Buffer vs. Opal

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buffer
Score 8.5 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
Opal
Score 4.2 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Opal is a platform for brands, used to plan, create, and calendar their content - across teams and channels. Opal aims to enable tight alignment and high levels of efficiency. Marketing teams from companies such as Starbucks, Microsoft, and Target use Opal to collaborate, plan, and visualize, while ensuring an always-unified brand voice. Plan every facet of the brand experience, to ensure consistency throughout every moment and across every channel. Create…
$10,000
per year
Pricing
BufferOpal
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
BufferOpal
Free Trial
YesYes
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
Features
BufferOpal
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.5
68 Ratings
3% above category average
Opal
-
Ratings
Content planning and scheduling9.068 Ratings00 Ratings
Content optimization7.961 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management8.657 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.2
63 Ratings
3% above category average
Opal
-
Ratings
Campaign success analytics8.263 Ratings00 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
9.0
65 Ratings
10% above category average
Opal
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions & privileges8.952 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile access9.062 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BufferOpal
Small Businesses
Conte.ai
Conte.ai
Score 1.2 out of 10
HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
LeanData
LeanData
Score 9.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
Optimizely Content Marketing Platform
Optimizely Content Marketing Platform
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BufferOpal
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(88 ratings)
1.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(24 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.2
(23 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BufferOpal
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
Opal
I honestly cannot recommend this tool enough. Opal is such a valuable tool for brand content creators and there is nothing like it available. If you're serious about content marketing and have a need to find ways to collaborate, plan and provide more visibility among teams, then Opal really is the only way to go. One more thing that's not being mentioned: The tool is simply amazing but it's only as amazing is the team behind the tool. Their customer support and willingness to quickly be in touch when needed is a key feature within itself. Seriously, such a good team of people.
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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
Opal
  • Content planning: you can look at one asset and see how it is being used across multiple channels by multiple teams.
  • Content collaboration: it is really easy to see what other people and teams are contributing to an asset, or how they are using it. We can also duplicate content that was created by another team to use as a starting point in our own content collaboration.
  • High level/big picture overview: Opal allows us to see content that is being created, planned and scheduled very easily; it goes beyond social content (which we can also see in Sprinklr) to show us content created across multiple channels.
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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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Opal
  • No publishing capabilities, for the most part.
  • No analytics tie-ins.
  • Rather pricey.
  • Requires someone to really manage the structure in order to keep the tool organized and use it effectively. When this is done right, though, it's worthwhile.
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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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Opal
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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Opal
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Buffer
Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
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Opal
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
Read full review
Opal
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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Opal
No answers on this topic
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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Opal
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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Opal
I've used Percolate and it's said to be a competitor of Opal, but in reality, it's a tool I've struggled with. It's fine for day-to-day scheduling and publishing, but lacks the flexibility and functionality of Opal. Opal really feels like it was built by storytellers where Percolate feels like it was built purely by an engineering team.
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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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Opal
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
Read full review
Opal
  • Opal helps us with visibility and content sharing, so that teams have greater awareness of assets that have already been created, meaning they can leverage them instead of creating net new.
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

Opal Screenshots

Screenshot of Preview content exactly as it will appear in market to the audience. Collaborate with teammates and track changes in the  Chat & Activity window.Screenshot of View scheduled Moments across all campaigns on the Calendar -- by day, week, or month.Screenshot of Plan marketing content and campaigns using Boards, a free-form space for brainstorming, briefing, and scenario planning.