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    Buffer reviews

    Schedules and publishes social posts from one calendar, free for 3 channels and priced per connected channel beyond that.

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    ToolTrim verdict3.4/ 5Average

    Essentials costs $5/month per channel ($60/year); each channel beyond the free plan's 3 adds that amount to the bill.

    Buffer, preview 1
    About

    In practice. What you can do with Buffer.

    Buffer schedules and publishes posts across social networks from one calendar, with an AI Assistant for drafting copy and a shared team calendar plus analytics. The free plan covers 3 channels, 10 queued posts each and 30 days of analytics history, enough to test the workflow.

    Paid tiers bill per connected channel rather than per seat: Essentials is $5/month/channel with advanced analytics, Team is $10/month/channel with unlimited users and approval workflows. That model fits solo creators and small brands with a handful of channels better than teams managing many brand accounts, where the per-channel cost adds up.

    Practical uses

    • SchedulingQueue a week of posts across 3 channels on the free plan, no cost while staying under the channel limit.
    • GrowthAdd a 4th connected channel on Essentials ($5/month) to keep publishing once the free plan's 3-channel cap is reached.

    Features & use cases

    Analytics reseaux
    Multi plateformes
    Planification posts

    Pros and cons. What Buffer does well, and what to expect.

    Pros

    • Free plan already covers 3 channels with a real scheduling calendar and analytics.
    • Team plan includes unlimited users at the same per-channel price as Essentials plus one user.

    Cons

    • Per-channel pricing means the bill grows with every new social account connected, not with team size.
    • Analytics history is capped at 30 days on the free plan.

    When it makes sense. Keep Buffer, or challenge it?

    Keep if

    • You manage a small, stable number of social channels and want a simple scheduling calendar.
    Buffer becomes worthwhile when
    • You use it at least once a week
    • The monthly cost ($5) is small next to the time it saves you

    Challenge if

    • You manage many brand accounts, where per-channel pricing costs more than a flat per-seat tool.
    Buffer becomes too expensive when
    • You use it less than once a month
    • A simple free version or a tool already in your stack would do

    Our verdict. What to know about Buffer.

    Why this verdict

    Average

    Added value

    Neutral-leaning score: the free plan covers 3 channels at no cost, but per-channel pricing on paid tiers means cost scales with growth in a way the sources do not benchmark against alternatives.

    Simplicity

    A free 3-channel plan with a single scheduling calendar and an AI Assistant for drafting copy points to a quick first result.

    Fit for purpose

    Scheduling, publishing and analytics work as advertised on the free tier itself, with paid tiers adding stated features rather than workarounds.

    Performance

    Neutral score: capability ceiling against enterprise social suites is not covered by the collected sources beyond the stated approval workflows and API limits.

    Reversibility

    Neutral score: export formats and data portability if leaving Buffer are not covered by the collected sources.

    BufferFrom $5/mo
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