I build small tools and bots for fun, and lately a lot of my work involves posting content automatically across different social platforms.
I was using a basic script for one platform, but it broke every time that platform changed something.
So, I wanted an API that could handle posting and scheduling across more than one platform, without babysitting tokens and rate limits all day.
I tested seven social media scheduler APIs. I connected real accounts, wrote actual code, and scheduled actual posts to see what broke and what worked.
Here is what I found.
1. Buffer
I started with Buffer since everyone knows the name. It has been around forever as a scheduler, and now it has a newer GraphQL API that replaced the older, more limited one.
Setting it up was easy. I generated a key from the settings page and started sending queries right away. One API covered eleven platforms, so I did not need separate code for X, LinkedIn, and the rest.
The catch came with the limits. On the free and lower paid plans, the request limits are tight, and I ran into throttling fast when scheduling a batch of posts. Pricing is also per connected channel, which adds up once you grow past a handful of accounts.
Buffer feels solid if you already use it as your main scheduler. As a base for building something bigger, it felt boxed in.
2. Postiz
Postiz surprised me the most, and in a good way.
It is open source, so you can run it on your own server for free, or pay for the hosted version if you want it managed for you. Either way you get the same features, with nothing hidden behind a paywall on the self hosted side.
The API itself is clean. I generated a key, hit the posts endpoint, and had a test post scheduled to X within minutes.
The documentation gave me working examples for several platforms, not generic placeholders, and there is an official Node package that saved me writing my own wrapper.
What stood out most was how much it covers. Postiz connects with more than thirty platforms, including smaller ones I did not expect, like Medium and Dev.to.
It also has built in AI tools for writing posts, generating images, and even short videos.
I self hosted it on a small server, and once I got through the platform app approvals, it ran smoothly with very little upkeep.
3. Outstand
Outstand is a newer tool, made for developers from the ground up, with one API that handles posting, media, and analytics the same way no matter the platform.
I liked the pricing the most here. It is five dollars a month as a base fee, which includes a thousand posts, then a small fee for each post after that.
There is no limit on connected accounts, which is rare, since most tools charge per account or per profile.
The downside is that it still feels young. While testing, I noticed a few features in the docs were not fully built out yet, almost like they were still catching up to the bigger players.
I did not run into any bugs myself, but I was also only testing at a small scale, not anything close to production load.
4. Ayrshare
Ayrshare has been around for a while in the developer space, and it shows. It supports thirteen platforms and covers things many others skip, like replying to comments, managing reviews, and sending direct messages.
I tested posting and basic analytics and it worked exactly as documented. The setup with profile keys felt more involved than the others, but the documentation walked me through it well.
The pricing is where it got harder to recommend. The plan for your own accounts is fine, but multiple user profiles push the cost up fast.
Posting to X also now requires creating your own developer app on X and paying for X's own usage credits, an extra step most other tools handle for you.
Ayrshare feels built for teams who already have budget set aside for this kind of infrastructure. For a smaller project, it felt like more than I needed.
5. Zernio
Zernio covers more than fifteen platforms and also handles WhatsApp Business numbers, something none of the others on this list do.
Getting my first post scheduled took less than ten minutes. The setup never asked me to register my own app with each platform, since they handle that connection behind the scenes.
Pricing is based on how many accounts you connect. The first two are free, a nice way to try it before paying, and it scales up gradually as you add more.
Something I noticed while testing is that the per account pricing can add up fast once you pass the free tier, especially if you plan on managing a lot of client accounts down the line.
It is worth keeping in mind before you scale up your account count.
6. Publer
Publer is mostly known as a regular scheduling app with a calendar and a dashboard, and that comes through even in its API.
The API only unlocks once you are on their Business plan, so it is not something you can test for free first. Once I had access, the experience was fine. I could schedule posts in bulk, manage media, and pull analytics without issues.
What it lacks is the kind of developer extras I got used to elsewhere. There is no webhook support, so you keep checking for updates instead of getting notified when a post goes live.
There is also no official code library, so you write your own request handling from scratch.
If you already use Publer for the dashboard, the API is a fine bonus. As a starting point built around the API itself, it felt secondary to the main product.
7. Bundle Social
Bundle Social wraps up this list as another developer first option, with one flat price instead of charging per account.
I liked that there is no per profile fee. You pay a flat monthly amount and connect as many accounts as you need, which removes a lot of guesswork around future costs if you manage many clients.
The API came with a proper code library, a command line tool, and clear error messages whenever something went wrong, which made debugging less frustrating.
Where it falls short is the daily limit on posting to X, sitting at fifteen posts per account per day even on the paid plan.
Why Postiz Won
After going through all seven, I kept coming back to Postiz.
The biggest reason is choice. I can run it myself for free with full control, or pay a small monthly fee for the hosted version if I want someone else handling the server. Either way, I get the exact same features, which is rare in this space.
The second reason is how much it covers. Thirty plus platforms through one API, built in AI for writing and creating content, and an actual maintained Node package, all under one roof.
I was not stitching together three different tools to get what I needed.
The third reason is the documentation. Every example I tried actually worked the first time, which sounds small but saved me hours compared to tools where I had to guess the right format through trial and error.
It is not perfect. The rate limit on the posting endpoint is tight if you fire off requests in a loop, and getting platform app approvals takes patience no matter which tool you pick. But for the mix of price, features, and how well it is documented, Postiz is the one I plan to keep building on.
If you want to look beyond these seven, there is a solid list of Social Media Scheduling Tools with plenty more options to dig through.
