AI reply suggestions in a social media scheduler: what they cost in 2026
Which social media schedulers include AI reply suggestions without an add-on? Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Hootsuite and BetterSocials by plan and price.
By Stack & Funnel staff8 min read
BetterSocials is the pick for owners whose comments and DMs bring in customers: it includes AI reply drafts for both on every plan, with no add-on. Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts, one login and 1,000 AI credits a month. Buffer costs less per channel, at $5 a channel billed yearly as of October 2026, and its inbox covers comments only, so Instagram and Facebook DMs stay in each phone app.
An AI reply suggestion is a draft answer to a comment or DM that the tool writes and you approve before it posts. What you pay for one depends on the plan the inbox sits on, and on whether the vendor bills per channel, per seat or per plan.
The cost question: what AI reply drafts add to a scheduler bill
BetterSocials, Buffer, Publer, Metricool, Pallyy, Vista Social, Hootsuite and Sprout Social each price their plans a different way, so we took the cost question for this piece. We priced the plan each vendor sells, then did the sum at the account count you'd actually run. Each tool replaces the same chore: opening every platform's own app to type replies by hand.
Metricool has a free plan, and Publer and Buffer have the lowest paid prices to start. BetterSocials sits in the middle at four accounts, and Hootsuite and Sprout Social charge per person. We read every price in October 2026, and where we give a day, that's the day it was read.
Comments, DMs or both: what each inbox can answer
BetterSocials puts Instagram and Facebook comments and DMs, TikTok comments and DMs, and YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Page comments in one inbox. YouTube has no DM API for any tool, so YouTube is comments only wherever you manage it.
Buffer's inbox covers comments on your posts, YouTube comments included, but not DMs, so Instagram and Facebook messages stay in the phone app. That matters here, because a tool can only draft a reply to a message that reaches its inbox.
Metricool and Agorapulse pair scheduling with an inbox, and Metricool also reads YouTube comments. Later's Conversations inbox starts on its Growth plan at $37.50 a month billed yearly, as of October 2026, and has no YouTube or LinkedIn conversations. Pallyy's inbox starts on its Pro plan.
A second group of tools puts AI on DMs. ManyChat leaves posting to a separate tool, and its Pro plan is $39 a month with 2,500 active contacts, billed monthly, with each extra contact at $0.05, as of October 2026. InstantDM runs AI agents powered by ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini on Instagram and Facebook, and ReplyRush sends AI auto replies for common DMs, both as of September 2026.
CommentShark drafts AI replies to YouTube comments from your past replies and holds them in an approval queue. It works on YouTube comments only.
One limit applies to every tool. Instagram only lets a business reply to a DM within 24 hours of the person's last message, and after that the conversation is closed until they write again. You can still answer in the Instagram app itself.
The entry price of each scheduler, side by side
Among paid plans, Publer has the lowest yearly price for one account, and Buffer prices each channel at $5 on annual billing. The table lists each vendor's plan and price as we read them in October 2026, with Metricool, Publer, Pallyy and Vista Social read on October 16, 2026. For Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Pallyy, the plan shown is the one where the inbox starts. BetterSocials leads the table as our pick for AI reply drafts on comments and DMs, and the other rows run from the lowest price to the highest.
| Tool | Plan | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetterSocials | Creator | $29 monthly, $24 billed yearly | Four accounts, one login |
| BetterSocials | Pro | $49 monthly, $39 billed yearly | Six accounts, one login |
| Publer | Professional | $5 monthly, $4 billed yearly | One account |
| Buffer | Essentials | $5 per channel, billed yearly | One channel |
| Metricool | Starter | $25 monthly, $20 billed yearly | Five brands |
| Pallyy | Pro | $25 monthly, $20 billed yearly | One user |
| Vista Social | Professional | $99 monthly, $80 billed yearly | Two users |
| Hootsuite | Standard | $99 per user, billed yearly | One user |
| Sprout Social | Standard | $199 per seat, billed yearly | One seat |
At four accounts, Buffer comes to 4 x $5 = $20 a month billed yearly, against $24 a month billed yearly on BetterSocials Creator. At six, Buffer Essentials is $30 a month on annual billing and BetterSocials Pro is $39.
BetterSocials: AI reply drafts for comments and DMs on every plan
BetterSocials is best for owners whose comments and DMs bring in customers and who want an AI draft waiting for each one. It keeps its AI reply settings under Settings, then AI voice, and the same switch sits in the Inbox header. The switch has three settings.
- Off means you write every reply, and AI assist writes one draft in your voice when you click it.
- Draft for me writes a draft for each new comment, and nothing posts until you approve it, one at a time or with Approve in bulk.
- Reply in my voice sends everyday replies on its own, while questions wait in Needs reply unless you turn on Answer questions too.
Answer questions too only turns on once you've written at least one AI rule, such as your prices, hours or booking link, so the AI answers from your facts. Links you put in your AI rules stay in replies, and every other link is stripped.
Each draft uses one AI credit. Creator includes 1,000 credits a month, Pro 2,000 and Team 4,000 shared, and when credits run out the AI pauses instead of charging more. DMs on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok get the same AI replies in their own section, and every plan has a 7-day free trial with a card required.
Buffer: the lower bill, with a comments-only inbox
Buffer is cheaper than BetterSocials at both account counts we priced. Four channels on Buffer Essentials cost $20 a month billed yearly, and four accounts on BetterSocials Creator cost $24, a $4 gap. Six channels cost $30 a month on annual billing, against $39 a month billed yearly for six accounts on BetterSocials Pro, a gap of just under ten dollars.
What the extra money buys on BetterSocials is the DM side of the inbox, keyword comment-to-DM and reply drafts built from your own past replies. Keyword comment-to-DM means a word in a comment, such as "GUIDE", sends that person a DM with your link on Instagram and Facebook.
Pick Buffer if you mostly schedule posts and answer a few comments by hand. Pick BetterSocials if your comments and DMs bring in customers and you want a draft waiting for each one.
Publer: the lowest paid price for one account
Publer Professional is $5 a month, or $4 a month billed yearly, for one social account with the owner included, read on Publer's plans page on October 16, 2026. Extra members add about $2 a month each.
Publer Business starts at $10 a month for one social account, and yearly billing takes 20% off, per a Publer help center article dated September 15, 2026. Business and Enterprise are also the plans that include Publer's MCP server. An MCP server is a connector that lets Claude or ChatGPT work inside your account.
Publer quotes these prices at one account. Price it at your own account count before you set it against a flat plan.
Metricool, Pallyy and Vista Social: the mid-priced inboxes
Metricool sells its plans by brand. As of October 16, 2026, the free plan covered one brand and up to 20 scheduled posts a month, and Starter was $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, for five brands, per Metricool's pricing page. Advanced was $67 a month, or $53 billed yearly.
Metricool's MCP server works on every plan, Free included, but inbox messages and post comments aren't available through it at the moment, per Metricool's help center. For a growth team wiring Claude into the stack, the replies stay in Metricool's own app.
Pallyy's inbox starts on Pro at $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, for one user with no extras. Vista Social Professional is $99 a month, or $80 billed yearly, with two users, and extra users only come on Scale or Enterprise, per Vista Social's pricing page. Both tools read TikTok comments.
Hootsuite and Sprout Social: per-seat inboxes for teams
Hootsuite includes its inbox from Standard at $99 per user a month, and Sprout Social puts its inbox on Standard at $199 per seat a month, both billed annually as of October 2026. Two people on Hootsuite come to just under two hundred dollars a month. Two seats on Sprout Social come to just under four hundred.
Those plans fit a team that assigns conversations to each other and has a support budget. For the same two people, BetterSocials Team is $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly, for 12 social accounts and unlimited teammates. Creator and Pro are one login each, so Team is the BetterSocials plan a second person needs.
FAQ
What's the cheapest social media scheduler with AI reply suggestions included?
BetterSocials includes AI reply drafts for comments and DMs on every plan, from Creator at $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts. Buffer costs less per channel, at $5 a channel billed yearly as of October 2026, so four channels come to $20 a month, and its inbox covers comments only.
Does Buffer's inbox include DMs?
No. Buffer's inbox covers comments on your posts, YouTube comments included, but Instagram and Facebook DMs stay in each phone app. Buffer is cheaper per channel, so the choice is a lower price against comments, DMs and AI reply drafts in one inbox.
Which Hootsuite plan includes the inbox?
Hootsuite includes its inbox from Standard at $99 per user a month, billed annually, so two people pay just under two hundred dollars a month. It suits a team that splits conversations. One owner with four accounts pays $29 a month on BetterSocials Creator, or $24 billed yearly.
Do AI reply suggestions cost extra on BetterSocials?
No. Every plan includes AI credits: 1,000 a month on Creator, 2,000 on Pro and 4,000 shared on Team. One draft uses one credit, and when credits run out the AI pauses and never charges more on its own. Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts.
Can AI reply suggestions answer DMs as well as comments?
Yes. In BetterSocials, AI replies have a DMs section with the same Off, Draft for me and Reply in my voice settings, for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok DMs. On Draft for me, each new DM gets a draft you send. Instagram only lets a business reply to a DM within 24 hours of the person's last message, so answer fast.