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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Buffer

    Score7.6 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Buffer is a social sharing tool. When browsing content, clicking on the Buffer icon automatically stores the content and schedules posts to social media channels throughout the day.

    $6

    per month per channel

    Crowdbooster (discontinued)

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ACrowdbooster was a tool to measure the success of Twitter and Facebook posts, with visualizations to track retweets, and track potential impressions created, likes, comments, and how many shares a Facebook post has received. Crowdbooster is no longer available.

    $9

    per month

    Pricing
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Free
    $0
    Essentials
    $6
    per month per channel
    Team
    $12
    per month per channel
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Buffer
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    26 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Buffer and Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    Feature
    Buffer
    7.8
    77 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Content planning and scheduling8.677 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content optimization7.370 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow management7.666 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Buffer and Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    Feature
    Buffer
    7.0
    70 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Campaign success analytics7.070 Ratings00 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Buffer and Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    Feature
    Buffer
    8.1
    72 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Crowdbooster (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions & privileges8.359 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile access7.968 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Sendible
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Talkwalker by Hootsuite
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Talkwalker by Hootsuite
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    1-Social
    Score5.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.5
    (97 ratings)
    7.0
    (11 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (15 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (33 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (24 ratings)
    2.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BufferCrowdbooster (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Buffer
    It helps me save hours by devoting only half an hour in a month's worth of posting, in addition to that it is quite simple to use. Buffer for scheduling social posts well in advance, but I have begun using it instead of posting natively on the social apps themselves because it makes it super easy to post the same messages to more than one platform.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Before recommending Crowdbooster, I'd want to know what goals they hope to accomplish with the software. Then I would want them to specifically identify what types of metrics would be most useful to their program. If they specifically need to report out on how many people in a certain location they reached, this isn't the right fit. If they are using other tools, there may be duplication. However, if they are currently using more budget-friendly solutions or just getting started with a new program, Crowdbooster is a perfect fit. It will help you to grow your program and is flexible enough to accommodate your needs.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Buffer
    • I can plan and publish content on social channels.
    • Buffer's interface is quite tidy and generates the necessary facilities to save us time in publishing consistent content.
    • It has a special price; it is pretty affordable.
    • It has the possibility of integrating with other tools to improve its functions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Timed social media posts - Crowdbooster provides the opportunity to schedule social media posts allowing you to work on other important social media tasks.
    • Simply beautiful tracking - There are millions of ways to measure social media impact. Crowdbooster offers the most important and relevant measurements in simplified charts..
    • Great UI - Crappy UI = crappy experience. Crowdbooster's UI is easy to navigate. It won't take months to learn where all the buttons are.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Buffer
    • Expensive Analytics: The upgrade you need to access your analytics is quite expensive, and I have come across other tools that provide the same or even more for a lesser priced plan.
    • No Media Library: The one feature I have found on another social media planning tool that I wish Buffer had is a media library. This allows you to upload photos you aren't using right away to have them readily available when you do decide to use them. This is not a feature in Buffer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • The ranked order of twitter followers and the number of "tweet impressions" did not help that much. Those "tweet impressions" were not really an estimate of how many people were actually reading my tweet. It was simply a sum of followers of the person retweeting a tweet and the sum of all followers from a subsequent retweet of the initial retweet. All this told me was the best case scenario I could expect if ALL followers of a person that retweeted saw my tweet. This is not a true measure of "twitter footprint" – since the “signal to noise” ratio in Twitter is very low.
    • There was no system in place to track "clicked links" for links embedded in tweets and/or facebook wall posts. Hootsuite did a good job of this – but only for twitter.
    • The list of recommended times to tweet were always "on the hour" (i.e. 10 a.m, 1 p.m.). Never were the times ever at "half past the hour" etc. An independent study that I did on my own using Google Analytics (and campaign links using google's URL builder) helped me determine that my optimal "Tweet time" during the week is 3:30 p.m. ET. More importantly, the recommended times seemed to be roughly the same on the weekends - which I find strange given that social media behavior does change on the weekends.
    • Occasionally, in my facebook ranked table of "loyal fans", I would see people in there that had not "liked" or "commented" on a post for months at a stretch and the "look back" period of the table was only around 7 days or so. Hence, I occasionally had to question the accuracy of that table.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Buffer
    I am giving buffer this rating because of a couple issues that it has compared to other platforms. It does not always post to instagram and you will need to go in an manually post. Also, one of the biggest qualms that we have with buffer is the price it costs to have robust analytics
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Simple to use and a great value for what it offers. It has a simple but clean interface and it provides fantastic historical data you can use to measure your efforts online. By using a tool like Crowdbooster, you can see what is working with your audience and what isn't. From there, you can start tweaking your strategies
    Read full review
    Usability
    Buffer
    We use Buffer for certain website content that should be shared on social networks, having this tool helps us to do it faster and easier since we can send the publications from the internet browser and the stack of scheduled messages. It is really fast and easy for all team members who share access to the account, so at the same time that we analyze the information that we can share, the message stack is prepared
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I found it fairly intuitive and easy to use. The information is laid out cleanly, and the most important information appears at a glance on the home page. However, I have worked with other users who had a hard time switching between platforms and identifying where other information was buried. It's not always clear that something is a clickable button! The option to export results is also a bit buried, and not integrated with the date range option.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Buffer
    Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Buffer
    Buffer performs well on both desktop and mobile platforms. The one area as I have stated before is that it does not always want to automatically push to Instagram and the user will have to go do it manually. Buffer works very well pushing to other platforms. The instagram issue is the only reason buffer does not get a 10 on this section
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Buffer
    1. It really helped to my business to grow online.
    2. I was able to take actions mindfully as the analytics are damn good.
    3. Also used for managing clients social media accounts and it proved to be a best resource.
    4. Clients were really happy as they got high demand and growth on internet and the secret is Buffer.
    5. The user interface is really easy to understand and manage. Support is 24/7 available to help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I do not think it is as supported as it once was when it first arrived on the social media scene. It is an older platform whose main functionality may have already ran its course.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Buffer
    We were very satisfied with the implementation of Buffer. We had no issues switching from the platform that we were using over to buffer. Our staff did not even miss a beat when it came to posting content. It was an easy transition and I feel that is something that buffer has really done well. They have an "out of the box" usability platform
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    If you can demo a free trial, that is definitely the best way to see if this will fit your program's specific needs.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Buffer
    I also used Combin which is easy and free to use. However, Combin only posts when the computer is active and connected to the internet. So, posting while you are not actively using your computer at that moment is not possible, therefore Buffer is much more efficient as you can even post while being on vacation without working.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    It is a platform that is singularly focused. It does not have a lot of the additions that come stock with other platforms such as robust reporting or deeper insights past schedule times. It is also a stand-alone platform and a lot of its primary functionality can be found in more encompassing platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Buffer
    Buffer does what it say on tin as they say! you can always count on Buffer. Buffer can be scale to 25 social account with 2,000 scheduled post which is enough for most agencies or businesses
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Buffer
    • It has saved money by allowing us to automate our social using one person
    • It allows us to connect one channel at a time instead of wasting money on larger account management tools
    • We are making money, because it has already delivered several clients
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Increased efficiency. I am able to generate useful snapshot reports in seconds. Particularly useful when you need answers fast (such as on a phone call).
    • Peace of mind. I am able to compare the data in Crowdbooster to what is exported from Facebook and Twitter.
    • Quicker, simpler evaluation of results. I am able to more easily compare impressions with engagement data to see what is working, and what should change. Particularly useful in day-to-day analysis.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Buffer Screenshots

    Screenshot of The Buffer dashboardScreenshot of Customizable posting scheduleScreenshot of Tailored PostsScreenshot of List or calendar view of scheduled postsScreenshot of Browser extensionScreenshot of Social media analytics