Best Planable alternatives in 2026
By Kumar Gaurav, founder of OctoqueUpdated Facts checked
If approvals are the heart of your work, Loomly and Vista Social include them with no post caps. If you’re a creator who posts daily to several networks, Planable’s caps run out fast: Octoque has unlimited scheduling on paid plans and approvals from Creator ($29, 2 seats). If you want the cheapest approvals, SocialPilot Standard is $50 for 15 accounts.
Why people look for a Planable alternative
These come up most in Planable’s own documentation and in recent public reviews. Each links to where we saw it.
- Post caps count every network: one post to Facebook, X and LinkedIn uses 3 of Basic’s 60 a month. (Planable help: post limits)
- Analytics, inbox and listening are add-ons, priced per workspace. (Planable help: pricing)
- Per-workspace pricing adds up for agencies with many clients: each one is $39 to $59 a month. (Planable help: pricing)
- Some reviews mention limited storage on Basic (Planable’s Trustpilot score is 4.4 from 71 reviews). (Trustpilot reviews of Planable)
“Storage is very limited for a basic plan, which is the plan most people need”
Planable also does things well, and it may still be the right tool for you: the strongest approval and feedback workflow here, up to multi-level approvals on Enterprise; unlimited users in every workspace, even on Free.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | Starts at | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octoque (ours) | One short video to many platforms, each at its own hour | $15/mo for 3 accounts | Reminders only (you post), 3 accounts, 10 posts a month |
| Loomly | Approvals, inbox and analytics, no post caps | $65/mo for 12 accounts | Limited, not on pricing page |
| Vista Social | Approvals plus inbox and reviews on the entry plan | $99/mo for 15 profiles | No |
| SocialPilot | Team approvals from $50, client approvals from $100 | $30/mo for 7 accounts | No |
| Sendible | Unlimited users and a workspace per client | $35/mo for 6 profiles | No |
| Agorapulse | A deep inbox with approvals from Professional | $99/user/mo | AI-only free plan |
| Buffer | Unlimited users and approvals on Team, per channel | $6/mo per channel | 3 channels, 10 queued each |
| Publer | A low per-account price with approvals on Business | From $5/mo per account | 3 accounts, 10 queued each |
| Planable (for reference) | Teams and agencies whose main job is getting posts reviewed and approved. | $39/mo per workspace | 50 posts in total |
The alternatives
Octoque (made by us)
Best for: Creators who post one short video to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X and more, each at that platform’s own hour.
- Price
- Free: reminders only, you post (3 accounts, 10 posts a month); Starter $15 a month for 3 accounts, posting for you; Creator $29 for 8. Pricing
- Why pick it
- Golden hour on every plan: each platform at its own time, in your audience’s time zone.
- Accounts included in the plan, not billed one by one; approvals from Creator.
- 14-day trial with no card that posts for you (3 accounts, 30 posts), and a full refund within 14 days of any payment, renewals included.
- API and MCP server on every paid plan.
- Watch out for
- New, with no third-party reviews yet. Lighter listening than Brandwatch-class tools (Mentions, on Studio: no web, news or forums); boosts live posts but has no full ads manager; no X comments or DMs in the inbox, and no routing or assignment for teams. The Free plan doesn’t post for you, and there’s no native phone app.
Compared with Planable: Octoque’s paid plans have no post caps (X has its own allowance), golden hour on every plan, and analytics and an inbox included, not add-ons. Planable has unlimited users, multi-level approvals on Enterprise, and phone apps. See Octoque for teams.
Loomly
Best for: Approvals, inbox and analytics, no post caps
- Price
- Starter $65 a month ($49 paid yearly): 12 accounts, 3 users, unlimited scheduling, approvals, inbox, analytics and best time to post. sourceFree plan: Limited, not on pricing page
- Why pick it
- Approvals, an inbox with saved replies and assignment, and analytics, all on the entry plan. source
- A generous refund window: 20 days on monthly plans, 60 on yearly. source
- 12 accounts and 3 users on Starter, with unlimited scheduling. source
- Pinterest and Google Business Profile publishing, plus native phone apps. source
- Watch out for
- No X publishing listed, and the step from Starter ($65, 3 users) to Beyond is $332 a month billed monthly. source
Sendible
Best for: Unlimited users and a workspace per client
- Price
- Core $35 a month ($31 paid yearly): 1 workspace, 6 profiles, unlimited users, unlimited scheduling (100 sends a day), inbox, bulk scheduling. No approvals. sourceFree plan: No
- Why pick it
- Unlimited users on every plan, even the $35 Core plan. source
- Agency tools: a workspace per client, client dashboards and Client Connect, with white label as an add-on. source
- An inbox with comment monitoring and replies, including comments on Facebook ads. source
- Google Business Profile, WordPress and Bluesky, and branded, auto-emailed reports from Premium. source
- Watch out for
- No refunds, a daily send cap per workspace (100 a day on Core), and approvals only from $99 a month. source
Agorapulse
Best for: A deep inbox with approvals from Professional
- Price
- Standard $99 per user a month ($79 paid yearly): 10 profiles, unlimited scheduling, unified inbox, basic reports, MCP. sourceFree plan: AI-only free plan
- Why pick it
- A full inbox: comment moderation, Google review replies, assignment and automated rules. source
- ROI reporting tied to Google Analytics, plus ads and competitor reports on Advanced. source
- An MCP connector for ChatGPT and Claude on every paid plan. source
- A 30-day trial with no card, native phone apps, and Pinterest, Bluesky and Google Business. source
- Watch out for
- Each teammate is another $99 to $199 a month seat, best-time and bulk scheduling need Advanced, and X is a separate add-on. source
Buffer
Best for: Unlimited users and approvals on Team, per channel
- Price
- Essentials $6 per channel a month ($5 paid yearly), 1 user, unlimited scheduled posts. Cheaper per channel above 10 channels. sourceFree plan: 3 channels, 10 queued each
- Why pick it
- A usable free plan with 3 channels, a community inbox and API access. source
- Networks Octoque doesn’t post to, including Mastodon and Substack. source
- Public API and an official MCP server on every plan, plus Zapier, Make and n8n. source
- Native iOS and Android apps, and unlimited users on Team. source
- Years of track record and many public reviews to read. source
- Watch out for
- Cost grows with every account you add, and approvals need Team at double the per-channel rate: 10 channels with approvals is $120 a month billed monthly. source
Publer
Best for: A low per-account price with approvals on Business
- Price
- Professional $5 a month for 1 account ($4 paid yearly); per Publer’s calculator, each further account is about $4 and each extra member $2. sourceFree plan: 3 accounts, 10 queued each
- Why pick it
- A real free plan and a very low per-account starting price. source
- The widest network list here, including Facebook Groups, Google Business, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and WordPress. source
- Link in bio, a feed preview, bulk scheduling and Canva on Professional. source
- A 14-day refund on every payment, and a strong Trustpilot score (4.9 from 1,046 reviews). source
- Watch out for
- Approvals, best-time scheduling, analytics, the API and MCP all need Business, at about 1.75 times the Professional price per account; no unified inbox. source
How to choose
- You hit the post cap: count posts per network: 15 posts a week to 4 networks is about 260 a month. Pick a tool with unlimited scheduling.
- Clients approve your posts: Planable is still one of the best at this. SocialPilot Premium and Vista Social Advanced also have client approvals.
- You pay for the analytics add-on: Loomly, Vista Social and Octoque include analytics.
- You have many clients: Planable charges per workspace; compare against Sendible’s workspace bundles or SocialPilot’s account bundles.
We read each tool’s own pricing page, help centre and terms on 14 October 2026, and linked every price and drawback to its source. Reasons for leaving come from Planable’s own documentation and recent public reviews, which skew negative by nature. We did not run a long hands-on test of each tool, so this compares published plans and documentation, not day-to-day reliability. We picked tools that solve the problems above, not every scheduler on the market. Corrections to hello@octoque.com.
Questions people ask
How does Planable count posts?
Each network in a grouped post counts as one post, so a post to Facebook, X and LinkedIn uses 3 of Basic’s 60 a month.
What does Planable really cost?
Basic is $39 per workspace a month billed monthly ($390 a year, shown as $33 a month); Pro is $59. Analytics ($14), Inbox ($9) and Listening ($99) are monthly add-ons per workspace.
Is there a free Planable alternative?
Planable’s free plan has 50 posts in total. Buffer, Metricool, Publer and Zoho Social have free plans that post for you and reset every month. Octoque’s Free plan resets monthly too, but it reminds you to post rather than posting.
Does Planable refund?
“All sales are final”, with exceptions within 14 days of a first Basic or Pro payment or of a yearly renewal.
Keep reading
More comparisons
Octoque head to head
Alternatives to
Sources
All links checked on 14 October 2026.
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SocialPilot
Best for: Team approvals from $50, client approvals from $100