For one person managing a few profiles, start with Buffer or Publer if their queue limits fit how often you plan content. Adobe Express is worth checking when you need more supported networks under one free account. Metricool fits a lighter publishing schedule where its reporting is also useful. The right choice depends on the accounts, formats and monthly output you actually need.
Compare the units before choosing a free plan
An account is a connected destination, such as an Instagram profile or Facebook Page. A queue limit is the number of posts waiting to publish. A monthly publication allowance is the output permitted during that month. A lifetime allowance can run out even if you use the service slowly.
Scroll sideways to compare every column.
| Recurring hosted-free option | Account or brand allowance | Publishing allowance | First constraint to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Express | One account per supported network | 1,000 posts per month across supported channels | A second account on the same network; whether your network and format are supported |
| Buffer | Three channels; one user | Ten waiting posts per channel | Fourth channel, larger queue or another team member |
| Publer | Three social accounts; one user and workspace | Ten waiting posts per account | X is excluded; paid features and account eligibility vary |
| Metricool | One brand, one profile per network | Twenty actual publications per calendar month | LinkedIn and X are excluded; cross-posts consume an allowance for each destination |
The limits above come from Adobe's scheduler overview, Buffer pricing, Publer plans and Metricool's free-plan help. Metricool's plan comparison identifies its excluded networks.
Publer also requires a Pinterest account on Free to have at least 100 followers or a claimed website. Check that before treating one of its three slots as an available Pinterest connection. Its queue slots become available again after publication or deletion. Publer plan conditions.
Workload one: one brand on two networks
Suppose you publish three updates each week to both Instagram and Facebook. Over four weeks, that is 3 × 2 × 4 = 24 destination publications.
Buffer and Publer each have enough account slots. Loading one week ahead means three waiting posts per account, comfortably within a ten-post queue. Loading all four weeks at once would require twelve waiting posts per account, so you would need to refill the queue as posts publish. Adobe's monthly allowance also accommodates this workload.
Metricool's twenty-publication allowance is four short. It could still suit a reduced schedule, but it does not cover all 24 publications on Free. Choose using your expected output rather than the number of captions you write. For the deeper Buffer-specific explanation, see Buffer free-plan limits.
Workload two: a solo creator on five networks
Take one account each on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube, with two publications per network each week. Four weeks require 5 × 2 × 4 = 40 publications.
Adobe lists all five networks and allows one account on each, making it a plausible free fit on account count and output. Check media specifications and account eligibility before committing the calendar. A five-network mix containing Threads or Bluesky needs a different evaluation because neither appears in Adobe's documented supported list. Adobe supported channels.
Buffer and Publer fail the five-account requirement on their free plans even though their queues can refill. Metricool fails both this output total and the LinkedIn requirement. The Adobe Express review covers the broader design-and-scheduling workflow.
Workload three: an editor and a client reviewer
Separate viewing a calendar, commenting on a draft and blocking publication until approval. A free account that lets someone see content may still lack the publishing control your team requires.
Planable provides fifty posts in total to evaluate its workflow. This allowance does not renew monthly. Its pricing also separates optional approval from required approval on Pro, so the free evaluation is not proof that you can operate an enforced review process indefinitely at no charge. Planable pricing.
For a recurring team workflow, establish the approval rule first and price the lowest plan that actually supports it. “Unlimited users” cannot compensate for an exhausted posting allowance or a missing approval gate.
Free trials and self-hosting belong in separate comparisons
Postly currently advertises a fourteen-day trial, with no card required and a paid-plan choice afterward. That does not establish an ongoing free scheduling plan. Older references to a free Starter allowance should not determine a new purchase. Postly pricing.
Zoho Social has a free edition, but its help explicitly says that edition does not schedule posts. See the Zoho Social review if immediate publishing or its paid plans interest you. Zoho Free plan.
Postiz's hosted service has a seven-day trial and paid plans. Self-hosting is a separate route with infrastructure and maintenance requirements. Budget server costs, backups and your time rather than treating a zero software-license price as a zero operating cost. Our Postiz review explains that trade-off. Postiz Cloud pricing, self-hosting requirements.
Choose the free plan that passes all four checks: destinations, formats, output and people. Then identify the first limit likely to force an upgrade. That gives you a more useful answer than the largest advertised post number.
Sources and verification
- Adobe's scheduler overview · checked 13 October 2026
- Buffer pricing · checked 13 October 2026
- Publer plans · checked 13 October 2026
- Metricool's free-plan help · checked 13 October 2026
- plan comparison · checked 13 October 2026
- Planable pricing · checked 13 October 2026
- Postly pricing · checked 13 October 2026
- Zoho Free plan · checked 13 October 2026
- Postiz Cloud pricing · checked 13 October 2026
- self-hosting requirements · checked 13 October 2026
