Metricool alternatives in 2026

Metricool's paid plans start at $20 a month, and for one person that number is almost never the bill. No Metricool plan includes X: it's a $10-a-month add-on per connected account, and the free plan can't connect X or LinkedIn at all. A solo creator posting to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and LinkedIn pays $30 a month on annual billing ($360 a year), or $35 month to month. Metricool is still one of the best-value tools in the category if reports are your job. If you only need posts to go out, here are seven alternatives, with prices read from each vendor's own page in October 2026, and where Metricool still wins.

Disclosure first: we make one of the tools in this list. We'll say where Metricool and the others beat us.

Quick answers

What does Metricool cost in 2026?

The short version, from Metricool's pricing page on October 22, 2026 (USD, before VAT):

• Free: 1 brand, every network except LinkedIn and X, 20 scheduled posts a month, 30 days of analytics.
• Starter: $20/month annual or $25 monthly for up to 5 brands; $36 or $45 for up to 10. Unlocks LinkedIn, unlimited posting (fair use), PDF/PowerPoint reports and the option to buy X.
• Advanced: $53/$67 for 15 brands, up to $159/$210 for 50. The first tier with team members, approvals, the Data Studio connector and the API (Zapier, Make).
• Add-ons: X at $10/month per connected account; Advanced Analytics from $12/month on Starter.

Metricool prices by brand, and each brand gets one profile per network. That's a great model for an agency with six clients and a poor one for a creator whose costs come from X, not brand slots. We walked through four real bills in Metricool pricing 2026.

Metricool alternatives compared

Metricool, Buffer and Publer figures were read from their own pricing pages and help centres today. SocialBee, Planable and Agorapulse come from our SocialBee, Planable and Agorapulse comparisons, checked against the vendors' pages this week. The wider picture is in our scheduler pricing study. If a number is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it and say so.

What is the best alternative to Metricool?

It depends on why you're leaving. People usually go for one of four reasons: the X add-on, the brand model, approvals that start at $53, or video quality. Each points to a different tool.

1. Smart Post Studio: if X and LinkedIn are the problem

This is ours, so weigh it accordingly. The Scheduler plan is $8 a month flat for Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn (including Company Pages) and Fanvue, with no per-account add-on for any of them. Studio plans at $11–19 add Writing Studio, and email campaigns are included on paid plans. The free plan gives you 2 platforms of your choice, X or LinkedIn included, 10 posts a month, no card. Against the $360 a year our example creator pays Metricool, that's $96.

What you give up is most of what Metricool is good at: no PDF reports, no competitor tracking, no inbox, no approvals, no ads dashboards, analytics per platform rather than a reporting suite, and no Pinterest, Bluesky, Twitch or Google Business Profile. Where we're different rather than just cheaper: the desktop app publishes media from your own machine, and neither of our apps re-encodes video, so a 4K export reaches the platform as you exported it (how we tested that). The web app uploads media to our servers at scheduling and deletes it about 15 minutes after the post goes out. Side by side: Smart Post Studio vs Metricool.

2. Buffer: the free plan that includes X

Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each, refilled as they publish, and X is allowed. Paid Essentials is $6 per channel per month ($5 on yearly billing), so five channels is $30 a month and eight is $48. A comment inbox, the API and its Claude and ChatGPT connectors are on every plan, free included. Approvals need Team at $12 per channel. Buffer's own docs say uploaded video is converted to H.264 at a 1080p maximum. More in our Buffer free vs ours comparison.

3. Publer: per account, X on every paid plan

Publer Professional starts at $5 a month for one social account with X included, and you add accounts in a pricing selector; every tenth account is free and yearly billing is 20% off. Publer's own comparison posts put extra accounts at about $4 each, but its help centre doesn't state the rate, so check the calculator for your count. Business starts at $10 and adds analytics, best times, approvals, recycling, and its API and MCP server for eligible customers. The free plan allows 3 accounts without X and keeps published-post history for 24 hours. Publer also connects Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon and Google Business Profile. Our Publer alternatives post covers where its per-account maths stops working.

4. SocialBee: categories and an inbox, flat-ish

If you like Metricool's planner but want evergreen recycling by content category, SocialBee starts at $29 a month for 5 profiles with an engagement inbox on every plan. Approvals come on Accelerate at $49. There's no free plan and no API beyond Zapier and Make.

5. Planable or Agorapulse: if approvals are why you'd upgrade

Metricool's approval system starts on Advanced. If approvals are the only reason you'd move up, Planable makes them the core product at $33 per workspace with unlimited users. If you need a serious inbox and moderation as well, Agorapulse starts at $79 per user per month on annual billing with 10 profiles shared; simple approvals need its $119 tier. Both are more expensive than Metricool for most solo setups, and both are better at review chains. Details in our Agorapulse comparison and the Planable one above.

Where Metricool still wins

We'd rather say it plainly. For reporting, Metricool is very good value: PDF and PowerPoint reports on Starter, 100 competitor profiles, ads dashboards for Meta, Google and TikTok, and a Data Studio connector on Advanced. Its free plan includes an inbox and its MCP connector, and it schedules to Pinterest, Bluesky, Twitch and Google Business Profile, none of which we support. Per brand, an agency running 15 clients with approvals on Advanced pays $53 a month on annual billing. Nothing else in this list does that job for that price.

The switch makes sense when your bill is mostly X add-ons and brand slots you don't use. Before you move, check two things on your own content: the files you actually post (our free video checker checks resolution, bitrate, duration and file size against each platform in your browser, nothing uploads) and the one number you open Metricool's reports for. If it's engagement rate, the engagement calculator does it for free.

Other roundups in this series: Publer alternatives (per-account pricing), Buffer alternatives, Hootsuite alternatives, Later alternatives, Sprout Social alternatives, Planable alternatives, SocialBee alternatives, Agorapulse alternatives, Metricool alternatives and Vista Social alternatives, all with prices read from each company's own page on the date shown.

People also ask

Is Metricool free?

Yes, with no time limit: 1 brand, every network except LinkedIn and X, 20 scheduled posts a month and 30 days of analytics. To connect X you need Starter ($20/month annual) plus the $10/month X add-on per account.

Is Metricool cheaper than Buffer?

For several brands, usually yes: Starter covers up to 5 brands for $20 a month on annual billing. For one person with many channels and X, it's closer: Buffer is $6 per channel, so five channels is $30 a month, the same as Metricool Starter plus one X account on annual billing.

Does Metricool support X (Twitter)?

Only as a paid add-on: $10 a month per connected X account on Starter and above. Starter gets reduced X analytics; complete X analytics need Advanced. The free plan can't connect X.

TL;DR: Metricool starts at $20 a month (annual) for 5 brands, but X costs $10 extra per account and approvals start at $53. Stay if you deliver reports or manage many brands. For one person: Smart Post Studio ($8 flat, X and LinkedIn included), Buffer (free for 3 channels including X) or Publer ($5 per account, X on paid plans). For approvals: Planable or Agorapulse.