Is Buffer cheaper than Shapeless?

For a small number of channels, yes. Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel per month billed yearly, so three channels is $15 against our flat $35 for one workspace. The line crosses around seven channels, but that is the wrong way to read it: Buffer's price buys scheduling, ours buys the research, writing, design and video that fill the schedule. If you already have the content, Buffer is the better deal.

Can Buffer make a video for me?

No. Buffer publishes video you supply and does not generate it. Its AI Assistant writes and rewrites text, and on paid tiers it drafts replies to comments. We generate narrated short video - script, voice, footage, captions and score - as part of the post.

Does Buffer have an MCP server so my agent can post?

Buffer publishes a REST API with per-tier key and request limits (1 key and 3,000 requests a month on free, 5 keys and 15,000 on Team) and lists Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor among its integrations, but no MCP server appears on its pricing page as of 2026-09-06. We ship a hosted MCP server, a REST API and a CLI on every plan.

Yes, and some people should. Keep Buffer as the queue for the channels it covers that we do not, and let our agents produce the posts. Nothing about our output is locked to our publisher.

Is Buffer's free plan really free?

Yes - three channels and ten scheduled posts per channel, with no card. It is the most honest free tier in this category and it is a fair reason to start there.

Bufferlast verified 2026-09-06

Shapeless vs Buffer

The default social scheduler. Fifteen years old, free forever at the bottom, $5 a channel after that. Below is every row we could read from their own pricing page, the places they beat us, and the one question that actually decides it.

Pick Buffer if

You already make the content and only need it to go out on time, on one or two channels. Buffer is cheaper than us and better at that one job.

Pick Shapeless if

The bottleneck is not the posting, it is that nobody has written, designed or filmed anything this week.

Side by side

Our column comes from the same pricing table our pricing page renders, so it cannot drift. Their column was read from buffer.com/pricing on 2026-09-06. A fact their page does not publish says so instead of guessing.

Shapeless compared with Buffer, feature by feature
What	Shapeless	Buffer
Entry price	$35/month for the whole product, one workspace, no per-channel or per-seat multiplier.	$5/month per channel (Essentials, billed yearly). Team is $10/month per channel.
Top self-serve plan	$200/month. Same product as the $35 plan - the tier only changes how much you make.	$10/month per channel (Team). No published enterprise tier.
Free tier or trial	$5 of real credit on sign-in, no card. It renders actual posts rather than showing you a tour.	A real free-forever plan: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each, no card. Paid plans add a 14-day trial.
Publishes to	LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Reddit, Bluesky and Mastodon, plus LinkedIn Pages.	LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon and Google Business Profile.
Writes the post	Yes, grounded in the research below rather than in a blank prompt.	Yes. The AI Assistant drafts and rewrites on every tier, including free.
Designs the image or carousel	Yes. Images and PDF carousels designed per brand - palette, layout, type. No templates.	No. Buffer schedules the image you made; it does not design one.
Makes the video	Yes. Narrated short video with script, voice, footage, captions and score, built for the post it belongs to.	No. It publishes video you supply.
Researches what wins first	Yes. This is the part we exist for: agents read what is winning in your market this week, then write from it.	No. It writes from your prompt, not from what is working in your market.
Scheduling	Yes. Approve each post, or let the agents plan, draft and publish the week.	Yes, and it is what they are best at: queue, calendar, per-channel slots.
Analytics	Per-post metrics on what we published, swept back automatically. No social listening - we do not pretend to have it.	Yes. 30-day window on free, advanced reports and custom UTMs on paid. No social listening.
Your own agents can drive it	Yes to all three: a REST API, a published CLI, and a hosted MCP server - on every plan, not as an upgrade.	REST API on all tiers (1 key / 3,000 requests a month on free, 5 keys / 15,000 on Team). No MCP server published.
Company	Early stage, founder-run. We do not publish revenue or headcount, and you should not credit a number nobody has published.	$26.1M ARR, 73 teammates, 79,772 customers, 247,614 monthly active users - published live by Buffer itself.

Entry price: Shapeless$35/month for the whole product, one workspace, no per-channel or per-seat multiplier.
Buffer$5/month per channel (Essentials, billed yearly). Team is $10/month per channel.
Top self-serve plan: Shapeless$200/month. Same product as the $35 plan - the tier only changes how much you make.
Buffer$10/month per channel (Team). No published enterprise tier.
Free tier or trial: Shapeless$5 of real credit on sign-in, no card. It renders actual posts rather than showing you a tour.
BufferA real free-forever plan: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each, no card. Paid plans add a 14-day trial.
Publishes to: ShapelessLinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Reddit, Bluesky and Mastodon, plus LinkedIn Pages.
BufferLinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon and Google Business Profile.
Writes the post: ShapelessYes, grounded in the research below rather than in a blank prompt.
BufferYes. The AI Assistant drafts and rewrites on every tier, including free.
Designs the image or carousel: ShapelessYes. Images and PDF carousels designed per brand - palette, layout, type. No templates.
BufferNo. Buffer schedules the image you made; it does not design one.
Makes the video: ShapelessYes. Narrated short video with script, voice, footage, captions and score, built for the post it belongs to.
BufferNo. It publishes video you supply.
Researches what wins first: ShapelessYes. This is the part we exist for: agents read what is winning in your market this week, then write from it.
BufferNo. It writes from your prompt, not from what is working in your market.
Scheduling: ShapelessYes. Approve each post, or let the agents plan, draft and publish the week.
BufferYes, and it is what they are best at: queue, calendar, per-channel slots.
Analytics: ShapelessPer-post metrics on what we published, swept back automatically. No social listening - we do not pretend to have it.
BufferYes. 30-day window on free, advanced reports and custom UTMs on paid. No social listening.
Your own agents can drive it: ShapelessYes to all three: a REST API, a published CLI, and a hosted MCP server - on every plan, not as an upgrade.
BufferREST API on all tiers (1 key / 3,000 requests a month on free, 5 keys / 15,000 on Team). No MCP server published.
Company: ShapelessEarly stage, founder-run. We do not publish revenue or headcount, and you should not credit a number nobody has published.
Buffer$26.1M ARR, 73 teammates, 79,772 customers, 247,614 monthly active users - published live by Buffer itself.

Where Buffer wins

A comparison page that finds nothing good to say about the other product is an advertisement. These are the reasons to buy theirs.

Cheaper at small scale, and it is not close. Two channels on Essentials is $10 a month against our $35.
A genuinely free forever plan. Ours is $5 of credit on sign-in, which runs out.
Fifteen years of uptime, a real support organisation, and more integrations than we will have for years.
Radical transparency: revenue, customers and headcount are published live on buffer.com/open. We publish none of that.
Pinterest, Mastodon and Google Business Profile, which we do not publish to.

Where we win

Buffer starts at an empty box. We start at research - what is measurably working in your market this week - and write from that.
We make the media. Designed images, PDF carousels, and narrated short video with script, voice and captions. Buffer schedules what you already made.
Our agents can run the week unattended and hand you posts to approve. Buffer's AI is an assistant inside a form you are filling in.
A REST API, a CLI and a hosted MCP server on every plan, so your own agents can drive it. Buffer publishes an API but no MCP server.

Questions

Is Buffer cheaper than Shapeless?: For a small number of channels, yes. Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel per month billed yearly, so three channels is $15 against our flat $35 for one workspace. The line crosses around seven channels, but that is the wrong way to read it: Buffer's price buys scheduling, ours buys the research, writing, design and video that fill the schedule. If you already have the content, Buffer is the better deal.
Can Buffer make a video for me?: No. Buffer publishes video you supply and does not generate it. Its AI Assistant writes and rewrites text, and on paid tiers it drafts replies to comments. We generate narrated short video - script, voice, footage, captions and score - as part of the post.
Does Buffer have an MCP server so my agent can post?: Buffer publishes a REST API with per-tier key and request limits (1 key and 3,000 requests a month on free, 5 keys and 15,000 on Team) and lists Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor among its integrations, but no MCP server appears on its pricing page as of 2026-09-06. We ship a hosted MCP server, a REST API and a CLI on every plan.
Can I use both?: Yes, and some people should. Keep Buffer as the queue for the channels it covers that we do not, and let our agents produce the posts. Nothing about our output is locked to our publisher.
Is Buffer's free plan really free?: Yes - three channels and ten scheduled posts per channel, with no card. It is the most honest free tier in this category and it is a fair reason to start there.

Sources, verified 2026-09-06

Prices and features move. Each link below is what we read and when we read it - if something here has gone stale, their page is the authority, not ours.

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