For nonprofits, Buffer comes first among social media management tools with 96 out of 100, ahead of Edgar. The criterion that separates them is entry price: $5/month per account billed annually on Essentials; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices).
A nonprofit buys differently from a company. Money is tight, the people posting are often volunteers who change every season, and the tool has to survive a handover. This post therefore reads the same data through three questions: what a free plan allows, how many people can log in, and what happens to the bill when a few more accounts are added.
How we picked
Cost per seat is the trap for a nonprofit. A tool that charges for every login becomes expensive the moment a second volunteer joins, while a tool that charges per connected account or per workspace does not. The scorecard counts the cost per connected account and the free plan, and it scores getting your data out because a volunteer who leaves should not take the content calendar with them. Read how we score for the formulas.
Every one of the 60 social media management tools we looked at is scored by the same 7 criteria (scorecard version 2), each from the vendor's own pricing page, docs or changelog. 49 had enough verified data to be ranked. A criterion without verified data is left out and the remaining weights are re-normalised; under 60% of the weight covered means the tool is not ranked.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure and how |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other social media management tools on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Formula: Log scale. Billed monthly: $9/month or less = 100, $599 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $6/month or less = 100, $79 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Formula: Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.Formula: 80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 21 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (posting queue, bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, recurring posts, media library, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, report exports (pdf/csv), best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, separate client workspaces, unified social inbox, white-label reports, link tracking (utm / short links), content repurposing, ugc collection, social listening, competitor analytics). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Formula: Linear: verified features / 11 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Formula: Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Platform coverage | 10% | Category | How many of the 15 social platforms we track the vendor says the tool supports.Formula: Linear: platforms / 10 x 100, capped at 100. No verified platform list = not scored. |
| Cost per connected account | 15% | Category | Monthly price per connected account on the cheapest paid plan that allows at least 5 social accounts and 2 users.Formula: Log scale: $3 per account or less = 100, $60 or more = 0. Plans that do not state an account limit are not used. |
The ranking
Only tools that the catalogue tags for nonprofits appear in this table, so the list is short. The tag comes from what the vendor says about who the tool is for, and it is not a certification. For every tool, see the wider social media management category, or the nonprofits audience page.
| # | Tool | Score | Coverage | From, billed monthly | Free plan | Platforms | Public API | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Buffer | 96/100 | 75%5 of 7 criteria | Not offered | Yes, 3 social accounts | – | Yes | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 2 |  Edgar | 70/100 | 90%6 of 7 criteria | $29.99/mo | No | 9 | – | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 3 |  Hootsuite | 44/100 | 100%7 of 7 criteria | Not offered | No | 3 | – | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each value links the vendor page it was read from (hover for the check date). Coverage is the share of the scorecard's weight with verified data, and "N of M criteria" how many criteria the score is based on; a tool is ranked at 60% or more.
Score is 0 to 100 on the category scorecard; coverage is the share of scorecard weight with verified data. Prices are list prices in US dollars from each vendor's pricing page; the Checked column is the newest date any fact of that tool was verified. How the score works: methodology.
What a nonprofit should check before choosing
Start with the number of people who will post. If one staff member does it all, a free plan with one user is enough. If volunteers rotate, you need a plan that lists several users, or a tool that does not charge per login at all.
Next, ask the vendor about nonprofit pricing in writing. Our catalogue has no verified nonprofit discount for these tools, so any discount is on top of what is shown here and has to be confirmed with the vendor.
Last, check how you can leave. If a tool has no documented export, the content calendar is hard to move, which matters when a tool is picked by a volunteer who later moves on. The list of free social media schedulers covers the free plans in more detail.
The tools
Buffer
BufferRank 1 with a score of 98/100 (based on 6 of 8 criteria, 80% of the scorecard weight verified). Pricing checked Oct 14, 2026.
Scores highest on
- Entry price (100/100): $5/month per account billed annually on Essentials; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices)
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
Scores lowest on
- Verified features (90/100): 9 of 19 tracked features verified: posting queue, calendar view, first-comment scheduling, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, unified social inbox, content repurposing
- Free plan limits (100/100): Free plan: 3 connected accounts
- Platform coverage: no published data, left out of the total
- Cost per connected account: no published data, left out of the total
Full score breakdown with sources
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 31% | 100 | $5/month per account billed annually on Essentials; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) source |
| Free plan or trial | 19% | 100 | Free plan (Free) source |
| Pricing transparency | 13% | 100 | 3 of 3 plans have a public price source |
| Verified features | 19% | 90 | 9 of 19 tracked features verified: posting queue, calendar view, first-comment scheduling, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, unified social inbox, content repurposing source 1source 2 |
| API, integrations and export | 13% | 100 | public API source |
| Platform coveragecategory criterion | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Cost per connected accountcategory criterion | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Free plan limitscategory criterion | 6% | 100 | Free plan: 3 connected accounts source |
| Total | 80% covered6 of 8 criteria | 98/100 | Rank #1 in this category, based on 6 of 8 criteria |
Buffer is the one tagged tool that lists a free plan (Yes), and that is a large part of why it leads this list. One person can run a small set of profiles for nothing, and when a second or third volunteer arrives, the Team plan lifts the user limit while still pricing by connected account. That keeps the bill tied to how many profiles you run, not to how many people log in.
The limits to watch are the free plan's single login and the fact that the catalogue has no verified platform list or export statement for Buffer. Check both on Buffer's own pages.
- Free plan: 3 social accounts, 1 user.
- Entry paid plan: Essentials at $5 per connected account per month.
- Team plan: $10 per connected account per month, with unlimited users.
- Approvals: Yes. Roles and permissions: Yes.
- Trial: 14-day free trial.
Edgar
EdgarRank 87 with a score of 55/100 (based on 6 of 8 criteria, 85% of the scorecard weight verified). Pricing checked Oct 14, 2026.
Scores highest on
- Pricing transparency (93/100): 2 of 2 plans have a public price
- Platform coverage (90/100): 9 of 15 tracked platforms supported
Scores lowest on
- Entry price (29/100): $29.99/month billed monthly on Eddie; $24.91/month billed annually on Eddie (scored on the monthly price)
- Cost per connected account (46/100): $10 per connected account per month on Eddie (3 accounts, 1 user, billed monthly)
- API, integrations and export: no published data, left out of the total
- Free plan limits: no published data, left out of the total
Full score breakdown with sources
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 29% | 29 | $29.99/month billed monthly on Eddie; $24.91/month billed annually on Eddie (scored on the monthly price) source |
| Free plan or trial | 18% | 60 | Free trial (30 days), no free plan source |
| Pricing transparency | 12% | 93 | 2 of 2 plans have a public price source |
| Verified features | 18% | 50 | 5 of 19 tracked features verified: direct auto-publishing, recurring posts, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, unified social inbox source 1source 2 |
| API, integrations and export | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Platform coveragecategory criterion | 12% | 90 | 9 of 15 tracked platforms supported source |
| Cost per connected accountcategory criterion | 12% | 46 | $10 per connected account per month on Eddie (3 accounts, 1 user, billed monthly) source |
| Free plan limitscategory criterion | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Total | 85% covered6 of 8 criteria | 55/100 | Rank #87 in this category, based on 6 of 8 criteria |
Edgar suits a nonprofit with a library of evergreen content, such as program descriptions or donation appeals, because it lists recurring posts as a feature. It has no free plan, but it has a long trial, and its entry plan lists a large number of users, which fits a rotating volunteer team.
The price is the barrier: the entry plan is $29.99 per month and there is no free tier to start on. The verified feature list is short, and the catalogue holds no verified API fact for Edgar.
- Entry paid plan: Eddie at $29.99 per month, or $24.91 per month, billed annually.
- Users and accounts on that plan: 20 users and 5 social accounts.
- Trial: 30-day free trial. Free plan: No.
- Recurring posts: Yes.
- Platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile.
Hootsuite
HootsuiteRank 45 with a score of 44/100 (based on 7 of 7 criteria, 100% of the scorecard weight verified). Pricing checked Oct 14, 2026.
Scores highest on
- API, integrations and export (100/100): 100 integrations
- Verified features (82/100): 9 of 21 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, unified social inbox, social listening, competitor analytics
Scores lowest on
- Entry price (0/100): $99/month per seat billed annually on Standard; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices)
- Cost per connected account (14/100): $39.60 per connected account per month on Standard (5 accounts, 2 users, billed annually)
Full score breakdown with sources
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 0 | $99/month per seat billed annually on Standard; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) source |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 60 | Free trial (14 days), no free plan source |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 80 | 3 of 4 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") source |
| Verified features | 15% | 82 | 9 of 21 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, unified social inbox, social listening, competitor analytics source 1source 2 |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100 | 100 integrations source |
| Platform coveragecategory criterion | 10% | 30 | 3 of 15 tracked platforms supported source |
| Cost per connected accountcategory criterion | 15% | 14 | $39.60 per connected account per month on Standard (5 accounts, 2 users, billed annually) source |
| Total | 100% covered7 of 7 criteria | 44/100 | Rank #45 in this category, based on 7 of 7 criteria |
Hootsuite lists 100 integrations, which can matter for a nonprofit that connects its social tool to a donor database or other systems. But it is priced per seat, so every volunteer who needs a login adds the full plan price, and its verified network list is short.
For most small nonprofits this is the tool to check last. It makes sense for a large organization with a paid communications team and a need for listening and an inbox.
- Entry paid plan: Standard at $99 per seat per month.
- Accounts on that plan: 10 social accounts.
- Platforms: Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter).
- Integrations: 100.
- Social listening: Yes. Approvals: Yes.
Free plans from tools outside the nonprofit tag
The tag above is narrow. Two other tools in the same category list a free plan that a very small nonprofit may find enough, even though the catalogue does not tag them for nonprofits.
Zoho Social
Zoho SocialRank 8 with a score of 89/100 (based on 6 of 7 criteria, 90% of the scorecard weight verified). Pricing checked Oct 14, 2026.
Scores highest on
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 14 of 21 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, recurring posts, media library, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, separate client workspaces, unified social inbox, link tracking (utm / short links), social listening
Scores lowest on
- Cost per connected account (67/100): $8 per connected account per month on Premium (5 accounts, 2 users, billed annually)
- Entry price (80/100): $10/month billed annually on Standard; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices)
- API, integrations and export: no published data, left out of the total
Full score breakdown with sources
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 28% | 80 | $10/month billed annually on Standard; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) source |
| Free plan or trial | 17% | 100 | Free plan (Free) source |
| Pricing transparency | 11% | 100 | 4 of 4 plans have a public price source |
| Verified features | 17% | 100 | 14 of 21 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, recurring posts, media library, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, separate client workspaces, unified social inbox, link tracking (utm / short links), social listening source 1source 2 |
| API, integrations and export | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Platform coveragecategory criterion | 11% | 100 | 14 of 15 tracked platforms supported source |
| Cost per connected accountcategory criterion | 17% | 67 | $8 per connected account per month on Premium (5 accounts, 2 users, billed annually) source |
| Total | 90% covered6 of 7 criteria | 89/100 | Rank #8 in this category, based on 6 of 7 criteria |
Zoho Social allows more accounts on its free plan than most, which helps an organization with profiles on several networks. Only one user is allowed, so it works for a single communications person and not for a volunteer team.
- Free plan: 1 workspace, 6 social accounts, 1 user.
- Entry paid plan: Standard at $10 per month, with 1 user.
- Trial: 15-day free trial.
Publer
PublerRank 5 with a score of 92/100 (based on 6 of 8 criteria, 65% of the scorecard weight verified). Pricing checked Oct 14, 2026.
Scores highest on
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 11 of 19 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, media library, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, separate client workspaces, content repurposing
Scores lowest on
- Pricing transparency (47/100): 1 of 2 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales")
- Free plan limits (100/100): Free plan: 3 connected accounts
- Entry price: no published data, left out of the total
- Cost per connected account: no published data, left out of the total
Full score breakdown with sources
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Free plan or trial | 23% | 100 | Free plan (Free) source |
| Pricing transparency | 15% | 47 | 1 of 2 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") source |
| Verified features | 23% | 100 | 11 of 19 tracked features verified: bulk scheduling (csv or multi-post), calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, media library, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, best-time-to-post suggestions, approval workflows, separate client workspaces, content repurposing source |
| API, integrations and export | 15% | 100 | public API source |
| Platform coveragecategory criterion | 15% | 100 | 12 of 15 tracked platforms supported source |
| Cost per connected accountcategory criterion | – | Excluded | No published data: left out, the other criteria are re-weighted. |
| Free plan limitscategory criterion | 8% | 100 | Free plan: 3 connected accounts source |
| Total | 65% covered6 of 8 criteria | 92/100 | Rank #5 in this category, based on 6 of 8 criteria |
Publer lists a free plan with a workspace limit, one user and a small number of accounts, and a wide platform list. The catalogue holds no verified paid-plan price for Publer, so the cost of growing past the free tier has to be read from its pricing page.
- Free plan: 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts.
- Platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Telegram, Mastodon.
- Approvals: Yes. Bulk scheduling: Yes.
Who should not pick it
- Nonprofits with many volunteers should not pick Hootsuite: it is priced at $99 per seat per month.
- Nonprofits that need a free plan should not pick Edgar: its free plan is listed as No.
- Nonprofits that need more than one login on a free plan should skip Zoho Social and Publer: both list 1 user on the free plan.
- Nonprofits with a presence on networks outside Instagram, Facebook and X should not pick Hootsuite, whose verified list is Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter).
- Nonprofits that need several volunteers logged in at once should not stay on the Buffer free plan: it lists 3 social accounts, 1 user.
What we did not test
We did not use any of these tools. The figures come from the vendors' public pricing and feature pages, and the scores come from code. The data cannot tell you whether a vendor will give your organization a discount, how reliable the scheduler is, how quickly support answers or how easy it is to hand the account to a new volunteer. Confirm any nonprofit pricing with the vendor directly. For the full list of what we leave out, see what we did not test.
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Frequently asked questions
Do social media management tools offer nonprofit discounts?
Some vendors do, but our catalogue holds no verified nonprofit discount for the tools in this post, so we do not state one. Ask the vendor before you pay, and compare the discounted price with the free plan: Buffer lists a free plan with 3 social accounts, 1 user.
Which tool suits a nonprofit with several volunteers posting?
The user limit on the plan matters more than the headline price. Edgar lists 20 users on its Eddie plan, while Buffer lists unlimited users on its Team plan, and Hootsuite charges $99 per seat per month.
Can a small nonprofit use a free plan instead of paying?
Yes, if the limits fit. Zoho Social lists a free plan with 1 workspace, 6 social accounts, 1 user, and Publer lists one with 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts. Both were read from the vendors' pricing pages.
Which of the social media management tools for nonprofits ranks first on SaaSHunter?
Buffer has the highest score, 96 out of 100, among the 3 social media management tools for nonprofits with enough verified data to be ranked. Its facts were last checked Oct 14, 2026. Scores are computed from the published scorecard and change when the underlying facts change.
Which social media management tools for nonprofits have a free plan?
1 of the 3 ranked social media management tools for nonprofits list a free plan: Buffer. What the free plan allows differs, so check the limits column before choosing.
What is the lowest starting price among social media management tools for nonprofits?
Among the ranked social media management tools for nonprofits, Buffer has the lowest paid starting price at $5 per connected account per month. Tools charge per seat, per connected account or per workspace, so the units differ and the lowest sticker price is not always the lowest bill for your setup.
How are the social media management tools for nonprofits scored?
Each tool is scored from 0 to 100 on 7 weighted criteria taken from the same scorecard for every tool: entry price, free plan or trial, pricing transparency, verified features, api, integrations and export, platform coverage, cost per connected account. Criteria without verified data are left out and the weights re-normalised; a tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked.