If you want a free SMM tool, start with Buffer Free or Metricool Free. Buffer gives you 3 channels with 10 refillable scheduled posts each, and Metricool gives you 1 brand with 20 posts a month.
Hootsuite and Sprout Social have no free plan at all, only trials. And none of the tools in this guide sells followers, likes, or views. They schedule, publish, and measure the content you make yourself. That distinction is the whole point of this list.
Search for an SMM tool and you will find two very different species wearing the same name. One species schedules your posts and shows you what worked. The other sells you engagement and risks your account. This guide covers only the first species: five legitimate tools, compared on the few things that decide whether a tool is worth your money as a creator. What is actually free, what the paid tiers cost where the price is public, and what unit you are charged for, because that unit decides whether a cheap-looking price is actually cheap.
Which SMM tool is actually free?
Buffer, Later, and Metricool have free plans. Hootsuite and Sprout do not. The table below is our own comparison from each vendor’s official pages, and its headline is that “free” means very different caps at each tool.
| Tool | Free plan? | What free actually gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Yes, free forever | 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel (refillable), 30-day analytics |
| Later | Yes | Limited scheduling (Later states no exact number), 2-week calendar window, Link in Bio page |
| Metricool | Yes, free forever | 1 brand, 20 posts per month, 30-day analytics |
| Hootsuite | No, 14-day trial only | Trial posting is limited to 10 to 20 posts a day, no bulk scheduling |
| Sprout Social | No, 30-day trial only | Trial only, no card |
Read Also: How to Grow Instagram Followers Organically: What Instagram Itself Says Works
Buffer Free is the most usable free tier here, and the reason is the refillable cap. Ten scheduled posts per channel sounds small until you notice the refill rule: once a post publishes, its slot opens again, up to the 10-post maximum per channel. A creator posting once a day per channel never really hits the wall. Metricool Free is simpler to understand and easier to outgrow: 20 posts a month across one brand, full stop. Later Free is the vaguest of the free tiers, because Later’s own help page confirms limited scheduling without stating an exact monthly number. Treat any roundup that quotes a precise Later free number as guessing, because the official page does not say it.
Why is comparing SMM software prices so confusing?
Because the five tools do not charge for the same thing. Buffer charges per channel, meaning one connected social account. Hootsuite and Sprout charge per user, or seat. Later charges per Social Set, where one set covers up to one profile from each supported platform, so up to 8 profiles. Metricool charges per brand, where one brand covers one profile per network. A like-for-like “cheapest tool” claim is therefore misleading unless the billing unit is stated next to the price. Keep that unit in mind through every price below, because it changes the answer for every creator setup.
How much does Buffer cost?
Buffer is the cheapest paid tool here by a clear margin, and it is the only one whose paid pricing is fully public down to the dollar. The Free plan covers 3 channels with 10 refillable scheduled posts each, 100 ideas, one user, an AI Assistant with unlimited credits, 30-day analytics, and a community inbox. The cheapest paid plan, Essentials, costs $5 per channel per month on annual billing ($60 billed yearly) or $6 per channel per month on monthly billing. It removes the scheduling cap in practice, with a fair-use ceiling of 5,000 posts per channel, and adds advanced analytics, a hashtag manager, first comment scheduling, and reports that export as CSV, PDF, or markdown. The Team plan costs $10 per channel per month on annual billing ($120 billed yearly) or $12 monthly, and adds unlimited team members, approval workflows, and custom access levels. Buffer’s pricing page notes its pricing was last updated in November 2025, and nonprofits get 50% off paid plans.
Two Buffer caveats matter more than the price. First, Buffer lists YouTube as “YouTube (Shorts)” only in its own channel table, so it is not a full YouTube publishing tool. If long-form YouTube scheduling is your main need, Buffer is the wrong pick regardless of price. Second, Buffer’s community inbox covers comments and mentions across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, X, TikTok, Google Business Profile, YouTube, and Mastodon, but it does not cover DMs. A creator whose audience lives in DMs will still need the native apps for that half of the job. Buffer’s trial terms are the friendliest here: 14 days, no payment details required, and the account automatically downgrades to Free at trial end, with scheduled posts still publishing as long as your channels stay within the 3-channel Free limit.
Is Hootsuite worth $99 a month?
For a solo creator, no, and the billing unit is the reason. Hootsuite’s Standard plan costs $99 per user per month on annual billing, taxes excluded, with Professional at $199 and Advanced up to $399. Those are per-seat prices, so a one-person creator pays the full $99 before posting anything, while the same creator pays $5 per channel at Buffer or nothing on a free tier. Standard covers up to 10 social accounts with unlimited scheduling, AI post and image generation, one inbox, brand and competitor monitoring, and benchmarking against 5 competitors. Professional removes the account cap and adds inbox automation and DM workflows, 90-day trend forecasting, 30-day Quick Search social listening, and custom performance reports. Advanced adds approvals and collaboration, message assignment and skill-based routing, satisfaction surveys, team performance measurement, and benchmarking against up to 20 competitors.
Hootsuite makes sense when the work itself needs a team: approvals, routing, and benchmarking are agency problems, not solo creator problems. Its trial is fair: 14 days, no credit card required, and it is not auto-charged at the end. But the trial caps posting at 10 to 20 posts a day depending on plan, with no bulk scheduling, so test the workflow, not the volume. Two gaps stand out. Hootsuite has no permanent free plan, and its plans page counts “social accounts” without enumerating Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok support in the sections checked. Confirm your networks are covered before paying $99, because the price page alone does not say it.
What does Later cost?
Later’s price was not shown on its public pricing page at the time of checking, 24 October 2026. The plan names and feature tables rendered, the dollar figures did not. Any article quoting a Later price from a roundup is quoting a third party, and third-party Later prices conflict with each other, so this guide quotes none. What Later does publish clearly is its structure, and the structure is genuinely creator-friendly. One Social Set covers up to one profile from each supported platform: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, so one set is up to 8 profiles.
The Free plan gives limited scheduling, a 2-week calendar window, a customizable Link in Bio page, and introductory analytics. Starter covers 1 user and 1 Social Set, 30 posts per profile per month counted at scheduling time, 3 months of analytics for Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, and Pinterest, and 5 AI credits a month, where one credit generates 3 ideas or 1 caption. Growth covers 2 users and 2 Social Sets, 180 posts per profile per month, 1 year of analytics, unlimited media uploads, Smart Scheduling, collaboration and approval workflows, and the Social Inbox for DMs and comments, which Starter does not have. Scale covers 4 users and 6 Social Sets, unlimited posts, 2 years of analytics, custom analytics and shareable reports, competitive benchmarking against up to 20 competitors, and priority support with a 12-hour response time. Later’s Link in Bio is on all plans with unlimited buttons, up to 5 links on Instagram feed posts including Reels, and 1 link on TikTok posts. Auto publishing covers Instagram business and creator accounts, Facebook, TikTok business accounts, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, and Snapchat, and Later lists YouTube Shorts among its schedulable content.
Later’s trial is the one to handle with care: 14 days, but card details are entered at checkout, and the selected subscription automatically starts and charges after the trial unless you cancel before it ends. Only one trial per account, and accounts that previously had a trial or a paid plan are not eligible. Later also offers annual billing, but its own pages word the saving differently, so check the page at signup rather than trusting a quoted percentage. Nonprofits can get 50% off the annual Growth plan, and additional users cost $5 each on paid plans. If you pick Later, the decision is really about the Social Set structure and the visual planner, and the price itself needs a live check.
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Is Metricool really free?
Yes, with a small scope and a clear ceiling. Metricool Free covers 1 brand with 20 posts a month and 30 days of analytics, plus its AI assistant. One brand means one profile per network, and each Google Business Profile needs its own separate brand. The Free plan does not include a LinkedIn or X connection; X is a paid add-on at €10 or $10 per month per account, or €120 or $120 per year. Starter covers 5 or 10 brands with unlimited publishing subject to fair use, LinkedIn, PDF and PPT reports, unlimited analytics history, and Google Drive and Canva integrations. Advanced covers 15, 25, or 50 brands and adds team and client management, role management, post approval, customizable report templates, the Data Studio connector, and the API. A Custom tier covers 50 or more brands with white label and a dedicated account manager.
Metricool’s base paid prices were not shown on its public pricing page at the time of checking, 24 October 2026, so this guide quotes only the add-on prices and the annual discount of up to 24%, both of which its help pages state plainly. Cancellation is painless: cancel anytime and the account becomes Free when the billing cycle ends, back to 1 brand, 20 posts a month, and 30 days of analytics. Metricool suits a creator who wants clear analytics and simple scheduling for a small number of brands and does not need LinkedIn or X on the free tier. Its full supported-network list was not confirmed from the pages checked, so if your setup depends on a specific network, verify it on Metricool’s pricing page before paying.
What does Sprout Social cost?
Sprout lists four tiers, Essentials, Standard, Professional, and Advanced, with a price range of $79 to $399 on its current pricing page, but the per-plan dollar figures were not shown at the time of checking, 24 October 2026. This guide therefore quotes no single Sprout price as current. Older Sprout pages floating around list different prices and a different tier structure with no Essentials tier, so ignore those pages and go by the current pricing page. What the current page does confirm is useful: a mobile app for iOS and Android on all four plans, 100 AI agent credits per seat per month on all four plans, and add-ons for Premium Analytics and Listening on Standard and up, Employee Advocacy on Standard and up, and Professional Services as a separate add-on.
Sprout has no permanent free plan. Its free offer is a 30-day trial with no credit card required. That combination, a long trial and no card, makes Sprout the lowest-risk paid tool to test, but the missing per-plan prices make it impossible to rank Sprout fairly against Buffer’s $5 per channel or Hootsuite’s $99 per seat until its pricing page shows the figures. Sprout’s supported-network list, including TikTok and YouTube, was also not confirmed from the pages checked. For a solo creator, Sprout is the hardest tool here to justify without a live pricing check, because everything about it says “team and agency budgets” while its price stays vague.
Which tool fits a creator with Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube?
This is our own analysis, not a vendor claim, and it uses only the confirmed facts above for one fixed setup: one Instagram profile, one TikTok profile, and one YouTube channel.
| Tool | What you pay for | Cost for this exact setup |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Per channel | Free covers all 3 channels, but YouTube is Shorts only |
| Later | Per Social Set | 1 set covers all 3 profiles; price not shown on its pricing page |
| Metricool | Per brand | Free covers 1 brand, but YouTube coverage was not confirmed |
| Hootsuite | Per seat | Standard $99 per user per month on annual billing, up to 10 accounts; networks not enumerated |
| Sprout Social | Per seat | Price range $79 to $399; per-plan figure not shown |
The table shows why the billing unit matters more than the headline price. For this exact setup, Buffer Free and Metricool Free cost nothing, Later costs one Social Set at an unshown price, and Hootsuite costs a full $99 seat. The cheapest answer for a solo creator is Buffer Free if your YouTube work is Shorts, and Later’s Starter tier if you need YouTube auto-publishing with a visual planner, subject to checking its live price. The moment a team joins, the answer flips: Hootsuite’s approvals and routing, or Later’s Growth collaboration tools, start earning their price, while Buffer Team at $10 per channel stays the cheapest team option of the group.
Read Also: Instagram Insights Explained: What Your Numbers Actually Mean
Do the free trials need a credit card?
The trial terms differ more than the trial lengths suggest, and this is where creators get caught. Buffer gives 14 days, no card, and auto-downgrades to Free. Hootsuite gives 14 days, no card, and does not auto-charge. Sprout gives 30 days, no card. Later gives 14 days, requires a card, and auto-starts charging unless you cancel before the trial ends. If you test tools in a row, test Later last or set a calendar reminder on day one, because it is the only one of the five that charges by default. A trial that needs no card costs you nothing when you forget it. A trial that needs a card costs you a month when you forget it.
What should you avoid when picking an SMM tool?
Run these checks before you pay for anything. First, check YouTube coverage specifically, because it is the gap the vendors hide in plain sight: Buffer’s own table says Shorts only, Later schedules YouTube Shorts and auto-publishes YouTube, and YouTube support for Hootsuite, Sprout, and Metricool was not confirmed from the pages checked. Second, check the billing unit against your real setup, not the marketing price: per channel, per seat, per Social Set, and per brand produce wildly different bills for the same profiles, as the table above shows. Third, never buy a tool that promises followers, likes, or views. Scheduling and analytics tools help you publish consistently and learn what works. Tools that sell engagement violate platform rules, and no legitimate tool on this list does that. If a tool’s homepage leads with follower counts instead of scheduling or analytics, skip it. That is the second species from the intro, and panels do not belong in a creator’s stack.
Frequently asked questions
Which SMM tool is completely free?
Buffer, Later, and Metricool all have free plans, but with different caps. Buffer Free covers 3 channels with 10 refillable scheduled posts each and 30-day analytics. Metricool Free covers 1 brand with 20 posts a month and 30-day analytics. Later Free covers limited scheduling with no exact number stated on its help page, a 2-week calendar window, and a Link in Bio page. Hootsuite and Sprout Social have no permanent free plan, only trials.
Is Hootsuite worth $99 a month for a solo creator?
For most solo creators, no. Standard costs $99 per user per month on annual billing, taxes excluded, and its strengths are approvals, routing, and benchmarking, which are team problems. A solo creator gets more value from Buffer Free, Buffer Essentials at $5 per channel per month on annual billing, or Metricool Free. Hootsuite earns its price when a team needs collaboration and competitor benchmarking, not when one person needs scheduling.
What does Later cost?
Later’s price was not shown on its public pricing page at the time of checking, 24 October 2026, so this guide quotes no Later price. Its structure is public: Free with limited scheduling, Starter with 1 Social Set and 30 posts per profile per month, Growth with 2 Social Sets and 180 posts per profile per month, and Scale with 6 Social Sets and unlimited posts. Check Later’s pricing page live before signing up, and remember its 14-day trial requires a card and auto-starts unless cancelled.
Can I schedule YouTube videos with these tools?
Only partly, and this is the gap to check before paying. Buffer lists YouTube as Shorts only in its own channel table. Later lists YouTube Shorts among its schedulable content and auto-publishing for YouTube. Hootsuite, Sprout, and Metricool YouTube support was not confirmed from the pages checked for this guide. If YouTube scheduling is your main need, verify it on the vendor’s own page before buying.
Do free trials need a credit card?
Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout trials need no credit card. Buffer auto-downgrades to Free, Hootsuite does not auto-charge, and Sprout’s trial runs 30 days. Later’s 14-day trial is the exception: card details are entered at checkout, and the subscription automatically starts and charges after the trial unless you cancel before it ends.
Are these tools SMM panels?
No. Panels sell followers, likes, or views. The tools in this guide schedule, publish, and measure your own content, and none of them sells engagement. That is why they belong on a site about organic growth: they help you publish consistently and learn what works, which is the only growth that survives platform enforcement.
Sources
- Buffer pricing page
- Buffer official blog comparison (Buffer vs RecurPost)
- Hootsuite plans page
- Later pricing page
- Later help center: choosing a Social plan
- Metricool help center: plans, add-ons, and API access
- Metricool pricing page
- Sprout Social pricing page
- Sprout Social legacy plans page (older structure; the current pricing page takes precedence)
