Social Media Tools for Local Businesses: Pick by Job
Free native tools, simple schedulers, approval tools and AI drafting tools: what each does, what it costs, and how to choose. We make one of them.
There is no single best social media tool for a local business. There is a best tool for each job: posting for free, scheduling cheaply, getting a boss or client to approve, running a team inbox, or getting the posts written. This guide sorts nine options by job, lists what each costs on the day we read its page, and says when each is the better choice.
Disclosure: we make KeepsPosted, one of the nine. We list tools alphabetically within each job, we do not rank them, and we say where KeepsPosted is not the right answer. Every price below comes from a vendor page read on 10 November 2026. We did not test any of the other products.
How we picked and what we checked
A tool was included if a local business running Instagram and Facebook could plausibly use it and we could read a current vendor page for it. We left out tools whose pricing we could not read and tools aimed at a single other network. We looked at five things:
- Job. What is the tool built to do?
- Price. The starting price on the vendor's page, with the billing basis noted.
- Approvals. Can someone else approve a post before it goes live, and on which plan?
- AI help. What the vendor's page says its AI does.
- Networks. Whether it covers Instagram and Facebook, and what else.
Pick by job
| Your job | Budget signal | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Post and schedule for nothing | $0 | Google Business Profile (for Google), Meta Business Suite (for Facebook and Instagram), Buffer Free, Metricool Free, Publer Free |
| Schedule posts you have already written, cheaply | About $5 to $25 a month to start | Buffer, Later, Metricool, Publer |
| Get a boss or client to approve before posting | From the plan that lists approvals | Buffer Team, Later Growth, Metricool Advanced, Planable, Publer Business, KeepsPosted |
| Run a team with a shared inbox and reports | Per user, from $99 a month | Hootsuite |
| Get this week's posts drafted for you | Varies | Buffer (AI Assistant), Hootsuite (Wisdom), KeepsPosted, Publer (AI brand voice) |
What each costs, read on 10 November 2026
| Tool | Starting price | Billing note | Approvals listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Free; Essentials $5 and Team $10 per channel a month | Per channel. Instagram and Facebook count as two. Free: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel | Team plan |
| Google Business Profile | Free | Google says creating a Profile is free | Not applicable |
| Hootsuite | Standard $99 USD per user a month | Billed annually; 10 social accounts; 14-day trial | Advanced and Enterprise |
| KeepsPosted | Starter $29 a month (1 brand) | Per brand, not per user; yearly is 10 times monthly; no free plan | Approval links on every plan |
| Later | Starter $18.75 a month | Shown as billed yearly; 1 social set of 8 profiles; 14-day trial | Growth ($37.50 a month, billed yearly) |
| Meta Business Suite | Not stated on Meta pages we could read | Widely described as free; Meta One paid plans were announced 15 September 2026 | Not verified |
| Metricool | Free; Starter $20 a month annual or $25 monthly | Price rises with the number of brands; Free is 1 brand and 20 posts a month | Advanced ($53 annual or $67 monthly) |
| Planable | Basic $33 per workspace a month | Per workspace; unlimited users; 4 social pages and 60 posts per workspace; 50-post free trial | Optional on Basic, Required on Pro |
| Publer | Free; Professional from $5 a month | Per the Publer help center; Business from $10 a month; 20% off on yearly billing | Business plan |
Where each one is the better choice
- Buffer. The cheapest way to schedule posts you already wrote, and it covers many networks. Its pricing page lists a free plan, an AI Assistant on every plan and approval workflows on the Team plan. See KeepsPosted vs Buffer.
- Google Business Profile. For a local business, a free Google listing with posts for updates, offers and events (Google Help Center) reaches people searching for you. It is not a substitute for Instagram or Facebook, and it is the easiest win if you have not set it up.
- Hootsuite. The better choice for a team that needs a shared inbox, reports and many accounts. It is priced per user. See KeepsPosted vs Hootsuite.
- KeepsPosted. Better when the slow part is deciding what to post and writing it in your own voice, and when an owner or client must approve each post without making an account. It covers Instagram and Facebook only.
- Later. Better for planning with link in bio, analytics and best-time-to-post suggestions, on a low starting price. See KeepsPosted vs Later.
- Meta Business Suite. Better for a business that only posts to Facebook and Instagram, wants messages and insights in the same app, and writes its own posts. See KeepsPosted vs Meta Business Suite.
- Metricool. A low-cost option with a free plan and Google Business Profile connections listed on its pricing page. It lists a post approval system on its Advanced plan and above.
- Planable. Better for a deep approval process with comments, version history and many networks, and cheaper than KeepsPosted at five clients on the figures in our comparison. See KeepsPosted vs Planable.
- Publer. A low starting price with a free plan. Its help center describes an optional AI brand voice that can analyze previous posts of selected accounts. We did not test it, and that overlaps with part of what KeepsPosted does.
When KeepsPosted is not the answer
- You post to TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest or YouTube. KeepsPosted is Instagram and Facebook only.
- You need analytics, an inbox, DMs or ads management in the same tool.
- You write your own captions happily and only need a calendar. A free or low-cost scheduler is the better value.
- You want a free plan. KeepsPosted does not have one.
- You post video. At launch, KeepsPosted creates single images with captions.
How to choose in ten minutes
Write down your slowest task
Deciding what to post, writing captions, getting approval, replying to messages, or reporting. Pick tools by that task, not by their feature lists.
List your networks
If any network is not Instagram or Facebook, drop tools that do not support it.
Decide who approves
If someone outside the team must approve, filter to the tools with approvals and check the plan that includes it.
Count users and brands
Per-user pricing (Hootsuite) and per-channel pricing (Buffer) grow differently from per-brand pricing (KeepsPosted) and per-workspace pricing (Planable).
Trial the shortlist on one real week
Use the same week of photos and facts in each. Count minutes spent and captions rewritten.
See KeepsPosted's plans on the pricing page.
Common questions
What is the cheapest way to schedule Instagram and Facebook posts?
On the pages we read, free plans exist at Buffer, Metricool and Publer, and Meta Business Suite is widely described as free. Free plans have limits, so check them against your posting volume.
Do I need a paid tool at all?
Not always. A business that posts a few times a week and writes its own captions can often manage with a free tool.
Sources
- Buffer pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Later pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Hootsuite plans (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Planable pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Metricool pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Publer plans and pricing (help center) (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Publer brand voices (help center) (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Google Business Profile Help, create and manage posts (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Meta Business Suite page (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- Meta newsroom, Introducing Meta One (checked 10 Nov 2026)
- KeepsPosted pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
Written by the KeepsPosted editorial team. Other vendors' facts were read from their own pages on 10 November 2026 and not tested by us. We make KeepsPosted and have tried to list it fairly. AI helped draft the text and a person reviewed it.
Keep reading
KeepsPosted vs Meta Business Suite: When Free Is Enough
Meta Business Suite is Meta's own tool. When it is enough for a small business, what we could not verify, and what KeepsPosted adds. Dated and checked.
KeepsPosted vs Buffer for Small Business Social Media
Buffer is a low-cost scheduler for many networks; KeepsPosted drafts from your own photos in your voice. Prices, limits and where each wins, dated 10 Nov 2026.
KeepsPosted vs Later: Which Fits a Local Business?
Later is a planner with link in bio and analytics. KeepsPosted drafts from your photos in your voice. Plans, limits and where each fits, dated 10 Nov 2026.