Buffer vs Later: pricing, features and which to choose

Buffer is an independent social media management company launched by Joel Gascoigne on November 30, 2010. Its software combines scheduling, publishing, engagement, analytics and link-in-bio tools for creators, freelancers, small businesses and agencies. Buffer’s Open dashboard reports 306,958 monthly active users, $2.3 million in monthly recurring revenue, $27.28 average revenue per user and $27.6 million in annual recurring revenue. A 2023 shareholder report recorded more than 55,000 paying customers, over 80,000 monthly signups and $4 million in total funding. The company received $120,000 from AngelPad in 2011, raised $3.5 million in a 2014 Series A and acquired Respondly in 2015. Buffer later bought out its main Series A investors for $3.3 million in 2018.

A typical Buffer workflow starts by connecting social profiles, defining a posting schedule and drafting content for one or more channels. Users can write captions, save ideas, organize content, schedule posts and review performance from one workspace. Bulk scheduling accepts CSV imports containing up to 100 posts. Community places comments from Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, Mastodon and Google Business Profiles in one free inbox. Feeds lets users collect RSS sources, browse articles and schedule selected items. Buffer also includes AI-assisted caption creation, rewriting, translation and repurposing. The network list suits small brands and creators, although publishing, analytics and engagement functions vary by platform. Agencies can use approval workflows and access levels on Team, while the free plan limits accounts to one user.

Buffer’s free plan and low entry price suit small publishing operations, although per-channel billing becomes more expensive as profiles multiply. The free queue allows only 10 scheduled posts per channel, and Buffer offers lighter enterprise governance and analytics than Sprout Social or Hootsuite. Later and SocialBee are closer scheduling-focused alternatives, while Sprout Social adds deeper social care, listening and reporting at substantially higher prices. Buffer’s AI materials confirm OpenAI API use, but the company does not publish a current Buffer-specific statement establishing whether customer data trains models. Community Comment Insights were described as beta or coming soon, not as a confirmed shipped feature. Pick Buffer for affordable multi-network publishing when a small team values simple scheduling over enterprise reporting and governance.

Later began in Vancouver in 2014 as Latergramme, one of the first tools for scheduling Instagram posts, and grew into a broader social media and creator marketing company. Its brand has always centered on visual planning: a drag-and-drop calendar and an Instagram grid preview that show how a feed will look before posts go live. Later also runs Later Influence, an influencer marketing platform for brands, and acquired the creator commerce company Mavely in 2025. The social product serves creators, small businesses, social media managers and agencies, and supports Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Snapchat.

The core tools are a visual planner, multi-profile scheduling, auto-publishing to Instagram business and creator accounts, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest and LinkedIn, saved captions, drafts and hashtag suggestions. Best Time to Post recommendations cover Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The media library stores unlimited photos and videos and connects to Canva, and a Chrome extension saves images from the web. Link in Bio turns an Instagram or TikTok bio link into a clickable landing page with its own analytics. Growth and Scale plans add collaboration and approvals, a social inbox for comments and DMs, user-generated content collection and Instagram product tagging.

Later's strengths are visual feed planning, a strong Link in Bio, Instagram and TikTok features, and fair entry pricing. Its weaknesses are post caps on lower plans, small AI credit allowances, and analytics and listening that sit mostly on the Scale tier. Buffer is simpler and cheaper for basic scheduling. Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer deeper listening and enterprise features at higher prices. Metricool combines scheduling with ads and web analytics, and SocialBee focuses on content categories and evergreen recycling. Planoly is a close visual planning rival. Choose Later if your content is image and video-led and you want to plan how your feed looks.