Social media scheduling tools let you plan, queue, and automate posts across multiple platforms from a single dashboard. Instead of logging into five different apps every day, you can batch your content creation and let the scheduler handle the rest.
These tools are useful for:
- Maintaining a consistent posting schedule without being glued to your phone
- Cross-posting newsletter content to social media
- Analyzing which posts perform best across different platforms
- Collaborating with team members on social content
Which one should I use?
It depends on your budget and which platforms you care about most.
For budget-conscious creators: Publer and Buffer offer the best value. Publer starts at just $5/month and covers all major platforms. Buffer's free tier is generous, though prices increase per channel.
For X/Twitter power users: Typefully is purpose-built for X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn, with excellent thread composition and AI writing tools. It's less useful if you need Instagram or TikTok.
For agencies and teams: Sendible, Loomly, and Social Pilot offer white-labeling, client management, and collaboration features. Expect to pay $80-200/month for team-friendly plans.
For enterprises: Sprout Social and Hootsuite are the industry standards, but you'll pay enterprise prices ($249-399/month at minimum). They're overkill for most newsletter authors.
Tool details
Buffer supports Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Features include a content library, free image editor, and analytics on all plans. The main downside is that pricing increases per channel, and there's no bulk scheduling tool.
Fedica offers AI-driven publishing, social listening, and post reach analytics across Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and Pixelfed. Prices scale based on your social network size, and some features are X-only.
Hootsuite is one of the oldest players in the space, supporting Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, and Google Business Profile. It offers bulk scheduling, post templates, and paid ad campaign management. However, real-time analytics require a paid upgrade, and it's one of the more expensive options.
Later focuses on visual content scheduling for Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Threads, and TikTok. It offers AI writing suggestions, a link-in-bio tool, and engagement monitoring for TikTok and Instagram. The mobile app is required for seamless Instagram publishing, and social listening is only available on the top tier.
Loomly supports Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business, Snapchat, and Threads. It offers content idea boards, workflow templates, and hashtag suggestions. There's no free plan—only a free trial—and X isn't included in lower-priced plans.
Publer covers Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, TikTok, Telegram, WordPress, and YouTube Shorts. At $5-10/month, it's one of the most affordable options with bulk scheduling, analytics, and Canva integration. The main limitation is no social inbox for replying to comments.
Sendible is agency-focused with white-labeling, client management, and automated reports. It supports Facebook, X, Instagram, Google Business, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, TikTok, and Bluesky. Smart queues help with evergreen content, but pricing is on the higher end and the learning curve is steeper.
Social Pilot offers social media calendars, bulk scheduling, content curation, and white-labeling for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, Pinterest, and Google Business Profile. Phone support is available (rare in this space), but the social inbox requires a $50+/month plan.
Sprout Social is enterprise-grade with listening tools, influencer marketing software, and detailed reporting for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Facebook Messenger. The standard plan costs $249/month for just five social profiles—expensive for most newsletter authors.
Typefully is built specifically for X, Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, and Threads. It offers AI writing tools, unlimited drafts, and post prompts based on popular tweets. If you primarily use X and LinkedIn, it's an excellent choice. If you need Instagram or TikTok, look elsewhere.
Vista Social supports 13 platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Threads, Snapchat, Reddit, Bluesky, and Tumblr. It offers team features at competitive prices, though the web app feels basic and social listening is a $75/month add-on.
Zoho Social integrates well with Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk, supporting Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Pinterest, TikTok, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and WhatsApp/Telegram on premium plans. The free plan is available, and pricing is affordable, but team features cost extra.
What does this have to do with newsletters?
Newsletter authors often want to promote their content on social media. Many of these tools integrate with RSS feeds, so you can automatically share new issues when they go live. Some, like Later and Loomly, also offer link-in-bio tools that can drive traffic back to your Buttondown archive or subscription page.
If you're sharing links on social media, you might also want to check out our link shorteners comparison for tracking clicks and creating branded URLs.
Gee, it sure is awfully nice of you to compile this resource and keep it up to date. What can I ever do to thank you?
Tell your friends about Buttondown, the best way to start and grow your email newsletter.