Best Zoho Social alternatives in 2026
By Kumar Gaurav, founder of OctoqueUpdated Facts checked
Zoho Social is cheap and covers many networks, so switch for a reason. If you need a second person without Premium, Octoque Creator ($29, 2 seats and approvals) and Buffer Team (unlimited users) work. If you want best times on a small plan, Metricool has them on Free and Octoque on every paid plan (on Free they time your reminders). If you need a bigger suite, Agorapulse or Hootsuite.
Why people look for a Zoho Social alternative
These come up most in Zoho Social’s own documentation and in recent public reviews. Each links to where we saw it.
- Inbox, approvals and SmartQ best times need Premium, at $65 a month billed monthly. (Zoho Social pricing)
- Standard and Professional include one team member; more cost $12 a month each. (Zoho Social pricing)
- The free plan leaves out YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. (Zoho Social pricing)
Zoho Social also does things well, and it may still be the right tool for you: wide network coverage in one brand, including Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and Snapchat; monitoring columns for keywords and mentions from Professional.
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 |
| Buffer | Simple per-channel pricing with unlimited users on Team | $6/mo per channel | 3 channels, 10 queued each |
| Metricool | Best times and an inbox on a free plan | $25/mo for 5 brands | 1 brand, 20 posts a month |
| Publer | The most networks for a low per-account price | From $5/mo per account | 3 accounts, 10 queued each |
| SocialPilot | 3 users and approvals for $50 | $30/mo for 7 accounts | No |
| Agorapulse | A deeper inbox and ROI reports | $99/user/mo | AI-only free plan |
| Sendible | Agencies that want unlimited users | $35/mo for 6 profiles | No |
| Hootsuite | Listening and ads in one big suite | $99/user/mo (yearly) | No |
| Zoho Social (for reference) | Small businesses already on Zoho CRM or Desk who want inbox and listening cheaply. | $15/mo for 1 brand | 1 brand, 6 channels |
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 Zoho Social: Octoque includes golden hour on every plan (Zoho’s SmartQ is on Premium) and 2 seats on Creator. Zoho has networks Octoque doesn’t (Mastodon, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Telegram), monitoring, CRM integration and phone apps, and its Standard plan is the same $15 as Octoque Starter. See the full table.
Buffer
Best for: Simple per-channel pricing with unlimited users on Team
- 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
Metricool
Best for: Best times and an inbox on a free plan
- Price
- Starter $25 a month ($20 paid yearly) for up to 5 brands, unlimited posting, link-in-bio, Canva. No team members, approvals or API. sourceFree plan: 1 brand, 20 posts a month
- Why pick it
- A free plan that includes auto-publishing, best times and an MCP server. source
- Deep analytics: up to 100 competitors, PDF reports, ad analytics for Meta, Google and TikTok. source
- An inbox for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Google Business, even on Free. source
- Native iOS and Android apps. source
- Watch out for
- X costs $10 a month per account on every plan, and team members, approvals and the API need Advanced, sold in 15-brand bundles. source
Publer
Best for: The most networks for a low per-account price
- 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
Agorapulse
Best for: A deeper inbox and ROI reports
- 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
Sendible
Best for: Agencies that want unlimited users
- 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
Hootsuite
Best for: Listening and ads in one big suite
- Price
- Standard $99 per user a month, billed yearly: 10 social accounts, inbox, ads publishing, recommended times. Monthly billing costs more; the monthly price isn’t published. sourceFree plan: No
- Why pick it
- Watch out for
- Per-user pricing from $99 a month billed yearly, approvals only from $399 per user, and no refund when you cancel. source
How to choose
- You use Zoho CRM or Desk: stay. The built-in integration is hard to replace.
- You need a teammate: Zoho Standard and Professional have one member; extras are $12 each. Octoque Creator includes 2, Buffer Team and Sendible unlimited.
- You need best times without Premium: Metricool, Sprout Social and Octoque include them on every plan.
- You post mostly short video: check each tool’s video row in our table; Zoho doesn’t say which videos auto-publish.
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 Zoho Social’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
What does Zoho Social cost?
Standard $15 a month ($10 paid yearly) for one brand, Professional $40, Premium $65, Agency $320, monthly billing. There’s also a free plan for one brand on 6 channels.
Which Zoho Social plan has approvals?
Premium and up. Octoque has approvals from Creator ($29); SocialPilot from Standard ($50); Planable on every paid plan.
Does Zoho Social refund?
Yes: within the first month of a monthly plan or 45 days of a yearly one, with shorter windows after an unintended renewal.
Is Octoque cheaper than Zoho Social?
At the entry level they’re the same: $15 a month. Zoho covers a few networks Octoque doesn’t, like Mastodon and Snapchat; Octoque times each platform separately and includes the API and MCP server.
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: 3 users and approvals for $50