{
    "title": "Metricool Alternatives 2027: 13 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/metricool/",
    "summary": "The best Metricool alternatives in 2027 are Hootsuite (best overall, $99/user/mo billed yearly), Buffer (best free plan) and Postiz (best open source, AGPL-3.0). Metricool itself starts at $20/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 14 Nov 2026; 10 more are compared below, including 1 with a free plan and 4 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Metricool",
        "starting_price": "$20/mo billed yearly",
        "free_plan": "1 brand, 20 posts a month, 30 days of analytics",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
        "pricing_url": "https://metricool.com/pricing"
    },
    "task": "Social media scheduler / manager",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-14",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-14",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Buffer",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$5/channel/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user, 100 ideas",
            "best_for": "Simple per-channel scheduling",
            "difference": "Bills per channel at $5 billed yearly with unlimited scheduled posts; the free plan connects 3 channels with 10 posts each, but Buffer has no ads analytics or competitor tracking.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://buffer.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://buffer.com",
            "zekai_score": 9.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/buffer/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Hootsuite",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$99/user/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Enterprise inbox and listening",
            "difference": "Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually for 10 accounts, while Metricool Starter is $20 for up to 5 brands with unlimited publishing and PDF or PPT reports.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.hootsuite.com/plans",
            "website": "https://www.hootsuite.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/hootsuite/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Later",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$18.75/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Visual Instagram planning",
            "difference": "Starter is $18.75 a month billed yearly for one social set of 8 profiles and 30 posts per profile; Metricool Starter allows unlimited publishing and ads analytics.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://later.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://later.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/later/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Publer",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$4/account/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "3 social accounts (no X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 25 drafts, 24-hour post history",
            "best_for": "Per-account pricing and RSS",
            "difference": "Professional costs $4 per social account a month billed yearly, with unlimited workspaces and RSS automations; Business at $8 adds competitor analysis and API access.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://publer.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://publer.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/publer/"
        },
        {
            "name": "SocialPilot",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$17/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Agencies needing client approvals",
            "difference": "Essentials is $17 a month billed yearly for 5 accounts and 1 user; Premium adds white-label reports and client approvals for 6 users at $85.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.socialpilot.co/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.socialpilot.co"
        },
        {
            "name": "Agorapulse",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$79/user/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Community management inbox",
            "difference": "Plans start at $79 per user a month billed yearly for 10 profiles with a unified inbox and Google review moderation; Metricool prices by brand count, not by user.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.agorapulse.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.agorapulse.com",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/agorapulse/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Sprout Social",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$79/seat/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Enterprise reporting and care",
            "difference": "Essentials is $79 per seat a month billed yearly for 5 profiles with a 30-day trial and Trellis AI agent credits; no free plan exists.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://sproutsocial.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://sproutsocial.com",
            "zekai_score": 8.9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/sprout-social/"
        },
        {
            "name": "ContentStudio",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$19/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "AI content generation focus",
            "difference": "Standard at $19 a month billed yearly covers 5 accounts, 1 user and 25,000 AI text credits plus image and video credits; Advanced adds a social inbox and competitor analytics.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://contentstudio.io/pricing",
            "website": "https://contentstudio.io",
            "zekai_score": 8.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/contentstudio/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Postiz",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "$29/mo (hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Self-hosted scheduling and analytics",
            "difference": "AGPL-3.0 scheduler with analytics, API, webhooks and AI agent integrations on your server; it lacks Metricool's ads dashboards and competitor benchmarking.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://postiz.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://postiz.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/gitroomhq/postiz-app",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/postiz-app/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Docker host with Postgres, Redis and media storage.",
            "setup": "moderate: Docker plus a developer app and keys for each network.",
            "github_stars": 41600,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-14",
            "last_release": "2026-11-13",
            "zekai_score": 7.9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/postiz-app/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Mixpost",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "$299 one-time (hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT (Lite edition)",
            "best_for": "One-time licence with analytics",
            "difference": "Lite is MIT and free with basic analytics for Facebook Pages, Mastodon and X; Pro at $299 one-time adds all networks, an inbox and an AI assistant.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://mixpost.app/pricing",
            "website": "https://mixpost.app",
            "repository": "https://github.com/inovector/mixpost",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/mixpost/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes for Lite (MIT); Pro and Enterprise need paid licences.",
            "runs_on": "A PHP or Docker server with a public domain.",
            "setup": "moderate: Laravel app needing a web server, database and domain.",
            "github_stars": 3900,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-03-16",
            "last_release": "2026-03-16",
            "zekai_score": 6.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/mixpost/"
        },
        {
            "name": "OpenPost",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Simple self-hosted publisher",
            "difference": "Runs as one Docker container with SQLite and includes image, carousel and video editors; analytics are far thinner than Metricool's competitor and ads reports.",
            "website": "https://github.com/getopenpost/openpost",
            "repository": "https://github.com/getopenpost/openpost",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/openpost/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Docker Compose; the default setup is one container with SQLite.",
            "setup": "moderate: One Docker container, but each network needs its own developer app.",
            "github_stars": 913,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-14",
            "last_release": "2026-11-13",
            "zekai_score": 7.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/openpost/"
        },
        {
            "name": "TryPost",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "MCP-ready self-hosted posting",
            "difference": "AGPL-3.0 Laravel scheduler with an MCP server and REST API for AI agents; at about 860 stars it has no equivalent of Metricool's reporting or ads dashboards.",
            "website": "https://github.com/trypostit/trypost",
            "repository": "https://github.com/trypostit/trypost",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/trypost/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.",
            "runs_on": "A web server running PHP 8.2 or newer with Laravel.",
            "setup": "moderate: Laravel app with queue workers and per-network developer keys.",
            "github_stars": 863,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-13",
            "last_release": "2026-11-01",
            "zekai_score": 7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/trypost/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Socioboard",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "GPL-3.0-or-later",
            "best_for": "Self-hosted analytics and reports",
            "difference": "GPL-3.0 platform focused on analytics and reporting across nine networks; last release January 2024, and it needs Node.js, PHP, MongoDB and MySQL.",
            "website": "https://github.com/socioboard/Socioboard-5.0",
            "repository": "https://github.com/socioboard/Socioboard-5.0",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/socioboard/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes; GPL-3.0 means sharing source if you distribute modified versions.",
            "runs_on": "Server with Node.js, PHP front end, MongoDB, MySQL and PM2.",
            "setup": "hard: Several services (Node, PHP, MongoDB, MySQL) to install and keep running.",
            "github_stars": 1500,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-08-17",
            "last_release": "2024-01-16",
            "zekai_score": 6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/socioboard/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Metricool in 2027?",
            "a": "Hootsuite is the best overall Metricool alternative on this page ($99/user/mo billed yearly). For no cost, Buffer has a free plan (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user, 100 ideas). To self-host, Postiz is open source (AGPL-3.0)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Metricool?",
            "a": "Yes. Metricool has a free plan: 1 brand, 20 posts a month, 30 days of analytics. Paid plans start at $20/mo billed yearly, checked on 14 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Metricool?",
            "a": "Yes. Postiz, Mixpost, OpenPost, TryPost, Socioboard are open source and free to self-host. Buffer, Publer have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is cheaper than Metricool?",
            "a": "Publer starts at $4/account/mo billed yearly, against $20/mo billed yearly for Metricool, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 14 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Metricool alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 14 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Publer $20/mo, Buffer $25/mo, SocialPilot $85/mo, against Metricool $100/mo for Metricool. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Hootsuite or Metricool?",
            "a": "Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually for 10 accounts, while Metricool Starter is $20 for up to 5 brands with unlimited publishing and PDF or PPT reports. Choose Hootsuite if your team needs a unified inbox, social listening and approvals under an enterprise contract. Stay with Metricool if you want agency-style reports and brand management for a fraction of per-user pricing."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Metricool?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Metricool's Premium page (published 2026-01-27, modified 2026-07-09) lists prices on annual billing and puts Twitter/X behind an add-on on every plan, with LinkedIn excluded from the free plan (9 Jul 2026); Pricing page: the free plan keeps 30 days of analytics and 20 posts a month; unlimited history and unlimited publishing start on Starter at $25 monthly ($20 billed yearly) (14 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "What are the best Metricool alternatives?",
            "a": "Buffer and Publer for simple scheduling, SocialPilot for client approvals, Hootsuite or Sprout Social for enterprise teams, and Postiz if you want to self-host."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/metricool/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}