7.50) are paid add-ons per workspace.
Switch from Later if clients or stakeholders must approve every post and you do not want to pay per seat.
Plans are sized by social accounts and users: Starter is $49 a month on yearly billing ($65 monthly) for 12 accounts and 3 users, Beyond is $249 ($332 monthly) for 60 accounts and unlimited users. Approval workflows and roles are on Starter, where Later puts them on Growth. Loomly is operated by Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A. in Milan.
Switch from Later if you need approvals from the entry plan and want a calendar built around post ideas.
Romania · Paid per month by plan, sized by profiles and workspaces, published; 14-day trial
Organises publishing around content categories that refill the queue, with unlimited AI content generation on every plan. Bootstrap is $29 a month (5 profiles, 1 user), Accelerate $49 (10 profiles, post approval) and Pro $99 (25 profiles, 5 workspaces, 3 users per workspace) when billed monthly. Its pricing page lists no social inbox among the plan features.
Switch from Later if you want an evergreen queue that recycles content by category more than a visual calendar.
United Kingdom · Per month by plan, published; unlimited users on all plans
Gives every plan unlimited users and unlimited scheduling, and charges by workspace, each holding 6 social profiles. Core has 1 workspace, Plus 3 workspaces with approval workflows, Premium 7 workspaces with custom branded reports. It suits agencies that bill per client and does not centre on an Instagram visual planner.
Switch from Later if you are an agency with many collaborators and want one workspace per client.
France · Free tier; paid per user per month, published
Charges per user per month, with inbox and publishing in one tool: Standard is $79 a user on annual billing ($99 monthly) with 10 profiles and one shared inbox, Professional $119, Advanced $149. Post and inbox assignments start on Professional. It offers a 30-day free trial, not a free plan, and its price rises with each seat.
Switch from Later if engagement and a shared inbox for the team matter more than scheduling alone.
France · Free plan; paid per month by plan, published
Starts from analytics: a free plan for 2 social profiles, 1 user and 10 posts a month per profile, Starter from 9 euros a month, Launch from 33 euros with an inbox, and Scale from 69 euros (20 profiles, 3 users, approvals). Iconosquare states it is made and hosted in Europe and ISO 27001 certified.
Switch from Later if you want an analytics-first tool with a free plan and European hosting.
United States · Per month by plan, published, from $99; listening and employee advocacy priced as add-ons; 14-day trial
Packs a broad feature set into plans by social profiles and users: Professional covers 15 profiles and 2 users, Advanced 30 profiles and 3 users with approval workflows. Listening across social, web and news starts at $75 a month and employee advocacy at $199 a month, both as add-ons. Its interface is denser than Later's.
Switch from Later if you want more profiles and workflows per plan and are willing to learn a denser tool.
India · Free tier; paid per month by brand, published, low
Plans are built around a brand, a bundle of social channels (6 on Free, 10 or 11 on the next plans), and a limited number of team members. It has a free plan with 1 brand and 1 team member, and a 15-day free trial of paid plans. Its main advantage is for teams already inside the Zoho suite.
Switch from Later if you already use Zoho products and want a free starting tier.
Canada · Per user per month, published; from $99 on annual billing
Prices per user and sells by tier: Standard manages up to 10 social accounts, Professional unlimited accounts, and approvals and message routing only arrive on Advanced. It has a 14-day trial and no free plan, and a large team pays for every seat. Its listening and advertising tools are broader than Later's.
Switch from Later if you need unlimited accounts and enterprise listening and can pay per user.
Later remains the right choice when most of your publishing is visual and goes to Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, and one person or a pair of people run it. The visual planner, link in bio, best times to post and the Starter price for up to 8 profiles are hard to match in a single plan. If the post cap per profile and a single user are not a constraint, nothing in the list above is clearly cheaper for the same use. Growth is a sensible plan for a small team that needs the inbox and approvals together.
05
What moving off Later involves
01
Count your scheduled posts and profiles first
Later counts posts per profile per month when they are scheduled, so list how many profiles you publish to and how many posts each gets. A per-channel tool prices by profile, a per-brand tool by brand, and a workspace tool by client, and the cheapest option depends on which of these your count matches.
02
Export what Later holds before cancelling
Later keeps your media library, saved captions, hashtags and the link in bio page. Download the media and copy the captions you reuse, and decide whether the link in bio page stays on Later or is replaced by another tool, because the new scheduler may not provide one. Analytics history is held by Later, so export reports you still need.
03
Reconnect profiles and rebuild the queue
Every social profile must be authorised again in the new tool, and scheduled posts do not carry across. Schedule the next weeks in the new tool and remove them from Later only once they are confirmed, so no post runs twice.
06
Questions about replacing Later
6 answers
Is there a free alternative to Later?
Yes. Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Iconosquare and Zoho Social each list a free plan. Later does not: it has a 14-day free trial of Starter, Growth and Scale.
The free plans are limited, for example Buffer allows 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel, and Publer does not connect X accounts on its free plan.
How much is Later, and what do you get on each plan?
Later lists Starter at $18.75 a month, Growth at $37.50 and Scale at $82.50, all billed yearly in US dollars with taxes extra.
Starter has 1 social set and 1 user, Growth 2 sets and 2 users, Scale 6 sets and 4 users. Post caps are 30 and 180 per profile on the first two plans, and unlimited on Scale.
Which Later alternative has an approval workflow on the cheapest plan?
Loomly lists approval workflows and roles on Starter, SocialBee has a post approval system from Accelerate, and Metricool offers its approval system on Advanced. Planable is built around approvals and has unlimited users on every plan. In Later, content approval starts on Growth.
Which tool is better for agencies with many clients?
Sendible gives unlimited users and one workspace per client on every plan. Planable charges per workspace with unlimited users, and Metricool sizes plans by number of brands up to 50 on Advanced.
Later adds extra social sets at $11.25 a month each on Growth and Scale, which suits fewer clients.
Does Later include a social inbox?
Yes, from Growth: it handles Instagram, Facebook and TikTok conversations, including DMs on Instagram and Facebook. Starter does not include it.
Iconosquare puts its inbox on the Launch plan, Planable sells its inbox as a $7.50 workspace add-on, and Agorapulse includes a shared inbox on every plan.
Who owns Later?
Later's own history page says Mavrck acquired Later in 2022, that the two united under the Later brand in 2024, and that Later acquired Mavely in 2025. Later's site now presents influencer marketing and affiliate products alongside social media management.
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Sources
Checked 7 October 2026
Later pricing: Starter, Growth and Scale prices, social sets, users, post caps per profile, inbox, approvals, benchmarking and listening placement, analytics history, 14-day trial, extra set and user prices.
Later about: Ownership history: Mavrck acquired Later in 2022, united under the Later brand in 2024, acquired Mavely in 2025.
Buffer pricing: Free plan (3 channels, 10 posts per channel), Essentials $5 and Team $10 per channel, approvals and unlimited members on Team.
Publer pricing: Free plan limits (3 accounts, no X, 10 posts per account, 24-hour history), pricing by accounts and members, Business plan features.
Metricool pricing: Free plan, Starter and Advanced brand limits, prices in euros, approval system on Advanced.
Planable pricing: Per-workspace prices, unlimited users, post limits, approval types, add-on prices for analytics and inbox.
Loomly pricing: Starter and Beyond prices, accounts and users, approvals on Starter, Bending Spoons Operations S.p.A. as operator.
SocialBee pricing: Bootstrap, Accelerate and Pro monthly prices, profile, user and workspace limits, content categories, approval system.
Sendible pricing: Unlimited users on all plans, workspaces with 6 profiles each, plan structure and approvals on Plus.
Iconosquare pricing: Free plan, Starter, Launch and Scale prices and limits, inbox on Launch, approvals on Scale, European hosting and ISO 27001 claim.
Vista Social pricing: Professional and Advanced profile and user limits, approval workflows, listening and advocacy add-on prices.
Zoho Social pricing: Free plan with 1 brand and 1 team member, channels per brand, 15-day free trial.
Hootsuite plans: Per-user pricing, 10 accounts on Standard, unlimited on Professional, approvals on Advanced, 14-day trial.
