How to Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts: Tools Compared

Among tools for agencies that manage multiple social media accounts, Buffer ranks first with 96 out of 100, ahead of Pallyy. What separates them is entry price: $5/month per account billed annually on Essentials; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices).

Managing many accounts goes wrong in three places: posts go to the wrong profile, nobody knows who approved what, and the bill grows faster than the client list. This post shows how to set the work up, then compares the tools by the limits that decide cost for an agency or a freelancer with several brands: accounts, workspaces and users.

How we picked

For a multi-account setup the sticker price tells you little, because tools meter in different units. Some charge per connected account, some per workspace and some per seat, so the scorecard counts the cost per connected account and rewards tools that publish their pricing openly. Features that matter to agencies, such as client workspaces and approvals, count in the verified features criterion. Read how we score for the formulas.

The ranking

The table is filtered to the tools the catalogue tags for agencies. The order is computed from the scorecard, and each row carries its checked date. For the wider market, open the agencies audience page or the social media management category.

How to manage multiple social media accounts without mixing them up

Set the structure first, then pick the tool that supports it.

1. Give every client or brand its own workspace. A workspace keeps connections, queues and reports apart, so a post for one client cannot land on another client's profile. Check that the plan you are considering lists enough workspaces, not only enough accounts.
2. Give people roles. Writers draft, a manager approves, and the client sees only their own space. A tool that lists roles and permissions lets you do this without sharing passwords. The approval workflow glossary entry explains the pattern.
3. Use approvals for any client who signs off. The approvals use case lists tools that support it.
4. Report on a schedule, per workspace. If you send clients branded reports, look for report exports and white-label reports in the feature list. The white-label reporting use case covers the tools that list it.
5. Do the account math before you buy. Divide the plan price by the number of accounts it allows, and compare plans in the same unit. Prices quoted per year or per seat do not compare directly with prices per month.

For teams that only need to queue content, the social media scheduling ranking leaves out the inbox and reporting extras.

The tools

Pallyy

Pallyy is built around workspaces, and its agency plans make that the headline: you pay per plan and get a set number of workspaces and users, not a meter that ticks with every connected account. That makes costs easy to forecast for a freelancer or small agency. The catch is that the entry paid plan allows one workspace, so a second client already means a higher plan.

• Agency plan: $99 per month, with 10 workspaces and 3 users.
• Scale plan: $199 per month, with 30 workspaces and 10 users.
• Client workspaces: Yes. Approvals: Yes. Report exports: Yes.
• Free plan: 1 workspace, 1 user, 15 scheduled posts per month.
• Export: Per-client reports as PDFs.

Posterly

Posterly lists a high ceiling of accounts and workspaces on its top plan, and sells every plan by the year. That is a strong fit for an agency that wants many connected profiles without a seat-based bill. The plans are quoted per year, so convert them before you compare with a tool quoted per month.

• Pro plan: $144 per year ($12 per month, billed annually), with 12 accounts, 5 workspaces and 3 users.
• Agency plan: $470 per year ($39 per month, billed annually), with 100 accounts, 30 workspaces and 10 users.
• Client workspaces: Yes. Roles: Yes.
• Free plan: No; trial: 7-day free trial.

PostEverywhere

PostEverywhere gets agencies in cheaply: its plans start at $9 per month and list unlimited scheduled posts per month on the Scale plan. The detail to read is where workspaces start. Only the top listed plan allows more than one workspace, so an agency with several clients cannot use the cheaper tiers the way a solo creator can.

• Growth plan: $29 per month, with 1 workspace and 3 users.
• Scale plan: $39 per month, with 5 workspaces, 20 accounts and 5 users.
• Client workspaces: Yes. Approvals: Yes.
• Free plan: No; trial: 7-day free trial.

Buffer

Buffer works for multiple accounts when you want to pay only for what you connect. Every extra profile adds to the bill at the same rate, which is easy to understand and cheap at small scale. The catalogue holds no verified client-workspace feature for Buffer, so an agency that wants strict separation between clients should check how its channels and teams are organized before committing.

• Team plan: $10 per connected account per month, with unlimited users.
• Entry plan: Essentials at $5 per connected account per month.
• Approvals: Yes. Roles and permissions: Yes.
• Free plan: 3 social accounts, 1 user.

Agency-priced tools further down the ranking

Two tools rank lower overall but publish the account, workspace and user ladders that an agency needs to plan a budget.

Sendible

Sendible is the clearest on limits. Each plan lists its workspaces and accounts, and users are not capped at any plan, which suits an agency that adds writers and account managers often. The price climbs steeply with each step, so check the step you would need for your client count.

• Core plan: $35 per month, with 1 workspace and 6 accounts.
• Plus plan: $99 per month, with 3 workspaces and 18 accounts.
• Users on every plan listed: unlimited.
• Client workspaces: Yes. Report exports: Yes.

SocialPilot

SocialPilot lists white-label reports, approvals and bulk scheduling and prices by account count and user count rather than by workspace. That suits an agency with a steady client list that wants branded reports. Its entry price is $30 per month, so it only pays off once your account count fills the plan.

• Standard plan: $50 per month, with 15 accounts and 3 users.
• Premium plan: $100 per month, with 25 accounts and 6 users.
• White-label reports: Yes. Approvals: Yes.
• Trial: 14-day free trial.

Who should not pick it

• Agencies that serve several clients from one plan should not pick PostEverywhere Growth: it lists 1 workspace.
• Freelancers with two or more clients should not start on Pallyy Pro, which lists 1 workspace.
• Agencies that need to pay month to month should not pick Posterly: its entry plan is listed as $67 per year.
• Teams that add people often should not pick SocialPilot Standard: it lists 3 users.
• Agencies that need strict client separation should check Buffer first: it prices at $5 per connected account per month and the catalogue has no client-workspace fact for it.

What we did not test

We did not use any of these tools. The limits and prices come from the vendors' public pricing pages, and the scores come from code, so the data cannot tell you how well a workspace keeps clients apart, how fast approvals move or how a tool behaves with a large number of connected profiles. Treat plan limits as the vendor's listed figures and confirm them on the pricing page before you sign up. For the full list of what we leave out, see what we did not test.