8 of the Best Social Media Management Tools

Whether you’re a brand or an aspiring creator — social media management takes effort. 

From scheduling posts in advance to monitoring engagement, even the most experienced social marketers need a hand.

Luckily, there are many social media management tools on the market to help you stay organized and boost your campaigns — and we’re sharing 8 of the most popular ones.

Why Do You Need a Social Media Management Tool?

If you run social media, whether it's for your personal brand or as a brand’s social media manager, you know that you end up wearing many hats.

While you might some parts of your role - for example, creating content or engaging with your community - there are always other things you need to worry about. 

From maintaining a social media schedule, to creating content, to reporting… it can be hard to juggle it all.

Social media management tools make it easy to organize and grow your social by putting all your key tasks in one place. 

If you run social media, whether it’s for your personal brand or as a social media manager, you’ll end up wearing many hats.

And while content creation or community engagement can be fun, you also have to juggle scheduling, reporting, strategizing, and staying on top of cultural moments or trends. 

With a social media management tool, you can easily plan and grow your social accounts by putting all of your key tasks in one place. Work smarter; not harder.

#1: Later Social

We couldn’t kick off this list without mentioning Later Social, because social media management is what we do best.

If you’re not familiar, Later Social lets you plan and schedule your Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube Shorts and Twitter posts in advance, so you can spend less time managing your socials, and more time growing your business and nurturing your community:

And with a suite of features, including a Visual Planner, in-depth Analytics, and countless more, Later lets you optimize your posts for peak performance.

Plus, you can also use our free Linkin.bio tool to create a landing page with clickable buttons, linked feed posts, and social links.

You’ll even have the flexibility to customize it (hello, brand colors and fonts!) so followers recognize your brand the second they tap in:

Pricing:

• Paid plans begin at $16.67 USD/month.

Whether you're running a business or managing multiple brand accounts, Later has the features you need to make social media management a breeze. Create an account today.

Free Social Media Management Tools #9: Hootsuite

If you're in the market for a social media management tool, you might have come across Hootsuite. 

Hootsuite is a popular platform that lets you manage multiple social media accounts, schedule posts in advance, and analyze your social media performance.

However, you might want to consider Later as a more affordable alternative — especially if you're a small social team (or team of one).  

While Hootsuite offers a calendar view for planning, Later’s calendar also offers a Visual Planner feature — so you can more easily plan your Instagram feed in advance too.

Plus, Hootsuite’s link in bio capabilities aren’t nearly as customizable, eye-catching, or free, as Later. 

With Later’s free Linkin.bio tool, you can personalize the link in your bio with buttons, up to five links for every linked post, featured media, a Mailchimp integration to capture email addresses, and more:

When compared to Hootsuite, Later is the better choice for brands, businesses, or creators that are heavy on visual-based content.

Pricing: 

• Starts at $99 USD/month

NOTE: Hootsuite discontinued its free plan earlier this year. 

With so many features, Linkin.bio by Later is the landing page of choice for some of the world’s biggest brands and creators, get started for free — today. 🎉

#3: Sprout Social

Another big name in the social media management game is Sprout Social.

Sprout is known for taking enterprise brands through the social media funnel, from social media posting to campaign insights . 

Similarly to Later, Sprout can help you with every step of your social media management journey, from planning to publishing to reporting. 

However, Sprout Social lacks a few tools like UGC collection, unlimited media storage, and visual feed planning. This means additional effort is needed to organize your assets and maintain your brand aesthetic.

With plans starting at $199 monthly, this platform is less accessible for small businesses, creators, and social media freelancers.

Pricing:

• Begins at $199 USD/month

#4: Buffer

Those looking for a simple social media marketing solution might find that Buffer is the best tool for their needs.

A key thing that separates Buffer from other tools on the market is its commitment to a “freemium” model, with many of its social media management tools available at no cost.

And its team has stated they will never remove their free plan, unlike Hootsuite (who removed their free plan in 2023).  

However, Buffer’s free plan doesn’t include important features like draft posts and social media analytics. 

While the platform is a cost-effective option for those just starting out, more seasoned marketers who are running multiple accounts require tools (like Later), with more advanced capabilities. 

Pricing:

• Paid plans begin at $6 USD/month per social media channel

#5: SocialPilot

SocialPilot positions itself as a social media publishing and scheduling tool for marketing agencies and brands, with plans available for users who manage 30 to 50 accounts.

With up to 500 post drafts and customized workflow options, Social Pilot encourages its customers to use it to stay ahead and organized.

However, if you’re on a smaller team and don’t manage high volumes, there are other social media management tools that provide more features — like analytics — at a lower price.

Pricing:

• Starts at $25 USD/month

#6: Loomly

Larger social media teams sharing a content calendar and posting schedule might want to try out Loomly. 

This social media management tool aims to make it simple for multiple users to plan posts, schedule content, and organize assets. 

Loomly’s collaboration-focused features are great for agencies and large brands, but might not be relevant to you if you’re a creator, freelancer or one-person social team. 

Pricing:

• Starts at $32 USD/month

#7: Planoly

If you’re a creator who wants to hop on trends, Planoly might be the tool for you. 

With a weekly trends feature and Canva templates, this software lets you channel your inner content creator.

One thing worth noting? No matter which plan you’re on, many of Planoly’s features — like reporting and analytics — are only available for Instagram. 

So, if you’re managing multiple social platforms, Planoly won’t be the right fit.

Pricing:

• Starting at $14 USD/month

#8: Tailwind

For marketers who wear a lot of hats — namely, social media management and email marketing — Tailwind provides a two-in-one solution.

This social media management tool aims to streamline your social and email marketing, with automation capabilities and AI content generation. 

However, Tailwind only supports two social media platforms:  Instagram and Pinterest.

Pricing:

• Starts at $14.99 USD/month

What’s the Best Social Media Management Platform for You?

After considering all of the top social media management platforms, it becomes obvious — Later Social is the best choice for social media managers, marketers, small businesses, and creators.

Schedule to 7 different social platforms, plan and analyze your content,  drive sales with Link in Bio, and more! 

Ready to try Later Social? Sign up for a free trial today!