Head to head
Metricool vs SocialBu
Last updated 13 October 2026
Metricool
Metricool combines publishing and reporting in Brands. Free allows one Brand and 20 actual publications per calendar month; Starter begins at $25 monthly for five Brands, while Advanced adds team members and client approvals from $67 monthly.
- From
- Free
- Free scheduling
- Yes
SocialBu
SocialBu offers publishing across twelve networks, with inbox, listening, approvals and automation on Growth and Agency. Its current paid lineup is Starter, Growth and Agency, and API/MCP access is documented.
- From
- Limited free credits; confirm paid offer
- Free scheduling
- No
Bottom line
SocialBu is the pick for small businesses and agencies who want scheduling plus automation, and it reaches Reddit and Mastodon, which Metricool doesn't. Metricool fits analytics-led marketers who want organic and paid in one report better, and it's the only one of the two with a free scheduling plan.
A verified price comparison requires the same billing term, currency and eligible workload. See each pricing section for the published terms. Metricool brings ad management that SocialBu skips, while SocialBu has social listening Metricool doesn't.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Metricool has a free scheduling plan; SocialBu doesn't, though a trial is advertised.
- Metricool posts to 10 networks, SocialBu to 12.
- Only SocialBu reaches Mastodon and Reddit.
- Metricool has ad management; SocialBu doesn't.
- SocialBu has social listening; Metricool doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Metricool | SocialBu |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Yes |
| Evergreen recycling | Partial | Partial |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Link in bio | Yes | Not assessed |
Platforms compared
| Network | Metricool | SocialBu |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Auto | |
| Auto | Auto | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| TikTok | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| YouTube | Auto | Auto |
| Threads | Auto | Auto |
| Bluesky | Auto | Auto |
| Google Business | Auto | Auto |
| Mastodon | No | Auto |
| No | Auto | |
| Twitch | No | Not assessed |
| WordPress | No | Not assessed |
Pricing
Prices use each tool’s billing unit. Annual equivalents are labeled as billed yearly; scaling rows show monthly costs and available annual rates.
Metricool
Free
Free
- Scheduled posts
- 20
- 1 brand; 20 actually published posts per calendar month across the planner
- All networks except LinkedIn and X
- 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics, AI assistant
Starter
Popular$25a month
$20 a month billed annually
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- From $25/mo ($20 annual) for up to 5 brands
- Up to 10 brands for $45/mo ($36 annual)
- Unlimited publishing, LinkedIn, 100 competitor analyses
- Reporting tools, PDF and PPT exports, SmartLinks, Canva and Drive
- X is a +$5 per-account add-on
Advanced
$67a month
$53 a month billed annually
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- From $67/mo ($53 annual) for up to 15 brands
- 25 brands $107/mo ($85 annual); 50 brands $210/mo ($159 annual)
- Team and client management, role management, post approvals
- Full X analytics, custom report templates, Looker Studio connector, API
Custom
Custom
- Quote-only for more than 50 brands
- White label, dedicated account manager, custom AI credits
- Business integration
- Plans are chosen by how many 'brands' you connect rather than multiplied per brand: you land in a brand-count band and pay that band's price. A brand is a group of profiles, roughly one account per network.
- Starter covers up to 10 brands ($25 a month for 5, $45 for 10; $20 / $36 on annual). Advanced covers up to 50 ($67 / $107 / $210 a month for 15 / 25 / 50 brands; $53 / $85 / $159 on annual). Past 50 brands it's the quote-only Custom plan.
- Annual billing saves up to 24% depending on the band.
- X is a separately charged add-on on eligible paid plans. Free excludes X and LinkedIn; LinkedIn begins on Starter.
- Listed prices exclude VAT, which is added before checkout.
- Current public pricing exposes USD and EUR tariffs for monthly and annual brand bands. Confirm the selected configuration and billing term.
- The Free plan is genuine: 1 brand, 20 actual publications a month, 5 competitor profiles, and 30 days of analytics, but no LinkedIn or X.
SocialBu
Free
Free
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 3
- Scheduled posts
- 10
- Ten lifetime posts; three social accounts
Starter
$29a month
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Not confirmed
- Scheduled posts
- 750
- USD29 monthly; annual offer and account allowance conflict across official sources
- No teams, inbox or listening
Growth
$79a month
- Seats
- 4
- Accounts
- 20
- Scheduled posts
- 3000
- Twenty accounts, four team members, five teams
- Inbox, listening, approvals and automation
Agency
$199a month
- Seats
- 8
- Accounts
- 50
- Scheduled posts
- 100000
- Fifty accounts, eight team members, twenty teams
- App-limit help specifies 100,000 posts/month despite marketing unlimited label
Custom
Custom
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Custom plans for agencies and large teams, priced on request
- Current new-customer plans are Free, Starter, Growth and Agency; Standard/Super/Supreme are not the current public lineup.
- Monthly USD29/79/199 agrees across pricing and current help. Annual marketing totals USD261/711/1791 conflict with app-configuration help USD290/790/1990; confirm your offer.
- Starter marketing says eight accounts, current help six. Agency help specifies 100,000 monthly posts. Disputed values are not used in automatic comparisons.
- Growth/Agency include 5/10 listening streams and 5,000/20,000 matched items monthly. API and MCP are on paid plans; not Free.
- The free ten-post allowance is lifetime, not a renewing free scheduling quota. It is excluded from recurring-free-plan comparisons.
Pros and cons
Metricool
- Deepest analytics for the price, with paid ads alongside organic
- Unusually generous free plan
- Wide network list, including Twitch analytics and Google Business
- Strong agency value with brand-band pricing and white-label reports
- Brand-band pricing takes a minute to work out
- X is a paid add-on and LinkedIn is paid-only
- Listed prices exclude VAT
- No category-based evergreen recycling and no broad listening
SocialBu
- Twelve supported social networks
- API and MCP on paid plans
- RSS/webhook automation on Growth and Agency
- Limited free entry allowance of ten lifetime posts
- Official annual pricing and some limits conflict
- Starter lacks team collaboration, inbox and listening
- Automation, AI and listening allowances vary by plan
Metricool vs SocialBu: FAQ
- Is Metricool or SocialBu cheaper?
- A verified price comparison is unavailable for these configurations. Check the current billing term, currency, required capacity and plan features before comparing totals.
- Does Metricool or SocialBu have a free plan?
- Metricool has a free plan; SocialBu does not, though a trial is advertised.
- Which is better, Metricool or SocialBu?
- Metricool is the stronger pick for analytics-led marketers who want organic and paid in one report, while SocialBu is the better fit for small businesses and agencies who want scheduling plus automation. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.