Buffer Pricing 2026: What You Pay Per Channel
Buffer charges per channel, not per user. The Free plan covers 3 channels at no cost. Essentials is $6 per channel/month billed monthly, or $5 billed yearly. Team is $12 per channel/month billed monthly, or $10 billed yearly. From the 11th channel, each extra channel costs $4 a month on either plan.
Your bill is that rate times every account you connect. We read every figure on buffer.com/pricing on 30 September 2026, stepping its channel selector from 1 to 25 on both billing toggles, then did the sums the page leaves to you. To see Buffer next to every other scheduler, open the 2026 social media tool price matrix. The rules we follow are in how we compare tools.
Table of Contents
- How much does Buffer cost in 2026?
- Why does Buffer charge per channel instead of per user?
- What does Buffer cost for 5, 10 or 25 channels?
- What does Buffer’s free plan include?
- What is the difference between Buffer Essentials and Team?
- Is per-channel pricing cheaper than per-seat pricing for a team?
- When does Buffer’s pricing stop making sense?
- Buffer pricing FAQ
How much does Buffer cost in 2026?
Buffer sells three self-serve plans: Free, Essentials and Team. Free covers up to 3 channels for 1 user. Essentials is priced per channel for 1 user; Team is priced per channel with unlimited team members. The pricing page opens on the yearly toggle, which is why $5 gets quoted as the Essentials price. Billed month to month, it’s $6 per channel/month, billed monthly.
Disclosure: Outfeed AI makes a competing social media tool. We read every price on the vendor’s own page and recommend the competitor where it fits better.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually (per month) | Billing unit | Includes | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | free forever | 1 user3 channelsPosts: 10 scheduled posts per channel (refill anytime) | Up to 3 channels10 scheduled posts per channel at a time100 ideas1 user accountAPI: 1 key, 3,000 requests/month |
| Essentials | $6 | $5 $60 billed yearly | per channel/month | 1 userPosts: Unlimited scheduled posts per channel | 1 user accountChannels 11+ cost $4/month each (monthly) or $40/year each (yearly)API: 3 keys, 7,500 requests/month |
| Team | $12 | $10 $120 billed yearly | per channel/month | Unlimited usersPosts: Unlimited scheduled posts per channel | Unlimited team membersChannels 11+ cost $4/month each (monthly) or $40/year each (yearly)API: 5 keys |
Verified on buffer.com/pricing.
One detail matters more than it looks: channels 11 and up cost $4 a month ($40 a year) on both paid plans, so Team’s premium stops growing after your 10th channel. Buffer’s AI Assistant has no usage limits on any plan, Free included, and the pricing page advertises 50% off for nonprofits. Our totals use list prices, without that discount.
Why does Buffer charge per channel instead of per user?
Buffer’s billing unit is the connected social account, not the person. One channel is one connected account, so an Instagram account and a Facebook Page are two channels, and so are two Instagram accounts. Your bill grows with the number of accounts you run, which is one reason to merge duplicate Facebook Pages where Meta allows it. People are either capped (Essentials allows 1 user) or free (Team has unlimited team members).
Per-seat pricing punishes headcount: every colleague who needs a login is another full-price seat. Per-channel pricing punishes breadth: every network and every brand is another line on the bill. Which is cheaper depends on whether your setup is wide (many accounts, few people) or deep (few accounts, many people), as our explainer on per-seat vs per-account pricing shows.
Breadth costs more on Buffer partly because it reaches more places. Its pricing page lists 12 channels: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Substack and Google Business Profile. Each can run on its own recurring posting schedule in its own time zone.
What does Buffer cost for 5, 10 or 25 channels?
Billed monthly on Essentials, 5 channels cost $30 a month, 10 cost $60 a month and 25 cost $120 a month. Billed yearly, the same counts come to $300 a year, $600 a year and $1,200 a year. Team costs twice the Essentials rate for the first 10 channels, then the same $4 a month for each channel after that.
Buffer’s page shows one channel count at a time. These two tables lay out the whole ladder, with both billing bases in every cell.
| Plan | 1 channel | 3 channels | 5 channels | 9 channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Free Free plan · 1 user | $0/mo billed monthly $0/yr billed annually $0/mo equivalent | $0/mo billed monthly $0/yr billed annually $0/mo equivalent | Not available on this plan Buffer Free covers up to 3 channels. | Not available on this plan Buffer Free covers up to 3 channels. |
| Buffer Essentials Billed per channel/month · 1 user | $6/mo billed monthly $60/yr billed annually $5/mo equivalent | $18/mo billed monthly $180/yr billed annually $15/mo equivalent | $30/mo billed monthly $300/yr billed annually $25/mo equivalent | $54/mo billed monthly $540/yr billed annually $45/mo equivalent |
| Buffer Team Billed per channel/month · unlimited users | $12/mo billed monthly $120/yr billed annually $10/mo equivalent | $36/mo billed monthly $360/yr billed annually $30/mo equivalent | $60/mo billed monthly $600/yr billed annually $50/mo equivalent | $108/mo billed monthly $1,080/yr billed annually $90/mo equivalent |
Buffer: verified on buffer.com/pricing.
How these totals are worked out: USD list price before tax; no promo, nonprofit or volume discount. Channels 11+ at the reduced rate read from the page selector (checked to 25).
| Plan | 10 channels | 11 channels | 20 channels | 25 channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Essentials Billed per channel/month · 1 user | $60/mo billed monthly $600/yr billed annually $50/mo equivalent | $64/mo billed monthly $640/yr billed annually $53.33/mo equivalent | $100/mo billed monthly $1,000/yr billed annually $83.33/mo equivalent | $120/mo billed monthly $1,200/yr billed annually $100/mo equivalent |
| Buffer Team Billed per channel/month · unlimited users | $120/mo billed monthly $1,200/yr billed annually $100/mo equivalent | $124/mo billed monthly $1,240/yr billed annually $103.33/mo equivalent | $160/mo billed monthly $1,600/yr billed annually $133.33/mo equivalent | $180/mo billed monthly $1,800/yr billed annually $150/mo equivalent |
Buffer: verified on buffer.com/pricing.
How these totals are worked out: USD list price before tax; no promo, nonprofit or volume discount. Channels 11+ at the reduced rate read from the page selector (checked to 25).
- The 11th channel is the cheapest one you’ll add. From there, every channel costs $4 a month on either plan, so the average per channel falls the further past 10 you go.
- Team’s premium is fixed after 10 channels. Team is $120 a month against $60 a month at 10 channels, and $180 a month against $120 a month at 25.
- Yearly billing is two months free. One Essentials channel billed yearly is $60 per channel/year, against twelve monthly payments of $6.
What does Buffer’s free plan include?
Buffer’s Free plan is free forever for up to 3 channels and 1 user. Each channel holds 10 scheduled posts at a time, refilling as posts go out, so it limits how far ahead you plan rather than how much you post. Free also includes 100 saved ideas, the AI Assistant, basic analytics with 30 days of history, and comment replies.
Post once a day to each of 3 channels and 10 slots cover ten days ahead. Top the queues up once a week and you can publish every day of the month without paying. What Free can’t do is load a whole month in one sitting, add a fourth channel or add a second person. So, is Buffer free? For a solo creator on three networks who plans a week ahead, genuinely yes.
Paid plans come with a one-time 14-day trial of Essentials or Team. Buffer’s help article on free trials says an account with no card details entered moves to the Free plan when the trial ends, rather than being charged.
What is the difference between Buffer Essentials and Team?
Team adds people and approvals; Essentials is one user. Both remove the Free plan’s 10-post queue limit and both charge per channel. Team charges double for each of your first 10 channels: $12 per channel/month billed monthly, against $6 per channel/month for Essentials. In return it includes unlimited team members and approval workflows, so a second person is the usual reason to switch.
| Essentials | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Users | 1 | Unlimited team members |
| Scheduled posts | Unlimited per channel | Unlimited per channel |
| Approval workflows | One user, so no reviewers | Included |
| API | 3 keys, 7,500 requests a month | 5 keys |
| Channels 1 to 10, billed monthly | $6 per channel/month | $12 per channel/month |
| Channels 1 to 10, billed yearly | $5 per channel/month | $10 per channel/month |
| Channels 11 and up | $4/month or $40/year each | $4/month or $40/year each |
Prices verified on buffer.com/pricing.
At 5 channels, switching from Essentials to Team takes the monthly-billed bill from $30 a month to $60 a month. Team’s price ignores headcount, so it gets better value the more people share it. For one person, there’s no reason to pay for it.
Is per-channel pricing cheaper than per-seat pricing for a team?
For the same team, usually yes, and by a wide margin. Three people sharing 10 channels pay $120 a month on Buffer Team, billed monthly. Sprout Social bills per seat. Three seats on a Sprout plan that holds 10 profiles cost $1,197 a month, billed monthly. The gap is real, but so is the difference in what you’re buying.
| Three people, 10 channels | Why this plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Team | Essentials allows 1 user | $120 a month | $1,200 a year |
| Sprout Social Essentials or Standard | Each lists up to 5 social profiles | Not available: 10 channels exceed the 5-profile limit | Not available: same limit |
| Sprout Social Professional | Unlimited social profiles, 3 seats | $1,197 a month | $10,764 a year |
Prices verified on buffer.com/pricing and sproutsocial.com/pricing.
Two caveats. Sprout’s pricing page doesn’t say whether the 5-profile limit on Essentials and Standard grows with seats; we’ve assumed it doesn’t. If it did, three Standard seats would cost $747 a month billed monthly. And Sprout’s price buys things Buffer doesn’t sell: keyword and location monitoring from Standard, competitor and paid insights on Professional, listening as a paid add-on, and a 30-day trial with no card. If your job is reporting to leadership or monitoring a brand, Buffer isn’t a like-for-like substitute.
When does Buffer’s pricing stop making sense?
When your account count grows faster than your team. Every network and every client adds a line to the bill. One brand on all 12 of Buffer’s networks costs $68 a month on Essentials, billed monthly. Five clients on five networks each is 25 channels: $120 a month for one user, or $180 a month on Team. If you bill those clients, build the tool cost into your fee with our social media rate calculator.
Tools that bill by brand or by bundle charge for breadth differently. Metricool bills per brand, with one profile per network inside each brand. Its Starter plan covers up to 5 brands for $25 per month billed monthly, or $20 billed yearly. Later sells social sets, one profile on each of its 8 networks, from $25 per month for one set and one user, billed monthly. Both can undercut Buffer for a brand on many networks, with catches. Later doesn’t list X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Substack or Google Business Profile, and Metricool doesn’t publish the price of its X add-on. See what Later costs, plan by plan and Metricool’s per-brand pricing.
Prices verified on metricool.com/pricing and later.com/pricing.
Buffer still wins if you run 3 channels or fewer (it’s free), if you have many people on few channels (Team’s users are unlimited), or if you need Mastodon, Substack or Google Business Profile. If it doesn’t fit, our ranked list of Buffer alternatives covers the rest, and the head-to-heads are Buffer vs Later and Buffer vs Hootsuite, compared honestly.
Where Outfeed AI’s Starter and Pro plans fit
Outfeed AI, which publishes this page, prices its first two tiers on neither channels nor seats. Starter is $29 per month billed monthly ($24 billed annually) for 10 accounts, 100 posts a month and 1 member. Pro is $59 per month ($49 billed annually) for 25 accounts, unlimited posts and 3 members. Of the tools that bill per seat — Sprout Social and Hootsuite — Outfeed is not one of them at Starter or Pro; our per-seat tier starts at Agency. Agency is $149 per seat/month, billed monthly. You create posts by chatting with an assistant.
The limits, in the same breath. We publish to 9 platforms, fewer than Buffer’s 12, with no Mastodon, Substack or Google Business Profile. X posts are text-only with a monthly cap, TikTok posts publish as private for now, and LinkedIn posts go to a personal profile, not a Company Page. There’s no social listening, no recurring posting queue and no free tier, and Starter’s 100 posts a month is a ceiling Buffer’s paid plans don’t have. Starter includes a 3-day free trial with 100 AI credits. Card required. Pro and Agency are billed from the first day.
| Plan | 5 channels | 10 channels | 25 channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Essentials Billed per channel/month · 1 user | $30/mo billed monthly $300/yr billed annually $25/mo equivalent | $60/mo billed monthly $600/yr billed annually $50/mo equivalent | $120/mo billed monthly $1,200/yr billed annually $100/mo equivalent |
| Buffer Team Billed per channel/month · unlimited users | $60/mo billed monthly $600/yr billed annually $50/mo equivalent | $120/mo billed monthly $1,200/yr billed annually $100/mo equivalent | $180/mo billed monthly $1,800/yr billed annually $150/mo equivalent |
| Outfeed AI Starter Billed per month · 1 user and 10 social profiles included | $29/mo billed monthly $288/yr billed annually $24/mo equivalent | $29/mo billed monthly $288/yr billed annually $24/mo equivalent | Not available on this plan Outfeed AI Starter includes 10 profiles and sells no more. |
| Outfeed AI Pro Billed per month · 3 users and 25 social profiles included | $59/mo billed monthly $588/yr billed annually $49/mo equivalent | $59/mo billed monthly $588/yr billed annually $49/mo equivalent | $59/mo billed monthly $588/yr billed annually $49/mo equivalent |
Buffer: verified on buffer.com/pricing · Outfeed AI: verified on outfeed.ai/#pricing.
How these totals are worked out: USD list price before tax; no promo, nonprofit or volume discount. Channels 11+ at the reduced rate read from the page selector (checked to 25). Annual total = the vendor's annual per-month figure x 12.
At 5 channels for one person, Buffer Essentials and Outfeed Starter cost about the same; below that, Buffer is cheaper or free. With two or three people, Buffer Team is cheaper than Outfeed Pro below 5 channels. From about 10 channels, the flat price pulls ahead on either Buffer plan. More in how Outfeed’s $29 and $59 plans compare and our Outfeed AI vs Buffer comparison.
Try Outfeed AI’s chat-first scheduler
Buffer pricing FAQ
Is Buffer free?
Yes. Buffer’s Free plan is free forever for up to 3 channels and 1 user. Each channel holds 10 scheduled posts at a time and the queue refills as posts go out. Free also includes 100 ideas and the AI Assistant. The paid plans start with Essentials at $6 per channel/month, billed monthly, or $5 per channel/month, billed annually.
How much does Buffer cost per channel?
Essentials is $6 per channel/month, billed monthly, or $5 per channel/month, billed annually ($60 per channel/year). Team is $12 per channel/month, billed monthly, or $10 per channel/month, billed annually ($120 per channel/year). On both plans, every channel from the 11th costs $4 a month billed monthly, or $40 a year billed yearly.
What counts as a channel in Buffer?
One connected social account is one channel. An Instagram account and a Facebook Page for the same brand are two channels, and two Instagram accounts are two channels. Buffer bills every connected channel, so one brand posting to 5 networks pays for 5 channels, whatever the number of people using the account.
Does Buffer have a free trial?
Yes. Buffer offers a one-time 14-day free trial of Essentials or Team. Its help centre says that if you haven’t entered card details when the trial ends, the account moves to the Free plan automatically rather than being charged.
Does Buffer offer a nonprofit discount?
Yes. Buffer’s pricing page advertises a 50% discount for nonprofits. The totals on this page use Buffer’s USD list prices before tax, so they don’t include that discount or any promotion.
Does Buffer get cheaper as you add more channels?
Per channel, yes. Channels 1 to 10 are billed at the plan rate, and every channel from the 11th costs $4 a month billed monthly, or $40 a year billed yearly, on both Essentials and Team. So 25 channels on Essentials cost $120 a month, billed monthly, or $1,200 a year, billed annually.