The social media administration instrument you select can set the tone for a way you develop your presence. You need it to be simple and versatile — with out stretching your finances.
Buffer and Later are two names you’ll see usually, every providing alternative ways that will help you schedule posts, join along with your viewers, and analyze efficiency.
For those who’re weighing your choices between Buffer and Later, you’re in the fitting place. The important thing variations and similarities to search for between them are:
On this information, we’ll evaluate the 2 platforms so you’ll be able to determine which is the higher match to your model.
Buffer vs. Later options overview
Here is a have a look at all the important thing options and prices for Buffer and Later at a look.
Buffer
Later
Free plan
✅ 3 social channels/social media accounts on any platform(s)
✅ 8 social channels, just one account per platform
Paid plans
Begin at $6/month
Begin at $25/month
Supported social media channels
Instagram, Fb, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Enterprise, Mastodon, Begin Web page, YouTube Shorts, Threads, Bluesky
Instagram, Fb, Threads, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat
Cell apps
✅ iOS, Android
✅ iOS, Android (some international locations solely)
Planning hub
✅ Out there on all plans, together with free
✅ Paid plans solely
Viewers engagement
✅ Out there on all plans, together with free (at present in beta)
✅ Group plans solely
Analytics, Insights, Reporting
✅ Primary analytics on the free plan, superior analytics on paid plans
✅ Paid plans solely (hyperlink in bio analytics on all plans)
Group members
✅ Paid plans solely
✅ Paid plans solely
AI-assisted content material era
✅ Out there on all plans, limitless use
✅ Paid plans solely, restricted credit accessible, and extra tokens will be bought
Social listening
❌
✅ Out there at a further price
Influencer advertising and marketing
❌
✅ Out there at a further price, separate from social media administration plans
Web site/link-in-bio instrument
✅ All plans
✅ All plans
Plans and pricing
Value will be one of many largest components when selecting a social media administration instrument, with good purpose. You want a instrument that has the options you want at a value that is smart to your model or enterprise.
Buffer pricing
- Free plan (as much as 3 social media accounts/channels) — $0
- Necessities plan — $6 per channel monthly (or $5 per channel paid yearly)
- Group plan — $12 per channel monthly (or $10 per channel paid yearly)
See Buffer’s full pricing information right here →
Buffer gives full flexibility when selecting channels. You possibly can choose the precise channels you want and solely pay for these channels, making it cheap for any finances.
Later pricing
- Free plan (as much as 8 social media channels, 1 per platform) — $0
- Starter plan — $25 monthly for 1 consumer (or $16.67 monthly paid yearly) and 1 social set
- Development plan — $50 monthly for two customers (or $33.33 monthly paid yearly) and a pair of social units
- Scale plan — $110 monthly for 4 customers (or $73.33 monthly paid yearly) and 6 social units
See Later’s full pricing information right here →
Later’s listed costs are the minimal for every plan, and the ultimate price may go up relying on the variety of customers in your workforce and the social channels you join.
Later requires paid customers to buy “social units” that embrace one in every of every social channel (Instagram, Fb, Threads, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat), which can not swimsuit each consumer’s wants. Some customers have a number of accounts on Instagram, others solely wish to join their Fb Web page. For them, Later’s mannequin finally ends up costing extra.
Variety of customers or seats included
Buffer and Later construction consumer accounts in numerous methods. For social media managers particularly, it’s price understanding what every plan consists of so you’ll be able to select the setup that matches finest.
Buffer consumer accounts: Buffer’s Free and Necessities plans every embrace one consumer account, and the Group plan consists of limitless customers. It is a main purpose why small and medium companies choose Buffer, for the reason that price doesn’t improve if you happen to add extra customers to your workforce.
Later consumer accounts: Later’s Starter plan consists of one consumer account. For groups, the Development plan consists of two consumer accounts, and the Scale plan consists of 4 consumer accounts. For those who want extra consumer accounts, you should buy extra seats at $5 per consumer monthly ($3.33 per consumer billed yearly) on the workforce plans.
What this implies for you
As you’ll be able to see, Buffer and Later take various factors into consideration for the pricing. This could have an effect on how a lot every instrument will price you at setup and over time as your workforce, model, or enterprise grows.
For creators: Later’s free plan offers you one social set, which means you get one account per social media platform. The Starter plan has these similar limits and a month-to-month price of $16.67 with an annual dedication.
For those who want a number of accounts on the identical platform — say a LinkedIn profile to your private model and a LinkedIn web page for your corporation — you’d want the Development plan, which is priced at $33.33 monthly paid yearly.
Buffer has a free plan for as much as three social media channels on any platforms, and paid plans begin at $5 monthly per channel paid yearly.
For groups: Later has a set variety of customers on its plans. In case you have two social platforms and two customers in your advertising and marketing workforce, Later would price you $33.33 monthly paid yearly, or $50 paid month-to-month.
For those who want a 3rd channel on the identical platform, you’d should buy extra social units. For those who want extra customers, you’ll be able to take the following tier or buy extra seats.
Buffer’s pricing is predicated on channels. For 2 channels and limitless customers, Buffer would price $20 monthly, paid yearly, or $24 month-to-month.
Free trials
For those who’re curious to see how these options stack up, each Buffer and Later provide free trials of their plans, letting you check all the things out for your self earlier than you pay.
Buffer free trial: 14 days on Necessities and Groups Plans, and you need to use as much as three social media channels on the free plan.
Later free trial: 14 days on all plans, and you need to use as much as 9 social media channels on the free plan, with a restrict of 1 channel per social media platform.
Each Buffer and Later provide loads of options to simply schedule posts throughout a number of platforms from a single dashboard.
Let us take a look at them in additional depth.
Out there channels
Here is a breakdown of the varied social media platforms Buffer and Later help.
Buffer
Later
Fb
✅ Pages and Teams
✅ Pages solely
✅ Creator, Enterprise, and Private profiles
✅ Enterprise and Creator Profiles solely
TikTok
✅
✅
YouTube Shorts
✅
✅
✅
✅
X/Twitter
✅
❌
Threads
✅
✅
✅
✅
Bluesky
✅
❌
Mastodon
✅
❌
Google Enterprise Profile
✅
❌
Snapchat
❌
✅
Creating and scheduling posts
Each Buffer and Later make it simple to draft and schedule content material to a number of social media accounts — throughout totally different platforms — on the similar time. You possibly can customise the captions or photographs for every community as you go.
Each instruments additionally allow you to select pre-defined time slots to arrange a queue for scheduling posts. This manner, you do not have to manually set a time for every publish to publish on every channel.
Past these fundamental scheduling options, there are some variations in how Buffer and Later work at this stage of your workflow.
Variety of scheduled posts: Buffer helps scheduling 10 posts at a time per channel on the free plan and limitless scheduling on all paid plans. You possibly can have as many posts in your drafts as you need.
Later’s free plan lets customers join eight social media channels, with just one account accessible per platform. You possibly can have 12 posts arrange at a time for every related channel. This consists of each scheduled posts and drafts.
Later has limits on the variety of posts you’ll be able to schedule even on paid plans. The Starter plan helps you to schedule 60 posts per profile monthly, and the Development plan helps you to schedule 180. Limitless scheduling is on the market on the Scale plan.
Captions and hashtags: Later features a function that permits you to save captions, which will be useful if you happen to often reuse bulletins, reminders, or hashtags. You can even get hashtag recommendations, that are generated primarily based on the textual content of your publish.
Buffer has a devoted hashtag supervisor, the place it can save you and manage teams of hashtags so as to add to your posts rapidly. There’s additionally a free Instagram hashtag generator accessible to everybody — even when you do not have a Buffer account.
Bulk content material posting: For those who’re planning content material at scale, Buffer helps bulk scheduling of as much as 100 posts at a time from a CSV file on paid plans. Later doesn’t help bulk scheduling through a CSV, so there’s extra handbook work concerned to schedule bigger campaigns.
Variety of scheduled posts: Buffer helps scheduling 10 posts at a time per channel on the free plan and limitless scheduling on all paid plans. You possibly can have as many posts in your drafts as you need.
Later’s free plan lets customers have 12 posts arrange at a time for every related channel. This consists of each scheduled posts and drafts.
Later has limits on the variety of posts you’ll be able to schedule even on paid plans. The Starter plan helps you to schedule 60 posts per profile monthly, and the Development plan helps you to schedule 180. Limitless scheduling is on the market on the Scale plan.
First remark scheduling: Buffer helps scheduling a primary touch upon Instagram, Fb, and LinkedIn posts for paid plans. Later helps first remark scheduling solely on Instagram.
Instagram-specific options: Later gives a visible planner you need to use on all platforms, which helps you see your Instagram grid (and Pinterest) earlier than you publish. You possibly can drag photographs from the media library onto the calendar, then add captions instantly from there.
Buffer has an Instagram grid preview function as nicely, however there’s no drag and drop instantly onto the calendar.
There are additionally some variations in terms of posting on Instagram. Later doesn’t help publishing to private profiles, and Instagram Tales can solely be auto-published for enterprise accounts.
In case you have a creator profile, you’ll want to make use of notification publishing for tales. Later’s Android app isn’t accessible in all international locations, so that would pose a problem for some creators.
Buffer gives extra choices for Instagram publishing. It helps posting to private profiles via notifications on the cellular app, and you’ll publish routinely to each creator and enterprise profiles.
Right here’s a have a look at what the publish composer and scheduler window appears like in Buffer and Later for scheduling an Instagram publish.
Scheduling an Instagram publish with BufferScheduling an Instagram publish with Later
AI options
Each Buffer and Later provide AI instruments to make content material creation quicker and simpler, however they deal with AI utilization in a different way.
Buffer: Buffer’s AI Assistant is on the market with out limits on all plans, together with the free one. You possibly can generate recent concepts everytime you want them, draft or refine posts or captions, and even repurpose content material throughout a number of social media platforms with out worrying about operating out of credit.
For creators or groups posting repeatedly, this removes the danger of hitting a ceiling in the midst of a marketing campaign.
Later: Later gives its AI-powered Concepts instrument on paid plans, with a credit score system that helps handle what number of concepts you’ll be able to create every month. The variety of credit you get is dependent upon your plan, and also you spend one credit score to generate a caption or three content material concepts.
As soon as these credit are used up, you’ll want to attend till the following month or buy extra credit.
Capturing concepts and planning content material
An amazing thought for a publish can strike at any time, and each Buffer and Later provide you with a devoted area to save lots of these concepts so they do not get misplaced.
Buffer: The Create Area is an concepts hub the place you’ll be able to acquire and manage something you may wish to flip right into a publish later.
It can save you notes, textual content snippets, hyperlinks, and media, then tag and type them into a versatile, Kanban-style board that makes it simple to maneuver posts from idea to publish-ready.
The Create Area additionally features a template library and entry to the AI Assistant that will help you get began with out gazing a clean display.
Buffer additionally has a browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Opera, Firefox, and Edge you need to use to simply save concepts that encourage you on the internet.
Later: Later’s thought area — accessible on paid plans — leans closely on AI to get you going. You begin by offering an outline of your model, and the AI will generate content material pillars (which you’ll edit) and some preliminary publish concepts for you.
From that time, you’ll be able to proceed to make use of the AI to generate extra concepts or add your personal ideas into these pillars.
This offers you a structured place to begin, although it’s extra narrowly centered on producing prompts than on storing and organizing all kinds of content material inputs and inspiration.
Buffer and Later each have viewers engagement options for managing conversations on totally different social media networks.
Just like the scheduling instruments, these engagement instruments have some variations as nicely.
Buffer: Because the identify suggests, the Neighborhood function (previously Have interaction, now in beta) helps you construct an engaged social media neighborhood throughout a number of accounts. You possibly can reply to feedback rapidly from the Neighborhood tab proper inside Buffer, and the AI Assistant even offers you recommendations to kick off the dialog.
You can even save responses to generally requested questions. This allows you to reply these FAQs rapidly with out rewriting the identical message each time.
That can assist you see the way you’re doing, you get a remark rating for every channel that tracks how briskly and persistently you reply. This visibility helps you see the place you’re participating nicely and the place conversations is perhaps slipping.
The Neighborhood instrument additionally offers you perception into how persons are participating along with your content material. You possibly can zoom in on feedback for a single publish or have a look at replies and mentions throughout an account. Merely ask the AI to interrupt down the response, spotlight patterns, and even recommend new content material concepts or methods to maintain the dialog energetic.
Later: The Social Inbox in Later gathers your Instagram and Fb DMs and feedback, together with TikTok feedback, in a single area. It has a helpful function that permits you to conceal feedback instantly from the inbox, which removes them from view on the unique platform — useful once you’re coping with spam or inappropriate replies. The Social Inbox is on the market on workforce plans.
Later additionally gives a social listening instrument that will help you perceive the sentiment round your model. It finds model mentions, highlights trending subjects, and gives aggressive benchmarking to see the way you stack up towards different manufacturers in your business.
These options, nevertheless, are solely accessible as a paid add-on for customers on the Scale plan, and it comes at a further price that Later says is dependent upon “every model’s distinctive wants and objectives.”
Social media analytics instruments provide you with a clearer view of how your content material performs. They may help you perceive what’s working and the place to regulate, making it simpler to develop throughout platforms.
Buffer and Later each present analytics, although they help totally different platforms.
Buffer
Later
Fb
✅
✅
✅ Put up analytics for profiles, full analytics for pages
✅ Profile analytics solely, pages not supported
✅
✅
X/Twitter
✅
❌
TikTok
❌
✅
Threads
❌
✅
❌
✅
Buffer’s analytics options
Buffer retains issues simple to comply with and consists of clear publish analytics for each channel it helps so you’ll be able to see outcomes at a look. These fundamental analytics can be found for customers on all plans, together with free.
Superior analytics turn out to be accessible on the Necessities plan and above, providing you with deeper insights for Fb Pages, Instagram Enterprise and Creator accounts, X/Twitter, and LinkedIn Pages.
These detailed analytics embrace a cross-channel overview, which pulls knowledge from your entire related channels into one dashboard.
You possibly can dig a bit deeper into the analytics for every accessible channel and see vital efficiency metrics like impressions, attain, engagement, new followers, and likes.
The place Buffer actually shines is what it does with this knowledge. You get the uncooked numbers, and also you additionally get a customized evaluation that exhibits you learn how to put these numbers to work.
Underneath the Solutions tab, you may discover suggestions on:
- The very best day to publish to your viewers (for Instagram, you may additionally get one of the best time)
- Your finest performing content material sort or format
- The best frequency so that you can publish
You possibly can create personalized stories to share along with your boss or associate manufacturers. Click on the ‘+’ button subsequent to any part you need to incorporate and add it to an present report or create a brand new one.
Whenever you’re prepared, head over to the Stories tab and add a brand and any notes it’s your decision, then export a PDF file you’ll be able to simply share.
Later’s analytics options
Later’s analytics provide you with a deep dive into your efficiency on Instagram Enterprise and Creator profiles, Fb Pages, TikTok, Threads, and Pinterest accounts.
What you see is dependent upon the platform, however you’ll normally get a channel overview, viewers insights, and the way your particular person posts are doing.
Later offers you some actually helpful specifics, too. For Instagram, Fb, TikTok, and Threads, Later breaks down your viewers demographics for you — gender, location, and age. And if you happen to’re energetic on Instagram or TikTok, it’s going to even pinpoint when your followers are on-line and most probably to have interaction along with your content material.
It’s a bit trickier if you happen to’d wish to see analytics from a number of social media accounts in a single view — the function is on the market, however solely on the highest-tier plan.
Reporting has some restrictions too. Whereas there’s no choice to create and export PDFs instantly, you’ll be able to simply obtain the information as a CSV file.
For Instagram customers, there’s additionally a neat choice to generate a shareable efficiency report hyperlink for the previous 90 days. It’s an in-depth evaluation of your Instagram efficiency with metrics for profile development and viewers demographics, in addition to publish and story knowledge.
Buffer and Later each provide link-in-bio instruments to share in your social media profile bios.
There are some comparable options throughout the 2: you’ll be able to add hyperlinks to your social profiles, buttons with hyperlinks, and an e mail signup kind to construct an e mail.
There are additionally a number of variations in how they work.
Buffer Begin Web page: There are many methods you need to use Buffer’s link-in-bio instrument, referred to as Begin Web page:
- Share hyperlinks to web sites or pages you need to spotlight
- Embed YouTube movies and Spotify tracks, playlists, or podcasts
- Add a customized picture grid (with hyperlinks)
- Schedule distinctive posts particularly for this web page
Every of those content material varieties works as a block, and you’ll add a number of blocks of the identical sort.
What does this imply? If you would like to create two picture grids — one to indicate off your newest merchandise, and one other to spotlight model collabs — there is not any stopping you!
Later Hyperlink in Bio: Here is how you need to use Later’s link-in-bio instrument:
- Embed featured media, reminiscent of a YouTube video, your newest TikTok or Instagram publish, or a customized picture
- Add a featured banner to advertise your most vital hyperlink
- Add a picture banner with a number of linked gadgets
- Embed posts out of your Instagram or TikTok profile with customized hyperlinks
The picture banner works as a carousel permitting you to show a number of photographs.
For each different content material sort, you’ll be able to solely use one after the other. So if you would like to spotlight a YouTube video, you will not have the ability to add a customized graphic as nicely.
A very useful add-on to Later’s link-in-bio instrument is its integration with affiliate internet marketing platform Mavely. For supported manufacturers, you’ll be able to convert your hyperlinks into affiliate hyperlinks proper inside the instrument to earn a fee.
You possibly can completely add affiliate hyperlinks to and earn a fee out of your Begin Web page as nicely. You’ll simply have to repeat the hyperlink out of your affiliate community and paste it into the block.
Group collaboration options
For social media managers, businesses juggling a number of shoppers, or creators working alongside a advisor, workforce collaboration instruments could make an enormous distinction in how easily issues run.
Buffer and Later each have strong collaboration options that make it simple to work with a workforce to carry your social media technique to life.
Managing groups in Buffer
You possibly can add a vast variety of customers to the platform on Buffer’s Group plan, and set totally different entry and permissions.
You may give customers:
- Full posting entry: They will schedule posts to be printed with out one other workforce member’s approval.
- Approval required: All their scheduled social media content material will want approval from somebody with full posting entry earlier than it’s printed.
You can even prohibit which accounts they’ve entry to to allow them to schedule or publish to solely particular social media accounts. It’s an easy scheduling course of with simply two consumer roles.
Managing groups in Later
Later makes use of Entry Teams to handle who can see and work with social profiles, media libraries, and calendars. It may be extremely helpful for groups and businesses working throughout a number of manufacturers or shoppers.
That mentioned, it will also be a bit rigid. Every Entry Group is tied to a full social set, and you’ll solely add one profile from every social media community to a social set.
This implies, for instance, you’ll be able to’t place two profiles from the identical platform (like a LinkedIn profile and a LinkedIn Web page) or a number of Fb Pages in the identical social set.
To make each accessible, you’d should assign them to separate social units, after which assign each social units to the identical Entry Group — which then locks different teams out of these accounts.
To get round this, you’d must buy one other social set for social media accounts on different networks.
You possibly can add a number of customers to an Entry Group, and you’ll add customers to a number of Entry Teams. Like Buffer, you’ll be able to set roles and permissions for scheduling:
- Reviewer: They will schedule and publish posts with out one other consumer’s approval, they usually can approve different customers’ posts.
- Member: They will schedule and publish, however they can not approve posts.
- Member (Restricted): All their scheduled content material will want approval from somebody with Reviewer permissions.
Since Later gives visible content material planning, it has a helpful shared media library for every Entry Group. Customers within the group can add media to the library, after which set labels, make notes, or create alt textual content. This media can then be dragged and dropped into the calendar to simply schedule.
There’s no equal in Buffer, however you may use photographs saved within the Create Area as the start line for a publish.
Influencer advertising and marketing options
Along with its social media administration instruments, Later additionally has a separate product constructed for influencer advertising and marketing. Manufacturers and businesses can use it to run campaigns, discover and handle influencer relationships, and measure outcomes.
There are a number of extras too, like a Shopify integration that makes it simple to ship merchandise to influencers, or the choice to get inventive help from Later’s workforce.
It’s separate from the social media administration platform, and pricing isn’t listed upfront.
Creators utilizing Later’s social media scheduling instruments get entry to a Creator hub. You possibly can put collectively a media package, apply to campaigns, and handle collaborations — all included in your present plan.
Buffer doesn’t provide influencer advertising and marketing instruments. Its focus is on serving to small companies, creators, manufacturers, and solopreneurs develop their social presence organically. Publishing, engagement, and analytics are constructed proper into Buffer’s platform, which makes it simple to remain on monitor and give attention to rising your viewers.
Buffer and Later each have loads of options that will help you along with your social media administration, so which one is best for you actually is dependent upon your wants.
They aren’t an identical instruments, and the primary variations present up in pricing, flexibility, and the options included on every plan.
Buffer focuses on serving to small companies, creators, and solopreneurs develop steadily on social. The free plan gives flexibility and accessibility, and the paid plans add superior options and analytics.
Later has some nice social listening and influencer advertising and marketing instruments to assist with connecting viewers conversations to the creators who can amplify them.
For those who’re on the fence (otherwise you’ve determined to present Buffer a go!) and have questions, our workforce is at all times pleased to assist. You possibly can attain out to us at hi there@buffer.com, and somebody from our international workforce might be readily available to reply your questions!
Enroll as we speak to make use of our free plan or to check Buffer’s paid plans without cost!
