Top 11 Must-Have Social Media Management Tools & Apps to Elevate Your Brand in 2025

 

eClincher

eClincher offers a comprehensive social media management platform that supports businesses in expanding their online footprint while saving time and resources.

Planable

Planable streamlines social media posting, enabling quick content creation with collaboration tools that allow teams to coordinate seamlessly on campaigns.

Crowdfire

Crowdfire is an extensive social media management tool that offers content curation, scheduling, analytics, and social listening capabilities, making it a versatile choice for online marketing professionals.

Rebrandly

Rebrandly is a URL management tool that simplifies sharing links, allowing you to create short, branded URLs for seamless social media posting while managing links easily.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a tool that helps individuals and businesses easily manage their social media profiles and engage in meaningful conversations online, making it easier to connect with their audience.

More than 3.5 billion people worldwide use social media, and this number keeps growing each year. With such widespread usage, companies are eager to connect with their target audience across various platforms and turn followers into customers.

Social marketing enables businesses and online marketers to build relationships, grow their online presence, collaborate with influencers, increase awareness about their products, and ultimately generate more revenue online. However, managing social media is not always straightforward. It can be time-consuming and stressful to stay on top of multiple channels and ongoing interactions.

Fortunately, the right social media tools can save you over 6 hours each week by automating scheduling and other routine tasks. These tools assist with scheduling posts in advance, monitoring engagement and clicks, following and unfollowing users, and much more. Let’s explore some of the best options available today.

What Are the Leading Social Media Management Tools?

Here are my top picks for software that can help you launch and improve your social media marketing efforts this year.

1. eClincher

Top Choice for Overall Social Media Management

clincher logo

Expert’s Insight

If you’re seeking the best overall social media management platform, eClincher stands out as an excellent choice. It offers an all-in-one solution with everything needed to grow your online visibility. For those focused on social media marketing, eClincher can help you save significant time and resources.

Best For

Overall

Pricing Details

$59/month to $219/month

Yearly Discount

Save 15% with an annual plan

Special Offer

eClincher is highly suitable for businesses with extensive social media management needs. It offers a comprehensive platform that helps companies handle various facets of their social marketing strategies. With integrated tools for reputation management and brand monitoring, eClincher empowers businesses to safeguard and enhance their online visibility while ensuring their brand remains prominent in social conversations. Its smart inbox consolidates all social media activities into one accessible location, allowing quick and efficient responses to comments, messages, and mentions. Using a visual content calendar, eClincher also simplifies content planning, making sure posts are timely and relevant for the target audience. Key features include auto-posting via RSS feeds, bulk content uploads, automated queues to keep content fresh, and flexible scheduling to optimize posting times. One minor drawback is that dropdown menus can sometimes interfere with typing in the desktop app. Pricing options are: Basic at $59 per month, Premier at $119, and Agency at $219. A free trial is available to get started.

2. Planable

Optimized for speed.

Expert Recommendations

Planable is an excellent social media management platform designed for those who need to work quickly and efficiently. It offers both individuals and agencies easy access to tools that help optimize content creation without the chaos of scattered editorial calendars.

Best For

Speed

Price

$0 per user – $22 per user

Annual Discount

No discounts available for annual plans.

Planable is built for users who want to develop social media content rapidly, with capabilities that can accelerate content creation up to 6 times faster. The platform’s collaboration tools are ideal for team communication, helping everyone stay aligned and coordinated. With a complete end-to-end workflow, you can eliminate the chaos of traditional spreadsheets and streamline your social media planning. Additionally, Planable offers features designed to reduce repetitive and manual tasks, making your social media strategy more efficient and effective. It’s perfect for teams looking for a fast, organized, and collaborative content management solution.

Key features include 24/7 support to assist you at any time, unlimited users and workspaces so everyone can participate, a dedicated account manager to maximize your subscription benefits, onboarding and training to ensure your team uses the platform effectively, robust security measures to protect your data, an easy-to-navigate social media calendar to keep your plans organized, and an intuitive scheduler that simplifies publishing. However, some users find that customizing posts, especially when bulk posting, can be a bit tricky at times.

Regarding pricing, plans range from free options to premium packages at up to $22 per user. There are no discounts for annual subscriptions currently. For those interested, a free trial is available to start exploring the platform’s features without any initial commitment.planable pricing

You can try out the system for free with a limit of 50 posts to see if it’s the right fit for you. When you’re ready to upgrade, here are the available paid plans:

– Basic: $11 per user
– Pro: $22 per user
– Enterprise: Custom pricing

Start your journey with Planable today.

3. Crowdfire.

This tool offers comprehensive social media management features. From creating and curating content to scheduling posts that go live at the perfect moments, Crowdfire provides all the necessary tools to manage your social media presence efficiently.

Expert advice: Crowdfire is capable of handling nearly all your social media needs, making content creation, scheduling, and engagement more manageable and streamlined.

Launched in 2010 under the name ‘JustUnfollow,’ this social media management tool rebranded itself as Crowdfire in 2015.

With more than 20 million users worldwide, including artists, freelancers, e-sellers, and bloggers, it ranks among the top social media management platforms available today.

Crowdfire offers a comprehensive suite of features for managing social media, including content curation, scheduling posts, analytics, and social listening tools.

Best For: It is ideal for individuals, small businesses, and digital agencies aiming to boost engagement, analyze their performance more deeply, and monitor conversations related to their brand.

Key Features:

  • Find relevant content: Discover videos and infographics aligned with your interests to share content your audience will appreciate.
  • Schedule posts ahead of time: Plan and set all your content to publish automatically at predetermined times.
  • Social listening: Track mentions and conversations about your brand and analyze competitors’ activities.
  • Add-ons and extensions: Enhance functionality with tools like Google Chrome extensions.
  • Free plan: Provides one free account per social media profile and a 14-day trial of premium features.

Cons:

  • It only suggests videos or infographics posted by other users, limiting content options.
  • There are restrictions on blog promotion capabilities.
  • The platform emphasizes quantity over content quality.

Pricing: Crowdfire offers a free plan for each social media account, along with a 14-day trial for their premium plans. Paid options include three tiers: the ‘Plus’ plan at $7.48 per month, the ‘Premium’ plan at $37.48 per month, and the ‘VIP’ plan at $74.98 per month.

Crowdfire

Overall, Crowdfire is a versatile social media management tool suitable for individuals and small businesses looking to increase posting frequency, boost follower engagement, and monitor brand sentiment.

4. Rebrandly

rebrandly_logo-

Expert Insight

Are you tired of sharing lengthy URLs that look cluttered and awkward, especially on mobile? Rebrandly offers a perfect solution! This platform helps businesses maintain a professional appearance by shortening links, while also providing detailed traffic tracking for each link.

Best For

Large Brands

Price

$0/month to $499/month

Annual Discount

Save 16% if you choose annual billing

Promotion

Rebrandly is a well-known link management platform designed to help you shorten lengthy URLs for easier sharing on social media platforms. It simplifies social media posting by allowing you to create branded, customizable short links, perform quick redirects, tag your links, and set expiration dates for them. Ideal For: Rebrandly is perfect for large brands that frequently post across multiple social channels and require short, branded URLs. It surpasses basic link shorteners like Linktree and similar services with its advanced features. Key Features include:

  • Traffic management: Create deep links, route traffic, and set up 301 redirects to control where your links lead.
  • Team collaboration: Add extra users, assign different access levels, and enable secure login options like single sign-on (SSO) and two-factor authentication (2FA).
  • Link analytics: Use custom URLs and detailed reports to monitor click data and user interactions across your social media links.
  • Support and training: Access email support, a comprehensive knowledge base, video tutorials, direct training, and dedicated account management.

Limitations: While robust, Rebrandly does not include all social media scheduling features that other platforms offer. Pricing Options: They provide four standard plans and offer a custom enterprise package.

rebrandly pricing

The free plan provides unlimited redirects, 5,000 clicks, and 500 branded links per month. The starter plan costs $29/month and includes 25,000 clicks and 5,000 branded links. The professional plan is priced at $89/month, offering 150,000 clicks and 15,000 branded links. The premium plan, at $499/month, grants 1.5 million clicks and 150,000 branded links. Custom enterprise pricing is also available.

5. Agorapulse

agorepulse logo

agorepulse logo

Expert’s Insights

Engagement is the core of social media, and with Agorapulse, managing this engagement across all your platforms becomes simple. The platform offers robust tools designed to help users participate effectively in online conversations and build stronger relationships with their audience.

Ideal For

Agencies

Cost

$0/month – $199/month

Annual Discount

Save 20% when you subscribe annually

Founded in 2011, Agorapulse helps individuals and organizations smoothly manage their social media accounts. It simplifies the process of engaging with audiences by providing a range of powerful tools designed for effective online communication.

According to Agorapulse’s website, over 17,000 social media managers rely on the platform daily to enhance their marketing efforts. The company also offers a 28-day free trial for new users.

Agorapulse is particularly well-suited for medium-sized businesses and agencies that require multiple team members to oversee at least a dozen different social profiles. Its key features include flexible scheduling, a social inbox for managing mentions and messages, instant reporting to evaluate social media ROI, and tools for collaborative work that streamline the content management process.

However, there are some drawbacks. The platform’s mid-tier plans tend to be on the pricier side compared to competitors, though a free plan is reportedly in development. The listening feature requires improvements, the range of emoticons is limited, and there is no dedicated inbox search function.

Pricing varies across four different plans designed to cater to various business needs. The plans range from free or low-cost options up to more comprehensive packages costing around $199 per month. Additionally, users can benefit from a 20% discount when choosing an annual subscription, and a promotional free trial is usually available for new customers.agorapulse pricing

  • The Pro plan costs $79 monthly.
  • The Premium plan is available for $199 per month.
  • The Enterprise plan has a custom pricing structure tailored to specific needs.

All plans include nearly a 20% discount if paid annually.

6. Buffer

buffer homepage

If you’re familiar with digital marketing and social media planning, you’ve likely heard of Buffer.

Released in 2010, Buffer is one of the leading tools online for managing your social media profiles.

It provides a variety of features such as listening to social conversations, analyzing data, and gaining insights into how often users post on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

They also offer a mobile app compatible with iOS and Android, making it easy for teams to collaborate when away from their computers.

Buffer is especially useful for scheduling and posting content across multiple social channels.

Its key features include the ability to publish posts with a single click on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, as well as an integrated image tool called Pablo that allows instant creation of visuals for social media.

Additionally, users can install a Chrome extension to share links and upload content from anywhere, while analytics tools help track performance, generate reports, and provide actionable marketing suggestions.

However, Buffer’s integration with Instagram is somewhat limited, and it lacks specific tools for hashtag searches or targeted hashtag discovery.

Pricing options include a free plan that supports publishing on up to three channels, and paid plans such as Essentials at $5/month per social channel, Team at $10/month per channel, and an Agency plan costing $100/month per channel.

7. Sendible

sendible homepage

Sendible is considered one of the top social media management tools available today.

It features many impressive capabilities that set it apart from similar solutions. For example, it can track ROI directly from within the same dashboard used for managing your social media activities, so you don’t need to switch between different tools.

Moreover, it integrates seamlessly with numerous social media platforms and other management applications, providing a unified experience for social media marketers.Beyond just supporting over 10,000 companies, it also provides a compelling 30-day free trial.

Sending messages with Sendible is ideal for generating leads, scheduling posts, and managing several clients simultaneously. It caters to small, medium, and large businesses, as well as independent entrepreneurs.

Key features of Sendible include the ability to preview social media posts so you can see exactly how they’ll appear on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter before publishing. Users can plan their content calendar by scheduling individual posts, bulk uploads, or queued messages. The platform facilitates team collaboration by allowing the creation of personalized dashboards for clients, helping to organize and separate work efficiently. Additionally, Sendible supports comprehensive brand development by tracking KPIs, monitoring reputation, and enhancing overall brand presence.

However, some drawbacks include a somewhat confusing inbox interface and difficulties when trying to post multiple images to Instagram in a single post. The social media analytics tools are somewhat limited compared to other platforms.

Sendible offers four subscription options, with discounts of 15% available for annual payments: a Basic plan at $25/month, a Traction plan at $76/month, a Scale plan at $170/month, and an Expansion plan for $340/month.

8. Hootsuite

Hootsuite, founded in 2008 and based in Vancouver, Canada, is another widely used social media management platform with over 16 million users globally. It integrates smoothly with numerous networks including Reddit, Tumblr, Marketo, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. The platform also offers a free trial period of 30 days.

Best suited for managing multiple social accounts, listening to social conversations, handling customer service, and scheduling content effortlessly, Hootsuite provides a broad range of features. Users can manage multiple social profiles across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram without installing additional software. Its scheduler enables automatic posting, simplifying content distribution. The platform’s analytics are powerful, offering detailed reports that pull data from over 70 metrics, which help inform strategic decisions.

Nevertheless, some limitations include occasional delays in auto-scheduling due to software issues, extra fees required for certain apps, and a lack of thumbnail previews and summaries on Facebook. Additionally, the custom URL shorteners are pricey, and some users note that Facebook reach and engagement can be relatively low.

Hootsuite’s pricing plans are tiered: the Professional plan starts at $49 per month (billed annually), supporting 10 social profiles for a single user; the Team plan at $129/month includes 20 profiles and three users; the Business plan begins at $739/month, accommodating up to 35 profiles and 5-10 users. Custom Enterprise packages are available for larger organizational needs.Your renewable energy needs can be effectively met with the right solutions.

The initial two plans offer a 30-day free trial, allowing you to test their features risk-free. For the third option, a demo must be requested prior to commitment.

Check out my comprehensive review of Hootsuite versus Buffer for an in-depth comparison.

9. Sprout Social

Sprout Social stands out as a top social media management tool and CRM. Built to promote strong, meaningful connections among individuals, communities, brands, and businesses, this platform justifies its higher price point with exceptional value. While best suited for small to large enterprises, it also serves well in strategic social media planning for larger organizations.

Main features include an intuitive dashboard, an organized messaging hub called ‘Smart Inbox’ that consolidates messages from all connected social networks, and message scheduling capabilities that let you plan posts in advance. Its ‘Discovery’ feature offers a unique way to track interactions with influencers or users who mention your brand. The platform provides a 30-day free trial, enabling you to evaluate its fit for your business needs.

Sprout Social has three pricing tiers: The Standard plan begins at $89/month and covers five social profiles; the Professional plan is $149/month for up to ten profiles; and the Advanced plan starts at $249/month, also supporting ten profiles. All plans come with a free month to try out their features.

10. Social Pilot

SocialPilot is trusted by over 100,000 businesses worldwide for managing social media, engaging customers, and gaining detailed analytics. This platform offers great value at competitive prices, making it a preferred choice globally. Designed to streamline your social marketing efforts, it’s ideal for social media professionals, small to medium agencies, entrepreneurs, and small businesses alike.

Its key features include excellent customer support via priority email assistance, and a content suggestion tool that helps maintain a steady flow of engaging posts. This feature ensures you’re never short of ideas while optimizing your content calendar.

  • Utilize graphic design software, such as Canva or one of its alternatives, to craft engaging social media templates.
  • Highly customizable – It allows full customization options to meet your specific needs. For example, you can input an RSS Feed URL, enabling the tool to automatically publish your tailored posts.
  • Intuitive dashboard – All your tasks and tools are centralized on a single platform that enhances productivity and ease of use.

Disadvantages:

  • Limited video features, restricted to uploading only
  • Availability of a free trial varies by country

Pricing:
Social Pilot offers three different subscription plans:

Social Pilot Pricing
  • The Professional plan costs $30/month, or $25.5/month if paid annually.
  • The Small Team plan is priced at $50/month or $42.5/month annually.
  • The Studio plan costs $100/month, or $85/month with annual billing.
  • The Agency plan is $150/month ($127.5/month annually), supporting up to 75 social media accounts.

All plans come with a 14-day free trial. For customized needs, you can reach out for a tailored package.

11. Meet Edgar

Meet Edgar Homepage

Meet Edgar is among the most well-known tools for social media management available today. It helps in scheduling posts, curating content, and repurposing materials effectively. The key advantage is its ability to generate content over long periods, even when you’re out of fresh ideas, ensuring continuous engagement without worry about your audience’s attention slipping away.

Best for: Managing multiple social media accounts simultaneously, especially for busy businesses that rely on regular, automated posting.

Core Features:

  • Auto-variations – Automatically creates posts by sourcing quote-worthy extracts from articles and blogs with just a click.
  • Extensions – Compatible with browser extensions like Google Chrome, Safari, or Bookmarklet for easy access.
  • Continuous Posting – Ensures a steady stream of content, even during content shortages.
  • Prompt Support – Customer support responds within 48 hours to inquiries.
  • A/B Testing – Allows testing different messaging strategies and analyzing results to optimize your social media approach.

Disadvantages:

  • Lacks integration with Pinterest
  • Higher price point compared to some competitors

Pricing:
Meet Edgar offers various plans:

Meet Edgar Pricing
  • Edgar Lite: $24.91/month for managing five social accounts.
  • Full Edgar: $41.58/month for up to twenty-five accounts.

12. CoSchedule

Best Social Media Management Tools: CoScheduleBest Social Media Management Tools: CoSchedule

Established in 2014 and headquartered in the US, CoSchedule is a leading social media management platform trusted by over 10,000 users worldwide. It offers comprehensive tools to help organize your content, schedule posts, and analyze social media performance all from one place.

Using features like a Chrome extension and an integrated headline analyzer, you can easily plan and monitor your marketing efforts, streamline collaboration, and gain valuable insights with just one click. Its versatile capabilities make it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. CoSchedule helps manage multiple campaigns efficiently and supports integration with popular tools such as MailChimp, Zapier, and Google Analytics.

Designed primarily for small businesses, agencies, and individuals, CoSchedule is especially helpful for creating case studies and tracking ongoing projects. Its user-friendly features include centralized calendars, shared views in read-only mode to prevent unwanted edits, and the ability to schedule content across different platforms simultaneously.

However, some drawbacks include a less intuitive user interface, which might require a learning curve for new users, and the need for additional payment to access advanced features like the re-queue option. The pricing plans start at $29 per user per month (billed annually) for the Marketing Calendar Pro plan, with a customized quote available for the Business Plan. All plans come with a 14-day free trial to test out the service before committing.

Moving on to another option, MavSocial is a feature-rich tool that emphasizes visual content and aesthetics. Its primary strength lies in its extensive digital content library, enabling users to manage, edit, and publish visually appealing posts seamlessly. This makes it ideal for brands with a strong visual identity, especially those looking to enhance their social media presence with striking imagery.

MavSocial offers a seven-day free trial and is particularly suitable for companies with established brand recognition. It supports social media tracking to identify trending topics and assess campaign success, along with advanced filtering options such as exclusion filters and retweets, to help manage large amounts of data efficiently. Users can view their entire engagement history, monitor ongoing conversations, and analyze real-time social media developments to inform strategic adjustments.

Insights for Developing a Guided Marketing Strategy

  • Scheduling and automation – Take advantage of advanced automation features to plan and publish your content efficiently.

Cons:

  • The platform’s interface isn’t very user-friendly or intuitive
  • No free basic plan is available
  • Frequent API updates may cause occasional bugs

Pricing:

MavSocial offers four different subscription options:

mavsocial pricing
  • The Advanced plan costs $19/month, covering 1 user and 10 social profiles.
  • The Pro plan is priced at $78/month for 3 users and 30 profiles.
  • The Business plan is $199/month, supporting 5 users and 50 profiles.
  • The Enterprise plan is customizable based on specific needs.

All options include a 14-day free trial.

Note: Additional tools such as Tailwind, Buzzsumo, HubSpot, and TweetDeck are not yet reviewed here.

What Are Social Media Management Tools?

Social media management tools help automate most aspects of your social media marketing efforts. They enable scheduling posts, collaborating with team members, creating campaigns, and monitoring all your accounts from a single platform. Utilizing these SaaS solutions can significantly boost your social media presence and facilitate content promotion.

These tools assist with various tasks:

  • Reaching your target audience effectively
  • Gathering insights to identify strengths and weaknesses
  • Optimizing workflows to save time and effort
  • Planning and sharing content across multiple channels
  • Monitoring social activity and engaging with comments and posts

Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Management Software

What exactly are social media management tools?

Social media management tools are essential for managing multiple accounts at scale. When a brand or influencer operates several large social profiles, these tools simplify the process of managing and scheduling content across all platforms.

Which is the best free social media management tool?

Later stands out as the top choice for a free plan packed with features, capable of handling most posting needs for personal or business accounts without cost.

What are the key tools in media management?

Leading platforms include Buffer, Hootsuite, and Crowdfire. These tools cover a wide range of social media marketing needs, suitable for small businesses or even large organizations.

Why is SSO important in social media management?

Single Sign-On (SSO) allows you to access multiple social media accounts with one login, saving time and simplifying management. Choosing the right SSO provider ensures you can use a single password across all your accounts, making login procedures faster and more secure.

Summary

Social media provides an immediate connection to nearly half of the world’s population, making it a vital component of any marketing strategy. As entrepreneur David Alston describes, social media isn’t just about broadcasting; success relies on listening, engaging, and building meaningful relationships.

Before choosing a marketing tool, carefully consider your goals and which features align best with your business needs. For influencers aiming to monetize their Instagram presence, scheduling tools like Buffer can simplify content planning. For small businesses looking to grow followers, Crowdfire could be an excellent choice. All listed tools offer free trials, so testing their features before making a decision is highly recommended.

Have I overlooked any preferred tools? Which ones are you planning to try? Share your thoughts in the comments below.