What does a scheduler cost when you post to five platforms every day?

!Nine glossy capsule shapes in a row with one glowing magenta, for a comparison of the best social media schedulers

Posting to five platforms every day costs $20 a month on Publer or $25 a month on Buffer, billed yearly for five accounts, and Metricool is free for one brand. The price changes once you need an inbox for the comments and DMs those posts bring in: Buffer's inbox covers comments only, and BetterSocials Pro is $39 a month billed yearly for six accounts, with comments and DMs in one inbox and replies drafted in your voice.

BetterSocials is our product, so read this list knowing we build one of the tools on it. We read every competitor price on the vendor's own pricing page on October 22, 2026, and we show the billing basis beside each one, because that's where most comparisons go wrong.

How much does each scheduler cost at five accounts?

Most schedulers don't charge one flat price. Some bill per account, some per channel, some per brand, some per user. So the sticker price on the pricing page rarely matches what you'll pay at five accounts.

The table below does the math for one creator posting to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn: five accounts, one login.

Add a sixth platform and the per-account tools grow by one more account: Buffer Essentials becomes $36 a month ($30 a month billed yearly). Flat plans stay put until you pass their cap. BetterSocials Pro covers six accounts, so a sixth stays on Pro and a seventh moves you to Team at $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) for twelve accounts.

Which of these schedulers also answer the replies?

Posting daily means replies arrive daily. Comments and DMs from five platforms land in five different apps unless your scheduler pulls them into one inbox.

Buffer, Metricool, Pallyy, SocialBee, Vista Social, Agorapulse and BetterSocials all have a replies inbox on the plans above. Later's inbox starts one plan up, on Growth. Publer lists no social inbox on its pricing page.

The bigger split is DMs. Buffer's own help center says "buffer does not offer direct messaging," so its inbox is comments only. If your buyers ask about prices and bookings in DMs, pick a tool on this list whose inbox covers Instagram DMs.

1. Buffer: best for a simple daily queue

Buffer is the easiest way to keep a daily queue moving across many platforms. Essentials is $6 a month per channel, or $5 a month per channel billed yearly, with one user.

Its Community inbox replies to comments on Instagram professional accounts, Facebook Pages, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Threads and a few more. It doesn't handle DMs. The free plan covers three channels and holds 10 scheduled posts per channel, which is about a week and a half of daily posts.

Pick Buffer if your posts matter more than your inbox, and you answer DMs on your phone.

2. Publer: best price per account

Publer charges per social account: $5 a month each, or $4 a month each billed yearly, on Professional. Five accounts come to $20 a month on yearly billing.

Publer's pricing page lists no social inbox. You'll answer comments and DMs in each app. If replies don't sell for you, that trade is fine.

3. Metricool: best free start

Metricool prices by brand, not by account, and its free plan covers one brand. Starter is $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly, and covers five brands.

The inbox is on every plan, free included. It reads Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok and YouTube, and LinkedIn joins on Starter.

Pick Metricool if you want to post and read replies before paying anything.

4. Later: best for planning a visual grid

Later bills per social set. Starter is $25 a month, or $18.75 a month billed yearly, for one social set (Later counts it as eight profiles) and one user.

Later's Conversations inbox starts on Growth at $50 a month, or $37.50 billed yearly, with two social sets and two users. It covers Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook DMs and comments, and TikTok comments.

So for Later, the inbox costs you the Growth plan. Our Later alternative guide covers what it leaves out.

5. BetterSocials: best when your sales start in the replies

BetterSocials is built for creators whose buyers show up in the comments and DMs. You write a post once and schedule it to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn from one place.

Every comment and DM from those posts lands in one Inbox. That means Instagram and Facebook DMs, TikTok comments and DMs, and YouTube comments, side by side. The AI drafts comment replies in your voice from your past replies and the rules you write. You approve them one at a time or with Approve in bulk.

A keyword automation is a word you ask people to comment, like GUIDE. On Instagram and Facebook, that comment gets a DM with your link. On TikTok and YouTube, the link goes in a public reply.

DMs stay in your hands. The AI never sends a DM on its own, and AI assist drafts a DM reply in your voice when you click it.

Plans: Creator is $29 a month ($24 billed yearly) for four accounts and one login. Pro is $49 a month ($39 billed yearly) for six accounts. Team is $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) for twelve accounts and unlimited teammates. Every plan has unlimited contacts and a 7-day free trial, card required.

BetterSocials doesn't post to X or Pinterest, and there's no free plan.

6. SocialBee: best for five profiles with DMs included

SocialBee Bootstrap is $29 a month, or $290 a year, for one user and five profiles. That's an exact fit for a creator on five platforms.

Its inbox handles comments, mentions and DMs on every plan. DMs cover Facebook Pages and Instagram business accounts. YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn company pages get comments. Extra users cost $10 a month each.

7. Pallyy: best low-cost inbox with Google reviews

Pallyy Pro is $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly, for one user, and extra users aren't available. The inbox is on paid plans.

It covers Instagram DMs, comments and mentions, Facebook messages, comments and reviews, LinkedIn and TikTok comments, and Google reviews. There's no YouTube in the inbox, so pick something else if YouTube comments drive your sales.

8. Vista Social: best when you post to many profiles

Vista Social Professional is $99 a month, or $80 a month billed yearly ($950 a year), for 15 profiles. The plan card says two users, though its FAQ still says three, so confirm before you buy.

Its engagement tools put messages, comments and reviews in one place. Fifteen profiles is room to grow past six platforms.

9. Agorapulse: best for a small team sharing one inbox

Agorapulse Standard is $99 per user a month, or $79 per user billed yearly, for ten profiles. Its inbox handles messages and organic comments, and the trial runs 30 days.

The per-user price is fine for one person. Each teammate adds another seat.

How do you pick the right one?

Start from where your money comes from. If your income comes from the posts themselves (brand deals, views, ad revenue), pick the cheapest queue that covers your platforms: Publer, Buffer or Metricool.

If your income comes from the replies (bookings, DMs asking about price, people commenting a keyword for your link), pick a tool whose inbox covers DMs on the platforms where your buyers write. Answer them the same day and they turn into customers. Leave them in five apps and they buy from whoever answered first.

For teams, Hootsuite starts at $99 per user a month billed yearly and Sprout Social's inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat a month billed yearly. For a broader list beyond daily multi-platform posting, see the 9 best social media management platforms for creators.

If your buyers write in the comments and DMs, try BetterSocials on your own accounts for seven days. Start your free trial or see how posting everywhere works.