# Social media tools for small businesses
> Canonical: https://skedsocial.com/social-media-tools-for-small-business
Compare the best social media tools for small businesses on entry price, scheduling speed, and ease of use. Ranked, with where each beats Sked.
Small teams usually start on Basic or Grow, where Sked's Instagram-first heritage shows: grid preview, first-comment scheduling, and best-time posting are built in, and support is a recurring highlight in community threads. Plans are sized by seats, with one on Basic, three on Grow, and six on Accelerate, so you only pay for the team you actually have.

## What small businesses teams need
- Budget sensitivity
- Learning curve / time
- Wants Instagram-first simplicity

## Tools ranked for small businesses
1. Publer — from $5/mo: Affordable scheduler with bulk & AI features
2. Later — from $19/mo: Instagram-first visual planner; per-social-set pricing
3. Planoly — from $16/mo: Instagram-first visual planner for creators; narrow platform set
4. Metricool — from $20/mo: Analytics-per-dollar value tool with a free plan; ceiling for agencies
5. Buffer — from $6/mo: Simple, well-priced publishing; light on depth
6. Tailwind — from $15/mo: Pinterest/Instagram-focused scheduler & marketing suite
7. Sked Social (Sked): Approvals, Instagram-first scheduling and real analytics for agencies and social teams, without enterprise pricing.
8. CoSchedule — from $19/mo: Marketing calendar with social scheduling
9. Loomly — from $49/mo: Content calendar with built-in approval; limited analytics
10. Hootsuite — from $99/mo: Enterprise-scale social suite; broad but heavy and pricey
11. Sprout Social — from $79/mo: Premium suite with deep analytics & listening; expensive
12. Agorapulse — from $79/mo: Inbox-strong agency tool with white-label leanings
13. Sendible — from $29/mo: Agency-focused suite with strong white-label
14. Planable — from $33/mo: Approval-first collaboration tool; requires client login