What this guide is really about
Every social media scheduler advertises something free. Very few of them mean a free plan. Some of the most familiar names in the category offer a 14-day trial and nothing after it, and the free plans that do exist cap you in different units: posts queued at once, posts per month, accounts, or brands.
This guide separates the two groups and states the documented limit of each free tier, with the pricing page behind every number. If a free plan turns out to be too narrow for the work you do, the last sections show the upgrade math and what to check before you build a queue at all.
Buffer, Publer, Metricool, and Typefully have free plans. Later, Hootsuite, and RecurPost are 14-day trials only. Buffer: 3 channels, 10 queued posts per channel, refill as published. Publer: 3 accounts, no X, 10 queued posts each, 25 drafts, 24-hour history. Typefully: 10 posts a month on one social set. Entry prices: RecurPost $9/mo, Later $18.75/mo yearly, Hootsuite $99/user/mo.
Know which schedulers are actually free, not trials
See the documented cap on each free tier, with the pricing page for each
See which free tiers list Threads support
Match your weekly cadence to the cap unit before you build a queue
Later, Hootsuite, and RecurPost have no free plan, only 14-day trials; entry plans are $9 a month (RecurPost), $18.75 a month billed yearly (Later), and $99 per user a month billed annually (Hootsuite).
Buffer's free plan documents 3 channels with 10 queued posts per channel, and slots refill as posts publish.
Publer's free plan stores only 24 hours of published-post history, so keep your own log from day one.
Typefully, Buffer, and Publer list Threads support on their pricing pages; Later's Threads support is on paid plans.
Free-tier caps count in different units: per-channel queue slots, per-account queue slots, posts per month, and brands. Compare the unit before the number.
Free plan or free trial
A free plan has no trial end date on the pricing page. A trial ends, and scheduling ends with it. Keep the two groups apart before you build a queue anywhere.
The trial-only group is easy to state plainly. Later has no free plan; its pricing page shows a 14-day trial, then paid plans that start at $18.75 a month billed yearly. Hootsuite has no free plan either; its Standard plan is $99 per user a month billed annually for up to 10 accounts, with a 14-day trial in front of it. RecurPost starts at $9 a month after its 14-day trial. If you set up a queue in any of these expecting free, you will be rebuilding it two weeks later somewhere else.
The free-plan group is Buffer, Publer, Typefully, and Metricool. The next section states the cap unit for each.
Free-tier limits compared: Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Typefully
Buffer's free plan is free forever with three channels, ten scheduled posts per channel, and one user. The cap counts posts sitting in the queue: the pricing page says slots refill anytime, so a post that publishes frees its slot the same day. Queue more than ten ahead on one channel, though, and scheduling stops until a slot opens. AI Assistant, Insights, and API access are included on the free plan.
Publer's free plan also allows three social accounts, with ten scheduled posts per account; a slot frees up when a post publishes or is deleted, and publishing right away has no such limitation. The constraints to know before you commit: you cannot connect X accounts on the free tier, you get 25 saved drafts, and published posts are stored for only 24 hours on Publer's servers. That history window matters more than the queue cap for anyone who reviews content monthly.
Typefully is built for text platforms, and its free tier reflects that: ten posts a month on one social set with one user. Metricool's free plan covers one brand. Neither is a volume play; both are workable ways to run a text-first presence for nothing.
Read the unit, not the number 10. Buffer: 10 scheduled posts per channel in the queue, refill anytime, 3 channels, 1 user. Publer: 10 scheduled posts per account in the queue, refill, 3 accounts, no X, 25 drafts, 24-hour history. Typefully: 10 posts a month, one social set. Metricool: one brand, no post count verified here.
Free schedulers that list Threads support
Threads support is the column most free-scheduler comparisons skip, and each vendor decides separately whether to support it and at which tier. Check it before anything else, because switching schedulers later means rebuilding your queue in the new tool by hand.
Three free tiers document Threads on their own pricing pages. Buffer's channel table lists Threads profiles with automatic publishing included. Publer lists Threads among its supported networks. Typefully's pricing page markets scheduling for X, LinkedIn, and Threads, and its free tier includes one social set. Later does support Threads, but on paid social sets: its Starter plan covers one social set of eight profiles at $18.75 a month billed yearly.
There is also a Threads-specific free path. JoltSage's free workspace is $0 for drafting and single-post publishing through the official API. Paid queue scheduling, 20 regular posts plus 10 Threadstorm roots a day, starts at $15 a month.
Reply sequences, timing control, and how each tool actually schedules Threads posts are covered in the scheduling guide, which walks the native and API workflows side by side.
Assuming a famous scheduler still has a free plan. Later, Hootsuite, and RecurPost are trial-only today; verify on the pricing page before you build a queue.
Comparing queue caps without comparing units. Ten posts per channel in a refilling queue, ten queued per account, and ten per month are different amounts of scheduling.
Ignoring the history window. Publer free keeps 24 hours of published-post history; if you audit monthly, start your own log on day one.
Expecting free tiers to include teams. Buffer, Publer, and Typefully each document one user on free, and approval workflows sit on their paid tiers.
Treating a network posting cap as a scheduler-queue problem. Platform caps are a separate reference from queue units.
The traps: history windows, cap units, users
The queue cap is rarely what stops a free tier. Three other limits decide whether it survives a real month of work, and none of them show up in the headline number.
History windows come first. Publer keeps published posts on its servers for 24 hours on the free plan. Once that window passes, your posting record inside the tool is gone, so if you review content monthly or need to prove what went out for a client, keep your own log from day one.
Cap units are second. Ten posts means three different things: Buffer's ten per channel in the queue at once, Publer's ten per account in the queue at once, and Typefully's ten per month total. A refilling queue slot supports a steady weekly cadence; a monthly cap is a hard ceiling no matter how you spread it. Network posting caps are documented separately from these queue units, so do not blame the tool when the platform is the limiter.
Users are the third. Buffer, Publer, and Typefully each document one user on their free tiers, and the moment a second person needs to draft or publish, paid tiers apply, such as Buffer Team at $10 per channel a month or Publer Professional at $5 a month. And before you treat any plan price as the whole bill, see how AI credits are metered in social media schedulers.
When free stops fitting: the documented upgrade prices
Free tiers fail in predictable ways: a fourth channel, a second person, a reporting obligation. The documented stepping stones are Buffer Essentials at $5 per channel a month billed yearly with unlimited scheduled posts per channel, and Publer Professional at $5 a month, or $4 a month billed yearly, with unlimited scheduling and eternal post history.
The multi-platform incumbents price very differently. Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually for up to 10 accounts. Later's Starter is $18.75 a month billed yearly for one social set of eight profiles. If budget was the reason you went free, those two prices explain why the free-tier question is worth answering before you build.
When a switch does come, whether from free to paid or between vendors, export before you cancel. The queue is the part you will rebuild by hand either way.
What to check before you build the queue
Before you create any account, write down your weekly post count per network and compare it to the cap unit, not the headline number. A ten-slot refilling queue, a ten-per-month ceiling, and a single brand are three different amounts of scheduling. Matching a tool to platform coverage, team, and total cost is a different decision from reading the free cap, and it is worth making explicitly rather than by default.
Start your own posting log the day you start the tool, with date, network, and link, because a 24-hour history window will not keep your records for you. Publish one test post per network in week one to catch permission problems early. Set a day-30 reminder to check whether any documented cap actually touched your week; if none did, free is carrying your workload, and if one did, the upgrade prices above are the honest next comparison.
Action checklist
Use this as the practical next pass after reading the guide.
- +List your must-have networks, then check each free tier's pricing page for that platform before creating any account
- +Write down your weekly post count per network and compare it to the free cap unit, not the headline number
- +Start your own posting log today if your free tool has a short history window
- +Publish one test post per network in week one to catch permission issues early
- +Set a day-30 reminder to review whether any documented cap actually limited your week
- +Before any switch, follow the export checklist
Conclusion
Buffer, Publer, Metricool, and Typefully have free plans. Later, Hootsuite, and RecurPost are 14-day trials that end at $9 a month, $18.75 a month billed yearly, or $99 per user a month depending on the vendor and the billing unit. The right free pick depends on the cap unit that matches your cadence: a refilling queue slot if you post steadily, a monthly ceiling if you publish in bursts, and history plus users if you work with anyone else.
Read the unit before the number, keep your own posting log, and recheck the pricing page the week you sign up, because these caps move. The traps are in the units, the history windows, and the fine print, not the price.
