Independent · sourced · Updated June 2026
Best Social Media Management (2026)
The cheapest social media management is Buffer at $0/mo. 2 offer a free tier (Buffer, Metricool). This page compares 7 options on entry price, free tier, HIPAA/SOC 2 and best-for — every figure linked to its source, updated June 2026.
7 options compared on price, free tier, compliance and fit — ranked cheapest-first. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it; quote-only tiers show “—”, never a guess.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Buffer at $0/mo (Free).
- Typical paid price: from $5/mo, median $29/mo, up to $99/mo — across 7 with published pricing.
- Free tier: Buffer, Metricool.
- Tracked: 7 vendors, data current through 2026-06-15.
Comparison
| # | Social Media Management | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buffer | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | — | Freelancers and indie creators wanting a generous free tier | buffer.com |
| 2 | Metricool | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | — | Marketers and agencies needing combined organic and paid ads analytics in one dashboard | metricool.com |
| 3 | Later | $25/mo Starter | No | — | — | Creators and influencers focused on Instagram and TikTok visual content | later.com |
| 4 | Sendible | $29/mo Creator | No | — | — | Agencies needing white-label reporting and client dashboards | sendible.com |
| 5 | SocialBee | $29/mo Bootstrap | No | — | — | Solopreneurs and small businesses wanting category-based content recycling | socialbee.com |
| 6 | Sprout Social | $79/mo Essentials | No | — | — | Mid-market and enterprise teams needing deep CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot) | sproutsocial.com |
| 7 | Hootsuite | $99/mo Standard | No | — | — | Mid-market and enterprise teams managing many social accounts | getapp.com |
Prices are the lowest published self-serve monthly rate as captured on the linked source. Annual-billing and usage details are on each vendor's record in our open dataset.
Alternatives
Popular comparisons
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest social media management?
Buffer has the lowest published entry price at $0/mo (Free), as of 2026-06-15.
How much does social media management cost per month?
Across the 7 social media management with published paid pricing, the median starting price is $29/mo, ranging from $5/mo to $99/mo, as of 2026-06-15. 2 also offer a free tier.
Which social media management have a free plan?
Buffer, Metricool offer a free tier.
More software comparisons
How we compiled this
Prices fetched from each vendor's official pricing page via WebFetch on 2026-06-14. Where the official page returned no renderable USD prices (Hootsuite — JS-gated), figures were taken from GetApp and corroborated by a 2026 Social Champ blog review. Sprout Social Standard/Professional/Advanced annual-billing discount is not publicly disclosed; prices shown are the listed per-seat/month figures (confirmed annual commitment by Social Champ). Later monthly (non-annual) prices derived from the stated '25% off' annual discount. Metricool prices are the monthly-billing USD rates; annual billing saves up to 24%. All telephony fields (minutesIncluded, callsIncluded, overagePerMin, overagePerCall) are null for every plan as this is a non-telephony vertical. Enterprise/custom tiers are included with monthlyUsd=null. accessedAt is 2026-06-14 on all sources.
Last verified 2026-06-15. We re-check published prices and compliance on a recurring cadence and update this page when they change.
Embed this comparison — free
Add the live cheapest-social media management list to your site. It reflects our latest data, and an attribution link is built in.