Buffer vs. Mention

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buffer
Score 7.7 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
Mention
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
Mention is a social media monitoring tool. Users can create alerts for their company name, product or competitors. The vendor aims to help companies get updated in real-time by tracking the most relevant mentions over the web and social web. The vendor’s value proposition is that Mention enables companies to react, get statistics, and collaborate with their team, all on the go! According to the vendor, over 650,000 companies use Mention.
$29
per month
Pricing
BufferMention
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
Essentials
$6
per month per channel
Team
$12
per month per channel
Solo
$29.00
per month
Starter
$99.00
per month
Company
Custom
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BufferMention
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
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
BufferMention
Features
BufferMention
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.9
77 Ratings
2% below category average
Mention
-
Ratings
Content planning and scheduling8.677 Ratings00 Ratings
Content optimization7.470 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.866 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.2
70 Ratings
7% below category average
Mention
-
Ratings
Campaign success analytics7.270 Ratings00 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.3
72 Ratings
4% above category average
Mention
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions & privileges8.559 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile access8.168 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BufferMention
Small Businesses
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Simplify360
Simplify360
Score 7.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BufferMention
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(96 ratings)
10.0
(22 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(33 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.2
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(24 ratings)
9.3
(8 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BufferMention
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.
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Mention
I would ask if they have ever used a software like Mention before, if not, I would totally suggest they start with it. It's easy to use, easy to set up and while it may be confusing at first, it's probably the cheapest and most effective. My suggestion to a new marketer or first-time user of this kind of software would be Mention.
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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.
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Mention
  • Mention has nice support and implementation function. They will do some of the harder work for you (e.g. refining your alerts).
  • It helps us to easily track and rank influencers, which improves the effectiveness of our Public Relations (PR).
  • You can filter and refine alerts e.g. by language. This is useful if you want to break into new markets.
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.
Read full review
Mention
  • Yes, I just said it is clean and easy to use, but there is always room for improvement in even the most perfect software. I would personally love to see the ability to custom message options a bit more or just customize the look and feel of your dashboard.
  • Bugs. Mention works great 95% of the time. The other 5%, you may run into major crashes or see mentions that you cleared coming back, etc., but nothing that is a deal breaker or unexpected with a tool like this. Worth noting nonetheless!
  • Better plans. This is a small issue, but I wish the lower plans has some basic reporting.
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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
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Mention
No answers on this topic
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
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Mention
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Buffer
Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
Read full review
Mention
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
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Mention
Mention works quickly and its user interface is easy to use. Alerts update regularly and I've never noticed any lag. It integrates with our CRM via Zapier, but this is not something which we use yet. The only thing I would say is that it takes time for Mention to reach its full potential. It only starts to rank influences from when you set up the alert, so it can take a few weeks to build a map of your influencers.
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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.
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Mention
Mention always responded promptly and gave excellent support. Any problem we had with the software, from login trouble to broken features were addressed quickly. There was once a problem with our quota, where we were unable to see results we should have been able to see. We sent an email, and within an hour, the situation was resolved!
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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
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Mention
No answers on this topic
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.
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Mention
Currently, there are no other tools available with the features that Mention has possible according to our knowledge and experience. We firmly believe that Mention has placed themselves in a category all of their own. In the ten years, our company has been around. We have yet to come across any other companies like Mention. Pretty sure there may be another company or competition. None like Mention in our opinion are available, however.
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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
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Mention
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
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Mention
  • Mention has had a positive impact on my business because it gives people the impression that I was following them, even if I might not have been. It makes me appear active on all social media platforms, even if I ONLY look at my mentions each day!
  • Because I have only used the free plan but have benefitted greatly, I would say that my ROI is fantastic!
  • The only negative impact that Mention has is that I do get a daily email in my inbox, and it is one more thing to check. However, it is worth the time.
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

Mention Screenshots

Screenshot of Mention FeedScreenshot of Sentiment AnalysisScreenshot of Insights CenterScreenshot of Custom ReportsScreenshot of Influencers DetectionScreenshot of Influencer Profile