Social Media Management Tools: Which one is best?

Are you confused about all the options for Social Media Management Tools?  In this post we'll cut through all the dozens of tools to share 3 tools that I feel are great options for you right now if you're a creator, business owner or SME.

We'll share the tools we love the most based on pricing, product, ease of use and support and a few other options for teams and agencies.

BY DONNA MORITZ | UPDATED FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links, which means we receive a small commission at no cost to you, if you purchase through a link. 

There are so many social media management tools out there that it can be hard to keep up! What works for some teams or businesses might not work for solopreneurs or content creators.

In the past I've often shared a range of Social Management Tools on this post including Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Agorapulse, Sendible and Buffer. The focus of this article referred to a report that G2 made a few years ago which looked at detailed customer reviews, as reported in this post at Seriously Social. It focused on a range of social media management tools, but primarily focused on tools that let you engage as well as schedule and post.

But with people coming back to this post, it was time to update it. Many of the tools in this article were out of reach in terms of budget for my audience. So I wanted to update you on a handful of tools that I use right now to manage social media. Some of them you might not have considered before and some of them are way more affordable. They just might surprise you!

My Social Media Management Tool History:

Many moons ago, I started out with Hootsuite. This was 15 years ago in my business, and after a while realised that I wasn't keeping up with the multiple columns in their dashboard… and needed a more linear approach. The price was fine at the time but I needed something more visually easy to use.

I quickly moved on to Sprout Social – which I LOVED. But unlike a few friends of mine who were smart enough to get Grandfathered in from beta, the $59 per month was a little pricey at the time. I loved the features including their singular inbox, queue function for scheduling posts, publishing functionality, brand monitoring and GORGEOUS reports – but the price was too high.

I was still needing to track a LOT of mentions back in the days of Twitter, and while I had used and loved Buffer over the years, I never really used it for engagement. I viewed it as a posting/scheduling tool.

Enter Agorapulse. It was the answer to my needs as an all-rounder social media management tool. I could post, schedule, listen and engage with a consolidated singular inbox. Such a time saver for me and my small team. 

 

You can cut to the chase and see a full article on why I love Agorapulse for Social Media Management right here. Agorapulse is best for teams or solo users/business owners/social media managers who have a more sizeable budget (as it starts at $79 per month per user).

If you're looking for an all-rounder, it's pretty hard to beat. Agorapulse is great for listening, planning, scheduling, posting, engaging and reporting. Agorapulse to me, IS engagement and for many years it helped me to keep up with my social inbox. I could also quickly see who my advocates were, who was sharing my content and engage with them. And the listening tools were amazing too. I could easily check in on what was being said about my name and my brand.

However, if you don't have the budget for Agorapulse, here are 3 tools I'm loving right now for managing my social media content. Note that these tools are mainly focused on the scheduling and posting of content. They do cover some engagement and listening but to a lesser degree than Agorapulse.

Social Media Management Tools

1. Canva Content Planner

Did you know Canva has a Content Planner? It's a great option if you want to be able to plan and schedule your content out to social media platforms, straight from Canva. Your designs and posts are at your fingertips!

I'm adding it here as for many of you, it might be the easiest way to add a social media management tool into your workflow – without paying much at all! Why? Because Canva's content planner is included on Canva Pro plans. Which means that small business owners who can't afford the time to manage multiple tech tools or pay monthly subscriptions can access it through a Canva subscription.

And if you already have Canva Pro (which you need to use the Content Planner) then why not take advantage of it being all in one tool?

Not sure where to find the Content Planner? Check out this video: 

 

Here's what you need to know about Canva's Content Planner:

• Access the Content Planner by going to Apps in the Side Panel in Canva, click APPS and then scroll down to find the Content Planner.
• Canva's Content Planner includes hundreds of templates/designs for different celebration days of the year, so you'll never be stuck for what to post.
• It's super easy to use – add your title, caption and image or design – all within Canva without needing to click another tab!
• You can schedule to all the usual platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Tumblr, Slack, TikTok and YouTube.
• Canva Content Planner includes basic analytics where you can track engagement across your posts including clicks, impressions, likes and comments. It's basic performance analytics but for many, that's all that you need.
• The Content Planner is more suited to individuals or small teams sharing content to social media. Coupled with many of the other features you get in Canva Pro, there's a lot to like about the option of having this tool “included” in your Pro plan.
• It's a Canva Pro feature only so you will need to upgrade to Canva Pro to access it.
• It's included in all Canva Pro, Canva Teams/Business, Canva Nonprofit and Canva Enterprise Plans.
• Start for as little as $120 annually or $20 per month (based on USD prices) access Canva Pro… and the Content Planner!

Already got Canva Pro? Then you're all set to check out and try the content planner in Canva.

If you don't yet have access to Canva Pro and you're on a free account, find out more about Canva Pro here.

Get a free trial of Canva Pro using my link as a Canva Verified Expert:

Hint: remember, when you uplevel to Canva Pro, the Content Planner is included. And don't forget that Canva offers a lot of collaboration tools like in-Canva messaging and replies, so if you're working between team members, this makes it even easier to manage your content.

2. SmarterQueue

SmarterQueue has been on my list of top tools for a while now. Admittedly I began using it as a “Meet Edgar” alternative back in the day when we would schedule content in queues to Twitter/X. I wrote about why I switched to SmarterQueue in this post.

While I do less of that type of posting now and more targeted, organic posting (with some scheduling), I still love this tool. SmarterQueue has certainly developed their platform, and recently had a major update to add powerful new features as well as upgrades (including an even better user interface). So, now you can save time, be more organized in your own team AND when managing multiple clients. 

It's now very much an all-rounder social media management tool, that is robust and affordable and easy to use.

Here's what you need to know about SmarterQueue:

• With SmarterQueue you can post to all the main platforms – Facebook, Instagram, XTwitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Business, YouTube and Threads – all from one central hub.
• Smarterqueue continues to allow you to schedule and post evergreen content via re-queue – using category-based scheduling for your content. This includes a pause queue if you need to halt posting. This feature is so important when there is a major worldwide event and posting should pause.
• SmarterQueue is organized in a way that is intuitive, letting you categorize your content and better schedule it for posting. You can filter your content by category, and it's color-coded and easy to follow.
• SmarterQueue let's you find content across Facebook, Instagram and auto-import from RSS feeds or your own blog. You can also add short links and UTM codes for Google Analytics. You can easily import your schedule and content from other tools. In short, it's super easy to find and share high performing content.
• Leverage Power Scheduling to ensure that your content is posted at optimal times – automatically. SmarterQueue gives insights on the optimal times to post based on your audience and history.
• Basic engagement features – you can find conversations around your brand with influencers , followers and leads. Then you can more easily like, comment and share.
• Robust Analytics let you measure your social media success. You can easily track ROI, engagement and growth and share in-depth reports with your team.
• Team profiles and permissions in SmarterQueue allow you to work as a team. This includes client accounts with separate dashboards and the ability to streamline content across multiple editors. Clients can also view their content and reports.
• SmarterQueue includes an AI Assistant that helps you create social media captions and descriptions. It's optimized to help you tailor your content for platform including A/B Testing.
• SmarterQueue is affordable compared to some of the other options here – starting at 24.99 per month.
• There is also an agency plan too and it's quite affordable compared to more established platforms like Agorapulse.

PS this still remains one of my favorite features of SmarterQueue: 

 

Ready to give Smarterqueue a spin? Use my link for a free trial here:

3.  Tailwind for Pinterest

I've used Tailwind for a few years now and love it.  It's hands-down THE Pinterest tool I rely on. And it's great for scheduling and posting to Instagram and Facebook too, if you need it for that. I use it mainly for Pinterest and Instagram.

Also, Tailwind is the oldest Pinterest Partner so you know you are in good hands!

Here's what you need to know about Tailwind for Pinterest:

• You can schedule pins across Pinterest Boards using the Queue feature (Tailwind gives you the “best times” to post). It's super easy to use – simply drag and drop your pins in a calendar format.
• Multiple devices – Pinning is possible from a desktop or mobile.
• Advanced Pinterest Analytics – that tell you the performance of your pins, including the pins being saved and re-pinned from your website, which helps you see what is popular.
• Tailwind helps you to monitor engagement and conversations around Pins.
• Everything is provided in a visual calendar so you can see your pin schedule at a glance.
• Chrome Extension – Tailwind works with an easy-to use browser/chrome extension that makes pinning easy on the fly.
• Tailwind's Content Discovery Tools ensure I always have enough content to pin … even when I am asleep.

Recent updates to this platform include features like:

• Autopublishing features – save time by letting Tailwind schedule and post at the best times for day for your audience according to your Perfect Pin Schedule.
• Interval Pinning – ensures that you don't dump multiple pins at once on boards. Pinterest then works for you 24/7 and you can schedule weeks or months of content out in advance.
• Tailwind provides Guardrails to protect from spam-like behaviours. This ensures you pin at best practice rates and don't go overboard!
• Ghostwriter AI helps you to write Pin descriptions
• Tailwind Create lets you create pins quickly and easily (powered by AI).
• Tailwind Communities is an excellent feature that allows you to collaborate with peers to post each other's content in a way that is fair for all – ie Pinterest users with shared interests pin to shared boards in groups together to help each other grow.
• Easy import of your content – you can import pins via CSV file into Tailwind to get started quickly.
• Pricing is affordable – Tailwind starts as low as $14.99 USD per month or $120 USD per year.

I also love that Tailwind's team REALLY knows Pinterest well, and they do a lot of research. You can rest assured you're getting best-practice advice built right into the software. It's the best Pinterest marketing platform in my opinion.

Take Tailwind for a test run using my link:

Other Social Media Management Tools

Look, yes, there are loads of Social Media Management Tools. And while I've shared a small selection above, I chose to focus on affordable specific tools that you might not have thought of – and that maybe don't always get a lot of airplay. But they should – as they are powerful tools to have in your social media marketing toolkit. Consider them as options. 

But back to the “old-guard” social media management tools. Here are a few to consider if you're comparing all-rounder tools against Agorapulse (and my thoughts). 

1. Hootsuite – yes it's been around the longest but honestly… it's overpriced and caters to enterprise teams. Stay away if you're a small business or agency. There are better options.
2. Sprout Social – for bigger teams and businesses with a bigger budget. Lovely aesthetic reports and includes influencer marketing software if that's your thing!
3. Agorapulse – I've used Agorapulse over many years and love it. It's my pick as the perfect all-rounder. Just be aware that their pricing has moved it into suitability for medium-large teams. It's probably not for most creators and small business owners unless you are able to pay higher monthly fees and want a more comprehensive feature-set.
4. Buffer – has always been a solid tool that is honestly fun and easy to use. Great for creators and small businesses. It is less of an all-rounder than the tools above though, as it's more about posting than engagement.

Pricing Guide for enterprise-level social media management tools:

Who fares best with pricing on the all-rounder tools, you may ask?  Well, when it comes to comparison, here's a handy tool for you to check out the pricing for a larger team. This is a “live” pricing guide, so you can enter in your details/requirements and get immediate feedback! Check it out:

Brought to you by Seriously Social with Ian Anderson Gray

Handy, right?  Unfortunately it covers the more expensive, enterprise level tools only at this stage. But if you're in the market for a more robust agency-level option, then definitely use this to research the right social media management tool for you.

Now, Go Find the Right Tool!

It can be tough finding a social media management tool that suits your needs. Hopefully this post will help you cut through the noise and get started with some new tools to consider – at a range of affordable prices.