The essentials
- Free and enough for Facebook and Instagram: Meta Business Suite, with scheduling, an inbox and statistics.
- Multi-network on a small budget: Metricool (from €18 a month) and Swello (a French vendor, from €9.90), both with the Google Business Profile listing.
- Teams and approval: Agorapulse or Hootsuite, more expensive (from €50 to €100 a month), with approval flows and multi-brand management.
- The criterion often forgotten: posting to the Google listing, essential for a local business.
Scheduling your posts in advance is the only way to keep up a regular frequency without spending time on it every day. The market holds dozens of tools; seven cover most of a small business's or an agency's needs. This comparison ranks them on the networks supported, the real price, support for the Google Business Profile listing and the reporting. The scheduling method itself is described in scheduling your posts effectively.
The comparison
| Tool | Social | Google listing | Price (excl. VAT, 2026) | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Business Suite | Facebook, Instagram, Threads | No | Free | Native, reliable, a unified inbox, statistics | Limited to Meta; no LinkedIn and no Google listing |
| Metricool | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky | Yes | Limited free tier; €18 to €45 / month | Value for money, complete reporting, Ads tracking, best time to post | A dense interface; a restricted free version |
| Swello | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Pinterest | Yes | €9.90 to €49 / month | A French vendor, support in French, monitoring and suggestions, simple | Less in-depth reporting than Metricool or Agorapulse |
| Buffer | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon | Yes | Free (3 accounts); $6 / channel / month | Simplicity, per-channel pricing, a link page | Basic reporting; the inbox is an add-on |
| Later | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, X, Threads | No | $25 to $80 / month | Visual-first, an Instagram grid preview, a media library | Less suited to B2B and to local |
| Hootsuite | All the major networks | No | €99 / month and up | Social listening, teams, many integrations | Expensive for a small business; no Google listing |
| Agorapulse | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky | Yes | €49 to €119 / user / month | A collaborative inbox, approval, client reporting, a French vendor | Per-user pricing; oversized for a single account |
Prices change every year; check the current rates and account limits before choosing. The number of social profiles included is often the real cost driver.
The Google listing: the local criterion
For a local business, posting to the Google listing every week counts as much as posting to social media. Only Metricool, Swello, Buffer and Agorapulse allow it from the same calendar. Without that function, the listing gets forgotten, which shows in the local pack. For a network of locations, the tools dedicated to multi-listing publishing are compared in the bulk publishing tools for Google Business Profile. The content rules are in posting regularly on your listing.
Which tool for which profile
| Profile | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A local shop, Facebook and Instagram only | Meta Business Suite + posting manually to the listing | Free and native; the listing takes 10 minutes a week |
| A small business on 3 to 5 networks + the Google listing | Metricool or Swello | All in one, under €50 a month, the Google listing included |
| A sole trader, B2B, LinkedIn first | Buffer | Simple, pay per channel, free to start |
| A visual brand, Instagram and Pinterest | Later or Metricool | A grid preview and a media library |
| An agency or a team with client approval | Agorapulse | Approval flows, per-client reports, a shared inbox |
| A large company, social listening, many brands | Hootsuite or Agorapulse | Integrations, governance, permissions |
The functions to check before subscribing
- Native publishing: posts go out directly, with no notification to approve on the phone (still common for some Instagram and TikTok formats).
- Formats: carousels, Reels, Stories, vertical video, the first comment line.
- Adaptation per network: one post with text, image and hashtags adjusted per platform; see adapting your tone to each platform.
- A shared calendar and approval: essential from two people upwards.
- Reporting: reach, engagement, clicks, per post and per network, exportable; the metrics to track are in the SMO KPIs.
- An inbox: comments and messages centralised, so no question goes unanswered.
- Compliance: the tool uses the official APIs; tools that simulate a human login expose the accounts to suspension.
Scheduling without locking yourself in
A scheduling tool replaces neither the editorial calendar nor responsiveness. Keep 20% of your posts for the moment (an event, the day's completed job, a response to a trend) and publish those by hand. Avoid scheduling identical content across every network: the algorithms detect automatic cross-posting, and so do people. Finally, measure your posts in a single dashboard alongside the other channels, so you know what social media brings in traffic and enquiries, not only in reach.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's Social media module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free tool for scheduling across several networks?
Meta Business Suite is free for Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Buffer offers a free plan for three accounts with 10 scheduled posts per account, and Metricool a free plan limited to one brand. Beyond that, expect €10 to €20 a month.
Which tool lets you post to the Google Business Profile listing?
Metricool, Swello, Buffer and Agorapulse publish natively to the Google listing from their calendar. Meta Business Suite, Later and Hootsuite don't. For several listings, specialist multi-location tools are more suitable.
Does scheduling harm a post's reach?
No. The platforms have confirmed that posts going through their official APIs aren't penalised. What harms reach is identical content pushed automatically everywhere, with no adaptation to the network.
Do you need a scheduling tool to post once a week?
For one network and a weekly frequency, posting manually is enough. The tool becomes useful from two networks or three posts a week, or as soon as several people contribute: it prevents things being forgotten and centralises the tracking.