Buffer vs Publer Comparison 2026
Buffer and Publer both price by the individual account rather than by seat, and both land on the same $5 a month per channel at their entry paid tier. Buffer's free plan covers three full channels with ten scheduled posts each; Publer's free plan is unlimited on channel count but keeps a 24-hour post history and will not connect X at all. Publer sweetens the ongoing bill by making every tenth account free automatically, which Buffer's flat per-channel rate does not do.
Schedule posts across every account at once
Scheduling priced per account, not per seat
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Buffer | Publer | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $5 | From $5 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | 14 days | 7 days |
| API |
Buffer
Schedule posts across every account at once
Buffer queues posts for most networks, suggests times and reports on what landed. The free plan covers three channels, which is enough for a lot of people. It stays out of the way, which is the main thing a scheduler can do.
Our note
Buy it for the calm rather than the features. Per-channel pricing punishes anyone posting everywhere, so count your channels before comparing the headline price with a competitor's flat fee.
Publer
Scheduling priced per account, not per seat
Publer schedules to most of the networks a creator actually posts on and prices by social account rather than by seat, with every tenth account free. Recycling and auto-scheduling matter more than the calendar view for anyone running an archive of evergreen posts. The free plan is a real one, with the caveat that it will not connect X and keeps published posts for a day. Paid plans add the workspace, the bulk tools and unlimited scheduling.
Our note
Work out your account count first, because that is what the bill scales on and it is where this beats the per-seat tools. If X is central to what you post, note that it needs a paid plan here for reasons Publer attributes to the network's own API cost.
Why people weigh these two
- Publer instead of Buffer
- Publer does the same queue-and-post job at the same $5 entry price with a free plan, billed per account where Buffer bills per channel.
- Buffer instead of Publer
- Buffer schedules across every connected account from one calendar, with a free tier of its own to compare directly against Publer's before switching.
Which one should you pick
Pick Publer if the account count is high and every tenth one free actually matters, or if X is not part of the mix, since it is paid-only there. The free plan is real for everything else, just capped at a day of post history, and Professional matches Buffer's rate at $5 a month per account with a built-in volume discount as accounts add up.
Pick Buffer if three channels are enough to start on for free with a full history rather than one day of it, or if X needs to be included from day one at no extra cost. Both tools land at the identical $5 per channel once you are paying, so the free-plan shape and the platform list are what actually separate them.
Common questions
- Which one is cheaper?
- They tie. Buffer's entry paid tier and Publer's Professional plan are both $5 a month per account. Publer adds a built-in discount, making every tenth account free, which Buffer's flat per-channel rate does not offer.
- Which free plan is more generous?
- It depends what matters. Buffer's free plan covers three full channels with ten scheduled posts each and a normal post history. Publer's free plan has no channel cap but keeps only 24 hours of published post history and will not connect X at all.
- Can I schedule to X on the free plan of either one?
- On Buffer, yes, X is listed among its supported platforms without a stated exclusion on the free plan. On Publer, no: X requires a paid plan, which Publer attributes to the network's own API cost.
- Does either one recycle old posts automatically?
- Publer does, with recycling and auto-scheduling built for an archive of evergreen posts. Buffer's feature list describes a queue and an ideas space but does not mention automatic recycling of past posts.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.