The free version lives on your server
The code is open and running it costs nothing, as long as you have your own server and someone to install and maintain it. Without that, the free version does not exist.
Four schedulers for four ways out of Postiz: another open-source tool, an AI scheduler at the same price, the classic with a free plan, and the team suite. Not all of them are cheaper.
ZapPost is number 1 on the list: it delivers the post ready to publish, instead of a tool for you to build it. Then come the four alternatives, in recommendation order. Click any one of them to drop straight to its block, with where it wins and where it loses.
| Tool | Best for | Free | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ZapPostOurs | Getting the post finished, with nothing to build | – | US$19.00/mo |
| 2MMixpost | Open source, no monthly fee | pricing on request | |
| 3SSocialBu | AI and automation without agency prices | US$29.00/mo | |
| 4Buffer | Scheduling what you create yourself | US$6.00/mo | |
| 5HHootsuite | The best-known suite, on annual plans | – | US$99.00/mo, billed yearly |
Postiz draws people in with open source and unlimited posts. The switch usually comes when the "free" charges its price in technical work, or when the AI you wanted sits on the tier above.
The code is open and running it costs nothing, as long as you have your own server and someone to install and maintain it. Without that, the free version does not exist.
Standard costs US$29.00, with no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Unlimited posts, but 5 channels.
On Standard, image generation is left out, and you get 3 AI videos a month. Real AI images start on Team, at US$39.00 a month.
The AI generates when you open the dashboard and describe what you want. Without a topic in mind, the dashboard stays blank.
Open source is rare in this space, posts are unlimited from the entry plan and the dashboard covers everything from Instagram to LinkedIn. It only means there is a time to look at the rest.
ZapPost is number 1 here too, and the alternatives come after it. Every block has both halves: where the tool wins and where it loses. The price is the month-to-month one, with no commitment, read on the official page on August 6, 2026. Where paying for the full year comes out cheaper, that shows up inside the block.
Generates finished Instagram content the moment the customer asks, tuned to their niche: a carousel, a Reels script and a caption with a CTA.
Where it wins
Where it loses
Best for: People who get stuck deciding what to post and would rather receive the content finished than build each piece.
Open-source scheduler you install on your own server: the Lite edition is free and Pro is a one-time payment, with no monthly fee.
Where it wins
Where it loses
Best for: People with a server and a technical person who do not want a monthly scheduler fee.
Scheduler with AI and automation: generates text on credits, schedules stories and Reels and replies by rule, with a free plan to start.
Where it wins
Where it loses
Best for: People who want a scheduler with AI and reply automation without paying agency prices.
The pioneering post scheduler: you create the content, it publishes at the set time on each network.
Where it wins
Where it loses
Best for: People who already create their own content and just need the publishing queue in order.
The oldest scheduler on the market, now a team suite: publishing, inbox, listening and reporting, priced on annual plans only.
Where it wins
Where it loses
Best for: Teams already using many tools that want everything integrated in a well-known dashboard.
It opens the table above, but it is not competing for the same seat. Both generate content with AI; the difference is what you need to know before asking.
ZapPost does not publish at a set time, does not run on your server and has no scheduling dashboard. If what you need is a scheduler, stay with one of the four, or with Postiz itself.
What it does is the whole post, in the tone of your niche: you open the Studio, pick the kind (carousel, Reels script or caption with a CTA), say the topic and walk out with the piece ready. The Studio already knows your profile, so there is no prompt to write and no style to explain. In Postiz, the AI generates what you describe, and images are on the tier above.
It costs US$19.00 a month on the monthly plan. On the six-month plan it drops to US$11.50/mo, billed every 6 months. No free plan, only a 7-day guarantee, and the delivery is built for Instagram.
See ZapPost and Postiz side by sideThe list above is indexed by tool. This one is indexed by what stops you, which is how the decision usually arrives.
You want the post ready without writing a prompt
No scheduler solves that different problem
Then the route is ZapPost: the Studio already knows your profile, you say the topic and walk out with the piece built. Remember it does not schedule: you download and post by hand, or drop it into the scheduler.
You want open source with no monthly fee at all
Mixpost pricing on request
Runs on your server: Lite is free and Pro costs US$299.00 once, with a perpetual license. No cloud version.
You want AI and automation at the same price as Postiz
SocialBu US$29.00/mo
Starter covers 8 accounts and 750 posts a month for US$29.00, schedules stories and Reels and has a free plan to try it out.
You want the simplest scheduler, with a free plan
Buffer US$6.00/mo
US$6.00 per channel, and the free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel.
You want the best-known team suite
Hootsuite US$99.00/mo, billed yearly
Inbox, listening and reporting in the same dashboard. Standard comes to US$99.00/mo, billed yearly, with no free plan.
For anyone with a server, Mixpost Lite: free, open source, no monthly fee. Without a server, Buffer has the most generous free plan of the group (3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel) and SocialBu has a free plan with 3 accounts that is good for a look, with 10 posts in total. Hootsuite has no free plan, and neither does Postiz in the cloud, only a 7-day trial.
For a single channel, Buffer: US$6.00 per channel, against Postiz's US$29.00. SocialBu costs the same as Postiz, US$29.00, with 8 accounts. Mixpost Pro costs US$299.00 once and never again; over two years it comes out cheaper than any subscription on the list. Hootsuite is the most expensive, at US$99.00/mo, billed yearly.
On creation, both generate content with AI. The difference is that in Postiz you describe what you want and images depend on the plan; in ZapPost the Studio already knows your profile and hands back the carousel built. On scheduling, it does not replace it: ZapPost does not publish at a set time, you download and post by hand.
If the version on your server runs smoothly and you enjoy operating the tool, there is no reason. The switch makes sense when the server became work (Mixpost charges once and that is it), when the AI images you wanted sit on the tier above, or when the real bottleneck is knowing what to ask for. That last one is the case for ZapPost.
Postiz's price was read on its official page on August 6, 2026; the four, on their official pages on August 28, 2026. The value shown is the monthly plan with no commitment, and where a page only publishes the annual price that is said next to the number, as with Hootsuite.
Any of the four schedules and publishes. None of them knows your niche before you explain it; that is what ZapPost does.
Results vary by niche and consistency.