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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

    Planable

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/APlanable is a social media management tool built around content collaboration and approvals. It covers planning, creation, feedback, approval, scheduling, publishing, community management, analytics, competitor benchmarking, and social listening in one workspace. Drafts render as exact previews of the finished post, feedback is left on the content itself rather than in a separate thread, and approval requirements are set per workspace. Planable was founded in 2016 and is used…

    $39

    per month per workspace

    Pricing
    BufferPlanable
    Editions & Modules
    Free
    $0
    Essentials
    $6
    per month per channel
    Team
    $12
    per month per channel
    Basic
    $39
    per month per workspace
    Pro
    $59
    per month per workspace
    Enterprise
    Custom
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BufferPlanable
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.Planable is priced per workspace, not per seat. Each workspace holds one brand or client, and every plan includes unlimited users: collaborators, reviewers, and clients can be added without increasing cost. Organizations scale by adding workspaces rather than licenses. Annual billing includes two months free on all plans and add-ons. Free trial 50 posts, with no time limit and no credit card required. The allowance is a total, not a monthly reset, so the trial ends when the 50th post is created rather than on a fixed date. X (Twitter) publishing is not available during the trial. The Analytics, Social Inbox, and Social Listening add-ons carry separate 30-day free trials on paid plans. Basic — $39 per workspace per month Entry plan for small teams with straightforward review needs. 60 posts per workspace per month 4 social pages per workspace Unlimited users 2 approval types: none and optional Feed and Calendar views 3 campaigns per workspace 10GB media storage 13 months of published post storage MCP connector included Optional approval means a post can be approved but does not have to be before it publishes. Teams that need publishing blocked until sign-off require Pro. Pro — $59 per workspace per month Most common plan for agencies and in-house teams running client or stakeholder approval. Everything in Basic, plus: 150 posts per workspace per month 10 social pages per workspace Required approval, in addition to none and optional — content cannot be scheduled or published until at least one approver signs off Grid view, in addition to Feed and Calendar 10 campaigns per workspace 50GB media storage Public API access Chat support Enterprise — custom pricing For organizations with formal review chains, multiple brands, or procurement and security requirements. Everything in Pro, plus: Unlimited posts Multi-level approvals: sequential stages with designated approvers at each one List view, in addition to Feed, Calendar, and Grid Unlimited campaigns 100GB media storage 24 months of published post storage SSO Dedicated account manager and priority support Payment by bank or wire transfer Add-Ons Add-ons are priced per workspace and available on any plan, including Basic. They are enabled per workspace rather than account-wide, so an agency can run Analytics on client workspaces that pay for reporting without buying it across the board. Analytics — $14 per workspace per month, or $140 per year. Cross-channel performance data, audience insights, custom reports, and Competitor Analytics. 30-day free trial. Social Inbox — $9 per workspace per month, or $90 per year. Comments and direct messages from connected channels in one inbox, with AI reply drafting. 30-day free trial. Social Listening — $99 per workspace per month, or $990 per year. Brand, competitor, and topic monitoring across eight sources with sentiment analysis and alerts. Includes 1 brand keyword, 3 topic keywords, and 3 competitor keywords per workspace. 30-day free trial. What drives cost Three variables determine spend: the number of workspaces, the monthly post volume per workspace, and which add-ons are enabled per workspace. Team size does not affect price on any plan. Planable also offers bundled discounts with SE Ranking for SEO and SE Visible for AI search visibility.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BufferPlanable
    Considered Both Products
    Buffer
    No answer on this topic
    Planable
    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
    BufferPlanable
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Buffer and Planable
    Feature
    Buffer
    7.8
    77 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Planable
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Content planning and scheduling8.677 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Content optimization7.370 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Workflow management7.566 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Buffer and Planable
    Feature
    Buffer
    6.9
    70 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Planable
    -
    Ratings
    Campaign success analytics6.970 Ratings00 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Buffer and Planable
    Feature
    Buffer
    8.0
    72 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Planable
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    23% above category average
    Role-based user permissions & privileges8.259 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile access7.968 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Buffer and Planable
    Feature
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Planable
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Twitter00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Facebook00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    LinkedIn00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Google+00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Instagram00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Pinterest00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BufferPlanable
    Small Businesses
    Sendible
    Score6.8 out of 10
    Sendible
    Score6.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    CoSchedule
    Score10 out of 10
    CoSchedule
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BufferPlanable
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (97 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (15 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (33 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (24 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BufferPlanable
    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
    Planable
    It needs the ability to save hashtags. Some of the other tools offer this, so I emailed Planable and asked them to consider adding it.
    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
    Planable
    • Plan posts on multiple platforms at once
    • Approval workflow
    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
    Planable
    • Add hashtags in the tool so you can save them for future use
    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
    Planable
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planable
    It does what you need, but could have a bit more features for the price. $30 a month just to post things on Facebook or Instagram is a bit steep, given that that's all you can do.
    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
    Planable
    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
    Planable
    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
    Planable
    Emailed them a month ago to add hashtags, but they didn't add the functionality yet. Given that the product has stayed exactly the same since, I'm guessing the developers don't want to add this feature so I give the support a rating of 1.
    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
    Planable
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Planable
    Cheaper, however, Kontentino does have the ability to save hashtags.
    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
    Planable
    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
    Planable
    • Ability to post on any social media platform with 1 click. It adjusts the layout for you, pictures, adding action buttons, etc.
    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

    Planable Screenshots

    Screenshot of Planable weekly content calendar in grid view showing scheduled posts with images, times, and platforms.Screenshot of Facebook analytics dashboard in Planable with follower growth, post count, impressions, and engagement trends.Screenshot of Planable interface showing comment thread with suggestions on a social media post draft for team collaboration.Screenshot of Approval settings panel in Planable showing user roles, toggle switches, and auto-scheduling option.Screenshot of Planable workspace permissions view showing team and client roles with customizable access for content collaboration.Screenshot of Track brand mentions and sentiment in one social listening dashboard.