The Metricool social media scheduler combines a posting calendar with analytics, competitor tracking and reports in one tool, and that combination is its main difference from design-first schedulers. I build a competing product, Sociophile, so weigh my opinions with that in mind. I have not used Metricool myself. This guide is based on Metricool’s pricing page and help centre as I read them on 30 September 2026, and I mark my own opinions as opinions.
If you are still choosing a general approach, start with our scheduler social media guide. If you have already read our Later guide, this post shows where an analytics-first tool differs.
What the Metricool Social Media Scheduler Covers
According to Metricool’s feature overview, it schedules and reports across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitch, Google Business Profile, Threads and Bluesky. The same page lists a visual calendar, CSV bulk upload, per-platform post previews, competitor monitoring, hashtag tracking, a unified inbox, a link-in-bio page called SmartLinks, and reports exported as PDF or PowerPoint.
Several of those features depend on your plan, which I cover in the pricing section below.
Connecting Accounts: The Requirements to Check First
Metricool’s connection guide lists requirements that are easy to miss:
- Instagram needs a professional account (Business or Creator), and Facebook needs a Page, not a personal profile.
- LinkedIn is not available on the free plan, and X requires a paid plan add-on.
- Each brand holds only one account per platform. If you manage two Instagram accounts, you need two brands.
- Instagram connected through Facebook: uses your professional account’s data from Meta, and needs more than 100 followers.
- Instagram connected directly, TikTok personal accounts, LinkedIn and YouTube: based on general behaviour estimates or usage studies, not your own audience.
- X: analyses your followers’ activity over the past week, and needs more than 300 active followers.
- Facebook: still shows times from historical data, although Meta ended the relevant API support in September 2024.
- Free: one brand, up to 20 scheduled posts a month, 30 days of analytics history, 5 competitor profiles, no reports and no team features.
- Starter: from $20 a month, or from $16 a month billed annually. 5 to 10 brands, unlimited publishing under a fair use policy, unlimited analytics history, 100 competitor profiles and automated reports.
- Advanced: from $53 a month, or from $43 a month billed annually. 15 to 50 brands, unlimited team members and the post approval system.
- Custom: quoted on request, with unlimited brands and a dedicated account manager.
- Scheduler Social Media Guide: Build a Strategy That Drives Consistent Engagement (2026)
- Heyorca The Social Media Scheduler For Teams: A Complete Guide (2026)
- Later Social Media Scheduler: The Complete Visual Planning Guide (2026)
- Adobe Express Social Media Scheduler: The Complete Evergreen Guide (2026)
That last rule matters for agencies, because the number of brands your plan allows is really the number of accounts per network you can run.
How Best Time to Post Actually Works
Metricool shows recommended posting times as a colour-coded heatmap in its planner, where darker cells mean better slots. Its help article is candid about the limits, and they differ by network:
Two more points from the same article. The heatmap reflects when your followers are active, not when your own posts performed best. It can also take up to seven days to appear after you connect an account. My opinion: treat it as a starting guess, then check your own post reports after a few weeks to confirm it.
Planning Content in the Metricool Social Media Scheduler
Day-to-day work happens in the planner calendar, where you schedule posts, preview how they will render on each network and see the best-time heatmap. For batching, Metricool lists CSV bulk upload, so you can queue a month of posts from one spreadsheet. The help centre also documents recurring posts for content you repeat on a schedule.
For team review, Metricool lists an approval system, role-based permissions and internal notes on posts. The pricing page places post approvals and unlimited team members on the Advanced plan, so do not assume a lower tier includes them. If approvals are your main need, our HeyOrca guide covers a tool built around client review.
Analytics, Competitors and Reports
This is where Metricool differs most from design-first tools such as the one in our Adobe Express scheduler guide. Metricool tracks engagement, impressions and follower growth, lets you monitor competitor profiles to compare growth, engagement and posting habits, and generates reports as PDF or PowerPoint files. On the pricing page, automated reports start on the Starter plan, and the free plan has no reports.
Metricool Social Media Scheduler Pricing
These figures come from Metricool’s pricing page as I saw it on 30 September 2026, in US dollars. Prices start “from” these amounts because they rise with the number of brands.
My opinion: 20 posts a month is enough to test the tool, but not enough for daily posting on more than one network, so most active users will need Starter at least.
Who It Suits, and a Disclosure
Based on the features and limits above, and this is my reading rather than a tested verdict: the Metricool social media scheduler fits freelancers and agencies who report numbers to clients and want competitor data beside the calendar. It is more than a solo creator needs if all they want is a simple queue.
I make Sociophile, which plans a campaign as a 14-day sequence across LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky. Its free plan allows one campaign and 30 posts a month, Pro is $19 a month, and the Agency plan is $59 a month with 10 client workspaces, each with its own connected accounts and analytics. It does not cover TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitch or Google Business Profile, and it has no competitor tracking, so if those matter to you, Metricool covers ground mine does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Metricool social media scheduler free?
There is a free plan with one brand and up to 20 scheduled posts a month in total, plus 30 days of analytics. LinkedIn is not available on it, and X needs a paid add-on.
Does Metricool use my own data for best times to post?
Only on some networks. Metricool’s help centre says Instagram through Facebook and X use your followers’ activity, with follower minimums, while LinkedIn, YouTube and directly connected Instagram use general estimates.
Can I manage several clients?
Yes, each client is a brand, but each brand allows one account per network. Paid plans start at 5 brands, and post approvals come with the Advanced plan.
How is Metricool different from Later or Adobe Express?
Adobe Express is a design app with scheduling added, and Later leads with visual planning. Metricool puts more weight on analytics, competitor tracking and client reports alongside the calendar.
Plan a two-week campaign for free
Sociophile turns one product, blog post or video into a 14-day campaign across six networks. Start on the free plan; no credit card needed.
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