Buffer pricing in 2026: every plan, the per-channel maths and the free plan

Updated 22 October 2026. Every Buffer price was rechecked on Buffer’s own pricing page in both billing positions, and we added what each plan includes, the nonprofit discount, the Twitter analytics catch on the free plan and an updated comparison with the tools people weigh against it.

Buffer pricing in 2026 is per channel. The Free plan costs $0 for up to 3 channels. Essentials is $5 per channel a month billed yearly ($60 a year) or $6 billed monthly, and Team is $10 per channel a month billed yearly ($120 a year) or $12 billed monthly. Your bill is that rate multiplied by every social account you connect.

For one or two channels, Buffer is one of the cheapest schedulers there is. For a brand on five or six networks, the per-channel maths adds up fast. This guide covers every plan, how the price scales, what the free plan really gives you, and how Buffer compares with the tools people weigh against it.

Disclosure: VoiceMoat is our own product and appears only where it fits. Every Buffer figure comes from Buffer’s own pricing page, checked 22 October 2026. Prices change, so confirm them before you buy.

Buffer pricing plans at a glance

Buffer has three plans. The paid ones are priced per connected channel, and the page opens on yearly billing, which is why the $5 figure gets quoted as the monthly price. Flip the toggle and the same plan is $6.

Buffer pricing plans, per channel, checked on buffer.com/pricing on 22 October 2026.

Buffer’s pricing page with the monthly toggle selected: Free, Essentials at $6 and Team at $12 per channel. Screenshot captured July 2026; the same monthly figures were on the page on 22 October 2026.

• Trial: Essentials and Team come with a 14-day free trial. If you add no payment details, the account drops to Free and channels above three are locked.

• Networks: Buffer publishes to Bluesky, Facebook, Google Business Profile, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Pinterest, Substack, Threads, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

• No agency tier: there is no separate agency plan on the page. Team is the top self-serve plan.

What each Buffer plan includes

• Free: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel (refills as posts go out), 100 ideas, 1 threaded post, the AI Assistant, 5 AI reply suggestions a week and 30 days of insights history, for 1 user.

• Essentials: unlimited scheduled posts and ideas, unlimited threads, advanced analytics and reports, custom UTMs, a hashtag manager, first-comment scheduling and channel groups, still for 1 user.

• Team: everything in Essentials plus unlimited team members, approval workflows, access levels, custom permissions and branded reports.

The step that catches most buyers is the user count. Essentials includes one user, so the moment a second person needs a login you are on Team, and Team doubles the per-channel rate.

Buffer pricing per month: how the per-channel model scales

The headline rate describes one channel, not your account. Here is what the two paid plans cost at common channel counts.

Buffer monthly cost by channel count, using Buffer’s own per-channel rates (checked 22 October 2026).

Buffer Essentials monthly cost by number of connected channels, at the $6 monthly-billing rate. Buffer says channels above 10 cost less each but does not publish those rates.

• One channel is one account. A business on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is already at four.

• Volume discount: Buffer says channels 1 to 10 are charged at the standard rate and channels above 10 cost less, without listing the lower rate.

• Where flat pricing wins: at five or six channels a flat-priced tool can cost less. Our Buffer alternatives guide works out the exact crossover against each one.

Hootsuite multiplies differently, by seat rather than channel, and our Hootsuite pricing breakdown shows what that costs a team.

Is Buffer free? What the free plan really gives you

Yes. Buffer’s Free plan is free forever, not a trial: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel and 1 user. For someone posting a few times a week on two networks, Buffer can genuinely cost nothing.

• Twitter on the free plan: you can connect a Twitter account, but Buffer’s channel table marks basic analytics as not included for free Twitter profiles and included only for profiles on X Premium.

• When to upgrade: when you need more than 10 queued posts per channel, more than 3 channels, more than 30 days of insights, or unlimited threads.

• Timing: if you only need to know when to post, our free best time to post tool answers that without a scheduler.

Buffer pricing for nonprofits and yearly billing

• Nonprofits: Buffer offers 50% off paid plans for nonprofit and charity organisations.

• Yearly billing: the plan cards say yearly billing saves 2 months, which matches $5 against $6 a month. The FAQ on the same page says 20%. The card figures are the ones to budget with.

• Local prices: people search for Buffer pricing in the UK and India. Buffer’s page served us US dollars, so check the currency you are shown at checkout.

Buffer pricing compared with the tools people weigh against it

Buffer competes on breadth and price for scheduling. Some tools below do a different job, so compare on the job, not only on the sticker.

Buffer against common alternatives. Each price is the vendor’s own, checked 21 or 22 October 2026.

Typefully changed its plans this year, and our Typefully pricing breakdown covers what each tier leaves out. Hypefury, once a common Buffer rival, no longer supports Twitter, as our Hypefury pricing breakdown explains.

Buffer is a scheduler, not a voice-trained drafter

Buffer’s AI Assistant helps with ideas and repurposing at every tier, and that is a useful extra. Set expectations correctly, though: Buffer is a publishing and analytics tool with a light AI helper. It does not learn how you write.

That is not a knock. Reliable scheduling, a clean queue and solid analytics are what Buffer is for. If your bottleneck is drafting posts that read like you, that is a different job, and plenty of people pair a scheduler with a separate drafting tool. Why generic AI drafts drift toward the average is in why AI drafts all sound the same, and which posts deserve a queue at all is in our take on Twitter scheduling.

Is Buffer worth it? Who it is for and who should skip it

When Buffer is the right call. Use the Free plan or the 14-day trial on your real channels first.

Where VoiceMoat fits, honestly

VoiceMoat is not a broad multi-network scheduler like Buffer. It is the Personal Brand OS for LinkedIn and Twitter: audenAI, the brain inside VoiceMoat, learns from your own posts, drafts in Studio, checks drafts for Style and Stance, then schedules, publishes and shows analytics on those two platforms. If you need TikTok, Pinterest or Instagram, Buffer is the better tool.

VoiceMoat pricing, October 2026. Flat per plan, not per channel. A 3-day trial costs $1 on Creator or $5 on Pro.

On LinkedIn, VoiceMoat publishes and schedules main posts natively. Comments are drafted into LinkedIn’s own comment box by the Chrome extension for you to post yourself, and LinkedIn analytics are read through the extension in your own logged-in session. To pressure-test it, the 3-day evaluation guide walks through what to check.

The bottom line on Buffer pricing

Buffer costs nothing for up to 3 channels, then $6 a channel (Essentials) or $12 a channel (Team) a month on monthly billing, or $5 and $10 billed yearly. Multiply by your channel count, because the headline rate is for one channel. For a light poster on one to three networks it is one of the best-value schedulers available. For a team, or a brand on many networks, price it on your real setup before assuming it is cheap.