The complete guide : Social media for a local business: the guide to posting without losing your evenings
Free tool: Check my visibility for free
Quick answer: Hootsuite starts at $99 per user per month (billed yearly), a budget designed for marketing teams. For a local business, Buffer and Metricool have limited free plans, Later starts at $18.75 a month billed yearly, and Voxtya (€29 a month) also prepares post ideas and visuals for your trade.
Hootsuite is the long-standing social media scheduling tool, built for teams managing many accounts. A restaurant owner or a florist has a different problem: finding what to post each week, and doing it in ten minutes. Here are the most used alternatives, with public prices checked on 17 October 2026.
Hootsuite and its alternatives: comparison table
| Tool | Public price | Free plan | Trial | Post creation | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | Standard $99 per user/month (yearly) | No | 14 days | Scheduling, AI assistant | Marketing teams, agencies |
| Buffer | Essentials $5 per channel/month | 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel | 14 days | Scheduling, ideas | Solo users and small teams |
| Later | Starter $18.75/month (yearly) | No | 14 days | Visual scheduling | Instagram and visual content |
| Metricool | Starter from €16/month yearly, €20 monthly (excl. VAT) | 1 brand, 20 posts/month | — | Scheduling, analytics | Freelancers and agencies |
| Voxtya | Social media €29/month (€23 yearly) | No (separate free tools) | 30 days free (card required) | Ideas and visuals by trade, then scheduling | Local businesses |
Updated 17 October 2026. Public prices checked on 17 October 2026 on each vendor’s official website (they can change: check before you sign). “Our comparison”: figure taken from our Voxtya vs that tool page, updated 14 October 2026. “Not listed”: the vendor does not publish a price and works through a demo or a quote.
Why a local business looks for a Hootsuite alternative
Three reasons come up:
- Price: $99 per month per user is a team budget, not a neighbourhood business budget.
- The blank page: scheduling a post is easy; knowing what to post every week is much harder.
- Visuals: each post needs an image, often made in another tool.
The Hootsuite alternatives, one by one
Buffer: simple and cheap
Buffer has a free plan (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel) and an Essentials plan at $5 per channel per month, with a 14-day trial. Best for: a business that already knows what to post and just wants to schedule.
Later: visuals and Instagram
Later starts at $18.75 a month billed yearly, with a 14-day trial. Its strength is visual planning, handy for Instagram. Best for: a shop or café whose communication is photo-first.
Metricool: scheduling and analytics
Metricool has a free plan (1 brand, 20 posts a month) then Starter from €16 a month billed yearly (€20 monthly, excluding VAT). Best for: a business that wants to follow its own analytics and a few competitors’.
Voxtya: post ideas for your trade
Voxtya’s social media studio suggests post ideas for your trade, creates the visual (graphic styles and photos), then schedules publishing on Facebook, Instagram, Google and LinkedIn. Best for: a local business short of ideas and time rather than of a scheduling tool.
Which tool for which business?
- Agency or team running many accounts: Hootsuite.
- Minimal budget, you know what to post: Buffer or Metricool on the free plan.
- Very visual Instagram communication: Later.
- You lack ideas and also want the visuals: Voxtya.
Voxtya, in plain terms
Voxtya has no free social media plan and does not target agencies running dozens of accounts. The Social media service costs €29 a month (€23 billed yearly); with Visibility & advice, the combo costs €49 a month. 30-day trial, no commitment. See also Voxtya vs Hootsuite.
Running your social media in 30 minutes a week
- Pick 2 networks, not 5: where your customers are.
- Set a pace you can keep (2 to 3 posts a week).
- Mix post types: dish or product of the day, behind the scenes, customer review, event.
- Prepare the whole week at once, on Monday morning.
- Post on your Google listing too: customers looking for you see it.
Further reading
- Voxtya vs Hootsuite
- Guide: social media for a local business
- Best social media software for restaurants
- 15 Instagram post ideas for restaurants
- Voxtya social media service
- Voxtya for restaurants
- Try social media free for 30 days
Go further with Voxtya
