Metricool vs Buffer: price per brand or per channel, compared
Metricool charges per brand, Buffer per channel: the bill for one to ten brands with and without X, approvals, analytics and AI agents, with sources.
By Mellow · UpdatedThe short answer
Metricool charges per brand, one account on each network, so it gets cheaper the more networks each brand uses: Starter covers up to 5 brands for $25 a month ($20 billed yearly), and up to 10 for $45 ($36). Buffer charges per channel, $6 a month each for the first ten ($5 billed yearly). For several brands on several networks Metricool costs a fraction of Buffer, until X: Metricool charges $10 a month for every X account, Buffer includes it.
Metricool is the stronger analytics tool, with unlimited history on paid plans; team members and approvals start on its Advanced plan. Buffer is the simpler publisher, with a free plan for three channels, an MCP server and API on every plan, and approvals with unlimited members on Team.
Disclosure: Mellow publishes this page and makes Mellow Hub, shown as a third column. Every Metricool and Buffer cell links to that company’s own page, read on 7 November 2026; Hub’s column comes from its own pricing configuration and code. Where a vendor’s pages do not say something, the table says so.
Metricool vs Buffer, side by side
US dollars a month; “yearly” is the monthly price when billed for a year. Checked on 7 November 2026.
| Metricool | Buffer | Mellow Hub (ours) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priced per | brand | channel | brand profile |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter: $25 a month, $20 yearly; up to 5 brands. Source: pricing | Essentials: $6 a channel a month, $5 yearly, for the first 10 channels; less per channel above that. Sources: pricing, tiers | Solo: $19 a month, or $190 a year; 1 brand profile and unlimited publishing, with a fair-use ceiling of 900 publications a month. Source: pricing |
| Free plan or trial | Free: 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month, without LinkedIn or X. Source: pricing | Free: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 1 user. 14-day trial of paid plans, no card. Source: pricing | No free plan. A new account starts with a 7-day free trial of a monthly plan: it takes a card, charges $0 that day and nothing if cancelled before it ends. A yearly plan is charged the day it is chosen. Source: pricing |
| X and Bluesky | Bluesky included; X costs $10 a month per account, on paid plans. Sources: pricing, plans help | Both included. Source: pricing | Both included. Source: networks |
| AI agents: MCP and API | MCP on every plan, Free included, within plan limits: it creates and edits scheduled posts. The API from Advanced. Sources: MCP plans, MCP and API | MCP server and API on every plan, Free included: create, schedule and manage posts. Sources: MCP, API | Hosted MCP server and REST API. Each key or OAuth grant carries its channels, review or autopilot, a daily ceiling and an expiry, and every action goes in a journal. Source: MCP guide |
| Approvals | From Advanced: $67 a month, $53 yearly. Source: pricing | Team plan: $12 a channel a month, $10 yearly. Source: pricing | Review mode: an agent’s posts wait for a signed-in person to approve them. No team seats. Source: MCP guide |
What each costs for your setup
Monthly billing / yearly billing where both are published. Metricool: Starter up to 5 brands, then up to 10; Advanced, with team members and approvals, up to 15 brands; X $10 a month per X account. Buffer: $6 a channel for the first 10, $4 for 11 to 25, $3 for 26 to 50; Team $12, then $4. A brand here is one account on each of five networks.
Sources: Metricool pricing, Metricool X add-on, Buffer tiers
| Setup | Metricool | Buffer | Mellow Hub (ours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 brand, 5 networks, no X | $25 / $20 (Starter); free if 20 posts a month without LinkedIn is enough. | $30 / $25 (Essentials). | $19 a month, or $15.83 billed yearly (Solo, 1 brand). |
| 1 brand, 5 networks including X | $35 / $30 (Starter and 1 X account). | $30 / $25 (Essentials). | $19 a month, or $15.83 billed yearly (Solo, 1 brand). |
| 3 brands, 5 networks each, X on all three | $55 / $50 (Starter and 3 X accounts). | $80 a month (Essentials, 15 channels). | $49 a month, or $40.83 billed yearly (Studio, up to 3 brands). |
| 10 brands, 5 networks each, no X | $45 / $36 (Starter, up to 10 brands). | $195 a month (Essentials, 50 channels). | $99 a month, or $82.50 billed yearly (Scale, up to 10 brands). |
| 3 brands, a team with approvals, no X | $67 / $53 (Advanced, unlimited team members). | $140 a month (Team, 15 channels, unlimited members). | Not offered: no team seats. An agent’s posts can wait for the owner’s approval. |
Where they differ
How the bill grows
Metricool’s bill follows brands in steps (5, 10, 15, 25, 50), and a brand holds one account on each network, so a fifth network costs nothing. Buffer’s follows channels: every account is another $6, falling to $4 and $3 at volume. Metricool’s paid plans post without a cap under a fair-use policy; so do Buffer’s.
Sources: Metricool pricing, Buffer pricing
X and the other networks
Both publish to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, Threads, Pinterest, YouTube and Google Business Profile. X is a $10 monthly add-on per account at Metricool and not offered on its free plan; Buffer includes it, adds Mastodon and Substack Notes, and publishes YouTube as Shorts.
Sources: Metricool networks, Buffer channels
Free plan
Metricool’s free plan: one brand, 20 scheduled posts a month, without LinkedIn or X, 30 days of analytics. Buffer’s: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, one user.
Sources: Metricool pricing, Buffer pricing
Analytics, inbox and team
Metricool keeps unlimited analytics history on paid plans and has an inbox on every plan, the free one included; team members and the approval system start on Advanced. Buffer has a comment inbox on every plan and performance reports from Essentials; approvals and unlimited members come with Team.
Sources: Metricool pricing, Buffer pricing
AI agents, MCP and API
Both run an MCP server on every plan, the free ones included. Metricool’s creates and edits scheduled posts and posts for review, and reads metrics; its API is for Advanced and Custom. Buffer’s can create, schedule or publish a post, and its API is on every plan.
Sources: Metricool MCP, MCP and API, Buffer MCP
Which one to choose
Choose Metricool if
- You run several brands, each on several networks, and want analytics with full history.
- Few of your brands post to X, or none do.
- A team needs approvals across up to 15 brands for one price, on Advanced.
Choose Buffer if
- You post to X on every brand, or to Mastodon.
- You have a handful of channels and want the simplest publisher, or a free plan for three of them.
- Your own code or an automation needs an API without paying for a higher plan.
A third option: where Mellow Hub fits, and where it does not
Mellow Hub publishes one post to 10 networks at once, by hand in its composer or through an AI agent, and checks every network’s rules before anything is sent. It is built for agents that publish: each key or OAuth grant is limited to the channels, the mode, the daily ceiling and the expiry its owner chose, and every action is recorded where the owner can revoke it. It is weaker in these ways:
- No free plan. Publishing needs a plan. A new account starts with a 7-day free trial of a monthly plan, which takes a card; a yearly plan is charged the day it is chosen.
- 10 networks. No Google Business Profile, Mastodon, Reddit or Snapchat.
- No inbox and no listening. No shared inbox, comment moderation or monitoring. On Instagram it answers by keyword: a comment gets a public reply and one private message, a direct message gets an answer (comment-to-DM). Analytics are per post.
- No team seats. One owner’s brand profiles, without roles or client logins.
- Newer. Mellow has published live, with public links, to Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest and Facebook. On TikTok, uploads are accepted but, on our test accounts, visible only to their owner.
See the plans, each network’s rules, or the comparison of publishing APIs if an agent or your own code will do the posting.
Questions
Is Metricool cheaper than Buffer?
For several brands without X, by a wide margin: 10 brands on five networks each cost $45 a month at Metricool and $195 at Buffer on monthly billing. For one brand with X, Buffer is cheaper: $30 against $35. Prices checked on 7 November 2026.
Does Metricool charge for X (Twitter)?
Yes: $10 a month for each connected X account, on paid plans only. Buffer includes X on every plan, the free one included.
Which has a better free plan?
It depends on what you post. Metricool’s free plan gives one brand 20 scheduled posts a month, without LinkedIn or X. Buffer’s gives three channels, X and LinkedIn included, with 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time.
Can ChatGPT or Claude post through Metricool or Buffer?
Both have MCP servers on every plan, including Free. Buffer’s can create, schedule or publish posts; Metricool’s creates and edits scheduled posts and posts for review.
Which is better for agencies?
Metricool, when the agency runs many brands and reports on them: its price follows brands, and Advanced adds unlimited team members and approvals. Buffer suits a few channels per client, or clients on X, with approvals on Team.
Sources and more comparisons
Each cell links to the page it was read on, 7 November 2026. Prices change; check the vendor’s page before you buy. Figures marked as reviews come from G2’s summaries of its users’ reviews, not from the vendor.
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