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switching guide

Buffer alternatives

This page is about leaving, not about buying us. What breaks, what carries over, what you should check before you cancel - and the alternatives that are not Shapeless, including staying where you are.

Why people leave Buffer

  • The channel count grew and the per-channel price grew with it - eight channels on Team is $80 a month for scheduling alone.
  • The queue is full of slots and empty of ideas. Buffer never promised to solve that, and it does not.
  • You want video and designed carousels, and Buffer publishes media rather than making it.

Check these before you cancel

In the order they bite. Some of these turn out to be reasons to stay, and it is cheaper to find that out now than after the subscription lapses.

  • Pinterest and Google Business Profile. Buffer publishes to those today; our Pinterest waits on Pinterest's app review and Google Business Profile is not built - if they matter now, keep Buffer for them.
  • Buffer's analytics history stays in Buffer. Export what you need before you close the account.
  • If someone on your team relies on the browser extension or the mobile app, check that the studio replaces the habit before you cancel.

What carries over

  • Your connected accounts. Every network Buffer publishes to that we also publish to reconnects in a couple of minutes with the platform's own OAuth.
  • Your posting rhythm. Tell our agents the cadence you had and they keep it.
  • Nothing is locked in either direction: our posts are text and media files, so you can keep publishing them through Buffer if you prefer its queue.

Where to go instead

4 honest answers, one of which is staying where you are. We are last on purpose - if one of the others fits you better, take it.

  1. Stay on BufferIf the content already exists and the complaint is only price, the free plan or a smaller channel count is the cheap fix.
  2. PostizOpen source, self-hostable for free, and it publishes to more networks than either of us. Cheapest honest answer if you have a server and a spare afternoon.
  3. TypefullyIf you only write for X and LinkedIn, it is better at writing than Buffer and its free tier includes API and MCP access.
  4. ShapelessIf the empty queue - not the queue software - is the problem.

Questions about moving

What is the closest thing to Buffer's free plan?
Ours, on the count that matters: our Free plan publishes 10 posts a day to every platform you connect, against Buffer's 10 scheduled posts per channel across 3 channels, and it carries the API, the CLI and the MCP server. Buffer wins on simplicity and on years of uptime. Typefully's free tier is the other one worth knowing: one social set, ten posts a month, API and MCP included. Postiz is free if you self-host it.
Will I lose my scheduled posts?
Posts already scheduled inside Buffer stay in Buffer and publish from there until you cancel. Move the queue over before you close the account, not after.
Do I have to reconnect every account?
Yes. Every platform requires its own OAuth grant per tool - nobody can transfer a connection. It takes a minute per account.

Sources, verified 2026-09-06

  1. [buffer.com/pricing]Tier prices, channel list, free-plan limits, AI Assistant availability and API key/request limits.buffer.com/pricingverified 2026-09-06
  2. [buffer.com/open]Buffer's own live metrics dashboard: ARR, customers, monthly active users and headcount.buffer.com/openverified 2026-08-29