Later vs Buffer Pricing and Buffer vs Later Cost by Brand and Team Size
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- The AutoMarketer Team
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Buffer is cheaper than Later when each brand you manage sits on four or fewer social channels. Later is cheaper once a brand is on five or more, and much cheaper for agencies whose clients each run several platforms. The reason is the billing unit: Buffer charges per channel, while Later charges per social set, which is one profile on each of eight platforms.
So the useful question is not which tool is cheaper. It is how many platforms each of your brands is on, and how many people need a login. Everything below works from Buffer's and Later's own pricing pages, checked in October 2026, billed monthly unless a row says otherwise.
Later vs Buffer pricing side by side
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual price per month | What you get | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Free | $0 | $0 | 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel | 1 |
| Buffer Essentials | $6 per channel | $5 per channel | Unlimited scheduled posts | 1 |
| Buffer Team | $12 per channel | $10 per channel | Approvals, drafts for review | Unlimited |
| Later Starter | $25 | $18.75 | 1 social set (8 profiles), 30 posts per profile a month | 1 |
| Later Growth | $50 | $37.50 | 2 social sets (16 profiles), 180 posts per profile a month | 2 |
| Later Scale | $110 | $82.50 | 6 social sets (48 profiles), unlimited posts | 4 |
Later shows its annual prices on the pricing page and labels them 25 percent off, so the monthly figures are those prices before the discount. They match what independent trackers list. Buffer's page notes that channels above ten cost less per channel than the first ten, but it does not publish the lower rate, so any Buffer total past ten channels in this article is an upper bound.
Add-ons matter more on Later than on Buffer. On Growth and Scale, an extra social set is $11.25 a month on annual billing (about $15 billed monthly) and an extra user is $3.75 annual or $5 monthly. Starter cannot buy either. Buffer has no seat charge on Team at all, which is the single most generous rule in this category.
What a social set means for your bill
A Later social set is one profile on each of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Snapchat. One brand, every platform, one price. A Buffer channel is one profile on one network.
That makes the two tools mirror images. Later does not care how many platforms a brand is on, up to eight. Buffer does not care how many people log in on Team. If your brand posts to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest, Later bills you for one set and Buffer bills you for five channels. If you run ten small clients who each only use LinkedIn, Later bills you for ten sets and Buffer bills you for ten channels.
Which is cheaper at your size
Six real shapes of team, priced on monthly billing.
| Situation | Buffer | Later | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| One brand, 3 channels, 1 person | $18 on Essentials | $25 on Starter | Buffer |
| One brand, 5 channels, 1 person | $30 on Essentials | $25 on Starter | Later |
| One brand, 6 channels, 2 people | $72 on Team | $50 on Growth | Later |
| One brand, 5 channels, 5 people | $60 on Team | $65 on Growth plus 3 users | Buffer, narrowly |
| Agency, 10 clients on 3 channels each, 3 people | Up to $360 on Team | About $170 on Scale plus 4 sets | Later |
| Agency, 10 clients on LinkedIn only, 3 people | $120 on Team | About $170 on Scale plus 4 sets | Buffer |
The crossover for a single brand with one user sits between four and five channels: $24 against $25 at four, $30 against $25 at five. Add a second person and Buffer jumps to its Team rate, which moves the crossover down to about three channels.
For agencies the decision turns on how many platforms the average client uses. Clients on three or more platforms each favor Later by a wide margin. Clients on one or two favor Buffer. A mixed book of clients can genuinely split either way, so count channels before you trust anyone's headline.
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The limits that change the answer
Price is not the only thing that pushes you off a plan. Three limits catch people.
Later Starter caps you at 30 posts per profile a month. That is about one post a day. A brand posting Stories and Reels daily on Instagram will hit it, and Starter cannot add users or sets either, so the real entry price for an active brand is often Growth at $50.
Later Growth caps you at 180 posts per profile a month and includes two users. Only Scale is unlimited.
Buffer Free caps you at 10 scheduled posts per channel. Three channels sounds generous until you realize you can only queue about a week and a half ahead. It works for trying the tool, not for running a business account.
Is Later or Buffer better for a small business?
For a small business on three or four platforms with one person posting, Buffer Essentials is usually the better buy: $18 to $24 a month, no post caps, and a clean scheduler. Once the business is on five or more platforms, or two people share the work, Later Growth at $50 often costs less and adds a social inbox and approvals.
Is Later or Buffer better for agencies?
For agencies whose clients run three or more platforms each, Later Scale is usually cheaper, because a client costs one social set rather than one fee per channel. Buffer Team wins for agencies with many clients on one or two platforms, and for teams with lots of people, since Buffer charges nothing per seat. If the agency question is really about margins per client, our social media management cost per client breakdown for agencies works through it.
Does Later have a free plan?
No. Later offers a 14 day free trial on each paid plan and no free tier. Buffer has a free plan for up to three channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel, plus a 14 day trial of its paid plans. If you only need to test one or two posts a week, Buffer Free covers that. For a business account it runs out fast.
What neither scheduler does
Both tools schedule and publish posts you already have. Neither one decides what to post this week, writes the caption in your voice, or keeps a calendar full when you are busy running the business. That gap is why so many accounts go quiet a month after the subscription starts. Later Scale adds competitive benchmarking, which is useful if you need it inside your scheduler, though a business that wants to track what competing brands post and charge across their whole web presence will want a dedicated tool for that.
AutoMarketer covers the writing side. Paste your website and it drafts a week of social posts, captions and supporting content from what your business actually sells, and holds them in a review queue. It does not publish to social networks. You approve the drafts and paste or upload them into Buffer, Later or whatever scheduler you already pay for. Our AI social media manager page explains how that works, and the social media scheduler comparison covers the wider field. For the full Buffer price ladder, including the nonprofit discount, see Buffer pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Later more expensive than Buffer?
It depends on channels per brand. For one brand on three channels, Later Starter at $25 costs more than Buffer Essentials at $18. For one brand on five or more channels, Later is cheaper. For a team that needs several logins, Buffer Team is often cheaper, because it charges nothing per user.
How much does Later cost per month?
Later costs $25 a month for Starter, $50 for Growth and $110 for Scale on monthly billing, or $18.75, $37.50 and $82.50 a month billed yearly. Extra social sets and users are available on Growth and Scale only.
How much does Buffer cost per month?
Buffer costs $6 per channel a month on Essentials and $12 per channel on Team when billed monthly, or $5 and $10 billed yearly. Channels beyond ten cost less per channel. The free plan covers three channels with 10 scheduled posts each.
Can I switch from Buffer to Later?
Yes. Neither tool locks in your social accounts, so you reconnect the same profiles in the new tool and rebuild your queue. Scheduled posts do not transfer between them, so plan the move for a week when your queue is short, and keep both trials overlapping for a few days.
Which is better for Instagram, Later or Buffer?
Later started as an Instagram planner and still leads on visual planning, Instagram best time to post and link in bio. Buffer handles Instagram scheduling well, including first comments, and is cheaper if Instagram is one of only a few channels. For an Instagram heavy brand on several platforms, Later is usually the better fit.
For a wider look at the category, our three way comparison of Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Buffer prices the per seat tools against these two.
The AutoMarketer Team
AutoMarketer.com