Tag: Metricool Vs

The Metricool planner is the interface most users spend the most time in, and it’s better designed than it looks on first use. A few things about how it works are non-obvious — understanding them makes scheduling significantly faster and the calendar significantly more useful.

The Calendar View

The planner defaults to a weekly view — seven days, time slots from morning to evening, posts displayed as blocks on the calendar at their scheduled times. Each post block shows the platform icons for the platforms it’s going to and a preview of the content.

Switch to monthly view for a higher-level content calendar perspective — useful for checking coverage across a month, identifying gaps in posting cadence, and reviewing the distribution of content across platforms. Monthly view is where you plan; weekly view is where you execute.

The planner is per-brand — use the brand switcher at the top to move between brand calendars. There’s no cross-brand calendar view, which is the one piece of the planner that agencies managing many brands wish existed. You have to switch brands to see each brand’s calendar separately.

Best Time Recommendations

The highlighted time slots on the planner calendar are Metricool’s best-time recommendations — calculated from your account’s historical engagement data to show when your specific audience is most active. These are not generic industry benchmarks; they’re account-specific calculations based on when posts have performed well for your audience in the past.

Use the recommended slots, especially in the first months before you have enough intuition about your audience’s behavior. Check the analytics monthly to see whether the recommendations are confirmed by actual performance data. Most of the time they’re accurate; occasionally a specific account’s audience skews differently than the algorithm expects, in which case you’ll see it in the engagement data and can adjust.

Creating Posts Efficiently

The fastest posting workflow in Metricool: click a recommended time slot on the calendar → the post creation interface opens with the time pre-filled → write the caption → click the Canva button to create or import the visual → select the platforms → confirm and schedule. The whole workflow for a simple single-platform post with an existing visual takes under two minutes once it’s familiar.

For cross-platform posts — the same caption going to multiple platforms — select all target platforms in the post creation interface. Metricool will show you a preview of how the post renders on each platform, which is useful for catching formatting issues (caption length limits, image aspect ratio differences) before the post is scheduled. You can also customize the caption per platform within the same post creation flow if the content needs to be adapted.

The Drafts View

Posts can be saved as drafts rather than scheduled — useful for content that’s written but not yet ready to assign a date, or for posts created via API that are waiting for review before being confirmed for scheduling. Access drafts from the planner’s draft view. Review drafts, assign dates and times, and move them to scheduled status from this view.

The draft workflow is how we handle API-created posts in our operation — the pipeline creates posts as drafts in Metricool, which appear in the drafts view for review and scheduling confirmation. This lets the pipeline create the content while a human confirms the scheduling before anything actually publishes.

Bulk Scheduling

For operations scheduling a large volume of content, Metricool’s bulk scheduling feature allows you to upload a CSV file with post content, media URLs, platforms, and scheduled times — creating multiple scheduled posts in one import rather than one post at a time through the interface. This is the alternative to the API for batch scheduling workflows that don’t require real-time programmatic access.

The CSV format requirements are documented in Metricool’s help center. Build your content calendar in a spreadsheet, export to CSV, and import to Metricool for the week or month. The bulk import creates all posts in the planner simultaneously, which is significantly faster than manual post-by-post creation for high-volume operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you reschedule posts by dragging them on the Metricool planner?

Yes — posts on the planner calendar can be dragged to a different time slot to reschedule them. This is one of the more convenient aspects of the visual planner interface — rescheduling is a drag-and-drop action rather than opening each post and manually changing the time.

What happens if a scheduled post fails to publish?

Metricool sends a notification when a post fails to publish. Common causes are expired social account connections (the OAuth token needs to be re-authorized), platform API errors (usually temporary and resolved by rescheduling), or content policy violations (the platform rejected the content). Check the notification for the specific failure reason and reauthorize the connection or reschedule the post as needed.

Can you see all brands’ posts in one planner view?

No — the Metricool planner is per-brand. You see one brand’s calendar at a time and switch brands using the brand switcher. For agencies managing many brands who want a cross-brand content calendar view, this is a genuine limitation of the current planner. External calendar tools connected via API are the workaround for operations that need that visibility, but it requires building the integration.

Does Metricool support content approval before posts go live?

Basic approval workflows are available on higher plan tiers — team members can create posts that go into a review queue rather than scheduling directly, with another team member or manager approving before the post schedules. The approval workflow is simpler than enterprise tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, but adequate for small teams with basic review requirements.

Metricool is the right social scheduling tool for most small agencies and multi-brand operators. It’s not the right tool for everyone. Here are the alternatives worth considering and the specific situations where they’re the better choice.

Later: The Instagram-First Alternative

Later is the strongest alternative to Metricool for operations where Instagram is the primary channel. The visual grid planner for managing feed aesthetics, the media library, the Link in Bio tool, and Instagram-specific analytics are all more developed in Later than in Metricool. For creators and direct-to-consumer brands where the Instagram visual experience is central to the brand identity, Later’s Instagram-native features justify choosing it over Metricool’s broader but shallower platform approach.

When to choose Later over Metricool: Instagram is your primary or only social channel, feed aesthetics are a core part of your brand, you post primarily visual content, and you need a media library for asset management.

Hootsuite: The Enterprise Alternative

Hootsuite is the right choice when you need features that Metricool doesn’t provide at any tier: social listening and monitoring, sophisticated team approval workflows, enterprise security and compliance features, and deep integrations with enterprise tech stacks. These are features that Metricool’s target market — small agencies and small businesses — generally doesn’t need. For larger agencies with complex team structures and enterprise clients, Hootsuite’s additional capability justifies its premium pricing.

When to choose Hootsuite over Metricool: you have a large team with approval workflows, your clients require social listening and monitoring reports, you need enterprise-grade security and audit logging, or your tech stack requires integrations that Hootsuite supports and Metricool doesn’t.

Sprout Social: The Premium Alternative

Sprout Social is the premium tier of the social management market — more capable than Hootsuite in some areas (particularly reporting and CRM integration), and significantly more expensive than either Metricool or Hootsuite. For agencies billing significant social media management retainers where client-facing reporting quality is a competitive differentiator, Sprout Social’s reporting capabilities can justify the cost. For most small agencies, it’s more tool than the operation requires.

Buffer: The Simplicity Alternative

Buffer is the right choice when simplicity is the primary requirement and analytics aren’t a priority. The Buffer interface is the cleanest and lowest-friction of the major schedulers. If you want to schedule posts quickly with minimal overhead and don’t need deep analytics, competitor benchmarking, or API access, Buffer’s simplicity is a genuine advantage over Metricool’s slightly more complex feature set.

When to choose Buffer over Metricool: you’re managing one or two brands, posting volume is modest, you don’t need analytics beyond basic post performance, and you value interface simplicity over feature depth.

Native Platform Tools

Instagram’s native Creator Studio, LinkedIn’s native scheduling, and Meta Business Suite all offer scheduling without a third-party tool. Native tools are free, have no API restrictions, and for single-platform operations can be adequate. The limitation is cross-platform visibility — you’re managing each platform in its own interface, with no unified calendar, no cross-platform analytics, and no multi-brand management. For any operation managing more than one platform seriously, native tools create more overhead than a third-party scheduler eliminates.

When to Stay with Metricool

Stay with Metricool when: you’re managing multiple brands across multiple platforms, you need analytics depth for reporting, you want API access at a reasonable price point, you’re posting to Google Business Profile alongside social platforms, or you need the multi-brand workspace structure that Metricool handles better than most alternatives at its price tier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free Hootsuite alternative?

Metricool and Buffer both have free tiers that provide more functionality than Hootsuite’s free plan. For most small businesses and individual creators, Metricool’s free plan covers the core scheduling and analytics needs that would otherwise require a Hootsuite paid plan.

What’s the best social media scheduler for TikTok?

Most general social schedulers including Metricool support TikTok scheduling, but with limitations imposed by TikTok’s API. For TikTok-focused operations, the native TikTok Creator tools often provide better TikTok-specific features than any third-party scheduler. If TikTok is your primary channel, start with TikTok’s native scheduling tools before adding a third-party scheduler for cross-platform management.

What’s the cheapest social media scheduler with an API?

Metricool’s Advanced plan is one of the most affordable options for social scheduling that includes a documented REST API. Most competitors either don’t offer API access or require significantly higher plan tiers for equivalent API functionality. If API access is a requirement, Metricool’s pricing is hard to beat in its class.

Instagram is the platform where social media scheduling gets complicated. Meta’s API restrictions create limitations for every third-party tool — not just Metricool. Understanding what Metricool can and can’t do for Instagram before you build your workflow around it saves significant frustration later.

This is an honest breakdown from daily Instagram scheduling use, not a feature list from the Metricool marketing page.

What Metricool Does Well for Instagram

Feed post scheduling. Standard Instagram feed posts — single images, carousels — schedule and publish automatically at the set time. No push notification required, no manual step to complete the publish. For the bread-and-butter feed post workflow, Metricool works cleanly.

Best time recommendations. Metricool calculates optimal Instagram posting times based on your specific account’s historical engagement data. These recommendations are account-specific rather than generic industry averages, which makes them more accurate and more useful for Instagram where posting time has a meaningful impact on reach.

Instagram analytics. Engagement rate, reach, impressions, follower growth, story views, and post-level performance data are all available in Metricool’s Instagram analytics. The analytics depth is solid — comparable to what you’d pull from Instagram’s native insights, with the advantage of being visible alongside your other platform analytics in one dashboard.

Hashtag performance. On higher plan tiers, Metricool tracks hashtag performance — which hashtags are driving reach and which aren’t. For accounts with an active hashtag strategy, this data informs which hashtag sets to keep using and which to retire.

Where Instagram Scheduling Gets Complicated

Reels automation. Reels scheduling support has improved significantly but still varies by account type and configuration. Most professional accounts on higher Metricool plan tiers can schedule Reels for direct publishing. Some accounts and configurations still require a push notification to complete the Reel publish. Test with your specific account before assuming full automation.

Stories. Instagram Stories cannot be fully automated through any third-party tool due to Meta API restrictions. Metricool can schedule Stories and will send a push notification to your mobile device at the scheduled time — you tap the notification and confirm the post. It’s semi-automated, not fully automated. For operations posting Stories daily, this push-notification step adds a manual touchpoint that fully automated feed post scheduling doesn’t require.

Instagram Shopping and product tags. Product tagging in Instagram posts is not currently supported via Metricool’s scheduling interface. For e-commerce brands where product tags are a core part of the Instagram strategy, this is a limitation worth knowing before committing to Metricool as your primary Instagram scheduler.

The Honest Comparison: Metricool vs Later for Instagram

Later’s Instagram experience is better than Metricool’s in several specific ways: the visual grid planner for feed aesthetics, the media library for asset management, the Link in Bio tool, and deeper Instagram-specific analytics. For brands where Instagram is the primary or only social channel and feed aesthetics are a core part of the brand, Later is the better choice.

Metricool’s Instagram support is good enough for most business social media operations — reliable feed post scheduling, solid analytics, Reels support improving each year. For brands managing Instagram alongside other platforms and needing a unified multi-platform tool, Metricool handles Instagram adequately while also handling LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and the other platforms Later supports less completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Metricool post to Instagram automatically?

Yes, for standard feed posts (single images and carousels) on professional accounts with proper API connection — these publish fully automatically at the scheduled time. Reels support automatic publishing on most professional accounts on paid plans, though some configurations still require push notification confirmation. Stories require push notification confirmation due to Meta API restrictions.

Does scheduling Instagram posts through Metricool affect reach?

No evidence supports this concern. Meta’s algorithm prioritizes content quality and engagement signals, not whether content was scheduled through a native tool or a third-party scheduler. Consistently scheduled content from Metricool performs comparably to manually posted content with the same quality and engagement characteristics. The reach concern is a persistent myth in the social media management space without supporting data.

What Instagram account type do you need to use Metricool?

You need a professional account (Business or Creator) connected to a Facebook Page to use Metricool’s Instagram scheduling features. Personal Instagram accounts cannot be connected to third-party schedulers due to Meta API restrictions. If you’re managing a business Instagram account that’s still set up as a personal account, convert it to a professional account before attempting to connect it to Metricool.

Metricool’s free plan is one of the more generous free tiers in social scheduling — but generous doesn’t mean unlimited. Here’s exactly what you get, where the walls are, and who the free plan is actually right for.

What Works Well on Free

The core scheduling experience on the free plan is the same as on paid tiers. You get the full visual planner, the platform connections, the best-time recommendations, and the Canva integration. For understanding whether Metricool fits how you work, the free plan gives you a genuine product experience rather than a deliberately crippled trial.

Basic analytics are available — follower counts, basic engagement data, and post performance. Not the deep analytics layer available on paid tiers, but enough to see which posts are getting traction and whether your follower count is moving.

Google Business Profile scheduling is available on the free plan, which is unusual — many tools restrict GBP to paid tiers. For a local business testing Metricool, being able to schedule GBP posts alongside social content without upgrading is a meaningful free-tier inclusion.

Where the Free Plan Breaks Down

Post volume. The free plan has a monthly post limit that’s low enough to be constraining for any real business social operation. If you’re posting daily across three platforms, you’ll hit the limit before the month is out. The post limit is the primary practical constraint of the free plan for business use.

One brand only. The free plan covers one brand. If you manage more than one business or client account, you need a paid plan. There’s no workaround for this — it’s a hard limit of the free tier.

No API. Programmatic access to Metricool requires a paid plan. If you want to create posts from an external system or pull analytics data automatically, the free plan doesn’t support it.

No team members. The free plan is single-user. If anyone else on your team needs access to Metricool, you need a paid plan.

Limited analytics. Advanced analytics — competitor benchmarking, hashtag performance, deeper engagement breakdowns — are paid-plan features. The free analytics are useful for basic performance tracking but not for the depth needed for agency reporting or data-driven content strategy.

Who the Free Plan Is Actually Right For

The Metricool free plan is the right choice for: a solo creator managing one personal or business account with modest posting volume (three to five posts per week), a small business that wants to try Metricool before committing to a paid plan, or anyone who primarily needs GBP scheduling for one location alongside light social scheduling.

It’s not the right choice for: any operation managing more than one brand, any operation posting daily across multiple platforms, any team with more than one person, or any operation that needs the API or competitor analysis.

The Upgrade Decision

The practical trigger for upgrading from free is usually one of two things: you hit the monthly post limit before the month is over, or you need to add a second brand. Both are clear signals that the operation has grown beyond what the free plan supports. The first paid tier is priced reasonably enough that delaying the upgrade to save the monthly cost rarely makes sense once you’ve hit those limits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Metricool free plan expire?

No — Metricool’s free plan is a permanent free tier, not a time-limited trial. You can use it indefinitely without upgrading. The limitations are feature and volume based, not time based. You stay on the free plan until you choose to upgrade or until your usage exceeds what the free plan supports.

What happens if you exceed the free plan post limit?

Once you hit the monthly post limit on the free plan, you can’t schedule additional posts until the next month or until you upgrade to a paid plan. Posts already scheduled will still publish; you just can’t create new scheduled posts beyond the limit. Metricool will notify you when you’re approaching the limit.

Can you switch from the free plan to a paid plan and back?

Yes — you can upgrade to a paid plan and downgrade back to free if your needs change. Note that if you’ve connected multiple brands on a paid plan and downgrade to free, you’ll retain only one brand’s connections. Plan the downgrade accordingly if you have data in multiple brand workspaces that you want to preserve.

Metricool has a short learning curve but a few non-obvious setup steps that make a significant difference in how well it works. Most people get the basics running in an hour. Getting the full value — multi-brand setup, analytics configured, API connected if needed — takes a few hours of deliberate setup. This guide covers both.

Step 1: Connect Your Social Accounts

After creating an account, the first task is connecting your social platforms. Go to Settings → Social Networks and authorize each platform you use. Metricool will prompt you through the OAuth flow for each platform — you’ll need admin access to the accounts you’re connecting.

A few platform-specific notes: Facebook and Instagram are connected through Meta’s Business Manager, so you’ll need your Facebook Business account credentials rather than your personal Facebook login. LinkedIn requires connecting either a personal profile or a Company Page — connect both if you post to both. Google Business Profile requires connecting your Google account with GBP admin access.

Step 2: Set Up Brands (If Managing Multiple)

If you’re managing more than one brand — multiple clients, multiple business lines, or a personal brand alongside business accounts — set up separate brands in Metricool before connecting accounts. Go to the brand switcher in the top left, create a new brand for each client or business, and then connect that brand’s social accounts under its workspace.

The common mistake: connecting all accounts under one brand and using it like a single aggregated feed. This works for small single-brand operations but creates a messy, unsearchable account structure for multi-brand management. The brand-per-client structure is worth the extra setup time.

Step 3: Learn the Planner

The Planner is Metricool’s scheduling interface — the place you’ll spend most of your time. Access it from the left navigation. The default view is a weekly calendar showing scheduled posts across all connected platforms for the current brand.

To create a new post: click a time slot on the calendar or use the “New Post” button. Write the caption, upload media, select which platforms to post to, and set the date and time. Metricool shows a preview of how the post will render on each selected platform, which is useful for catching formatting issues before the post goes live.

Best time recommendations: Metricool calculates optimal posting times based on historical engagement data for your accounts. These appear as highlighted time slots on the planner calendar. They’re worth following for at least the first few months until you have enough data to develop your own posting time intuition for each brand.

Step 4: Understand the Analytics Dashboard

Metricool’s analytics are organized by platform — switch between Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms using the tabs at the top of the Analytics section. Each platform view shows follower growth, engagement rate, reach, impressions, and post performance for a selected date range.

The most useful view for recurring reporting: set a fixed date range (last 30 days, last quarter), review the top-performing posts by engagement rate, and check the follower growth trend. These three data points cover most of what you need for a regular social media performance review.

Competitor analysis is available on higher plan tiers — add competitor accounts to track their follower counts and posting frequency alongside your own metrics. For agencies pitching clients or benchmarking performance, this feature justifies the plan upgrade on its own.

Step 5: The Canva Integration

Metricool integrates directly with Canva, which is how we handle visual content for most brands. In the post creation interface, click the Canva button to open a Canva design directly in Metricool’s window. Design the asset, publish it from Canva, and it imports automatically into your Metricool post. This workflow eliminates the download-upload step that adds friction to visual post creation at scale.

Step 6: API Setup (Advanced)

If you need programmatic access to Metricool for automated scheduling or analytics retrieval, the API token is in Settings → API. Generate a token, store it securely, and use it with the Metricool REST API. The base URL and endpoint documentation are available in Metricool’s API documentation. We use the API for creating draft posts programmatically from our content pipeline, which then get reviewed and published from the Metricool planner.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to learn Metricool?

Basic scheduling — connecting accounts, creating posts, reading analytics — takes one to two hours to get comfortable with. The full feature set, including multi-brand management, competitor analysis, and API access, takes a few days of regular use to master. The learning curve is shorter than Hootsuite and comparable to Buffer for basic features.

Can multiple people use the same Metricool account?

Yes — Metricool supports team members on paid plans, with different permission levels for each member. You can add team members in Settings → Team and assign them access to specific brands or all brands. The number of team member seats available depends on your plan tier.

Does Metricool post automatically or do you have to confirm each post?

Most platform integrations post fully automatically at the scheduled time. Instagram is the exception — some content types may require a push notification on your mobile device to complete the publish, due to Meta API restrictions. Standard Instagram feed posts direct-publish automatically on supported plans; Reels and Stories have variable automation support.

Can you schedule the same post to multiple platforms at once?

Yes — when creating a post in Metricool, you can select multiple platforms and the same content will be scheduled to all selected platforms simultaneously. You can also customize the caption or media for each platform within the same post creation flow if the content needs to be adapted by platform.

Metricool’s pricing is reasonable but not simple. The plan tiers scale by number of brands, team members, and feature access in ways that make the right plan non-obvious at first glance. Here’s a plain-language breakdown of what each tier actually means for a small agency or solo operator.

The Free Plan

Metricool’s free plan covers one brand, with scheduling for the major platforms, basic analytics, and access to the visual planner. The post volume limit per month is low enough that it’s genuinely a single-brand personal use tier rather than a business tool. It’s useful for evaluating the interface before committing to a paid plan, and for solo creators managing one account with modest posting volume.

What’s missing on free: multi-brand management, API access, advanced analytics, competitor analysis, and the posting volume needed for a real business social operation. For any agency or business managing more than one brand, the free plan is a trial, not a working solution.

The Starter Plan

The first paid tier covers a small number of brands — typically three to five depending on current pricing — with increased post volume, basic team member access, and the full scheduling interface. This is the right tier for a solo operator managing a personal brand alongside one or two client accounts, or a small local business running multiple location accounts.

What you still don’t get at Starter: API access, advanced competitor analysis, and the brand count needed for a real agency operation. If you need the API or manage more than a handful of brands, Starter is likely a waypoint rather than a destination.

The Advanced Plan

Advanced is where Metricool becomes genuinely useful for a small agency. The brand count increases significantly, the analytics layer gets substantially deeper — including competitor benchmarking and hashtag performance — and API access is included. For an operation running automated or high-volume publishing, the API is the feature that justifies the Advanced plan upgrade on its own.

Advanced also includes more team member seats and stronger reporting features — the ability to export analytics reports in formats suitable for client delivery. For agencies billing clients on social media management, the reporting upgrade has real operational value.

The Agency Plan

The Agency tier is designed for larger operations managing many client brands. Brand count expands significantly, white-label reporting options become available, and team management features are more robust. The price point is higher but still substantially below enterprise social management platforms like Sprout Social or HubSpot’s social tools.

Agency makes sense when: you’re managing ten or more brands, you need to deliver white-label analytics reports to clients, or your team size requires more seat access than Advanced provides.

Annual vs Monthly Billing

Metricool offers meaningful discounts for annual billing — typically around twenty percent off the monthly rate. For any operation committed to Metricool as a long-term tool, annual billing is the right choice. The only reason to stay monthly is if you’re still evaluating whether Metricool is the right fit, or if you have genuine uncertainty about the brand count you’ll need six months from now.

The Plan We Use

We’re on a plan that includes API access and supports multiple brands — the Advanced tier or equivalent. The API is the non-negotiable feature for our operation because we publish to Metricool programmatically from our content pipeline. The analytics depth at this tier is also meaningfully better than what’s available at lower tiers. For an agency doing real volume social management, the cost is justified by the API access alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Metricool charge per social account or per brand?

Per brand — a brand in Metricool can include multiple connected social accounts (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, etc.) for the same business. So one client with accounts on three platforms counts as one brand, not three. This makes Metricool’s pricing more favorable for agencies than tools that charge per connected account.

Is the Metricool API included in all paid plans?

No — API access is a feature of higher-tier plans, typically Advanced and above. If programmatic access to Metricool’s scheduling functionality is important for your operation, verify that the plan you’re considering includes API access before committing. It’s the most common feature oversight when choosing a plan tier.

Can you downgrade a Metricool plan?

Yes, plan changes are available through the Metricool account settings. Downgrading mid-billing-cycle typically takes effect at the next renewal date. If you’re on annual billing and need to downgrade, contact Metricool support — the process and any credit handling will depend on how far into the billing cycle you are.

Is Metricool cheaper than Hootsuite or Buffer?

For comparable feature access, generally yes. Metricool’s advanced plan provides scheduling, analytics, multi-brand management, and API access at a price point below Hootsuite’s equivalent tiers. Buffer is closer in price to Metricool but lighter on analytics depth. The cost comparison depends on which features you actually need — run the comparison against the specific features your operation requires rather than headline plan prices.