Buffer Pricing Plans

Buffer charges you based on each additional user on your team; however, they do this in a way that is quite different from many other SaaS products. They charge you per channel instead of charging you a large flat rate for "Enterprise". For example, with their "Team" plan, you will be charged $12 per channel per month. A great benefit of Buffer is that no matter how many team members you have on the Team plan, you can have unlimited team members. We feel that this is a huge advantage for companies and individuals who are constantly hiring interns, freelancers, etc. and wish to be able to give them access to the social media accounts without having to worry about the cost associated with adding another team member.

However, we feel that the true "cost" of expanding your team is going to come into play when you want strict control of what is happening with that growing team. As you hire more people, you are going to require the approval workflows and the ability to set custom permission levels for accessing your social media accounts. We have found that attempting to cut costs by continuing on Buffer's "Essentials" level while sharing a password among multiple employees is typically a formula for disaster.

We recommend that you create a budget based upon the amount of channels you need to manage, rather than the amount of employees you have on staff. To us, if you are a marketing agency with 10 clients (which would mean you would have 30+ channels) your monthly bill will add up quickly, but the collaboration tools available through Buffer make the "per-channel" billing method well worth the extra cost. This allows you to know exactly how much you will be billed every month.

Buffer charges you based on each additional user on your team; however, they do this in a way that is quite different from many other SaaS products. They charge you per channel instead of charging you a large flat rate for "Enterprise". For example, with their "Team" plan, you will be charged $12 per channel per month. A great benefit of Buffer is that no matter how many team members you have on the Team plan, you can have unlimited team members. We feel that this is a huge advantage for companies and individuals who are constantly hiring interns, freelancers, etc. and wish to be able to give them access to the social media accounts without having to worry about the cost associated with adding another team member.

However, we feel that the true "cost" of expanding your team is going to come into play when you want strict control of what is happening with that growing team. As you hire more people, you are going to require the approval workflows and the ability to set custom permission levels for accessing your social media accounts. We have found that attempting to cut costs by continuing on Buffer's "Essentials" level while sharing a password among multiple employees is typically a formula for disaster.

We recommend that you create a budget based upon the amount of channels you need to manage, rather than the amount of employees you have on staff. To us, if you are a marketing agency with 10 clients (which would mean you would have 30+ channels) your monthly bill will add up quickly, but the collaboration tools available through Buffer make the "per-channel" billing method well worth the extra cost. This allows you to know exactly how much you will be billed every month.

When it comes to figuring out which type of user would be most suited to using Buffer, we believe the answer lies in how much one values simplicity when compared to enterprise grade capabilities. As such, we believe Buffer is a perfect fit for the lone creator, the small business owner and the lean marketing team who simply want to get their social media up and running, and then let it run. For users who find themselves overwhelmed by dashboards that are overly complex and wish to have a simple, clean, and easy-to-use platform in order to drop their thoughts and then plan them out, Buffer will be a welcome respite from what you may have experienced with other platforms.

In addition to this, we believe Buffer is an excellent choice for growing agencies as well. Due to the per channel pricing model, agencies can continue to add new clients without feeling they have to jump into a massive Enterprise contract prior to reaching a size where it makes sense. Specifically, we believe Buffer is ideal for organizations that focus primarily on organic engagement and growth vs. advanced social listening and/or the complex paid advertising world.

In short, if the majority of your day is spent collaborating on content and you are looking for a tool that simply works (and you don't want to invest hours into learning how to use it), Buffer is likely your best option. To us, Buffer is the gold standard for anyone looking to create a "simple yet powerful" workflow.

Ultimately whether or not Buffer is worth the cost will depend on how much you are willing to pay for your time and how much "clutter" you are willing to put into your workflow. In comparison to some of the big boys out there (like Hootsuite) at prices in excess of $100.00 a month, we feel that Buffer's "per channel" pricing model is very affordable. For example, we believe that the $6.00 per month cost of the Essentials Plan for a solo creator is an incredible bargain as it removes two of the biggest limitations and provides you with the information you need to grow.

However, from our viewpoint, the decision becomes a lot more difficult when you are handling dozens of social media accounts. If you have twenty clients as an agency, paying $12.00 per channel for the Team Plan is going to be a substantial expense each month. At this point you must determine whether or not the ease of use of Buffer is worth the additional cost versus using one of the all-in-one tools that may provide a flat rate for agencies. We believe that for the majority of users, the answer is still yes, because the user experience is so clean and intuitive that you will actually use it.

We would recommend Buffer if you dislike using software that feels like a chore. To us, the ROI comes from the hours you will save by not having to fight through a cluttered User Interface. If it allows you to be consistent without the headaches associated with traditional scheduling tools, then it is worth every penny.

Most users at Buffer select the Essentials plan. This is easy to see — while the Free plan is great as a testing ground, almost all users will reach the 10 post limit in their first week of using Buffer. As soon as you are actively trying to grow your brand or small business, this becomes a major barrier to entry. In our view, the transition from the free plan to the essentials plan will be the next best option for the vast majority of users.

This transition allows for unlimited posting, as well as the type of analytics that would give you insight into what is actually working (in addition to seeing which time of day is best to post). The “best time to post” feature alone has made the essentials plan the number one favorite plan for users. Most solopreneurs/creators have told us that paying $6 per channel for the enhanced engagement that comes with posting at the optimal time is a fair price.

About 80% of the individuals I speak with recommend the essentials plan. If you are an agency that has multiple clients and is involved in managing approvals and/or creating custom PDFs for each client, then the team plan is probably the better option for you. For me personally, I believe that the essentials plan represents the perfect spot on the value/pricing curve – not too little, not too much but just right for those who are actively playing a social media strategy.

Using Buffer effectively isn't just about dumping posts into a queue; it’s about mastering the workflow and the budget simultaneously. As someone who’s spent way too much time testing SaaS tools, I can tell you that getting the most out of Buffer requires a mix of smart scheduling and savvy financial moves.

Here are the best ways to keep your social game strong without overpaying:

1. Batch your content creation: Use the browser extension and Canva integration to build a week’s worth of posts in one sitting. It saves a ton of mental energy.

1. Pay annually, not monthly: This is the easiest win. If you commit to a year, Buffer gives you about a 16% discount, which is basically getting two months for free. If you know you're sticking around, there’s no reason not to do this.

1. Audit your pricing plan: Don't pay for the "Team" features if you're a solopreneur. We recommend checking if you’re actually using the approval workflows or branded reports; if not, dropping down to a cheaper pricing plan like Essentials will save you $6 per channel every month.

1. Check for promo codes: You should absolutely keep an eye on our Buffer promo page for a future promo code. When they drop, they usually make the plans much more palatable for small agencies.

1. Limit your channels: Since Buffer charges per channel, be ruthless. If your Pinterest isn't driving traffic, disconnect it and stop paying for it.

Managing your social media shouldn't feel like a chore or a drain on your bank account. Keep it lean, stay consistent, and always look for those annual savings. Another smart move is stacking Buffer with discounted tools for design, analytics, and collaboration by browsing curated SaaS deals for startups.

The number of channels included in your Buffer plan depends entirely on which specific tier you're using, as their structure is quite different from other social media tools. Unlike many SaaS platforms that give you a fixed "bundle" of channels, Buffer’s paid plans are modular, meaning the cost scales exactly with your needs.

Here is the breakdown of how the channel counts work across the various plans:

1. Free plan: You get a hard cap of 3 channels. This is perfect for personal use, but if you want to add a fourth, you're forced to upgrade.

1. Essentials & Team plans: These plans technically start with 1 channel, and you add as many as you need. There is no upper limit; you simply pay a set price ($6 or $12 respectively) for every single channel you connect.

1. The "Start Page" factor: Keep in mind that Buffer counts their "Start Page" (a link-in-bio tool) as a channel. So, if you're on the free plan, a Start Page plus two social profiles equals your three-channel limit.

In our opinion, this "pay-per-channel" model is actually pretty refreshing. We think it’s much fairer than being forced into a "10-channel plan" when you only need five. We recommend starting with just the essentials and adding channels only as your strategy expands.