Metricool is the analytics-first option in social media management, and its free plan is the most generous in the category by a distance — real reporting, an AI assistant and around 50 scheduled posts a month rather than a crippled demo. Paid tiers price by brand: roughly $22 a month for five, $54 for fifteen, which makes it unusually good value for freelancers and small agencies. Two things belong in the decision: X accounts cost extra, with ten adding around $100 a month, and there's a consistent pattern of complaints about annual renewals charging without notice.
Reviewed by EdGrows·Updated Aug 18, 2026Affiliate link — we may earn a commission
This analysis is based on documentation, public user reports, and vendor materials — not yet on our own hands-on testing. How we rate
Free tiers in this category are usually marketing. Metricool's isn't.
It includes actual analytics rather than a locked preview, the AI assistant, and scheduling for roughly 50 posts a month.
Set that against the competition: Buffer gives three channels with ten posts each, Later gives one profile, and Hootsuite discontinued its free plan entirely. Metricool's is the only one where a solo creator can run a real, if modest, operation without paying.
That generosity is also a strategy — get freelancers in, let them grow into brand-priced tiers as they take on clients. It works because the upgrade path is genuinely cheap.
| Plan | Roughly | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Real analytics, AI assistant, ~50 posts/month |
| Starter | ~$20–22/mo | 5 brands |
| Advanced | ~$53–54/mo | 15 brands, approvals, role management |
| Custom | Quote | Higher brand volumes |
The unit matters enormously if you manage clients. Buffer's per-channel model means twelve channels on Team costs $144 a month. Fifteen brands on Metricool — each with several profiles — costs around $54.
For a freelancer with five clients or a boutique agency with fifteen, nothing else in this category comes close on value. No per-profile surcharges, no credit systems, no seat fees.
One caveat on the sticker: Metricool is Spanish-founded and lists prices in euros excluding VAT. In most of Europe you're paying meaningfully more than the number shown.
This is the detail that decides whether Metricool fits, and it's easy to miss.
X accounts cost extra. Ten connected X accounts add roughly $100 a month on top of your plan — potentially more than doubling an Advanced subscription. And X metrics retain only 30 days of history even on paid tiers.
For an agency where X is a core client channel, that combination is disqualifying twice over: the add-on cost and the inability to report on anything beyond the last month.
It isn't really Metricool's fault — X's API pricing reshaped the economics for every tool that connects to it, and Metricool passes the cost through rather than burying it in base pricing. Some competitors absorb it and charge everyone more. Which approach you prefer depends on whether you use X at all.
If your strategy is Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest, this section doesn't apply to you and Metricool is excellent value. If X is central, price something else.
Worth stating plainly because the pattern is consistent rather than anecdotal.
At least seven reviews between October 2024 and May 2026 describe annual renewals being charged without notice, and G2's aggregated cons summary cites frustrating auto-renewal charges alongside support issues. Metricool refunds initial subscriptions but not annual renewals — a company reply on Trustpilot in June 2026 confirmed as much.
That's not a product flaw and it is a real cost risk. The response is unglamorous and effective: put your renewal date in a calendar with a week's warning, rather than relying on a reminder email that may not arrive.
It's also a reason to consider monthly billing until you're certain, accepting the higher rate as the price of an exit.
The reason to choose Metricool over a publishing-first tool:
Organic and paid in one dashboard. Google Ads and Meta Ads connected alongside social performance, so spend, conversions and returns sit next to reach and engagement. Buffer and Later don't attempt this.
Competitor benchmarking against named accounts rather than industry averages.
SmartSchedule, recommending posting times from your own historical engagement rather than generic advice about Tuesdays at 11am.
Reporting built to be sent to someone else — which for a freelancer or agency is the actual deliverable. Clients don't buy scheduling; they buy the report that says it worked.
That last point is why Metricool's audience skews so heavily toward freelancers and small agencies in review data. It's built for people who have to justify their work monthly.
X-centric strategies. Ten accounts is $100 extra with 30-day retention.
Teams needing listening or sentiment analysis. Not in scope; Sprout Social or Vista Social.
Review management and DM automation. Also absent. Vista Social covers 17-plus review sites.
Buyers who need billing flexibility. Non-refundable annual renewals with a documented complaint pattern.
Against Buffer: Buffer publishes more cleanly with per-channel pricing and a free-forever plan; Metricool explains performance far better and prices by brand. Solo creators posting to a few channels should take Buffer. Anyone producing client reports should take Metricool — and note that Buffer charges nothing extra for X.
Against Later: Later sells by social set and specialises in Instagram-first visual planning. Metricool has no grid preview and much stronger analytics. Visual brands take Later; data-led operators take Metricool.
Against Hootsuite: Hootsuite starts around $99 with no free plan, adding listening, unified inbox and advocacy. Metricool's whole pricing spectrum fits inside Hootsuite's entry tier. For teams that don't need the suite, that comparison is uncomfortable for Hootsuite.
Against Vista Social: Vista Social is the enterprise-shaped option with review management, DM automation and listening, at higher entry pricing. Genuinely different scope — Metricool's full range sits inside Vista's starting plan.
Against Canva: Canva covers design and basic scheduling, which pairs naturally with Metricool's reporting rather than competing.
| Plan | Monthly | Brands | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited | Real analytics, AI assistant, ~50 posts/month |
| Starter | ~$20–22 | 5 | Scheduling, reporting, LinkedIn access |
| Advanced | ~$53–54 | 15 | Approvals, role management, deeper reporting |
| Custom | Quote | Higher | Enterprise brand volumes |
| X add-on | ~$100/mo for 10 accounts | — | 30-day metric retention |
Checked August 2026. Metricool prices per brand and lists in euros excluding VAT, so European buyers pay more than the sticker. Reported figures appear at $20–22 and $53–54 depending on source and currency conversion. X accounts are charged separately. Annual renewals are non-refundable, and multiple reviews between October 2024 and May 2026 report renewals charged without notice. Verify on metricool.com before committing.
Use the free plan properly before deciding. It's real enough to test the workflow, which almost no competitor allows.
Check whether X matters to you. That single question decides whether Metricool is a bargain or the wrong tool.
Diarise the renewal. Non-refundable annual renewals plus a documented notification problem means the calendar entry is on you.
Count brands, not channels. Fifteen brands for $54 is the number to compare against per-channel pricing elsewhere.
Metricool is the best value in social media management for anyone who has to prove their work rather than simply publish it. Per-brand pricing at roughly $22 for five brands and $54 for fifteen undercuts per-channel and per-seat rivals dramatically at agency scale, the analytics genuinely go deeper — competitor benchmarking, SmartSchedule from your own data, organic and paid ads in one dashboard — and the free tier is the only one in this category that does real work rather than functioning as a countdown.
Two caveats decide fit rather than colour it. X accounts cost extra, with ten adding around $100 a month against 30-day metric retention, which makes it the wrong tool for X-centric agencies and irrelevant to everyone else. And annual renewals are non-refundable with a consistent complaint pattern — at least seven reviews across nineteen months describing charges landing without notice, plus G2's own cons summary. Neither is hidden; both need planning around.
The scope is narrow by design: no listening, no sentiment analysis, no review management or DM handling. Metricool stays in the analytics-and-scheduling lane and does that lane well, which is part of why it costs what it costs.
For freelancers and small agencies managing several client brands, recommend — start free, then Starter or Advanced. For X-heavy strategies or teams needing a full suite, look at Vista Social or price the enterprise tools instead.
Note: Metricool does not currently have an affiliate program with AIVario. We earn no commission, and this rating carries no commercial incentive.
Best for: Freelancers and boutique agencies, multi-brand management, teams producing client reports, anyone wanting organic and paid performance in one view Not ideal for: X-centric strategies, teams needing social listening or review management, buyers who want refundable renewals, brands whose priority is visual planning Bottom line: The strongest free tier and the best per-brand pricing in the category — provided X isn't central to your work and you put the renewal date in your calendar.
There's a genuinely usable free plan, then paid tiers priced by brand count: roughly $20 to $22 a month for five brands and $53 to $54 for fifteen, with a Custom tier above that. Metricool is Spanish-founded and lists prices in euros excluding VAT, so the figure you pay is higher than the sticker in most of Europe. There are no per-profile surcharges or credit systems on the core plans — brand count is the variable.
It's the best free tier in this category, and not by a small margin. It includes real analytics rather than a preview, the AI assistant, and scheduling for around 50 posts a month. Compare that to Buffer's three channels with ten posts each, Later's single profile, or Hootsuite's absence of a free plan entirely. For a solo creator or someone testing whether the workflow fits, Metricool free does real work.
Because X's API pricing changed the economics for every tool that connects to it, and Metricool passes that through rather than absorbing it. Ten connected X accounts add roughly $100 a month on top of your plan, and X metrics retain only 30 days of history even on paid tiers. If X is central to your strategy — particularly for an agency managing multiple client accounts — that add-on can exceed the base subscription, and the short data retention limits reporting.
Annual renewals charging without notice. At least seven reviews between October 2024 and May 2026 describe this, and G2's aggregated cons summary cites frustrating auto-renewal charges alongside support issues. Metricool refunds initial subscriptions but not annual renewals, which a company reply on Trustpilot in June 2026 confirmed. The practical response is simple: diarise your renewal date rather than relying on a reminder email.
Much better for agencies, roughly equivalent for solo users. Buffer charges per channel, so twelve channels costs $144 on its Team plan. Metricool charges per brand, so fifteen brands — each with several profiles — costs around $54. For anyone managing multiple clients, that difference is the entire buying decision. For one person with four accounts, the two are close enough that features should decide it.
Analytics depth, competitor benchmarking, and paid ad reporting alongside organic in one dashboard. It connects Google Ads and Meta Ads so you see spend, conversions and returns next to your organic performance — something Buffer and Later don't attempt. SmartSchedule recommends posting times from your own historical engagement rather than generic best practice. If the question you keep asking is 'is this working,' Metricool answers it better than the schedulers do.
Social listening, sentiment analysis, DM management and review monitoring — all absent. Metricool stays deliberately in the analytics-and-scheduling lane. Teams that need to monitor brand conversations at scale should price Sprout Social or Vista Social instead. It's a scope decision rather than a gap, and it's part of why the pricing is what it is.
Analytics versus publishing. Buffer is cleaner and simpler for getting posts out, with per-channel pricing and a free-forever plan across all major platforms. Metricool goes deeper on reporting, competitor tracking and ads, prices by brand, and charges separately for X. Solo creators who mostly publish should take Buffer; freelancers and agencies who have to explain performance to clients should take Metricool.
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