1. Hootsuite
The first one on the list is Hootsuite. The most favored tool for managing social media platforms.
Over 18+ million social media marketers use it and have everything to manage teams, plan posts, assess results, schedule upcoming campaigns, etc.
This is undoubtedly a perfect platform for anyone looking to efficiently grow their social media presence. And it’s not just for businesses and organizations. Freelancers too can tap into the power of this tool.
Moving on, now comes the pricing. It comes with five different plans, including a FREE one to give you a feel of it. The free version doesn’t leave you out of options as it allows managing two social media accounts, plans 5 posts at a time and allows one user.
One can easily create, plan, and customize posts on various social networks from its user-friendly dashboard.
A key feature that makes it shine is the Engage. Utilizing this option allows accessing all the incoming messages across social networks.
2. Buffer
Next, we have Buffer. It provides the same work environment as Hootsuite and is an excellent alternative in terms of cost.
It comes with two plans –FREE and essentials. Detailed below.
With the help of Buffer’s imperious publishing tools, a marketer can schedule posts across all major platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Like Hootsuite, it allows planning posts in advance, so they get published when it’s appropriate.
Features
Buffer has an auto-post feature that gets the job done even when not in front of the screen. For example, when publishing a post regarding the best SiteGround alternatives, the RSS feed will automatically add the post to buffer.
Another much-appreciated feature of Buffer is the Chrome extension, making it easy to share anything: page, link, or a video directly into Buffer without opening another tab in the browser.
Pricing: As mentioned before, it comes with two plans.
- Free plan: 1 user, 3 social accounts, schedule 10 posts. Starter publishing pack.
- Essential Plan: In between $5 – $10. Unlimited social channels, unlimited schedule pots, and advanced publishing tools.
3. Later
The next one on our free social media marketing tools list is Later. It came into existence back in 2014 and now fueling the publishing and scheduling demands of more than 4 million users across the globe.
Initially, the support was limited to Instagram, but platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter were assimilated later on.
Features
Later comes with tons of pre-built templates, saving time to start from scratch and setting things in motion in less time. Also, provides advanced analytics to see how the posts are performing in terms of engagement. Moreover, appropriate hashtags can be used by using the hashtag’ research tool’.
Pricing: Later offers four different plans, including a 14-day free trial
- Free plan: Limited to 1 social set, 30 posts per social profile, single user
- Starter plan: From $12.50 / month, 1 social set, 60 posts per social profile, single-user, LinkedIn bio
- Growth plan: From $20.83 / month, 1 social set, 150 posts per social profile, three users
- Advanced plan: From $33.33 / month, 1 social set, unlimited posts per social profile, six users
4. Crowdfire
Crowdfire is somewhat identical to Hootsuite in various ways. It comes loaded with features that make life easier and impactive. Around 19 million users globally take advantage of this app to automate their social media-related activities.
Like the rest, it comes with a Free plan as well. We will get into it later.
Features
Crowdfire comes along with a hashtag suggestion feature. With this, you can quickly get the most used hashtags for posts easily and quickly. Secondly, it has an auto-customize content feature for every platform, saving time in launching multiple posts across various platforms.
Pricing: Crowdfire is currently offering four different pennyworth plans
- Free plan: Connect up to 3 social accounts, plan 10 posts, hashtag recommendations
- Plus plan: Starting from $7.48 / month, link up to 5 social accounts, plan 100 posts, connect up to 5 RSS feeds
- Premium plan: Starting from $37.48 / month, connect 10 social accounts, bulk plan posts, up to 15 RSS feeds, one more team member support
- VIP plan: From $74.98 / month, connecting up to 25 social accounts, supports scheduling 800 posts, up to 25 RSS feeds, 20 competitor analysis, and up to 30 days of social analytics data.
5. SocialOomph
SocialOomph is a free social media scheduling tool that oversees activity on different networks and enables planned postings in advance –any given date/time in the time zone of preference.
Features
Like Crowdfire, this tool allows bulk uploading of blog posts, and it automatically erases messages after a certain period of time.
The dashboard is simple and clean, but adding accounts is a bit complicated, but it is not something you would spend ages on.
Like the rest, it too has a Free plan for first-timers. Talking about plans, why not jump into it.
Pricing: SocialOomph comes with four plans and on offer is a 30-day free trial on the business suite plan.
- Free plan: 1 social profile, maximum of three posts per hour, access to personal area only, unlimited schedule posts
- Advanced suite: Starting at $15 / month, 1 social profile, single blog, single queue, up to 60 posts per hour
- Professional suite: Starting at $25 / month, 10 unique profiles, five blogs, five queues, and 5 RSS for post sourcing
- Business suite: Starting from $55 / month, 20 unique profiles, ten blogs, ten queues, 10 RSS for post sourcing, and webhook.
6. Tailwindapp
Tailwind is yet another complete marketing tool that manages social media accounts from one platform. But, here’s the catch! It only supports two social platforms: Pinterest and Instagram.
Features
This tool allows you to schedule posts at the best times, suss out content, create aspiring pins quickly, monitor conversations, boost reach, and assess results.
With Tailwind’s smart scheduling tools, hundreds of pins can be laid out in just a few minutes. As a result, time doesn’t get wasted in pinning content every day –they got your back.
Then we have the analytics tool, yet another crackerjack. It exposes performance related to pins, followers, top pins, organic activity, referral traffic, comments, and much more.
Pricing: Tailwind comes loaded with four plans
- Free plan: Single Pinterest and Instagram profile, 20 posts per month, five tailwind communities, one user, and basic analytics
- Pro plan: Standing at $9.99 / month, one Pinterest and Instagram profile, 100 posts per month, advanced analytics, 200 post designs per month
- Advanced plan: Starting at $19.99 / month, two Pinterest and Instagram profiles, 1000 posts per month, unlimited post designs, and two users
- Max plan: Starting at $39.99 / month, three Pinterest and Instagram profiles, 1000 posts per month, unlimited post designs, unlimited tailwind communities, five users
7. Zoho Social
Think of Zoho Social as a regnant social media management tool. It allows agencies, companies, and organizations to manage their social media accounts and provide post scheduling, monitoring mentions, creating custom dashboards, etc.
Features
Like the rest, Zoho Social comes packed with multiple plans, including FREE. We will be looking into it later.
With the help of this tool, an agency or a company can plan unlimited posts, track social media campaigns, launch custom reports to analyze performance, and get apprised when anything related to the brand gets shared on the web. Moreover, it has a user-friendly interface and intelligible design that makes managing various accounts a breeze.
One of the features that make Zoho Social stand out is collaboration. It lets the team work together seamlessly. And custom roles can also be assigned to team members to focus on different projects simultaneously.
Zoho Social is a great choice for social media management and a free alternative to Hootsuite.
Pricing: The tool offers four plans with a 14- day free trial for every plan.
- Free plan: Single team member, single brand, broadcast across seven channels, access to zShare browser integration
- Standard plan: Sitting at $10 / month, everything from the free plan, including multi-channel broadcasting, user tagging, drafts, and Twitter location
- Professional plan: From $30 / month, everything from the standard plan, Live-streaming, CustomQ, bulk scheduling, and RSS feeds
- Pro plan: From $40 / month, everything from the professional plan, SmartQ, content approvals, workflow, teamwork, content targeting, and lead ads
