Best free option: Postiz (Strong). Switching saves about $1,188 USD a year.
$1,188 USDa year
≈$1,693.73 CAD (converted from USD)
Every pick below has a free version.
3 alternatives
Covers most of the same work, with trade-offs noted on each card.
Best for self-hosted scheduling across 30+ networks
AGPL and self-hostable for free. Postiz Cloud plans start at US$29 a month after a 7-day trial. You manage API keys for each network yourself. Free version: Self-hosting is free. Postiz Cloud plans start at $29 a month, with a 7-day trial.
Best for a simple scheduler with a free plan
Buffer Free is 3 channels, 1 user. Essentials costs US$6 per channel a month. Built for publishing, not listening or support. Free version: Free forever for up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 100 ideas and 1 user.
Right for specific needs, or not yet mature enough to recommend widely.
Best for self-hosted posting to Facebook Pages and X
Mixpost Lite is MIT licensed and free. Pro is a US$299 one-time license. You host it yourself. Free version: Lite is free and open source. Pro is a $299 one-time license for 1 domain with 1 year of updates.
Sponsor this page: $149 for 30 days. Sponsors appear above the ranking, labeled; the ranking itself is not for sale.
How each alternative covers what people use Hootsuite for. Numbers link to editor notes.
| Feature | Postiz | Buffer | Mixpost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publishing | |||
| Post scheduling | Yes | PartialNote 1Free plan allows 10 scheduled posts per channel | Yes |
| Content calendar | YesNote 2Visual calendar | YesNote 3Visual calendar on every plan | Yes |
| Many social networks in one place | YesNote 430+ channels including X and LinkedIn | PartialNote 5Free plan connects 3 channels | PartialNote 6Lite publishes to Facebook Pages and Mastodon and X only |
| Reporting | |||
| Analytics and reports | PartialNote 7Post and channel analytics; less depth | PartialNote 8Advanced analytics are paid | PartialNote 9Basic analytics in Lite |
| Engagement | |||
| Unified inbox for messages and comments | No | NoNote 10Community inbox is listed with paid plans | No |
| Listening | |||
| Brand and competitor monitoring | No | No | No |
| Collaboration | |||
| Approval workflows and team roles | PartialNote 11Team workspaces with draft and approve steps | NoNote 12Approval workflows are a paid feature | NoNote 13Approval flow is in the paid Pro edition |
| Parity score | 57% | 36% | 43% |
Not covered by any free alternative yet: Analytics and reports, Unified inbox for messages and comments, Brand and competitor monitoring, Approval workflows and team roles. See all feature gaps
Switching saves about $1,188 USD / ≈$1,694 CAD (estimated from the USD price) a year. Prices checked ; ≈ means converted from USD.
Based on Standard plan, per user, billed annually. Price source. USD to CAD at 1.4257 as of Oct 7, 2026.
Last verified . Ranking: tier first, then the published score.
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Hootsuite is a product of Hootsuite, named here for comparison only. Platforms listed for Hootsuite: Web, iOS, Android.