Buffer vs Loomly (2026): which scheduler fits your team?
Buffer is the simplest, cheapest scheduler: $5 per channel a month on Essentials, a clean queue, and the smoothest solo experience. Loomly is collaboration-first: post previews, approval workflows, a shared calendar, and post ideas, on flat tiers that bundle accounts and users.
Published 2026-09-02 · Updated
Short answer
Pick Buffer if you post alone or with a tiny team. It costs $5 per channel a month on Essentials and has a free plan for 3 channels. Pick Loomly if posts need client or manager sign-off. Its Starter plan is $65/mo ($49 billed annually) and bundles 3 users, 12 social accounts, approval workflows and post previews. Neither tool writes the posts for you.
Key takeaways
- Buffer is cheaper for a few channels: $5 per channel a month, with a free plan for up to 3 channels.
- Loomly Starter is $65/mo ($49 billed annually) for 3 users and 12 social accounts.
- Loomly puts approval workflows on every plan. Buffer only has them on Team, at $10 per channel.
- Both only schedule. You still have to make every post yourself.
Buffer and Loomly both queue posts across the major networks, but they solve different pains. Buffer strips scheduling down to a fast, clean queue priced per channel — ideal when one person owns publishing and just wants posts to go out on time. Loomly wraps scheduling in a collaboration layer: live post previews, structured approval workflows, a content calendar the whole team sees, and AI post ideas, all on flat tiers that bundle a dozen-plus accounts and multiple users.
The real question is whether posts need sign-off. If content moves straight from you to the feed, Buffer is cheaper and simpler. If a client or manager has to approve every post first, Loomly's workflow is worth the higher entry price.
Which is better for your use case, Buffer or Loomly?
| If you... | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I publish solo and just want a queue | Buffer | Buffer's per-channel pricing and clean UI are the lightest, cheapest way to schedule alone. |
| Every post needs client or manager approval | Loomly | Loomly's approval workflow, roles, and live previews are built for sign-off before publish. |
| My budget is a few dollars a month | Buffer | Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel a month (and there's a free plan for 3 channels). Loomly's lowest tier is $65/mo, or $49/mo billed annually. |
| I manage 12+ accounts across several brands | Loomly | Loomly bundles 12 accounts and 3 users into one flat Starter tier; per-channel adds up fast on Buffer at that scale. |
| I want post previews and content ideas built in | Loomly | Loomly shows live per-platform previews and suggests post ideas; Buffer's composer is more bare-bones. |
| I want the content generated, not just scheduled | Kompozy | Both are publish-only. Kompozy generates the posts, images, and video, then schedules across 9 platforms. |
| I need a fast link-in-bio landing page too | Buffer | Buffer includes its Start Page link-in-bio builder on every plan, Free included. Loomly's pricing page doesn't list a link-in-bio tool. |
What features do Buffer, Loomly and Kompozy each have?
Side-by-side capability map, with Kompozy included as a third option.
| Feature | Buffer | Loomly | Kompozy |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI clip detection | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Animated captions | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Auto-reframe to 9:16 | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| AI avatar video | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Multi-platform scheduling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Long-form writing | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Brand voice system | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Multi-brand workspaces | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ~ |
| Autopilot publishing | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ~ |
| Bring-your-own-keys | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ~ |
| RSS auto-ingest | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Webhook ingest | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
| Credit-based pricing | Unverified — check vendor | Unverified — check vendor | ✓ |
✓ = fully supported · ~ = partial / limited · — = not supported
Cells marked Unverified were not confirmed on the vendor's site on 2026-10-23.
How much do Buffer and Loomly cost?
- FreeFree
- Essentials$5/mo · per channel
- Team$10/mo · per channel
- Starter$65/mo · 3 users · 12 accounts; $49/mo billed annually
- Beyond$332/mo · unlimited users · 60 accounts; $249/mo billed annually
- EnterpriseContact sales
- Starter$199/mo · 5,500 credits/mo
- Pro$499/mo · 18,000 credits/mo
- Agency$999/mo · 55,000 credits/mo
- EnterpriseContact sales
Prices read off each vendor's live pricing page on 2026-10-23. Kompozy prices are the current public plans.
When should you pick Kompozy instead of Buffer or Loomly?
Buffer and Loomly disagree about how posts should be reviewed — but they agree you already wrote them. That is the expensive assumption. The weekly grind is writing native posts for every platform, not moving them through a queue or an approval chain. Kompozy starts one step upstream: point it at a video, a blog, or an interview and it generates Persona Shorts, carousels, photo posts, quote graphics, and captions, governs them with one Persona Brief, runs them through a per-post review pipeline, and publishes across eight social platforms plus blog and email on autopilot. You get Loomly's review gate and Buffer's hands-off scheduling — on content the tool made for you.
What does this look like in Kompozy?
A real five-slide carousel from the Kompozy workspace, shown so you can see the format. It wasn't made for this comparison or for any customer.
Who is this for, and who should skip it?
Best for:
- Solo creators and small teams posting to a handful of channels on a tight budget (Buffer).
- Agencies and brand teams where a client or manager has to approve each post (Loomly).
- Teams running 12 or more accounts, where Loomly's flat Starter tier can beat per-channel pricing.
Not ideal for:
- Anyone hoping the tool will write the posts. Both only schedule what you've already made.
- Buffer is a weak fit if formal approvals matter and you don't want to pay for Team.
- Loomly is overkill for one person posting to two or three accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Buffer or Loomly cheaper?
Buffer, for small setups. At $5 per channel, a solo creator on 3 channels pays about $15/mo on Essentials, and Buffer's free plan covers up to 3 channels. Loomly starts at $65/mo ($49 annual) but bundles 12 accounts and 3 users, so at a dozen-plus channels the flat tier can undercut Buffer's per-channel math.
Does Loomly have an approval workflow Buffer lacks?
Yes — approval workflows and roles are Loomly's signature feature, with live post previews and structured client/manager sign-off. Buffer only includes approval workflows on its Team plan ($10 per channel a month), and they're lighter than Loomly's review chain.
Can either tool generate content with AI?
Both ship AI assistants for captions and post ideas, but neither produces finished video, carousels, or images, and neither replaces a content workflow. They stay publishing-first tools.
Which supports more social platforms?
Buffer lists Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack, plus its Start Page link-in-bio. Loomly covers the major networks too, so check its current list if you need one of the newer ones.
Which is better for an agency?
Loomly, on collaboration — approval flows, per-client calendars, and bundled seats fit agency review cycles. Buffer works for small agencies but its per-channel pricing and lighter workflow show their limits at scale.
How do we know this?
We checked the prices and product claims in this comparison against Buffer's and Loomly's own pricing pages on 2026-10-23, and rewrote or cut anything we couldn't confirm there. Kompozy plan details come from kompozy.io/pricing.
Sources
- Buffer — Pricing (read 2026-10-23)
- Loomly — Pricing (read 2026-10-23)
- Kompozy — Pricing (read 2026-10-23)
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