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Buffer vs Later: the cheap queue or the Instagram planner?
Quick answer
Buffer if you want the cheapest reliable scheduler across several channels: it still has a free plan and paid tiers start at $5. Later if Instagram is your main channel, you shoot your own photos, and the visual grid preview is how you plan. Later dropped its free plan, so it starts at $25. Neither makes the posts, which is the third option.
Buffer vs Later, and Magic Marketer, side by side
Where Buffer wins
Price, channels and simplicity. Buffer is free for three channels, $5 a month per channel after, with no post caps on paid plans and eleven networks including Google Business, Bluesky and Mastodon. It is the right first scheduler for a service business that posts to LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and has the posts ready.
Where Later wins
Instagram, and anything visual. The grid preview, media library, hashtag suggestions and Link in Bio are the most polished in the category, and the best-time recommendations are strong on Instagram and TikTok. If you sell products, shoot your own photography and care how the feed looks as a whole, Later earns its $25.
What neither of them does
Make the posts. Buffer's AI Assistant rewrites a caption you wrote. Later's AI credits (five on Starter) caption images you already have. Neither turns what you know into a week of content. For a consultant, an accountant or a clinic, the content is what they say to clients, not what they photograph, and both tools leave the hard part entirely to you. (The grid preview does not fill itself. We checked.)
Magic Marketer starts from a source - a recording, a voice note, a transcript, a link - and produces finished posts in eight formats in your voice, including carousels, stories and short video sized for Instagram, checked against your guardrails, then published to nine channels at the best time for each. Weekly on Autopilot. It costs more than either, because it does the part they skip.
If you have posts and want a cheap queue, Buffer. If you have photos and want a beautiful grid, Later. If you have expertise and an empty calendar, this is the one.
Buffer vs Later pricing, with Magic Marketer for scale
| Tool | Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Free | $0 | 3 channels, 10 queued posts each, 1 user. |
| Buffer | Essentials | $5/mo per channel | Unlimited posts, analytics, AI Assistant. |
| Buffer | Team | $10/mo per channel | Unlimited users, approvals, permissions. |
| Later | Starter | $25/mo | 1 social set, 1 user, 30 posts per profile, 5 AI credits. |
| Later | Growth | $50/mo | 2 social sets, 2 users, 180 posts per profile. |
| Later | Scale | $110/mo | 6 social sets, 4 users, unlimited publishing. |
| Magic Marketer | Free trial | A$0 for 14 days | Unlimited creations and exports, no card. Publishing needs a paid plan. |
| Magic Marketer | Autopilot | A$149/mo | A fresh batch of posts every week, publishing to nine channels. A$99/mo for the first 100 customers, or A$990/yr. |
Buffer and Later prices are USD list prices as published on buffer.com and later.com, checked September 2026. Magic Marketer prices are in AUD.
Buffer vs Later FAQs
Is Buffer or Later better for Instagram?
Later. The grid preview, media library and Instagram-specific best-time suggestions are its whole reason for existing. Buffer schedules to Instagram perfectly well but plans by list, not by grid.
Does Later still have a free plan?
No. Later retired it; new accounts get a 14-day trial and then Starter at $25 a month. Buffer's free plan still covers three channels.
Which is cheaper for two brands?
Buffer, by a distance. A second brand on Buffer is more channels at $5 each; on Later it is a second social set, which doubles the plan.
Which one makes the posts?
Neither. Both assume you have content. Magic Marketer produces finished posts from a recording, transcript or link and then schedules them.
Related: Buffer alternatives · Later alternatives · Metricool vs Buffer · all alternatives
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