Later starts at $18.75/mo (billed yearly) and Metricool at $20/mo. Later is not open source; Metricool is not open source. Below: the two side by side, then what each costs at 5, 10, 50 accounts, with fanout alongside. Every number is from each vendor's own pricing page.
| Later | Metricool | |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $18.75/mo (billed yearly) | $20/mo |
| Billing unit | Per social set | Per brand |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Open source / self-host | No | No |
| Platforms listed | 8: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat | 11: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, X, Twitch, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn |
| Telegram | No | No |
| Gated by plan | Social inbox and approval workflows on Growth and up; Multi-profile Best Times to Post on Growth and up; Competitive benchmarking and custom analytics on Scale only | LinkedIn connection and the X analytics add-on on Starter and up; Team and role management, post approval on Advanced and up; White label and custom AI credits on the Custom plan |
Later: Priced per social set (one profile per supported network), not per account.
Metricool: Priced per brand, not per account.
| Connected accounts | Later | Metricool | fanout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | — | — | $29 |
| 10 | — | — | $39 |
| 50 | — | — | $100 |
Cheapest published plan that covers that many accounts, monthly billing unless marked. “—” means that vendor does not price per connected account, so there is no like-for-like number.
| Feature | Later | Metricool | fanout |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI version per network | Not listed | Not listed | Yes, every plan Rewrites hook, length and hashtags per network; live character limits |
| Post ideas from news & feeds | From the Scale plan Trending topics | Yes, every plan RSS feeds | Yes, every plan Discover: Google News topics, RSS, Telegram and X, ranked by coverage |
| Drafts in your voice | Not listed | Not listed | Yes, every plan Writing styles: instructions, example posts, words to avoid |
| Best time to post | Yes, every plan Instagram; multi-profile on Growth | Yes, every plan | Yes, every plan Heatmap from your own posts’ engagement, one-click best slot |
| Comments inbox | From the Growth plan | Yes, every plan Messages from your networks | Yes, every plan X, Instagram, YouTube, Threads and Bluesky |
| Analytics | Yes, every plan Up to 3 months on Starter | Yes, every plan 30 days on Free | Yes, every plan X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Facebook and Pinterest |
| MCP for Claude & ChatGPT | Not listed | Yes, every plan “Metricool MCP” | Yes, every plan 8 tools: accounts, posts, schedule, analytics, media |
| First comment scheduling | Yes, every plan | Not listed | Not yet |
“Not listed” means we could not find it on their pages, not that it does not exist. Checked October 2026.
Nothing in the data above favours Later over Metricool.
Card required, cancel anytime, no charge during the trial.
It depends on the number of accounts. Monthly cost on the cheapest published plan: 5 accounts: Later —, Metricool —, fanout $29; 10 accounts: Later —, Metricool —, fanout $39; 50 accounts: Later —, Metricool —, fanout $100. "—" means that vendor does not price per connected account.
Later: no free plan is listed. Metricool: a free plan is listed. Open source: Later no, Metricool no.
Later lists 8 platforms and Metricool lists 11, per their own pages. Telegram: Later no, Metricool no.
fanout is a hosted scheduler for 15 networks, from $29/month for 5 accounts with a 3-day free trial. It is not open source and has no self-hosting, team seats or first-comment scheduling.
Sources: Later pricing (checked September 2026) and Metricool pricing (checked September 2026). Tell us if something changed: support@tryfanout.com.
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