What is the best free Hootsuite alternative?

Hootsuite describes its free option as Free 14 day trial on Standard, Professional, Advanced; no credit card required.

Per user pricing grows with every person who logs in. A freelancer working alone pays for one user; an agency with five people pays for five. For many small teams, that is the moment they start looking for something free or cheaper.

Before you leave, be clear about what you would lose. Hootsuite's inbox covers Yes, every plan includes the social inbox; comments and DMs across Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads (Threads limited to comments). It lists comment to DM as Yes, automated Instagram DMs sent when 'a user comments a specific keyword on your post'. It includes Yes, 'Analytics and reporting' from Standard; custom reports on Professional, an AI assistant (Yes, Wisdom AI assistant on every plan; 'Generate posts and images with AI') and iOS and Android apps. No free option on this page replaces all of that at once. A free alternative only makes sense if the part of Hootsuite you actually use each week is covered. Write down those tasks before you compare tools, and judge every option on them rather than on the full feature list.

Buffer offers Yes, free forever: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user, 100 ideas, 30 day analytics history, 5 AI reply suggestions per week. Its inbox is described as Yes, community/engagement replies on all plans, covering networks including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. It is the simplest free option and suits one person with a few accounts.

Metricool offers Yes, free forever: 1 brand, all networks except LinkedIn and X, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days analytics, 5 AI credits per brand/month. Its free inbox covers Yes; Free: Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube; paid adds LinkedIn; X via add on. Its comment to DM automation is listed as Yes on Starter, Advanced, Custom: Flows incl. 'Turn comments into DMs', 'No extra cost for a limited time'; not on Free, so that part is not free.

Publer offers Yes, free forever: 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts (no X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 25 drafts, 24 hour post history. It supports Facebook, Instagram, X (paid only), LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, YouTube, WordPress, TikTok, Telegram, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, which makes it a broad free choice for people who mostly need a calendar across many networks.

If you are leaving Hootsuite for its inbox, Metricool's free plan is the closest permanent free match because it includes conversations on several networks. If you are leaving for publishing alone, Buffer or Publer will do. If your inbox work is mostly Instagram comments and DMs for clients, Schedulely's labelled inbox is free during early access, with the caveat that paid plans start later. Check each free plan's limits against your real account count before moving clients.

A simple plan for moving to Schedulely during early access:

• Connect accounts. Each account connects through the network's own sign in page. For client accounts, send a connect link so the client signs in themselves and nobody shares a password.
• Move the queue. There is no automatic import from Hootsuite. Copy upcoming posts into a spreadsheet and paste the rows into bulk schedule, with a Google Drive link as the fourth column for media. Fill in every time at once and save as drafts.
• Set up the inbox. Add saved replies for common questions and a few keyword automations, such as hiding scam comments.
• Check time zones. The week calendar shows each client in their own time zone, so confirm posting times before you schedule.

Run both tools for a week. If Schedulely covers your work, cancel Hootsuite at the end of its billing period.