Buffer is free until the fourth channel. Then every connected account becomes billable, including the three you had for free: Essentials starts at $6 per channel monthly, while Team starts at $12 and only earns its place when collaboration is the job.
Buffer pricing at a glance
Buffer has three current plans: Free, Essentials, and Team. The current rate card has no Agency tier.
Every price and limit on this page was verified against Buffer's live pricing page, machine-readable rate card, and help center on August 13, 2026. Buffer says this pricing structure was last updated in November 2025.
A channel is one connected social account. An Instagram profile, LinkedIn page, Facebook page, or Buffer Start Page each consumes one channel slot.
The annual figures work out to $5 per channel each month on Essentials and $10 on Team for the first 10 channels. Those are effective monthly rates, not month-to-month prices, because Buffer collects the year in advance.
The verdict is simple: Free is a complete small workflow, Essentials is a solo-operator plan, and Team is a collaboration purchase. Paying Team prices for one user buys almost no useful capacity.
Free is enough until the fourth channel
Buffer Free can run a one-brand publishing rhythm indefinitely. Its 10-post limit is a queue cap, not a monthly allowance: when a scheduled post publishes, that slot opens again.
A local-services owner using Instagram, Facebook, and Google Business Profile has 30 live queue slots across three channels. At three posts per week on each account, the queue can hold more than three weeks of scheduled work and keep refilling without a subscription.
The free limits that matter are:
- Up to three connected channels at once.
- Eight unique channel connections across the lifetime of the Free account, including accounts later disconnected.
- 10 scheduled posts per channel, 100 saved ideas, three tags, and one threaded post.
- One user, five AI reply suggestions per week, and one saved reply.
- 30 days of Insights history, one API key, and 3,000 API requests per 30 days.
Free also includes Buffer's AI Assistant and Community inbox. That makes it more than a trial, although network-specific publishing and analytics support still varies by account type.
Who never needs to pay? A consultant, founder, or local business with one owner, three stable social accounts, and a rolling weekly queue can remain on Free. Upgrade only when the fourth account, deeper reporting, first-comment scheduling, or collaboration removes enough manual work to justify the bill.
Essentials turns channel count into the budget
Essentials is the correct paid tier for one operator. It adds unlimited scheduled posts subject to a 5,000-post fair-use cap per channel, unlimited ideas, 250 tags, advanced analytics, exportable reports, custom UTM parameters, a hashtag manager, and first-comment scheduling. It still includes only one user and excludes approvals, custom permissions, and branded reports.
Buffer applies lower prices only to the channels inside each higher band. The first 10 do not reprice when channel 11 is added.
- Channels 1 through 10 cost $6 each monthly or $60 each yearly.
- Channels 11 through 25 cost $4 each monthly or $40 each yearly.
- Channels 26 through 50 cost $3 each monthly or $30 each yearly.
- Channels 51 and above cost $1 each on monthly billing; Buffer's help center lists $20 yearly for each additional Essentials channel in this band.
That produces a much flatter bill after channel 10. Essentials costs $60 month-to-month at 10 channels, $120 at 25, and $195 at 50. On annual billing, the effective monthly totals are $50, $100, and $162.50 respectively, with Buffer displaying the last figure rounded to $163.
For a DTC marketer scheduling 20 posts on each of five channels every month, Essentials costs $25 per month effective on annual billing. Across 100 scheduled posts, the software cost is $0.25 per scheduled post. The same setup costs $30 on month-to-month billing.
That outcome math is more useful than the $5 headline. If publishing 100 posts still requires the same copying, approvals, or reporting work elsewhere, the low unit cost does not make Buffer the right system. If Buffer removes those repeated steps, $0.25 per scheduled post is easy to defend.
The annual discount copy does not match the cash saving
Buffer describes annual billing as both a 20% discount and “save 2 months.” The first Essentials band costs $72 over 12 month-to-month payments or $60 when paid annually. The cash saving is $12, which is 16.67% of the month-to-month total, not 20%.
Budget from the dollar total, not the percentage label. Annual billing is still cheaper overall, but the exact saving is two monthly payments out of 12.
Team is a workflow purchase, not a capacity upgrade
Team only pays back when multiple people use approvals, access controls, shared notes, and branded reports. Scheduling capacity, ideas, analytics, and publishing features are already present on Essentials.
For the first 10 channels, Team doubles the price to $12 per channel monthly or $120 per channel yearly. The interesting part begins after channel 10: from channels 11 through 50, Essentials and Team use the same marginal rates. Team's premium therefore stabilizes at $60 month-to-month or $50 per month effective on annual billing across that range.
A five-channel B2B SaaS team pays $50 per month effective on annual Team billing. With five active collaborators, that normalizes to $10 per collaborator-month. With 10 collaborators, it falls to $5. Buffer does not bill per seat, but this normalization tells a growth lead whether the shared approval workflow is earning its budget.
The same five channels on Essentials cost $25 effective monthly. If one marketer still moves every draft through Slack or email for approval, the $25 Team premium may be justified. If the second person only checks the calendar once a quarter, it is not.
Hidden costs sit in billing rules, not overage fees
Buffer's most important extra costs are timing, tax, and channel definitions. There is no surprise seat charge on Team, but there are several ways the invoice can move before renewal.
Adding is immediate; removing waits
Adding a channel during a billing period triggers an immediate prorated charge for the remaining time. Removing a channel slot does not create an immediate reduction; the lower count takes effect at the next billing date. The billing date itself stays fixed.
For an agency that gains and loses clients during a quarter, this asymmetry matters. A new client costs money immediately, while a departing client's channel remains in the paid count until renewal unless the timing lines up. Disconnecting the social account is not enough: the channel slot must also be removed from billing.
A Buffer Start Page also counts as a channel. A brand with Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and a Start Page has four billable channels, even though only three are social-network profiles.
Cancellation and refunds are separate decisions
Canceling a web subscription leaves the plan active through the current billing period. Buffer's published refund window is seven days after starting a monthly subscription and 30 days after starting an annual subscription. Cancellation after those windows should be treated as stopping renewal, not recovering the unused balance.
The 14-day paid-plan trial requires no credit card and starts with Team features. Without payment details, the account drops to Free after the trial. Scheduled posts can still publish if their channels remain unlocked; accounts above the three-channel allowance are locked until the owner chooses what to keep or upgrades.
Listed prices exclude tax and currency costs
Buffer bills every subscription in US dollars and lists prices before applicable tax. Sales tax or VAT can appear on the invoice, and a non-US card provider may add its own conversion fee. UK business customers can enter a VAT number for reverse-charge treatment when eligible.
The web checkout does not accept PayPal, Google Pay, Venmo, Zelle, or checks. It does support major cards and several wallet or bank methods, with US bank-account payment available for qualifying transactions above $250.
Mobile subscriptions are a different billing lane
Not every web plan can be purchased through Apple or Google. On iOS, Team with nine or 10 channels is monthly-only. On Android, Essentials with six to 10 channels and Team with one to 10 channels are monthly-only, while annual Team is available only for one or two channels.
Mobile cancellation and refund requests follow Apple or Google's process rather than Buffer's normal web flow. Apple may consider App Store refunds for purchases made within 90 days; Android customers start with Buffer support for the latest payment and may need Google Play for older charges. Buying on the web keeps the full plan range and one billing policy.
Nonprofits get a discount; students do not have a published offer
Qualifying nonprofit and charity organizations can receive 50% off paid plans after submitting documentation. Buffer says it reviews applications within 48 hours. No public student discount appears on the live pricing or discount pages.
API access is included, but the ceiling is the overage
Buffer does not sell a separate API plan. Free, Essentials, and Team all include access, while the subscription tier sets the request allowance.
Free includes one API key, 100 requests per 15 minutes, 250 per day, and 3,000 per 30 days. Essentials includes three keys and 7,500 requests per 30 days, but keeps the same 100-per-15-minute and 250-per-day limits. Team includes five keys, 500 requests per day, and 15,000 per 30 days, while the 15-minute ceiling remains 100.
At one channel on annual-effective pricing, both paid tiers normalize to about $0.67 per 1,000 available monthly requests: $5 over 7,500 on Essentials and $10 over 15,000 on Team. That is not a metered API price because the app subscription buys far more than requests, but it makes the capacity trade visible.
Buffer publishes hard allowances, not a per-request overage rate. A workflow that hits 7,500 requests cannot simply buy the next thousand; it moves to Team or changes its request pattern. This is the API-versus-app split: the invoice scales by social channels while automation capacity scales by requests.
- Free can support a stable three-channel workflow indefinitely
- Essentials has predictable marginal channel bands and no seat fee
- Team includes unlimited users, approvals, permissions, and branded reports
- API access and the AI Assistant are included on every plan
- The fourth channel makes all connected channels billable
- Channel additions charge immediately while reductions wait for renewal
- Annual discount copy and the published dollar saving do not align exactly
- Mobile storefronts offer a narrower plan range and different refund paths
Buffer versus Later, Metricool, and Hootsuite on normalized cost
Buffer is cheapest when one person runs three or fewer accounts. Once the account map expands, the alternative's billing unit matters more than its starting price.
Later becomes cheaper at four channels for one brand
Later sells Starter for $18.75 per month on annual billing. It includes one social set with up to eight profiles, one user, and 30 scheduled posts per profile each month.
Buffer Essentials costs $15 annual-effective at three channels, so Buffer remains $3.75 cheaper. At four channels, Buffer reaches $20 and Later becomes $1.25 cheaper. Later keeps widening that raw-price lead through eight profiles, where Buffer costs $40.
The decision flips back if 30 posts per profile is too tight or Buffer's queue, Community, and reporting workflow replaces more work. For a visual-first single brand that can live inside Later's post limit, the fourth channel is the break-even. The broader Later alternatives comparison covers workflow differences beyond the invoice.
Metricool wins when profiles repeat across brands
Metricool prices Starter at $25 monthly or $20 per month on annual billing for up to five brands. Each brand can hold one profile per supported social network or ad platform.
An agency with five brands and three profiles per brand has 15 Buffer channels. Essentials costs $66.67 per month effective on annual billing. Metricool Starter costs $20, a difference of $46.67 per month or $560 per year.
Metricool's low base is not the whole invoice. X costs $10 per connected account, Advanced Analytics starts at $12 per month, and Free excludes LinkedIn and X. Still, multi-brand analytics is the exact scenario where Buffer's per-profile model loses to Metricool's per-brand model.
Hootsuite only makes sense when the wider operation is the product
Hootsuite Standard costs $99 per user per month on annual billing and includes up to 10 social accounts. Professional costs $199 per user with unlimited accounts, while Advanced costs $399 per user.
At 10 channels and one user, Buffer Team costs $100 annual-effective, almost identical to one Hootsuite Standard seat. Add a second user and Hootsuite becomes $198 while Buffer remains $100 because Team includes unlimited users. Buffer saves $98 per month in that two-person scenario.
Hootsuite earns the premium when monitoring, listening, inbox automation, message routing, governance, or forecasting is the primary work. Buying it only to schedule posts is hard to defend. The detailed Hootsuite pricing breakdown shows where its $99 floor grows, while the social media management shortlist covers more specialized options.
SocialBee becomes a raw-price alternative at five profiles. Bootstrap costs $29 month-to-month or $290 per year, effective $24.17 per month, and includes five social profiles, one user, and one workspace.
Buffer Essentials remains cheaper at four channels, $20 versus $24.17 annual-effective. At five, Buffer reaches $25 and SocialBee becomes $0.83 cheaper. That narrow crossing matters only if SocialBee's workflow is the one you want; price alone does not pay for a migration.
The normalized rule is clear: Later wins one brand with four to eight profiles, Metricool wins repeated networks across several brands, SocialBee edges Buffer at five profiles, and Buffer Team wins multi-user collaboration when publishing remains the main job.
The decision rule and Monday move
Choose the lowest plan that changes a weekly workflow, not the plan with the longest feature list.
- Stay on Free when one owner manages three stable channels and can refill a 10-post queue.
- Choose Essentials when one owner needs four or more channels, advanced reporting, first comments, or an effectively unlimited queue.
- Choose Team when multiple contributors need access and approvals every week.
- Choose Later when one visual brand has four to eight profiles and 30 posts per profile is enough.
- Choose Metricool when several brands repeat the same network set and analytics is central.
- Choose Hootsuite when listening, care, routing, and governance justify a per-user budget.
The Monday move
Run the buying decision as a one-week workflow audit.
Count every billable channel
List every social profile and any Buffer Start Page. Mark the three accounts you would keep if the plan dropped to Free, then price the full count on monthly and annual billing.
Count active collaborators
Include only people who draft, approve, schedule, or report every week. If one person owns the workflow, price Essentials. If two or more need recurring access, price Team and divide the total by active collaborators.
Run one complete trial cycle
Use the 14-day no-card trial to capture an idea, adapt it across channels, schedule it, handle comments, approve it, and export results. Record which steps Buffer removes and which still require another paid tool.
Buy only when the recurring time and software it removes are worth more than the annual-effective total. If the missing analytics, approval, or listening step remains the most expensive part of the workflow, buy the alternative that owns that job.
Frequently asked questions
Is Buffer actually free?
Yes. Buffer Free supports up to three connected channels, 10 queued posts per channel, one user, 100 ideas, the AI Assistant, Community, 30 days of Insights, and 3,000 API requests per 30 days. The queue refills after posts publish, so a stable three-channel workflow can stay free indefinitely.
How much does Buffer cost per month?
Essentials starts at $6 per channel on monthly billing or $60 per channel yearly for channels one through 10. Team starts at $12 monthly or $120 yearly per channel. Lower marginal rates apply above 10 channels.
Does Buffer offer a student discount?
Buffer does not publish a student discount on its live pricing or discount pages. Qualifying nonprofits and charities can apply for 50% off paid plans, with documentation review stated at up to 48 hours.
What is Buffer's refund policy?
Buffer accepts refund requests within seven days of starting a monthly subscription and within 30 days of starting an annual subscription. App Store and Google Play purchases follow their mobile refund processes instead.
When did Buffer pricing last change?
Buffer says the current prices were last updated in November 2025. The live rate card now shows Free, Essentials, and Team.
Is Buffer cheaper than Hootsuite or Later?
Buffer is cheaper than Later through three channels on annual-effective entry pricing; Later Starter becomes $1.25 cheaper at four. At 10 channels, Buffer Team and one Hootsuite Standard seat are nearly equal at $100 versus $99, but two Hootsuite seats cost $198 while Buffer Team remains $100.
Use the AI Business Workflow Audit Checklist to decide whether Buffer removes enough recurring work to deserve a paid line item.
Aug 13, 2026
