Best Later Alternatives for Social Media Scheduling

PostFast is the closest fit if you are leaving Later because the Social Set math stopped making sense or because Later cannot reach the networks you need. Pricing is flat per connected account on annual billing: Starter 10 euros a month (4 accounts), Creator 24 euros (12 accounts), Growth 40 euros (30 accounts, 10 workspaces), Pro 82.50 euros (120 accounts), Enterprise 199 euros (500 accounts). Monthly billing is 12, 29, 49, 99, and 239 euros, and annual saves you two months. There is no 8-profile set to fill and no per-set surcharge, so you pay for exactly the accounts you connect.

The platform gap is the other reason people switch. PostFast publishes to 11 networks: Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Bluesky, Threads, Pinterest, Telegram, and Google Business Profile. That directly covers X, Bluesky, Telegram, and Google Business Profile, all four of which Later does not support, and unlike Later it publishes full YouTube videos rather than Shorts only. Post limits are generous and per account rather than per profile: 150 scheduled posts on Starter, 1,500 on Creator, 3,000 on Growth, and unlimited on Pro and Enterprise, so you never hit Later's 30-posts-per-profile Starter ceiling.

PostFast is also the only tool in this list with a public REST API and an MCP server on every plan, including the 7-day trial, with no tier gating. You can publish from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, n8n, Make, or Zapier, or script your whole queue against documented endpoints. Later has no public API for its scheduling product at any tier. Where Later still wins: the visual Instagram grid preview, Link in Bio, and the Mavely creator affiliate network. If those are central to your workflow, Later stays worth it. Everyone else leaving over price, platform coverage, or automation should start with PostFast. See the full PostFast vs Later comparison for the account-by-account pricing math.

Buffer is the natural landing spot if you want a free plan Later never offered. Buffer Free connects up to 3 channels with 10 queued posts per channel forever, and now includes API access even on the free tier (1 API key, 3,000 requests a month). Paid plans are per channel: Essentials is $5 per channel per month on annual ($6 monthly) with unlimited scheduling and advanced analytics, and Team is $10 per channel per month with unlimited users and approvals. Buffer publishes to 11 networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads.

Where Buffer beats Later for a departing creator: a genuine free plan, a smoother queue-and-forget composer, and a public API that Buffer has now rolled out across all plans (3,000 requests a month on Free, 7,500 on Essentials) rather than gating it away entirely. Buffer also keeps X (Twitter) support, which Later dropped. For a solo creator on 3 or fewer channels who mostly wants a clean scheduler, Buffer Free is hard to argue with.

Where Buffer loses to Later: no visual Instagram grid planner, no built-in Link in Bio at Later's level, and per-channel pricing that adds up past 6 or 7 channels (10 channels on Essentials is $50/mo). If the reason you used Later was the visual feed preview, Buffer will feel plainer. If the reason was price or platform coverage, Buffer is a strong, cheap step sideways. For a deeper look at the closest flat-price option, see PostFast vs Buffer.

Metricool is the pick if you left Later wanting better numbers rather than a prettier grid. It is analytics-first: competitor tracking (up to 100 profiles), ads reporting, and a Looker Studio connector on higher tiers. The Free plan is real ($0, 1 brand, 20 posts a month, 30 days of analytics), though it blocks LinkedIn and X. Paid pricing is per brand bracket on annual billing: Starter from $20/mo (up to 5 brands) to $36/mo (10 brands), Advanced from $53/mo (15 brands) up to $159/mo (50 brands).

Metricool publishes to 11 networks including Bluesky and Twitch, both of which Later lacks, though X is a $5/mo add-on per connected account and Telegram is not supported. The per-brand bracket model works in your favor when each brand connects only a couple of networks and against you when you concentrate many networks on one brand. Metricool's API is gated to Advanced and delivered through Zapier, Make, and an MCP server rather than a documented public REST endpoint.

Where Metricool beats Later: analytics depth, a usable free tier, and competitor and ads reporting Later does not attempt. Where Later beats Metricool: the visual Instagram planning experience and Link in Bio polish. If reporting was the job you hired Later for and never quite got, Metricool is the upgrade. See PostFast vs Metricool if you also want a flat per-account price and an API on every plan.

Publer is the value pick. It keeps a free plan (3 accounts, 10 queued posts per account, though no X on free), and paid plans are priced per account from a low base: Professional starts at $4/mo on annual billing (1 account, $5 monthly) and Business at $8/mo on annual ($10 monthly), each adding accounts on top. Every 10th account is free, so a 10-account setup effectively pays for 9. Publer covers 13 platforms including Bluesky, Telegram, Mastodon, WordPress, and Google Business Profile.

Where Publer pulls ahead of Later: X (Twitter) support that Later removed, a far broader platform list, unlimited scheduling on paid plans (no per-profile post caps), built-in AI caption and image tools, and a public REST API on Business. For a creator who wants Later-style breadth of destinations without Social Set pricing, Publer hits a genuinely low price point.

The trade-off is polish and focus. Publer's composer has more options and therefore more clicks, and it has no visual Instagram grid planner. It is a broad, cheap, flexible scheduler rather than a visual-planning specialist. If Later's grid was the whole point for you, Publer will not replace it; if the destinations and the price were the point, it is the cheapest serious option here.

SocialPilot is the move if you outgrew Later's creator focus and need agency and small-team features. Pricing on annual billing runs Essentials $17/mo (5 accounts, 1 user), Standard $34/mo (10 accounts, 3 users, bulk scheduling, social inbox), Premium $85/mo (20 accounts, 6 users, client approvals, white-label reports), and Ultimate $170/mo (40 accounts, unlimited users). It covers 10 networks including X, Bluesky, and Google Business Profile that Later does not, though not Telegram.

Where SocialPilot beats Later: bulk CSV scheduling, a built-in social inbox for replies, RSS automation, and client approval workflows that Later reserves for Growth and above. The AI Pilot credits (500 to unlimited by plan) and content library are aimed squarely at teams producing a lot of content. It is a more complete agency tool than Later, which leans creator-first.

The catch: API access is gated to the Enterprise plan (custom pricing), and user seats are capped per tier with a $5/mo charge for extra users on Standard and Premium. If you need programmatic publishing without a sales call, look at PostFast or Publer instead. For a team leaving Later that wants approvals and bulk tools at a fair price, SocialPilot is a solid middle option.

Loomly is the choice when scheduling is part of a larger editorial calendar with real review steps. Starter is $49/mo on annual ($65 monthly) for 12 social accounts and 3 users, Beyond is $249/mo on annual ($332 monthly) for 60 accounts and unlimited users with custom branding, and Enterprise is custom for 61 accounts and up. Loomly publishes to 9 networks including Google Business Profile.

Where Loomly beats Later: a first-class approval workflow with statuses, revisions, and reviewer assignments, plus a structured content calendar that marketing teams prefer over a visual grid. If your reason for leaving Later is that it never handled multi-person review well, Loomly's governance is the upgrade. It also keeps X support that Later dropped.

Where Loomly loses to Later and the cheaper tools: no free plan, a much higher entry price ($49/mo versus Later's $18.75), no public API (integrations run through Zapier), and no visual Instagram grid. It is built for in-house marketing teams that value the calendar and review flow more than a creator-style visual planner or a low price.

FeedHive is the AI-forward option. Creator is 15 euros a month (4 accounts, 2,500 AI credits, 500 automation runs), Brand is 22 euros (10 accounts, 5 workspaces), Business is 69 euros (100 accounts, 50 workspaces, unlimited scheduling), and Agency is 239 euros (500 accounts). All prices are annual-billed per month and cover 10 networks.

Where FeedHive beats Later: generous AI credits for drafting and recycling, RSS and schedule-triggered automations, and a public REST API plus an official MCP Server on the Business and Agency tiers, none of which Later offers. If AI drafting is the majority of your workflow, FeedHive's credit allowances are among the most generous per euro in this list.

The trade-offs: no free plan, a short 7-day trial, and no visual Instagram grid. API and MCP are limited to Business and above, so the entry tiers do not include them. FeedHive is the pick for an automation-heavy or AI-heavy creator, not for someone who wants Later's visual planning experience. If you want the API on every plan instead of only the top tiers, PostFast is the closer match.