Home › Software

Top 10 · Software

Top 10 Social Media Management Tools

The tools businesses use to plan, schedule and publish posts across their social accounts, ranked by how many users or customers each one says it has.

Metricool4 million+ professionals 2

Hootsuite200,000+ users 3

Buffer86,610 customers

Quick answer

Metricool is the most widely used social media management tool, with more than 4 million professionals, and its free plan includes automatic publishing. Hootsuite is second with 200,000+ users and is built for high-volume team publishing, with a bulk scheduler for up to 350 posts at once. Buffer is third with 86,610 customers and the simplest, cheapest scheduling, from $5 a month per channel. For approval-heavy teams, Agorapulse and Planable are the strongest picks.

How it's ranked: Users, customers, brands or marketers each vendor says it serves, as published on its own website (read November 2026). Vendors count differently: Metricool and Hootsuite count users, Buffer, Loomly and Sprinklr count customers, and others count brands, teams or marketers, so treat the numbers as a guide to scale, not an audit. Sprinklr's count covers its whole platform, not only Sprinklr Social. Sprout Social, Vista Social and Planable all publish 30,000+ and are listed in that order.

Metricool

Metricool (team.blue) · Social media planning, scheduling and analytics

4 million+ professionals

The most-used tool, and the best free plan to start on.

Metricool says more than 4 million professionals use it to manage their social media, the largest user count on this list. It was started in 2014 as Bloggerespacio by two software engineers, Laura and Juanpa, became Metricool in 2015, passed its first 1M worldwide clients in 2022 and joined team.blue in 2024. Its Planner lets you drag and drop content into a calendar, preview each post per platform and schedule across all your networks, with suggested best hours and hashtags so you post at the right time. Templates handle recurring posts and you can build automated content lists. The Free plan connects 1 brand, with one profile per social network, and still includes automatic publishing, which makes Metricool an easy place to start before paying for more brands.

Best forFreelancers, small businesses and agencies that want scheduling and analytics on a budget

Skip it ifYou need enterprise approval chains and governance

Source: metricool.com/about-us/

Hootsuite

Hootsuite · Social media management for teams and enterprises

200,000+ users

The heavyweight for high-volume team publishing.

Hootsuite says it has 200K+ users and 6K+ enterprise customers, with customers in 200+ countries, and it has been building social media software since 2008. Its publishing tools are built for volume: the bulk scheduler can schedule up to 350 posts at once, a list or calendar view shows paid and organic posts across networks, and custom approval workflows let managers sign off before anything goes live. Heat maps recommend the best time to post for engagement. If something goes wrong, you can suspend scheduled posts in case of a crisis or unexpected opportunity. It publishes to Instagram (including Reels and carousels), X, Facebook Pages, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky, and its Wisdom AI drafts posts and on-brand images for any network.

Best forLarger teams that need bulk scheduling, approvals and many networks in one place

Skip it ifYou are a solo creator watching every dollar

Source: www.hootsuite.com/about

Buffer

Buffer · Simple social media scheduling and planning

86,610 customers

The simplest, cheapest way to schedule.

Buffer publishes its numbers openly: 86,610 customers, 342,794 monthly active users and $28.4M in annual recurring revenue, run by 73 teammates across 15 countries. It started in November 2010 because founder Joel Gascoigne wanted to space out when his tweets were sent, and scheduling is still the heart of it: the Publish tool plans and schedules content across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack. Pricing is per channel. The Free plan connects up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel, Essentials is $5 a month per channel with unlimited scheduled posts, and Team is $10 a month per channel with unlimited team members.

Best forSmall businesses and creators who want simple, cheap scheduling

Skip it ifYou need deep enterprise approvals and reporting

Source: buffer.com/about

Loomly

Loomly · Content calendar, approvals and scheduling

50k+ customers

The calendar-and-approvals pick.

Loomly says it has 50k+ customers, and it has been building its social media management platform since 2015 with a fully distributed team of 15+ people. It covers the whole job from content ideas to publishing and analytics, and it connects to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile and Threads. Its calendar covers 10+ channels, and AI suggests the best timing, topics and content. Scheduling is unlimited on both main plans, and approval workflows and roles are included. Starter costs $49 a month billed yearly for 12 social accounts and 3 users, and Beyond is $249 a month billed yearly for 60 social accounts with no user cap. There is a 7-day free trial.

Best forMarketing teams and franchises that need a calendar with approval workflows

Skip it ifYou want a free plan

Source: www.loomly.com/about

Agorapulse

Agorapulse · Social media publishing, inbox and reporting

31,000+ social media managers

Best for approvals with teams and clients.

Agorapulse says over 31,000 marketers prefer it, and its homepage puts the number at 31K+ social media managers who use the tool daily. Its publishing tools are built around team and client approval: you plan in a shared calendar, get sign-off from your team and clients, and schedule posts for when your audience is most active. You can bulk-upload posts from a CSV or fill recurring queues by category, and one composer tailors captions, mentions and formats for each network. It supports Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business, TikTok, Bluesky and Reddit. Plans start at $79 per user a month billed annually with 10 profiles, and the trial is free for 30 days with no credit card.

Best forAgencies and in-house teams that need client sign-off and bulk uploads

Skip it ifYou only manage one or two accounts

Source: www.agorapulse.com/pricing/

Sprout Social

Sprout Social · AI-powered social media management and intelligence

30,000+ brands

The premium all-rounder for brands.

Sprout Social says it is trusted by more than 30,000 brands and organizations of all sizes. It launched in 2010 and has 1,400+ employees serving customers in 100+ countries, with offices in Chicago, Dublin and Krakow. Its publishing tools centre on a social media calendar for planning and scheduling posts across many profiles and networks at once, with approval workflows that guide internal and external reviewers before posts go out. Its Optimal Send Times feature examines 16 weeks of audience data to pick posting times, and Sprout says customers using it have seen as much as a 60% lift in reach. AI suggests captions and alt text. Pricing is per seat: Essentials is $79 per seat a month billed annually, rising to $399 for Advanced.

Best forMid-size and large brands that want polished publishing plus strong analytics

Skip it ifYou are on a tight budget

Source: investors.sproutsocial.com/

Vista Social

Vista Social · AI social media management for brands and agencies

30,000+ brands and agencies

The fastest-growing pick, with the widest network list.

Vista Social says it is trusted by more than 30,000 brands and agencies, which is remarkable growth for a company founded in 2022. It reports 3.4M social profiles connected and 7.4M posts published every month. Every plan includes unlimited post scheduling, a calendar view, bulk scheduling, Smart Scheduling and optimal time recommendations, and it covers more networks than most rivals: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Google Business, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, Threads and Bluesky. Plans scale from Professional, with 15 social profiles and 2 users, to Scale, with 70 profiles and 4 users, and Enterprise with unlimited profiles. Prices are shown as custom, and there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.

Best forAgencies that publish to many networks, including Snapchat, Tumblr and Reddit

Skip it ifYou want published list prices before you talk to sales

Source: vistasocial.com/about/

Planable

Planable (SE Ranking) · Social media collaboration, approvals and scheduling

30,000+ marketers

Best for approval-heavy teams.

Planable says 30,000+ marketers approve of it, and its pricing page invites you to join 5,000+ teams. It is built for collaboration: posts move through step-by-step approvals with a clear green light before scheduling, and a kanban approvals tab makes sure no post is skipped. You can bulk approve, schedule, delete and duplicate across workspaces, and Planable says teams plan, review and schedule 6x faster. Scheduling covers 9 platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Business Profile and Threads. Basic costs $33 per workspace a month and Pro $49, and the first 50 posts are free with no time limit. Planable now sits alongside SE Ranking in the same group of products.

Best forTeams and agencies where every post needs review before it goes live

Skip it ifYou work alone and never need approvals

Source: planable.io/

ContentStudio

ContentStudio · AI social media management and scheduling

16,500+ brands

Strong bulk scheduling with AI built in.

ContentStudio says it is trusted by 16,500+ social media teams, and that 4M+ posts have been created and scheduled on it across all major social platforms. Its scheduling strengths are bulk and planning: you can schedule months of posts across all platforms with a single CSV upload, follow its recommendation for the best time to post, and reserve the first comment on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. The calendar combines scheduling, team approvals and multi-channel publishing, and you can share it instantly with external users and approvers, which helps agencies get client sign-off. Content categories keep recurring posts organised. It holds a 4.7 rating from 25,000+ reviews on Capterra and G2, and offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card.

Best forAgencies and teams that schedule in bulk and want AI help with content

Skip it ifYou want the biggest, best-known platform

Source: contentstudio.io/

Sprinklr Social

Sprinklr · Enterprise social media management

1,900+ customers (Sprinklr overall)

Built for the biggest global brands.

Sprinklr says it has 1,900+ customers across 19 countries; that is the count for the whole Sprinklr platform, which was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York. The count is small because these are some of the world's largest brands: Sprinklr Social is pitched as enterprise social media management, and Shell, for example, manages 100+ social media accounts from it. It offers out-of-the-box support for 30+ social and messaging channels. For publishing, AI recommends top-performing posts, optimal publishing times, hashtags and tone, content can be adapted automatically by region, audience and channel, and region-specific scheduling lets local teams publish multilingual content without drifting from brand messaging.

Best forGlobal enterprises running hundreds of accounts across regions and languages

Skip it ifYou are a small or mid-size business

Source: www.sprinklr.com/our-story/

Questions people ask

What is the best social media management tool?

Metricool is the most used, with more than 4 million professionals. Hootsuite, with 200,000+ users, is the strongest for large teams that schedule in bulk, and Sprout Social, trusted by more than 30,000 brands, is the premium all-rounder.

What is the cheapest tool for scheduling social media posts?

Buffer's Free plan connects up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel, and paid plans start at $5 a month per channel. Metricool's Free plan connects 1 brand and includes automatic publishing.

Which tools have approval workflows for teams and clients?

Planable (step-by-step approvals and a kanban approvals tab), Agorapulse (shared calendar with team and client sign-off), Loomly (approval workflows and roles on every plan), Sprout Social and Hootsuite (custom approval workflows), and ContentStudio (calendar sharing with external approvers).

Which tool can schedule posts in bulk?

Hootsuite's bulk scheduler handles up to 350 posts at once. ContentStudio and Agorapulse accept CSV uploads, and Vista Social includes bulk scheduling on every plan.

How were these tools ranked?

By the number of users, customers, brands or marketers each vendor publishes on its own website. These are the companies' own claims and they count in different ways.

How we ranked

Users, customers, brands or marketers each vendor says it serves, as published on its own website (read November 2026). Vendors count differently: Metricool and Hootsuite count users, Buffer, Loomly and Sprinklr count customers, and others count brands, teams or marketers, so treat the numbers as a guide to scale, not an audit. Sprinklr's count covers its whole platform, not only Sprinklr Social. Sprout Social, Vista Social and Planable all publish 30,000+ and are listed in that order. Every number on this page comes from the source linked under each pick, and every photo shows the actual product. Brands can't pay to be on this list.

List source: metricool.com/about-us/ · Updated 2026-11-13