9 Best Postiz Alternatives in 2026, Hosted and Open Source

The best Postiz alternative for a hosted scheduler you run from code or an AI assistant, with no server to look after, is PostWharf: it bills per brand with unlimited channels and no per-channel fee, includes a REST API, an MCP server, a command-line tool and webhooks on every plan, and checks every post after it goes out, from $15 a month. Other picks, by need:

• Self-hosting on a one-time licence: Mixpost, whose Lite edition is free under the MIT licence and whose Pro licence is $299 once.
• AGPL code like Postiz's own: TryPost, free to run on your own server.
• A bare posting API billed per account: Zernio, with the first two accounts free and $6 for each of the next eight.
• AI image and video credits with API access: Blotato, $29 a month for 20 accounts.
• A free plan that still includes an API key: Buffer, for up to three channels.
• Analytics plus scheduling from Claude or ChatGPT: Metricool, from $25 a month for up to five brands.
• Agencies growing into client approvals: SocialPilot, from $30 a month with an MCP server on every plan.
• API and MCP access billed per account: Publer, $35 a month for five accounts on Business.

Prices are US dollars on monthly billing, read on 16 October 2026.

Postiz sells its hosted service in channel tiers: Standard is $29 a month for 5 channels and no team members, Team is $39 for 10, Pro is $49 for 30 and Ultimate is $99 for 100, each with a 7-day trial that needs a card (Postiz pricing, read 16 October 2026). The same code is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence, so you can run it yourself for nothing, but you then register your own developer app with most networks, which can take weeks for Meta, YouTube and TikTok. The alternatives below fall on one side of that line or the other: hosted services you pay for each month, or open-source code you run on a server of your own.

If the hosted side is where you want to land, compare PostWharf's plans: Starter's first seven days are free, and you pay nothing if you cancel before the trial ends.

How we chose these 9

We started with PostWharf and, Postiz aside, the 19 schedulers that AI answer engines named for social-scheduling questions in a Cituna scan run on 16 October 2026: Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later, SocialBee, CoSchedule, MeetEdgar, Sendible, Metricool, Publer, SocialPilot, Planable, Pallyy, Blotato, Agorapulse, Ayrshare, Zoho Social, Vista Social and Meta Business Suite. To those we added three names that come up when people look past Postiz in particular: Mixpost and TryPost, which open-source directories list next to it, and Zernio, whose own Postiz comparison AI engines cite. A tool made the list if:

• it schedules posts to several social networks from one place, by hand or from code;
• it keeps one of the two things people choose Postiz for: open-source code you can run on your own server, or an API or MCP server that can publish, on a plan listed at $99 a month or less, the price of Postiz's largest hosted plan;
• we could pin its price for the setup Postiz's Standard plan covers, one brand with five channels, from the vendor's own page or one dated web search, with the sources agreeing.

Meta Business Suite fails the first test: it plans posts for Meta's own apps, Facebook and Instagram.

Nine fail the second. Later's site mentions no public API or MCP server. SocialBee describes neither and routes automation through Zapier, Make or Pabbly. Sendible's API covers single sign-on only, with no MCP server. A SocialKit comparison found no API on CoSchedule's or MeetEdgar's pricing pages, and none listed for Zoho Social. Hootsuite's plan descriptions do not list its publishing API on any plan, its vendor pages do not say which plans get its MCP servers, and Perch, one of those servers, saves drafts but does not publish. Agorapulse's Standard plan is $99 a user a month for 10 profiles and includes its MCP connector, but its help article says the connector creates content and manages the calendar, and its vendor pages do not say the connector publishes or schedules posts; its open API covers reports, on a Custom plan sold through a demo. Sprout Social keeps its API for the Advanced plan at $499 a seat a month, and its MCP server is supported only in ChatGPT and covers only TikTok data.

Four fall on the third test. Ayrshare's pricing page lists a free Basic tier below Premium, which one Ayrshare page puts at 20 posts a month with Ayrshare branding, while a directory says it has no free plan; its paid entry, Premium, is $149 a month for one profile with up to 13 social accounts (Ayrshare pricing). Vista Social's help centre lists MCP from Professional, while a comparison page says it starts on Advanced, and the prices we found for those plans run from $79 to $199 a month; its API is a paid add-on that an account representative switches on. Planable added an MCP connector to its paid plans in mid-2026, according to a pricing tracker, but its Pro plan is quoted at $49 by one source and $89 by another, and none gave a profile limit per workspace. Pallyy includes its MCP server and REST API on every paid plan (Pallyy MCP), and its pricing reference lists Pro at $25 a month, but we could not confirm how many accounts a Pallyy social set holds, and SocialKit notes that its help centre still describes an older pay-as-you-go model.

PostWharf comes first: it is our pick for the need this page is about, a hosted scheduler run from code or an AI assistant, and at $15 it is also the lowest paid price for the five-channel setup among the hosted tools that passed. The other hosted tools follow in order of that five-channel price on monthly billing; where two prices match, a plan with both an API and an MCP server goes before a plan with one of them. The two self-hosted tools come last, ordered by the size of their open-source community in GitHub stars, because what they cost depends on the server you pick. Facts about PostWharf come from its own site, and those about Buffer, Metricool, Publer, SocialPilot, Postiz and the excluded Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later, SocialBee, Sendible and Agorapulse from each vendor's pricing and help pages, read on 16 October 2026. For Zernio, Blotato, Mixpost, TryPost and the other excluded tools we ran one web search each that day. Where sources disagree, the entry says so.

Postiz alternatives compared

Monthly billing in US dollars, read 16 October 2026. "Five channels" means one brand with five connected accounts.

The 9 alternatives, ranked

11. PostWharf

Best for a hosted scheduler you drive from scripts, automations or an AI assistant, with no server to run and no fee per channelFree trial · from $10/moPlans and prices

PostWharf gives each brand one composer and one queue. You write a caption and a set of hashtags once, change them for any network that needs different wording, then publish now or at a set time. Failed deliveries are retried automatically, and each post is checked again after publishing and gets a delivery receipt with one row per network. It publishes to 10 networks today: Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and Telegram (PostWharf, read 16 October 2026).

The developer side is where it lines up with Postiz. Every plan includes a workspace REST API with one key per workspace, an MCP server that works with Claude Code and other MCP clients, a command-line tool called wharf installed from npm, and webhooks. Its integrations list names Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, n8n, Zapier and Make, and when an AI assistant drafts the posts, nothing goes out until you approve it.

You pay per workspace, which is one brand with its own channels, drafts, queue and delivery history, and a workspace takes as many channels as the brand runs. Starter is $15 a month ($10 billed yearly) for one workspace and 200 scheduled posts a month; Startup is $29 ($23) for three workspaces and 400 posts; Plus is $67 ($54) for ten and 1,000 posts; Pro is $99 ($79) for unlimited workspaces and 2,500 posts (PostWharf pricing, read 16 October 2026). One brand on 30 channels stays at $15, where hosted Postiz would put it on Pro at $49.

Where it falls short: it is hosted only, so there is no code to run on your own server. It covers 10 networks against Postiz's 34; Reddit, Discord, Snapchat and WordPress are available on request but not connectable yet. Starter caps scheduled posts at 200 a month, and its pages describe no analytics dashboards or social inbox.

To try it, pick a plan on PostWharf's pricing page. Starter's seven-day trial charges your card only when the trial ends.

22. Zernio

Best for developers who need only an API and would rather pay per connected account than per plan

Zernio, formerly Late, is a social media API. In May 2026 it dropped plan tiers for one price per connected account: the first two accounts are free, accounts three to ten cost $6 each, accounts 11 to 100 cost $3 each and accounts 101 to 2,000 cost $1 each, with analytics, comments, direct messages, ads and webhooks included across 15 platforms (PostPeer on Zernio's pricing change, found 16 October 2026). X is billed separately: Zernio passes X's own API charges through at cost, $0.005 per read, $0.010 per user read or follow, $0.015 per post or direct message sent and $0.200 per post with a URL (Zernio pricing).

By that rate card, five accounts cost $18 a month and ten cost $48.

Where it falls short: the sources we found describe an API for code, not a calendar a marketer works from, and X usage adds to the bill. Its per-account figures come from Zernio's blog and from PostPeer, a rival API, so check them on Zernio's own site before you build on them.

33. Metricool

Best for teams who want analytics and competitor analysis next to scheduling from Claude or ChatGPTFree plan · from $20/moPlans and prices

Metricool plans and analyses posts for Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile and X. It prices by brand, and each brand holds one profile per network. Starter is $25 a month ($20 billed yearly) for up to 5 brands or $45 for 10, and Advanced, which adds approvals, team roles and the REST API, starts at $67 for 15 brands. X is an add-on at $10 a month for each connected account (Metricool's plans and add-ons guide, read 16 October 2026).

Its MCP server works on every plan, Free included. From Claude you can publish a post straight away, schedule it for a set time or let Metricool pick the best time, and the reply links to the post in Metricool's planner so you can review it (Metricool MCP and its help centre, found 16 October 2026). The Free plan holds one brand, leaves out LinkedIn and X, and caps scheduling at 20 posts a month.

Where it falls short: code that calls an API directly needs Advanced at $67, X costs extra per account, and paid plans have no standard free trial, only promotional codes.

44. Blotato

Best for creators who want AI image and video credits alongside an API and MCP server

Blotato's Starter plan is $29 a month for 20 connected accounts, 1,250 AI credits and 200 queued scheduled posts; Creator is $97 and Agency $499, and yearly billing, chosen in the billing portal, takes about 17% off. The REST API, an MCP server with 36 tools, and official n8n and Make nodes all come with Starter. Credits pay only for AI images and video, so scheduling, publishing and API calls do not use them, and 1,000 more credits cost $6 (Blotato's pricing rate card, dated 10 September 2026, found 16 October 2026).

Five channels fit inside Starter with 15 accounts to spare.

Where it falls short: creating an API key ends the 7-day trial, so you cannot test the API or the MCP server for free, and the next step after 20 accounts more than triples the bill.

55. Buffer

Best for trying API posting on a free plan before paying for more channelsFree plan · from $5/moPlans and prices

Buffer publishes to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Google Business Profile and Substack. Its public GraphQL API takes API keys on every plan, and its MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Perplexity and other AI tools is on every plan too. The Free plan holds 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each at a time, one user, 30 days of insights and one API key with 3,000 requests a month. Essentials is $6 a channel a month ($5 billed yearly), so five channels cost $30, and Team is $12 a channel with unlimited members and approval workflows (Buffer pricing, read 16 October 2026). Paid plans start with a 14-day trial.

Where it falls short: the bill rises with every channel, and the three channels that were free are billed once you upgrade. Essentials has one user, and Instagram personal profiles and Facebook groups get reminders instead of automatic publishing.

66. SocialPilot

Best for agencies that want to schedule from an AI assistant now and add client approvals laterFree trial · from $25.50/moPlans and prices

SocialPilot sells four self-serve plans sized by accounts and users: Essentials is $30 a month ($25.50 billed yearly) for 7 accounts and one user, Standard $50 for 15 accounts and three users, Premium $100 for 25 accounts with client approvals and white-label reports, and Ultimate $200 for 50 accounts. Extra accounts are $4 a month each. Its MCP server, on every plan, works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf and Zapier and can schedule posts. It publishes to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile and Bluesky (SocialPilot plans and MCP server, read 16 October 2026). The trial lasts 14 days with no card.

Where it falls short: API access is on the Enterprise plan only, and Essentials has no analytics, social inbox or approvals.

77. Publer

Best for paying only for the accounts you connect, with API and MCP access on the plan that has analyticsFree plan · from $4/moPlans and prices

Publer bills each social account plus each extra team member. Business, the plan with the REST API and MCP server, is $10 a month for one account ($8 billed yearly), $21 for three and $35 for five, with $3 a month for each extra member; it also adds analytics, best times to post and competitor analysis. Professional is cheaper, from $5 for one account, but has neither the API nor the MCP server. Publer covers 13 networks, Mastodon, Telegram and WordPress among them, and bulk-schedules up to 500 posts from a CSV file (Publer plans, read 16 October 2026). Business comes with a 14-day trial.

Where it falls short: the price climbs with every account and member, and daily posting limits apply per profile, with unlimited daily posting reserved for Enterprise.

88. Mixpost

Best for self-hosting on a licence you pay for once, not a subscription

Mixpost is a scheduler you install on your own server. Its Lite edition is free and MIT-licensed but posts only to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon. Pro is $299 once and adds the remaining networks, an API, an MCP server, an AI assistant, approval flows and white labelling, but its licence does not let you run a SaaS on top of it. Enterprise, at $1,199 once, adds subscription management and billing for exactly that. Each licence covers one domain or subdomain and includes a year of updates; after that the software keeps working, and updates continue only if you renew (Blotato's Mixpost and Postiz comparison and SocialKit on Mixpost, found 16 October 2026).

Where it falls short: Lite's three networks leave out Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, so most setups need Pro. Its GitHub repository had about 3,300 stars and a last commit three months old in OpenAlternative's snapshot, against roughly 31,000 stars for Postiz (OpenAlternative). Mixpost's own pages disagree on whether Pro covers 11 or 12 networks, and both price sources compete with it, so confirm the price on Mixpost's site.

99. TryPost

Best for AGPL-licensed code like Postiz's, if you are comfortable with a young project

TryPost is an open-source scheduler under the AGPL-3.0 licence, so it costs nothing to run on your own server (TryPost on GitHub). A Railway deployment template puts the hosting at roughly $5 to $10 a month for one person, though that is the listing's estimate (Railway). There is also a hosted version, which AlternativeTo lists at $10 to $12 a month with a limited free tier; we could not confirm that on TryPost's own site (AlternativeTo, found 16 October 2026).

Where it falls short: sources disagree on how many networks it supports (13 in its README, 10 on the Railway listing), and its community is small, at 709 GitHub stars on its repository.

What running a scheduler on your own server costs

Postiz's documentation sets a floor of 2 GB of memory for one person posting now and then, suggests 4 GB or more once you add users, scheduled workflows or an external database, and recommends 8 GB for a small team of up to 20. Its Docker setup bundles Postgres, Redis and Temporal, and Temporal has been required since version 2.12.0 (Postiz system requirements, found 16 October 2026). A 4 GB, 2 vCPU Basic droplet at DigitalOcean is listed at $24 a month (VPSBenchmarks).

Set against hosted Postiz, that server is $5 a month under Standard's $29 for 5 channels and $15 under Team's $39 for 10. The gap grows with scale, because self-hosted Postiz has no limit on channels, posts or team members, while hosted Pro is $49 for 30 channels and Ultimate $99 for 100. What the server bill leaves out is your time: updates, backups, your own AI keys, and an approved developer app with each network.

The licences matter too. Postiz and TryPost use AGPL-3.0, which lets you run, change and self-host the code, commercially as well, but if you offer a modified version to others over a network, you must make your changes available to them. Mixpost Lite uses the MIT licence, while Mixpost Pro and Enterprise are paid licences tied to one domain each. The same server-or-cloud question comes up with automation tools; our guide to n8n alternatives, self-hosted and cloud weighs it for workflow software.

Should you leave Postiz at all?

Postiz publishes to 34 platforms, Reddit, Discord and Mastodon among them; of the other tools on this page with a published count, Zernio's 15 is the highest. Every hosted Postiz plan includes the MCP server, CLI, public REST API and webhooks with unlimited posts, and the code is free to run yourself. If those are the reasons you chose it and the channel tiers fit your budget, there is little to gain by moving.

The reasons to leave are the ones above: hosted prices that climb with each channel tier, a Standard plan with no team members, a trial that needs a card, annual plans that cannot be refunded, or the upkeep of a self-hosted install.

Which one to pick

Choose by the half of Postiz you rely on. If it is the API, the MCP server and the CLI, and you would rather not run a server, PostWharf gives every brand one queue with all of them on every plan, from $15 a month: see its plans on PostWharf's pricing page. If it is owning the code, Mixpost and TryPost are the open-source routes, and if you only need an endpoint to post through, Zernio's per-account pricing starts free.

Want to build the automations that feed whichever scheduler you choose? Start learning with Automate Basics' free AI courses for work.

Prices change often, so check each vendor's own page before you buy.