64 Social Media Scheduling Tools for 2021 (With Verified Reviews)

Social media scheduling tools should, in theory, make your life easier.

With content coming from every direction, that needs to be pitched in a different way on each channel, and with several people involved in the approval process, social media can be difficult to manage.

A good social media scheduling tool will help you cut corners without cutting quality.

But there are so many different socila media scheduling tools. How do you know which of them are right for you?

From free social media scheduling tools, to more expensive, high-tech platforms, it's a minefield out there.

First of all, you need to understand what a social media scheduling tool does, why it exists and why it can help you so much more than an Excel spreadsheet.

Some social media scheduling tools will only help you schedule your social content, and they do a brilliant job of it. Some tools give teams a way to collaborate on content and decide what to post, and they’re pretty effective too.

You may also find that a tool you’ve already got a license with, such as Hubspot, has a social media scheduling feature that helps you do your job more quickly and to a higher standard.

In our big list of social media scheduling tools we’ve broken the main features of each social media scheduler into the following categories:

1. Scheduling
2. Content Curation
3. Analytics
4. Approvals
5. Responding

Here’s a brief overview of what we mean by each of those categories.

Scheduling

As you’d expect, social media scheduling itself is a main focus at ContentCal. We define scheduling as the ability to set the time and date your content goes live.

The complexity of the scheduling element of a tool can vary, however. Some will work for just one social platform, while others will work across all channels.

You’ll also find that some encourage more advanced scheduling. For example, ContentCal automatically sets your social posts up to send at the time your audience is most engaged, based on the success of previous posts.

At ContentCal we want to make scheduling posts easy. That’s why you can use our calendar view to publish to Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook Groups, and many more social platforms.

Just choose the day you’d like to post on your content calendar and add the post, any associated links, media, and hashtags, then choose a publish time and date. Use our Analytics to work out your best times for publishing and use Preset Publish Times to select from a list of options when scheduling your post.

When you’ve expertly crafted your post & you think it’s ready, hit post preview to double-check. Then you can schedule the post to go out whenever you’re ready.

Content Curation

Once you’ve got into the swing of creating content, you’ll discover that your content will become something like a library.

It’s very difficult to keep tabs on your vast volumes of content, but you need to keep your content relevant, and you want to re-use the really good stuff.

Using a tool to help you create powerful content that resonates with your audience. That’s key to driving and sustaining engagement.

At ContentCal we offer Content Hub, which we think of as our content creation station. When we get a thought, you can head to Content Hub’s library to begin crafting content without having to add it to a Calendar.

These posts can be used as templates that are dragged into the Calendar and easily changed from there. Here’s what our Product Designer Becca Croly has to say about Content Hub:

“Content Hub was built for creative types. It’s harder for your creativity to be unleashed when you’re under pressure to make decisions about your post's time, date, or channel. Content Hub allows you to focus on perfecting the content and worry about the details later ” - Rebecca Croly, Product Designer

ContentCal is just one example of a social media scheduling tool that allows users to curate and change content before it’s published. We’ve listed many more in our article below.

Analytics

It’s supremely difficult to improve your social media clout without a good idea of what you’ve already achieved. The best social media scheduling tools all have analytics platforms to show you where you've done a great job and where you can improve, allowing you to create the ideal social media plan.

Social analytics tools generally tell you how each piece of content performs, and give you more information about your audience. These insights allow you to make decisions with greater certainty that they’ll be a success.

ContentCal’s own social media analytics tool tells you everything you need to know about improving your posting behaviors. See stats on engagement, audiences, and the best time to post.

This helps you stop guessing and get real insights into the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts. How are you going to improve if your social media scheduling tools don’t tell you how you’re doing?

Approvals flows

Often posts and content need to go through a multi-step approval process within your own business before you want them to be published.

However, keeping track of the approval process, and moving the content through these different stages can be complex and time-consuming.

The best approval systems provide a crystal-clear workflow for approving content, and a simple dashboard for understanding who still needs to give their input. In short, they don’t bring up any barriers that stop teamwork from flowing.

ContentCal started as a social media agency, so its content approval process is a core part of the process. They can be used internally, or used with your social media clients, depending on how you plan to use the social media tool.

There are a variety of social media tools you can use to manage approvals; each of them will offer a different level of complexity. At ContentCal, we’ve built an approvals flow that suits how agencies work, but are simple enough to use as part of a small team.

Responding to engagement

Finally, social media tools can help your business to respond to the engagement it gets through social media.

From chatbots to help you manage your customer service to messaging and automated responses, these tools can help you engage effectively, and in the least time-consuming way.

Social media quickly evolved from a place to post about what’s going on with your company to a place where your customers are asking questions about your service.

With so many social channels to be contacted on, it can be time-consuming to make sure that each channel is effectively manned.

With one inbox for Tweets, Twitter DMs, Facebook messages and comments, ContentCal makes it easy to manage the way you interact with your customers online.

Keep your tone of voice aligned and make sure you’re not repeating yourself across different conversations with a single CRM for interacting with your customers.

How to choose a social media scheduling tool

Next, you need to consider whether the individual social media scheduling tool actually does what it says on the tin (as we say in the UK).

Independent reviews are the best place to find out. You need to hear, from real businesses like yours, whether the social media management tools are going to fit into your workflow/

By reading reviews, and looking at ratings, you can go beyond the product’s marketing spiel, and see for yourself if the tool is going to work in the way you want it to.

With an insane number of different tools and review sites out there, this exercise could become a full-time job by itself. So, we’ve done the hard work for you. We’ve listed the majority of social media scheduling tools for you, given you those most important details, and then pointed you in the direction of some independent reviews.

Before we get stuck into our list of social media scheduling tools and independent reviews for 2021, let’s explain a little more about the different types of social media tools available.

What is a social media scheduling tool?

Social media is all about consuming content quickly. But even the most organized team cannot manage their social media content, effectively, in real-time. They need to schedule content.

Scheduling and posting content on social media allows you to plan, publish, and review content in a more strategic way.

At their most basic, social media scheduling tools enable your business to appear online either throughout the day, or whenever you want to look like you’re live.

However, the value they bring is greater than just that.

With the right social media scheduling tools, you can maximize the potential of your content and fire up engagement on all of your social media accounts.

From just one platform, the best tools allow you to publish content, monitor it, push it, and manage it. The result is far more efficient and successful, and the process is much simpler than going back and forth between multiple platforms.

Different social media scheduling tools

So, how do the different social media scheduling tools on the market score, in terms of different features and functionalities?

To help you get a better understanding of the market, we've listed the top social media scheduling tools. We've let you know what they do, showcased a review of their main features, and pointed you to more independently verified reviews where you can learn more.

Please note that - because the price of these tools often changes - the pricing information listed below may not be correct. To find correct pricing, take a look at the tool's home page.

1. ContentCal

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

2. Sprout Social

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $99 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

3. HubSpot Marketing Hub

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

4. Loomly

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $25 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

5. Hootsuite

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: [Go to G2] (https://www.g2.com/products/hootsuite/reviews#reviews "Hootsuite on G2 Crowd")

6. PromoRepublic

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $49 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

7. Falcon.io

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: Undisclosed. Contact Falcon.io directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

8. Zoho Social

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: £8/€10 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

9. Later

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

10. TweetDeck

Features include: Scheduling

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

11. Buffer

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

12. Facebook Pages Manager

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

13. Sendible

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $29 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

14. AgoraPulse

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: €99 per month ($120)

Reviews: Go to G2

15. SocialOomph

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $55 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

16. Statusbrew

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $125 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

17. MeetEdgar

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics, Content Curation

Pricing starts at: $19 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

18. eClincher

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $59 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

19. CoSchedule Social Organizer

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $19 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

20. Thryv

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Thryv directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

21. Tailwind

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $9.99 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

22. ContentStudio

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $49 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

23. Viraltag

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $24 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

24. Sprinklr Modern Engagement

Features include: Responding

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Sprinklr directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

25. Everypost

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

26. Planoly

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

27. Crowdfire

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

28. Social Report

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $49 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

29. ManageFlitter

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $12 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

30. Planable

Features include: Scheduling, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

31. HeyOrca

Features include: Scheduling, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $99 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

32. SocialPilot

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $30

Reviews: Go to G2

33. Socialbakers

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: Get in touch with SocialBakers for a quote.

Reviews: Go to G2

34. SEMRush

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $99

Reviews: Go to G2

35. Vendasta

Features include: Scheduling

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

36. Commun.it

Features include: Responding

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

37. Clarabridge Engage

Features include: Responding, Analytics,

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Reputation.com directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

38. Oktopost

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Reputation.com directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

39. Brandwatch

Features include: Analytics

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Reputation.com directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

40. Kontentino

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: €59

Reviews: Go to G2

41. OneUp

Features include: Scheduling

Pricing starts at: $12

Reviews: Go to G2

42. SmarterQueue

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: £13.99 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

43. KUKU.io

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $7

Reviews: Go to G2

44. SocialBee

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $19 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

45. Rignite

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $28 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

46. Postcron

Features include: Scheduling

Pricing starts at: $8

Reviews: Go to G2

47. IFTTT

Features include: Scheduling,

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact IFTTT directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

48. NapoleonCat.com

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $27 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

49. MavSocial

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $19 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

50. Post Planner

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $3 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

51. Hearsay

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Hearsay directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

52. SocialFlow

Features include: Scheduling

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact SocialFlow directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

53. SOCi

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics,

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact SOCi directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

54. Sked Social

Features include: Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $25 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

55. Audiense Connect

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: $0 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

56. Feedly

Features include: Content Curation, Analytics

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Feedly directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

57. SocialGest

Features include: Analytics

Pricing starts at: $9.99

Reviews: Go to G2

58. Linked Helper

Features include: Responding

Pricing starts at: $15 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

59. NiceJob

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $75 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

60. Yotpo

Features include: Analytics

Pricing starts at: $0

Reviews: Go to G2

61. #tagboard

Features include: Analytics

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact #tagboard directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

62. Cool Tabs

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $49 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

63. Facelift Cloud

Features include: Responding, Scheduling, Content Curation, Analytics, Approvals

Pricing starts at: Not disclosed. Contact Facelift Cloud directly.

Reviews: Go to G2

64. HopperHQ.com

Features include: Scheduling, Analytics

Pricing starts at: $25 per month

Reviews: Go to G2

READ MORE: The best tools to use alongside ContentCal