Social media scheduling · 2026
Free social media scheduling tools for Instagram 29 tools ranked by verified data
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
Disclosure: TrackMedia is made by the team behind this site. It is scored by the same scorecard and code as every other tool, with no custom weights. Methodology
We scored 32 tools with a free plan among social media scheduling tools for Instagram with the same 8-criterion scorecard; 29 have enough verified data to be ranked.
Only tools with verified Instagram support are included.
Every listed tool has a free plan; the table shows exactly what each free plan allows, as the vendor states it.
Zoho Social ranks first with 96/100, followed by Iconosquare (93) and Publer (92).
The lowest starting price among ranked tools (the least you can pay for a paid plan, for one user or account) is Donivo's: $7 per month billed monthly on the Starter plan.
Free plans compared
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.
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Why each one ranks where it does
1. Zoho Social 96/100Social media management platform for scheduling, monitoring, analytics and team collaboration across many networks, with Zoho CRM integration.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 13 of 19 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)
From $10 per month billed yearly on the Standard plan.
Homepage captured Oct 14, 2026 
2. Iconosquare 93/100Social media management suite for analytics, scheduling, reporting, a shared inbox and listening across several networks.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 10 of 19 tracked features verified: calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, media library, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, approval workflows, user roles and permissions, unified social inbox, white-label reports
From $10 per month billed yearly on the Starter plan.
3. Publer 92/100Social media scheduling and management tool with a calendar, bulk scheduling, analytics, workspaces and link in bio across many networks.
- 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
4. TrackMedia 90/100Our productSocial media publishing tool that posts one draft to many networks with per-network versions, queues, link tracking, analytics, an API and an MCP server.
- Entry price (100/100): $8.25/month billed annually on Creator; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices)
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
From $8.25 per month billed yearly on the Creator plan.
5. Multi Upload Tool 87/100Dashboard and API for uploading and scheduling one video to several social platforms, with analytics, webhooks and team workspaces.
- Entry price (100/100): Free: the pricing page lists no paid plan
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
6. Supaslides 83/100Turns a website URL into on-brand carousels with editable slides, exports them in formats for several networks and schedules posts from one calendar.
- Entry price (100/100): Free: the pricing page lists no paid plan
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan
7. Fedica 82/100Social media dashboard for scheduling across many networks, with follower and audience analytics, listening and AI message optimization.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- API, integrations and export (100/100): documented data export
From $15 per month billed monthly ($10 billed yearly) on the Publish plan.
8. Planoly 81/100Social media planner with a content calendar, scheduling and auto-posting, Instagram grid preview, AI idea generation, link in bio and comment and DM automation.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan
- Pricing transparency (100/100): 3 of 3 plans have a public price
From $14 per month billed yearly on the Starter plan.
9. Pallyy 79/100Social media scheduler organised around client social sets, with shared approval links, per-client calendars and reports, a social inbox and link in bio pages.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 12 of 19 tracked features verified: posting queue, calendar view, first-comment scheduling, direct auto-publishing, media library, ai caption assistant, post and account analytics, report exports (pdf/csv), approval workflows, user roles and permissions, separate client workspaces, unified social inbox
From $25 per month billed monthly on the Pro plan.
10. Metricool 77/100Social media planner and analytics dashboard with scheduling, an inbox, reports, competitor tracking, link in bio pages and ad campaign management.
- Free plan or trial (100/100): Free plan (Free)
- Verified features (100/100): 10 of 19 tracked features verified: calendar view, recurring posts, media library, 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
From $25 per month billed monthly ($20 billed yearly) on the Starter plan.
How we picked
Every one of these social media scheduling tools is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v2). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to social media scheduling tools. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other social media scheduling tools on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $9/month or less = 100, $49 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $9/month or less = 100, $58 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.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.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 19 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). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 10 (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.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.Linear: platforms / 10 x 100, capped at 100. No verified platform list = not scored. |
| Cost per connected account | 10% | Category | Monthly price per connected account on the cheapest paid plan that allows at least 3 social accounts.Log scale: $2 per account or less = 100, $40 or more = 0. Plans that do not state an account limit are not used. |
| Free plan limits | 5% | Category | What the free plan allows: connected accounts (full marks at 3), scheduled posts per month (full marks at 100).Each stated limit linear up to its full mark (unlimited = 100), averaged. Tools without a free plan, or whose free plan states none of these limits, are not scored here. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
What is the best free social media scheduling tool for Instagram?
Zoho Social, with 96/100 on our scorecard; Iconosquare is second with 93/100.
What is the cheapest free social media scheduling tool for Instagram?
By entry price among ranked tools, Donivo: $7 per month billed monthly on the Starter plan.
Which free plan allows the most social accounts?
brightbean-studio's free plan allows unlimited social accounts, the most among the tools listed here.
How did you rank these social media scheduling tools?
Each tool gets 0 to 100 per criterion from its published pricing, limits and features; the total is the weighted average over the criteria with verified data. Tools with under 60% of the weight covered are not ranked.