Buffer vs. Meta Business Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buffer
Score 8.2 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.
$15
per month
Meta Business Suite
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Formerly known as Facebook Business Suite or Facebook for Business, a solution for small businesses used to manage all business activity on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram from one place. It is presented as a one-stop shop where business owners can manage all marketing and advertising activities on Facebook and Instagram. It centralizes tools that help the user to connect with customers on all apps and get better business results.N/A
Pricing
BufferMeta Business Suite
Editions & Modules
Publish Pro
$15
per month
Analyze Pro
$35
per month
Analyze Premium
$50
per month
Publish Premium
$65
per month
Publish Business
$99
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BufferMeta Business Suite
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsHere are the prices of our various plans: Pro: $15/month Small Business: $99/month Medium Business: $199/month Large Business: $399/month Enterprise: Feel free to get in touch with us at onboarding@buffer.com. All plans can be paid on either a monthly or yearly basis. If you choose to pay yearly, you would receive a 15% discount, which works out to be approximately two months free per year.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BufferMeta Business Suite
Considered Both Products
Buffer
Chose Buffer
It's been a while since we compared Hootsuite to Buffer side-by-side, but when we originally did this analysis Buffer provided more features, with a simpler UX and UI all for a better price. Today both platforms have continually advanced their feature set and restructured …
Meta Business Suite

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BufferMeta Business Suite
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.6
64 Ratings
5% below category average
Meta Business Suite
3.0
1 Ratings
90% below category average
Content planning and scheduling9.364 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Content optimization6.457 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.053 Ratings00 Ratings
Audience targeting00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
7.8
59 Ratings
1% below category average
Meta Business Suite
4.5
1 Ratings
54% below category average
Campaign success analytics7.859 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Real-time tracking00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.4
61 Ratings
3% above category average
Meta Business Suite
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions & privileges7.649 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile access9.259 Ratings00 Ratings
Listening/monitoring
Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Meta Business Suite
2.0
1 Ratings
117% below category average
Sentiment analysis00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Broad channel coverage00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Meta Business Suite
2.0
1 Ratings
121% below category average
Customer interaction histories00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Marketing
Comparison of Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Meta Business Suite
2.0
1 Ratings
117% below category average
Lead generation00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BufferMeta Business Suite
Small Businesses
Publer
Publer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Publer
Publer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BufferMeta Business Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(84 ratings)
2.5
(93 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
9.9
(6 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(23 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.3
(23 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BufferMeta Business Suite
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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Meta Platforms Inc
Meta for Business has made a lot of improvements, but a lot of work still needs to be done as far as troubleshooting. I've had ad issues for months. It's probably getting close to a year. Every time I've submitted troubleshooting tickets, they're either slow to respond or don't respond at all. More than five times I've asked for help with getting the ad issues resolved. This included an online meeting (quite a first), emailing them, and even chatting with them. I went as far as multiple submissions of the materials they requested; I'm still at square one.
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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.
Read full review
Meta Platforms Inc
  • Segmentation is HUGE. You can segment by almost anything you want, be it demographic, sociological, behavioral... you name it. You can also create targets based on your visitors and their actions. Even custom lists.
  • They are very good at optimizing your campaigns automatically. This is so important because it will improve your ROI in several multiples otherwise
  • Managing ads in general works fine, and the data, even though is not exactly as accurate as Analytics, it's pretty decent.
  • Gives you placements and different ad types so you can get the most out of it.
  • Pixel and catalog integration are very powerful. You can almost instantly start tracking and catalog fetches your site daily for updates.
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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.
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Meta Platforms Inc
  • The amount of text allowed on images can be frustrating since it will include ALL text in the image regardless if it is part of the copy or on something random in the background of the image
  • Labeling ads and ad groups can be frustrating as we often had them default to generic titles which we would have to go back and edit. A mandatory field would be helpful, however, that might not be popular opinion as that much detail is really just a personal preference.
  • The constant emails from their sales team to "help you improve" your results are a little much.
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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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Meta Platforms Inc
We have to continue using this tool in order to be effective on this marketing platform. Though there are several changes I wish we could see, the fact is that we will still need to use this product to provide customers with the information they need.
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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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Meta Platforms Inc
I gave it this rating because it is so easy to learn to use and you are able to grow a following quickly by knowing when to post and who to post to or how to get in front of those prospects easily, and using those prospects to reach even further without any additional processes on your end through the sharing from your engaged readers.
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Reliability and Availability
Buffer
Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
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Meta Platforms Inc
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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Meta Platforms Inc
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.
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Meta Platforms Inc
I've found the Facebook for Business support to be hit or miss. For billing questions they're timely and helpful. For complex questions about specific services I've often received a longer wait and a less helpful experience. I'm often redirected to their docs, which are often not particularly helpful.
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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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Meta Platforms Inc
If you don't want to display your feed to your boss before going over scheduled posts for the week, use the Business site and it will be less awkward instantly. Having someone lean over your shoulder is always a bit awkward, you think about how you smell, maybe consider offering them gum because they have bad breath
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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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Meta Platforms Inc
Facebook stacks up against them in terms of its service. I choose Facebook for Business since I use it for business for almost more than a year now and I need to say this it is the most best possible business tool definitely a must-have for all the businesses type.
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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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Meta Platforms Inc
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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Meta Platforms Inc
  • I haven't had much ROI from using Facebook for Business, and unfortunately, other local businesses I know haven't felt that they got much ROI on their paid ads either.
  • The good point of Facebook for Business is that I can still look into who is interested in my products and build around my audience that way.
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