21 Top Social Media Scheduling Tools (2024)

Streamline your social strategy with 21 top tools for scheduling posts across all platforms.

Sultana Ahmed
Posted On
August 7, 2024
Updated On
23 Minute Read
best social media scheduling tools blog header

Keeping up with social media can feel like a full-time job — that's where social media scheduling tools come in. These handy scheduling tools let you plan, create and schedule your posts in advance, making it easier to stay consistent and engaging online. Imagine having all your content lined up and ready to go, freeing you up to focus on research and reporting. In this blog, we dive into the benefits of using social media scheduling tools and highlight some of the most popular and best social media scheduler tools out there to keep your social game strong.

What Are Social Media Scheduling Tools?

Social media scheduling tools are software solutions designed to help you ideate and post your content ahead of time, so it’s ready to go when scheduled. These tools enable you to manage multiple social media accounts from one centralized platform, making it easy to maintain a consistent posting schedule.

By allowing you to queue up content ahead of time, scheduling tools ensure that your posts go live during the best times to post for your brand, like when your audience is most engaged — even when you're not online. This eliminates the need to only share posts during your 9-5 or worry about the right people approving the copy, creative, UTMs and more. Whether you're managing a personal brand, a business or multiple clients, scheduling tools streamline the process, which saves you time and helps your team stay organized.

What To Look For in a Social Scheduling Tool

Selecting the right social media scheduling tool is key to streamlining your online workflow. Here are some of the major features to look for:

  • Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface ensures you can schedule and manage posts effortlessly.
  • Platform Support: Ensure the tool supports all the social media platforms you use, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, X and LinkedIn.
  • Flexible Scheduling: Look for tools that allow you to plan posts well in advance, with features like bulk scheduling and calendar views.
  • Content Management: Opt for tools with content libraries and media storage to keep your posts organized and easily accessible.
  • Analytics: Comprehensive reporting features are essential to track engagement and refine your strategy.
  • Collaboration: If you work with a team, choose a tool that offers multi-user access and approval workflows.

Focusing on these aspects will help you find a scheduling tool that boosts your productivity, enhances your online strategy and meets your team's unique needs.

1. Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson’s social media Scheduler lets you plan, publish and ideate your posts — it integrates seamlessly with the Content Library, which uses Dash Hudson’s Predictive AI to help your team determine which social posts have the best chance to perform. In fact, in our recent Social Media Trends Report, we uncovered that brands who use our Predictive AI receive 66% higher average engagement than brands who don’t utilize this feature. 

With Scheduler, your team has a calendar overview, so you can collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment on everything you publish. The collaboration features enable your team to work seamlessly, streamlining workflows and saving social managers up to 10 hours per week.

Key Features:

  • Visual content planning.
  • Performance analytics.
  • Instagram-specific tools.
  • Major social media platform partnerships.

Pros:

  • Great for visual planning.
  • Easy-to-use interface.
  • Streamlined workflow.
  • In-depth analytics, sophisticated insights and reporting.
  • Dedicated customer success team.
  • Unlimited seats for users.

Cons:

  • Higher cost for advanced features.

2. Sprout Social

Sprout Social offers a comprehensive scheduling tool within its broader social media management tool suite. Social teams can use Sprout’s scheduling feature to generate captions with AI, add alt text and even generate additional post ideas from a single line of copy. Beyond this, they offer data on when you should post with its ‘Optimal Send Times’ feature, and a robust content calendar that lets you plan various posts across Instagram, X and Instagram.  

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling
  • Comprehensive analytics
  • Collaboration tools

Pros:

  • Reporting and analytics
  • Multi-platform integration

Cons:

  • Can be expensive as the seat per user cost adds up
  • Steep learning curve for new users
Image credit: Sprout Social

3. Later

Later’s scheduling tool also lets you manage all of your social posts for various platforms, with a mobile app that makes taking content on your mobile device a breeze. For convenience, their scheduling tool lets you share one post to all relevant platforms (they have scheduling capabilities for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube) and then tweak and optimize it for each specific platform. Their visual planner also lets you see how your feed will look before you post, saving you from removing posts or uploading something in error. 

Key Features:

  • Visual content calendar
  • Instagram post scheduling
  • Media library

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use visual planner
  • Instagram-focused features
  • Free plan available

Cons:

  • Limited features in free plan
  • Lacks robust analytics and in-depth insights
Image credit: Later

4. Emplifi

Emplifi’s Publisher tool lets you plan, organize and execute posting from one convenient platform. In addition to its basic posting function, they also offer AI-powered social captions, publishing time recommendations and pre-planned approval flows, so you make sure your pre-planned content is seen by the right stakeholders in your organization. They also provide cloud storage integration, so teams can access and share creative assets with external integrations. 

Key Features:

  • Social media management
  • Customer experience analytics
  • Content scheduling

Pros:

  • Comprehensive customer experience tools
  • Strong analytics capabilities
  • Integrates with multiple platforms

Cons:

  • Can be complex to navigate
  • Expensive for small businesses
Image credit: Emplifi

5. Buffer

Like the previously-mentioned brands on this list, Buffer offers both post planning and the ability to get a bird’s-eye-view of your content with a visual content calendar. Their AI assistant goes a bit beyond helping to generate caption ideas, but also helps your team brainstorm ideas, write faster and repurpose posts — their tool even lets you upload long-form content to get social media post ideas. They also offer collaboration among your team, so multiple people can draft, give approvals and help manage your organization’s social presence. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Team collaboration

Pros:

  • User-friendly interface
  • Affordable pricing
  • Strong support and integrations

Cons:

  • Limited features on lower plans
  • Basic analytics compared to competitors
Image credit: Buffer

6. Meltwater

Meltwater’s scheduling tool is specifically designed for PR and marketing professionals. Meltwater offers publishing for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and LinkedIn. Their tool has an integrated asset editor so you can make small adjustments to your content as needed. Within their drafting and approval process, you can even assign specific tasks and access to particular team members, so your campaigns and day-to-day content are seen by who matters most, including external agencies. 

Key Features:

  • Social media monitoring
  • Analytics and insights
  • Content scheduling

Pros:

  • Excellent for media monitoring
  • Detailed analytics
  • Good for larger businesses

Cons:

  • High cost
  • Steeper learning curve
Image credit: Meltwater

7. Airtable

AirTable’s social media scheduling tool is flexible and functional — social teams can schedule posts across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and more. Their tool lets social teams create a bespoke content calendar tailored to your specific needs, with options to add tags, attachments and custom fields. AirTable also makes collaboration easy, with features that let multiple team members draft, edit and approve posts. AirTable also integrates with other tools to help align your strategy with your broader marketing and project management efforts for a holistic approach to planning and executing content. 

Key Features:

  • Customizable databases
  • Content planning
  • Integration with social media tools

Pros:

  • Highly flexible and customizable
  • Great for organizing content
  • Integrates with various tools

Cons:

  • Requires setup and customization
  • Can be overkill for simple scheduling
Image credit: Airtable

8. CoSchedule

CoSchedule’s bread and butter are their calendars — while many platforms offer robust calendars that suit a diverse range of needs, CoSchedule takes this a step further by offering calendars for social planning, overall marketing planning and agencies. Their social calendar lets you compose, with AI capabilities that help you compose posts, optimize messages and even generate prompts. 

Key Features:

  • Content calendar
  • Social media automation
  • Analytics and reporting

Pros:

  • Comprehensive content calendar
  • Integrates with various marketing tools
  • Good for team collaboration

Cons:

  • Can be pricey
  • Complexity may be overwhelming for some users
Image credit: CoSchedule

9. Sendible

Sendible also offers content publishing and a visual content calendar for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn. Their tool is best suited for agencies, specifically offering a calendar that’s easy and intuitive to use when tailoring their content to their unique voice and brand identity. They also offer an image resizer, which is great for last-minute adjustments and tweaks. What’s more, they also offer a Canva integration, which is perfect for leaner teams or teams without a dedicated graphic design team. They also offer a unique ‘Smart Queue’ feature, which lets you upload longer, Evergreen content and automatically generate a post, which is helpful for those who are looking for something even more simplified than automation. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling
  • Content curation
  • Reporting and analytics

Pros:

  • Affordable pricing
  • User-friendly
  • Strong content curation tools

Cons:

  • Limited features in lower-tier plans
  • Can be slow at times
Image credit: Sendible

10. Loomly

Loomly lets you preview, schedule and automate posts for Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Google Business. For brands that rely on external images, they offer 5 million royalty-free photos and videos that teams can edit directly in the tool. They also have a built-in photo and video editor, so you can make any last-minute tweaks without having to re-upload. This a great platform for teams without a dedicated design team or teams who want to maximize the amount of images at their disposal. 

Key Features: 

  • Content scheduling
  • Approval workflows
  • Performance analytics

Pros:

  • Easy approval workflows.
  • Visual content calendar.
  • Good customer support.

Cons:

  • Can be pricey for larger teams.
  • Limited advanced analytics.
Image credit: Loomly

11. Agorapulse

Agorapulse lets you schedule content to multiple platforms, including Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and Google Business. Their Publishing tool lets you optimize content from the scheduler, collaborate with your team and organize your content in a visual content calendar, so you can see what’s going out and when. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling
  • Engagement tracking
  • Analytics and reporting

Pros:

  • Comprehensive social inbox
  • Good analytics and reporting
  • Affordable pricing

Cons:

  • Limited customization options
  • Interface can be cluttered
Image credit: Agorapulse

12. SocialBee

SocialBee offers fully automated scheduling and publishing for brands on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Business, Bluesky and Universal Posting. SocialBee offers multiple ways to view your content, including a content category overview, a feed view, a calendar view, a grid view and a list view — this is perfect for larger social teams that prefer different ways of planning and viewing their content. SocialBee’s scheduling feature also contains AI recommendations that go beyond content recommendations, with platform suggestions, best posting time recommendations and categorized content plans. 

Key Features:

  • Content categorization
  • Scheduling and automation
  • Analytics

Pros:

  • Robust content categorization
  • Affordable pricing
  • Easy to use

Cons:

  • Limited integrations
  • Basic analytics
Image credit: SocialBee

13. Canva

Canva's social media scheduling tool is designed to streamline content management across multiple platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok. With Canva, you can plan and visualize your posts using a drag-and-drop content calendar, ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing feed. The tool integrates seamlessly with Canva's design features, which allow you to create stunning graphics directly within the platform and schedule them instantly. Collaboration is made easy with team features that let multiple users draft, approve, and manage content. Canva's scheduling tool also offers analytics to track the performance of your posts, helping you optimize your social media strategy.

Key Features:

  • Graphic design tool
  • Social media post templates
  • Scheduling integration

Pros:

  • Excellent for creating visuals
  • User-friendly
  • Free plan available

Cons:

  • Scheduling features are basic
  • Limited to visual content creation
Image credit: Canva

14. Meta Business Suite

Meta Business Suite’s Scheduling tool is perfect for brands that don’t require advertising outside of Facebook or Instagram, and need minimal scheduling and posting capabilites. Its tool lets you plan and post content from your mobile device and offers a visual content calendar for teams to plan their scheduled posts. With integrated insights and analytics, you can track the performance of your posts and refine your strategy for better engagement. The platform also supports team collaboration, allowing multiple users to draft, approve and manage content seamlessly.

Key Features:

  • Scheduling for Facebook and Instagram.
  • Performance insights.
  • Ad management.

Pros:

  • Free to use.
  • Direct integration with Meta platforms.
  • Easy-to-use interface.

Cons:

  • Limited to Meta platforms.
  • Basic feature set compared to others.
Image credit: Meta Business Suite

15. Napoleon Cat

Napoleon Cat’s social media scheduling tool lets you plan and post content to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google My Business and LinkedIn. You can share a single post to multiple platforms, or tailor each post to specific platforms. Its AI Assistant is built-in to the scheduler and helps analyze trends and past performance to offer content suggestions for your social posts. They also offer some compelling collaboration features, including a discussion panel so your team can exchange ideas in one central location. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling.
  • Analytics and reporting.
  • Social inbox.

Pros:

  • Good for engagement tracking.
  • Affordable pricing.
  • Easy-to-use interface.

Cons:

  • Limited integrations.
  • Basic analytics.
Image credit: Napoleon Cat

16. Pallyy

Pallyy’s social media scheduling tool is a great choice for managing your content across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Pinterest. It has a drag-and-drop visual content calendar, planning and organizing posts is a breeze. Pallyy also makes team collaboration easy, letting multiple members draft, review, and approve content seamlessly. Their AI-powered features help your team generate caption ideas, optimize posts and repurpose content, keeping your social media game fresh and engaging. Plus, Pallyy’s detailed analytics let you track performance and tweak your strategy for better results in your next posts. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling.
  • Analytics.
  • Content planning.

Pros:

  • User-friendly.
  • Good for small businesses.
  • Affordable pricing.

Cons:

  • Limited advanced features.
  • Basic analytics.
Image credit: Pallyy

17. Plann

Plann’s social media scheduling tool is a versatile and user-friendly option for managing your content across Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Pinterest. With its drag-and-drop visual content calendar, you can easily plan and organize your posts. Plann also supports team collaboration, allowing multiple users to draft, review and approve content seamlessly. Their AI-powered features help generate caption ideas, optimize posts and repurpose content, keeping your social media strategy dynamic and engaging. Plus, Plann offers in-depth analytics to track your performance and refine your approach for better results. It's a great all-in-one solution to keep your social media game strong.

Key Features:

  • Visual content calendar
  • Instagram post scheduling
  • Analytics

Pros:

  • Great for Instagram scheduling
  • Visual content calendar
  • Easy-to-use

Cons:

  • Limited to Instagram features
  • Basic analytics
Image credit: Plann

18. Tailwind

Tailwind’s social media scheduling tool is a fantastic option for managing your posts across Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. The tool features a smart drag-and-drop visual planner that makes it super easy to organize your content calendar. Tailwind helps streamline team collaboration by allowing multiple users to draft, review, and approve posts seamlessly. Their AI-powered suggestions assist with creating engaging captions and optimizing your content, ensuring your social media stays fresh and relevant. Plus, Tailwind’s analytics provide valuable insights to help you track performance and fine-tune your strategy for better results. It's an all-in-one solution that keeps your social media planning smooth and effective.

Key Features:

  • Pinterest and Instagram scheduling
  • Analytics
  • Content planning

Pros:

  • Excellent for Pinterest scheduling
  • Good analytics
  • Visual content planner

Cons:

  • Limited to Pinterest and Instagram
  • Can be pricey
Image credit: Tailwind

19. Monday

Monday’s social media scheduling tool is a versatile option for managing your content across different platforms. With its intuitive visual content calendar, you can easily plan, organize, and oversee your posts, ensuring a cohesive and strategic approach to your social media presence. Monday’s tool supports seamless team collaboration, allowing multiple users to draft, review, and approve content. Their AI-powered features help generate engaging captions, optimize messages, and even suggest post ideas. Additionally, Monday offers robust analytics to track the performance of your posts, helping you refine your strategy and boost engagement. It’s an all-in-one solution designed to keep your social media efforts streamlined and effective.

Key Features:

  • Customizable workflows
  • Content scheduling
  • Team collaboration

Pros:

  • Highly customizable
  • Good for team collaboration
  • Visual interface

Cons:

  • Can be expensive
  • Complexity may be overwhelming
Image credit: Monday

20. Adobe Social Media Scheduler

Adobe Social Media Scheduler offers a comprehensive tool for managing your content across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube. They offer an intuitive visual content calendar, to help your team get a solid idea of your content’s visual layout. Adobe’s AI-powered features assist in generating creative captions, optimizing posts and brainstorming new content ideas. The tool also supports team collaboration, which allows multiple users to draft, review and approve content. Integrated analytics provide insights into post performance, which is helpful for refining your strategy.

Key Features:

  • Content scheduling
  • Performance analytics
  • Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud

Pros:

  • Integration with Adobe tools
  • Strong analytics
  • Good for creative teams

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Limited to the Adobe ecosystem
Image credit: Adobe

21. E-Clincher

E-Clincher’s social media scheduling tool is a versatile solution for managing your content across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube. With its intuitive visual content calendar, you can easily get a bird’s-eye view of your entire social media strategy. E-Clincher’s AI-powered features help generate engaging captions, optimize posts and brainstorm new content ideas, ensuring your social media presence stays dynamic and fresh. The tool supports seamless team collaboration, so multiple team members can draft, review and approve posts. E-Clincher also includes analytics that provide insights to help you track performance and refine your strategy for better engagement. 

Key Features:

  • Social media scheduling.
  • Content curation.
  • Analytics.

Pros:

  • Comprehensive scheduling features.
  • Good content curation.
  • Affordable pricing.

Cons:

  • Interface can be cluttered.
  • Limited customer support.

FAQs

Are companies using social media marketing scheduling tools?

Yes, companies are increasingly using social media marketing scheduling tools. These tools help businesses streamline their social media efforts by allowing them to plan, schedule, and automate their posts across various platforms.

This can save time, maintain a consistent posting schedule, and enhance overall efficiency in managing social media campaigns. In 2024, the use of these tools has become even more prevalent as businesses aim to maximize their online presence and engagement without the constant need for manual updates.

How do I create a social media content schedule?

Creating a social media content schedule involves a few key steps to ensure consistency and effectiveness. Start by defining your goals and identifying your target audience. Then, conduct a content audit to see what has performed well in the past. Next, brainstorm and plan your content themes and topics, aligning them with your marketing goals. Use a social media calendar template to organize and visualize your posts across different platforms, scheduling them at optimal times for maximum engagement. Finally, monitor your performance and adjust your strategy based on analytics and feedback to continuously improve your social media efforts.

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