This is the companion piece to APIs are the new storefront. That post covered agent platforms like Composio, Nango and the MCP gateways. This one covers one narrow job those agents keep getting asked to do: publish a post to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and the rest, on a schedule, from code.
You have three ways to do it:
- A unified posting API (Zernio, Ayrshare, Upload-Post, Post for Me, bundle.social, Outstand…). You make one API call and they talk to every platform for you.
- An open-source scheduler you host yourself (Postiz, Mixpost, Post for Me, n8n/Activepieces flows). Free software, but you register every platform app yourself.
- The platforms' own APIs and SDKs (X API, Meta Graph API, LinkedIn Posts API, TikTok Content Posting API, YouTube Data API…). Maximum control, and you own every app review, token refresh and breaking version change.
How this was checked: Prices were read from each vendor's pricing page on 17 October 2026, apart from a few marked "per third-party comparison". GitHub repositories were cloned this week to check license and last commit. Platform limits come from the official developer docs. Anything I couldn't verify is labelled. Pricing pages change often, so re-check before you sign anything.
Table 1 — Unified social posting APIs (hosted), the master table
| # | Tool | Pricing (verified 17 Oct 2026) | Free tier | Billing unit | Platforms | X (Twitter) handling | OAuth / branding | SDKs & integrations | MCP / AI agents | Extras (analytics, inbox, webhooks) | Open source? | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zernio (formerly Late, getlate.dev now redirects here) | Per connected account/month: 1–2 free, 3–10 $6 each, 11–100 $3 each, 101+ $1 each; custom past 2,000 | 2 accounts free forever, unlimited posting, no card | Connected account | 19 listed: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, Google Business Profile, Snapchat, Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, iMessage, WordPress, Shopify | Passed through at X's own rates, "no markup" | Managed; Enterprise adds SSO/SCIM | Official Node SDK zernio-dev/zernio-node (Apache-2.0, active 2026-10-16) | Docs pitch agents and MCP | Unlimited analytics; first 10k DMs/month free, then metered; inbox/comments API; ads metered | SDK yes, platform no | Indie hackers and SaaS that grow account by account | Messaging/SMS/WhatsApp priced separately; tiers apply per account, so a 1,000-user SaaS pays per user-account |
| 2 | Ayrshare | Premium $149/mo (1 profile, ~13–14 accounts); Launch $299 (10 profiles); Business $599 (30 profiles, tiered to 300); Enterprise custom | No free plan listed; 28-day trial on Launch | "Profile" (one end user/brand with its accounts) | "14+": LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Pinterest, Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit, Google Business Profile, Telegram (+ more) | Included through Ayrshare | Custom branding on Launch+ | Node wrapper ayrshare/social-media-api and ayrshare/social-post-api-python (no license file) | MCP mentioned in Ayrshare's marketing (not verified this week) | Analytics, comments, webhooks (Launch+), historical content | No | Agencies and B2B platforms with a clear number of client profiles | The most expensive entry point here; the page lists 14 vs 13 accounts in two places |
| 3 | Upload-Post | Basic $16/mo (5 profiles), Professional $33 (25), Advanced $118 (75), Business $350 (225, +$1/extra profile); annual prices shown | Free: 10 uploads/mo, 2 profiles | Profile; uploads unlimited on paid | 22: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads, Pinterest, Reddit, Bluesky, Google Business, Discord, Telegram, Slack, Mastodon, Nostr, Lemmy, Dev.to, Hashnode, WordPress, Whop, Listmonk | X link posts are a paid add-on | Whitelabel from Professional | Python & JS SDKs, official n8n node, Make, Zapier | Hosted MCP at mcp.upload-post.com (50 tools, self-hostable) | FFmpeg minutes, "AI Shorts" analyses | No | Video-first creators; dev blogs (Dev.to/Hashnode/WordPress cross-posting) | Profile ≠ account; FFmpeg minutes are capped per plan |
| 4 | Post for Me | From $10/mo (up to 1,000 successful posts, unlimited accounts); higher tiers by post volume | Not stated | Successful post | 9: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky | Through your own white-label app | Quickstart (their brand) or White Label (your own platform apps, your name on OAuth) | REST API | — | Analytics included | Yes: DayMoonDevelopment/post-for-me (AGPL-3.0, active 2026-10-14) | Cheapest per-post API; teams who want to read the code | Higher tiers aren't itemised; white-label needs your own platform approvals |
| 5 | bundle.social | Pro $100/mo (10,000 posts, 5,000 comments); Business $400 (100,000 posts); Enterprise custom | Free: 20 posts, 50 comments, 3 accounts | Posts per org; accounts unlimited on paid | 15: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, Threads, Pinterest, Reddit, Bluesky, Mastodon, Slack, Discord, Google Business Profile, Snapchat | Prepaid X credits: post $0.015, post with link $0.20, delete $0.01, analytics $0.005/result | Managed | REST API, webhooks page | — | Comments API, post/comment import, DMs and automations (beta) | No | SaaS embedding social posting for many users | Free tier is tiny; X posts fail when the credit balance runs out |
| 6 | Outstand | Pay-as-you-go $19/mo incl. 3,000 posts, then $0.007/post to 10k, $0.005 after; Business $129 (50k posts, 1,000 account slots, resale allowed) | None (closest is $19 PAYG) | Post | 12: X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Vimeo, Reddit | Requires your own X app | Managed keys or BYOK (your brand on consent screen) | REST API | — | — | No | High-volume posting with predictable per-post cost | X, GBP, Vimeo and Reddit need your own app registration |
| 7 | Blotato | Starter $29/mo (20 accounts, 1,250 AI credits); Creator $97 (40 accounts); Agency $499 | 7-day trial (API excluded from trial) | Plan + AI credits | 9 platforms (API + MCP) | — | Managed | API, n8n/Make support | API + MCP server | AI images/video/voice, DM and comment-reply contacts, viral-post database | No | AI content creators who also want generation, not just posting | You pay for AI features you may not need; up to 900 TikTok posts/month on Starter |
| 8 | Post Bridge | Marketer $39/mo (15 accounts, "API included"); Operator $99 (99 accounts + $1/extra) | 7-day trial; free users get 5 posts | Account | 10: X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business | — | Managed | API | "MCP agent connect" | Bulk video scheduling, analytics (beta) | No | Creators who mostly use the UI and sometimes script it | A third-party comparison listed a $5 API add-on, but the live page says included, so confirm |
| 9 | PostGate | Solo $4/mo (1 profile); Launch $19 (10 profiles) — per its own comparison post, not verified on its pricing page | 1 profile, 10 live posts/mo, sandbox + test keys | Profile | Not listed | — | — | pg_test_ sandbox keys | — | Sandbox platform for testing | No | Cheapest sandbox for building and testing | Small vendor; check the platform list before you commit |
| 10 | SocialRails | Creator $29 (27 connections), Agency $99 (225 connections) — per third-party comparison | Not stated | Connection | Not listed | — | — | API | — | Workspaces | No | Agencies needing many workspaces | Unverified on the vendor page |
| 11 | Buffer API (new, May 2026) | Included on every Buffer plan, including Free; no separate API fee | Yes (Buffer Free plan limits apply) | Buffer plan (per channel) | Buffer's channel list | Via Buffer | Managed OAuth | GraphQL API, CLI, developers.buffer.com | MCP server | Buffer's analytics/engagement depend on plan | No | People already on Buffer who want to script it | Legacy REST API is being retired on 1 Feb 2027 (per Buffer's own announcement), so migrate old scripts |
| 12 | Publer API | Business and Enterprise plans only; see publer.com/plans | No | Publer plan | 13: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, Google Business Profile, WordPress, Telegram, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky | Via Publer | Managed | REST; 100 requests / 2 min / user | — | Publer's analytics | No | Publer customers on Business plans | Not for embedding in your own SaaS |
| 13 | Postiz Cloud | Standard $29/mo (5 channels), Team $39 (10), Pro $49 (30), Ultimate $99 (100); annual cheaper | 7-day trial (self-host is free) | Channel; unlimited posts | 30+ (see Table 2) | Via Postiz | Managed on cloud; your own apps if self-hosted | API, CLI, webhooks on every plan | MCP server on every plan, "Smart Agent" | AI images/videos, clipping minutes, RSS auto-post, analytics | Yes (AGPL-3.0), see Table 2 | Builders who want the option to leave and self-host later | Self-hosted app approvals are a paid optional service |
| 14 | Typefully | Plan prices not visible in the page capture, so check the pricing page | Has a free plan (not verified this week) | Plan | 5: X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon | Through Typefully | Managed | API (plan-dependent) | — | Thread writing, analytics | No | Text-first founders posting threads | Text and thread focus; no TikTok/IG/YouTube |
| 15 | Hootsuite / Sprout Social / Sprinklr | Enterprise sales | No | Seat + contract | Full enterprise suites | Included | Managed | Partner/enterprise APIs | — | Listening, approvals, CRM | No | Large marketing teams | Overkill and slow to procure for an indie SaaS |
Table 2 — Open-source and self-hosted schedulers and automation
| # | Project | License | Last commit (checked) | Stack / install | Platforms | API for developers | Cost to run | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Postiz | AGPL-3.0 | 2026-10-15 | TypeScript (NestJS/Next.js), Docker | 30+ channels incl. X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, Reddit, Mastodon, Discord, Telegram | Public API, CLI, webhooks, MCP | VPS + your time; cloud from $29 | Most active OSS scheduler; same codebase as the paid cloud | You must create and get approval for every platform app yourself; AGPL obligations if you modify and serve it |
| 2 | Mixpost | Lite is MIT; Pro/Enterprise source-available | 2026-03-16 (Lite repo) | Laravel/PHP 8.3+, MySQL, Redis, Docker | Lite: Facebook Pages, X, Mastodon only; Pro/Enterprise: 12 platforms | API in Pro and Enterprise | Lite free; Pro $299 one-time, Enterprise $1,199 one-time (perpetual fallback license) | One-time license instead of a subscription; Enterprise lets you resell it as SaaS | Lite is very limited; Lite repo is quieter than Postiz |
| 3 | Post for Me | AGPL-3.0 | 2026-10-14 | TypeScript | 9 | REST API (this is the API product) | Hosted from $10, or read and run the code | An API-first product that's also open source | Self-hosting isn't documented on the homepage |
| 4 | n8n | Sustainable Use License (fair-code) | 2026-10-16 | Node, Docker | X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Discord nodes + community nodes (incl. Upload-Post official node) | Workflows as webhooks | Self-host free for internal use | Visual flows: RSS → AI rewrite → post | Not OSI open source; commercial resale restricted |
| 5 | Activepieces | MIT (community edition) | 2026-10-16 | TypeScript, Docker | Pieces for X, LinkedIn, Facebook Pages, Instagram, Telegram, Discord and more | Flows + pieces exposed as MCP | Self-host free | MIT, so friendlier for SaaS than n8n | Fewer social pieces than dedicated schedulers |
| 6 | Composio | MIT (SDK) | 2026-10-17 | Python/TS SDK + hosted tool platform | Toolkits for X, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube and others | Agent tool calls | Hosted pricing (see the APIs blog) | Best when an LLM agent decides what to post | It's an agent tool layer, not a scheduler: no queue or calendar UI |
| 7 | Socioboard 5 | GPL-3.0 | 2026-08-17 | Node/PHP | Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube (older set) | Internal APIs | Self-host | Long-running OSS social suite | Older architecture; check platform API versions before you trust it |
| 8 | Shoutify | Apache-2.0 | 2022-10-15 | TypeScript | X (early-stage) | — | — | Simple codebase to learn from | Stale since 2022, don't deploy |
Table 3 — Official platform APIs (what you face if you go direct)
| Platform | API | Who can post | Posting limits (official docs) | Media supported | Cost | Approval / gotchas | Official or de-facto SDK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) | X API v2, pay-per-use | Any developer with a paid credit balance | Spending cap per billing cycle that you set; 3M post reads/month cap before Enterprise | Text, images, video, polls, threads | Create post $0.015; post with URL $0.20; read post $0.005; user lookup $0.010. $20 starter credit after adding a card | Free/Basic/Pro tiers are gone for new developers (legacy Basic and Pro moved to pay-per-use in 2026, per Outstand's breakdown). Links cost 13× more than plain posts, so put the link in the first reply | node-twitter-api-v2 (Apache-2.0), tweepy (MIT) |
| Content Publishing (Graph API) | Professional accounts only | 100 API-published posts / 24h rolling (carousels count as 1; the carousel section says 50, so treat 50 as safe) | JPEG images, video, Reels, trial Reels, carousels (≤10), Stories | Free | Needs instagram_business_content_publish (IG Login) or instagram_content_publish + pages_read_engagement (FB Login), plus Advanced/Standard Access through Meta App Review | facebook-python-business-sdk, facebook-nodejs-business-sdk (MIT) | |
| Facebook Pages | Graph API /{page-id}/feed, /photos, /videos | Page admins via Page token | Platform rate limits (app/page level) | Text, link, photo, video, Reels | Free | pages_manage_posts and App Review; Page Publishing Authorization can block posting | Same Meta business SDKs |
| Threads | Threads API | Threads profiles that authorize your app | 250 posts / 24h, 1,000 replies, 100 deletes | Text ≤500 chars, JPEG/PNG ≤8 MB, MOV/MP4 ≤5 min/1 GB, carousels 2–20 | Free | threads_basic + threads_content_publish; check threads_publishing_limit before scheduled posts | REST (no official SDK) |
| Posts API | Members (w_member_social) or org admins (w_organization_social) | Not documented; handle 429 | Text, images, video, documents, articles, multi-image, polls (carousels sponsored-only) | Free | Requires Linkedin-Version: YYYYMM header; versions sunset (202511 dies 16 Nov 2026); org posting needs Community Management API access | linkedin-api-js-client / -python-client: official but last commits 2023, custom license | |
| TikTok | Content Posting API | Users who grant video.publish | Per-creator limits returned by "Query Creator Info" | Video (file upload or pull-from-URL), photo posts | Free | Unaudited apps can only post privately; you must pass TikTok's audit for public posts | REST (no official server SDK) |
| YouTube | Data API v3 | Channel owners via OAuth | videos.insert: its own 100 calls/day limit (1 unit each); default 10,000 units/day for the rest | Video, thumbnails (thumbnails.set 50 units), playlists, comments (50 units) | Free | OAuth verification for sensitive scopes; quota increases need an audit | google-api-python-client, google-api-nodejs-client (Apache-2.0) |
| API v5 | Users via OAuth | Tier-based | Pins (image/video), boards | Free | Approved apps start on Trial access with Sandbox and 24h test tokens; Standard access needs an upgrade request | pinterest-python-generated-api-client (official, OpenAPI-generated) | |
| Bluesky | AT Protocol (com.atproto.repo.createRecord) | Anyone with an account + app password or OAuth | Points-based per account; commonly cited as 5,000 points/hour and 35,000/day, create = 3 points (docs page didn't load this week, so verify) | Text ≤300 chars, images, video, link cards | Free, no approval | No app review, which makes it the easiest platform to automate | @atproto/api (Apache-2.0), Python MarshalX/atproto (MIT) |
| Mastodon | REST POST /api/v1/statuses | Any account on an instance | Per-instance limits (defaults are generous; admins can change them) | Text, images, video, polls, content warnings | Free | Each instance has its own rules about bots | Mastodon.py, masto.js (MIT) |
| Data API | OAuth apps | 100 queries/min per client ID (averaged over 10 min) | Text, link, image, video posts | Free tier; commercial use needs a contract | Unique User-Agent format required; delete stored content when users delete; each subreddit has its own spam rules | praw (BSD-2) | |
| Google Business Profile | Business Profile APIs | Verified business owners | Quota-based | Updates, offers, events, photos | Free | API access request form + approval | Google API clients |
Table 4 — SDKs and libraries by language
| Library | Language | Covers | Official? | License | Last commit | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@zernio/node | TypeScript | Zernio unified API (16 platforms per its README) | Vendor | Apache-2.0 | 2026-10-16 | You picked Zernio |
social-media-api | Node | Ayrshare | Vendor | none in repo | 2026-09-14 | You picked Ayrshare |
social-post-api-python | Python | Ayrshare | Vendor | none in repo | 2026-05-08 | Ayrshare from Python |
| Upload-Post SDKs | Python, JS | Upload-Post (22 platforms) | Vendor | — | — | You picked Upload-Post (SDKs are listed on its site; I couldn't find the repo) |
node-twitter-api-v2 | TypeScript | X API v2 | Community | Apache-2.0 | 2026-08-04 | Posting to X from Node with your own key |
tweepy | Python | X API v2 | Community | MIT | 2026-07-02 | Posting to X from Python |
@atproto/api | TypeScript | Bluesky / AT Protocol | Official | Apache-2.0 (+MIT) | 2026-10-16 | Bluesky from JS |
atproto (MarshalX) | Python | Bluesky | Community (widely used) | MIT | 2026-10-14 | Bluesky from Python |
Mastodon.py | Python | Mastodon | Community | MIT | 2026-10-15 | Mastodon bots |
masto.js | TypeScript | Mastodon | Community | MIT | 2026-07-27 | Mastodon from JS |
praw | Python | Community (de facto) | BSD-2 | 2026-10-16 | Reddit posting and moderation bots | |
facebook-python-business-sdk | Python | Meta Graph (Pages, IG, Ads) | Official | MIT-style | 2026-09-17 | Instagram/Facebook direct |
facebook-nodejs-business-sdk | Node | Meta Graph | Official | MIT-style | 2026-09-18 | Same, from Node |
google-api-python-client | Python | YouTube Data API (+ all Google APIs) | Official | Apache-2.0 | 2026-10-13 | YouTube uploads |
googleapis (Node) | Node | YouTube Data API | Official | Apache-2.0 | 2026-10-14 | YouTube uploads from Node |
linkedin-api-js-client | Node | LinkedIn REST | Official | LinkedIn license | 2023-03-23 | Only as a reference; plain fetch with version headers is easier |
linkedin-api-python-client | Python | LinkedIn REST | Official | LinkedIn license | 2023-11-20 | Same |
pinterest-python-generated-api-client | Python | Pinterest v5 | Official | no license file found | 2026-08-27 | Pinterest pins from Python |
instagrapi | Python | Instagram private API | Unofficial | MIT | 2026-10-16 | ⚠️ Avoid for products: it uses private endpoints, breaks Meta's terms and can get accounts banned |
Table 5 — What each option costs at three real workloads
My arithmetic uses the list prices above. X costs come on top for any tool that passes X through at cost: $0.015 per plain post, $0.20 per post with a link.
| Tool | Solo builder: 5 accounts, ~150 posts/mo | Small agency: 50 accounts (10 clients), ~3,000 posts/mo | SaaS embedding posting: 1,000 users × 3 accounts, ~30,000 posts/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zernio | 2 free + 3 × $6 = $18 | 2 free + 8 × $6 + 40 × $3 = $168 | 2 + 8 × $6 + 90 × $3 + 1,900 × $1 = $2,218 for the first 2,000 accounts; the rest is Enterprise |
| Ayrshare | Premium $149 | Launch $299 (10 profiles) | 1,000 profiles → Enterprise (custom) |
| Upload-Post | Basic $16 (5 profiles) | Professional $33 (25 profiles, if profile = client) | Business $350 + 775 extra profiles × $1 = ~$1,125 |
| Post for Me | $10 (≤1,000 posts) | Above the $10 tier, not itemised | Not itemised, ask |
| bundle.social | Free covers only 3 accounts → Pro $100 | Pro $100 | Business $400 (100k posts, unlimited accounts) |
| Outstand | $19 | $19 (3,000 posts included) | $19 + 7,000 × $0.007 + 20,000 × $0.005 = ~$168 (PAYG, unlimited accounts) |
| Blotato | Starter $29 | 40-account Creator too small → Agency $499 | Not designed for this |
| Post Bridge | Marketer $39 | Operator $99 | Operator $99 + |
| Postiz Cloud | Standard $29 | 30-channel Pro too small → Ultimate $99 | Not designed for this |
| Postiz / Mixpost self-hosted | VPS (~$5–10) + your app approvals | VPS + Mixpost Pro $299 once | Mixpost Enterprise $1,199 once + infra + platform app reviews |
| Direct platform APIs | $0 platform fees (X: ~150 × $0.015 ≈ $2.25 if all go to X) | $0 + X usage | $0 + X usage, but you own every audit, token refresh and version sunset |
What the table shows:
- Solo builders: Post for Me ($10), Upload-Post ($16), Zernio ($18) and Outstand ($19) are all cheaper than one month of Ayrshare.
- SaaS embedding at volume: pricing per post (Outstand, bundle.social) beats pricing per account (Zernio, Post Bridge) by a factor of 5–15×.
- X with links is the hidden line item everywhere. 1,000 link posts a month is $200 in X fees alone, whichever tool you use. Post plain text and put the link in the first reply.
Table 6 — Feature matrix (quick ✓ / ✗ scan)
| Feature | Zernio | Ayrshare | Upload-Post | Post for Me | bundle.social | Outstand | Blotato | Post Bridge | Buffer API | Postiz | Mixpost Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier usable in production | ✓ (2 accts) | ✗ | ✓ (10 uploads) | ✗ | ✓ (20 posts) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ (self-host) | ✗ |
| Open source | SDK only | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ AGPL | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ AGPL | Lite only (MIT) |
| Self-hostable | ✗ | ✗ | MCP only | code available | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| White-label / BYOK OAuth | Enterprise | Custom branding | ✓ (Professional+) | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ (your apps) | ✓ (Enterprise) |
| MCP server | ✓ | ? | ✓ (50 tools) | ? | ? | ? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Official SDK | Node | Node, Python | Python, JS | REST | REST | REST | REST | REST | GraphQL + CLI | API + CLI | REST |
| n8n / Make / Zapier | ? | ✓ | Official n8n node, Make, Zapier | ? | ? | ? | n8n/Make | ? | ? | ✓ | ? |
| Comments / inbox API | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ? | ✓ | ? | DMs/replies | ? | ? | partial | partial |
| Analytics API | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ? | beta | plan-based | ✓ | ✓ |
| TikTok | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bluesky | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? |
| Dev.to / Hashnode / WordPress | WordPress | ✗ | ✓ all three | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | partial | ✗ |
| Prices published openly | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | from $10 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
"?" means the vendor page I read didn't say either way. That doesn't mean the feature is missing.
How I'd choose (for an indie SaaS like ours)
- Posting ihatereading articles and threads to X, LinkedIn, Threads and Bluesky: Zernio's free 2 accounts plus direct Bluesky (free, no review) covers it for about $0. Pay X per post and never put the link in the main tweet.
- Shipping "schedule to socials" inside a SaaS product: start with Outstand or bundle.social for per-post pricing. Try Post for Me if you want open-source code you can read. Turn on BYOK/white-label once you have your own approved apps.
- Wanting an exit door: Postiz. Start on its cloud, keep the option to self-host the AGPL code later, and use its MCP server with Claude Code.
- Agent-driven posting (an LLM decides what goes out): the agent layer from the APIs post (Composio, Activepieces pieces as MCP) calling one of the unified APIs above. Add a human approval step before anything is published.
- Never: unofficial private-API libraries (instagrapi and similar) in a product. One ban takes down every customer's account.
Before committing, scan your repository with StackBudget to see what X per-post fees plus your posting API add to the monthly bill at launch, growth and scale.
Sources
- Vendor pricing pages: Zernio, Ayrshare, Upload-Post, Post for Me, bundle.social, Outstand, Blotato, Post Bridge, Postiz, Mixpost, Publer docs, Typefully
- Buffer: "Buffer's API is open for building" and legacy REST API retirement
- PostGate pricing comparison (Aug 2026), used only for PostGate and SocialRails
- Official docs: X API pricing, Instagram content publishing, Threads API, LinkedIn Posts API, TikTok Content Posting API, YouTube quota costs, Pinterest app setup, Reddit Data API wiki
- Outstand: X API pricing 2026, for the history of the retired tiers