Postiz is the open-source scheduler, AGPL-licensed, with a hosted version, a CLI, an MCP server and more than thirty channels. It became the reference for "agentic" social media tooling in 2026, and its founder has been public about the numbers: MRR from about $21,000 in March 2026 to $145,000 in July. If you want to run the tool yourself and you have an evening for Docker, Postgres, Redis and a developer app on every network, Postiz is the right answer and this page will not talk you out of it.
People come here for one of three reasons: they do not want to self-host and the hosted plan starts at $29 for five channels; they want the same API and MCP access without open-source operations; or they tried to get an Instagram or TikTok developer app approved under their own name and gave up.
What Postiz costs hosted
| Plan | Monthly | Channels | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $29 | 5 | no |
| Team | $39 | 10 | unlimited |
| Pro | $49 | 30 | unlimited |
| Ultimate | $99 | 100 | unlimited |
Around 20 percent off yearly. There is no hosted free plan; the free option is self-hosting. A lifetime deal exists on AppSumo from $179.
Self-hosting, honestly
Self-hosting Postiz is free in licence and not free in time. You run three services, you keep them updated, and you register a developer application with every network you want to post to: Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Google (YouTube), Pinterest, LinkedIn, each with its own review. Meta's and TikTok's reviews take weeks and want screencasts; Google's wants a verified brand. A hosted tool has done that once for everyone. This is the whole reason hosted schedulers exist, and it is the honest case for paying one.
Alternatives with the same API and MCP story
| Tool | 8 channels / month | Free plan | API | MCP | Discord | Telegram | Mastodon | Bluesky |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preflight | $13 Starter; $24 Pro for API + MCP | Yes, 3 channels | REST, from Pro | OAuth or key, from Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PostFast | €29 | No | REST, all plans | All plans | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Post Bridge | $39 | 5 posts/month | REST, paid | Paid; in ChatGPT and Claude directories | No | No | No | Yes |
| Buffer | $48 | Yes, 3 channels, with API | GraphQL, all plans | All plans | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Metricool | $25 | Yes, 1 brand | Advanced only | All plans | No | No | No | Yes |
| Blotato | $29 | No | REST, paid | 36 tools, paid | No | No | No | Yes |
| Mixpost (self-host) | $299 once | Lite is free | Yes | Pro | No | No | Yes | Yes |
What differs from Postiz, tool by tool
Preflight is the nearest in network coverage: Discord, Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky, Tumblr and the big six, all hosted, with every developer app already approved. The MCP server has a tool Postiz's does not: validate_post, which runs the same per-network checks the composer runs, so an assistant can learn that a video is 120 fps or a caption is 31 hashtags before it tries to publish. Video goes up to 2 GB with resumable uploads. What Postiz has that Preflight lacks: thirty-plus channels (Reddit, Warpcast, Lemmy, Nostr, VK and more), AI image and video generation, a CLI, white-label "Postiz as a service", and the source. Preflight's X is text-only.
PostFast has API and MCP on every plan, generous seats, Google Business Profile; no Discord or Mastodon.
Post Bridge is in the ChatGPT app directory and the Claude connector directory, which in September 2026 set its signup records. Fewer networks; no community networks.
Buffer gives API and MCP away on the free plan, which no one else does.
Mixpost is the other self-hosted option: PHP, one-time licence, MCP since June 2026. Fewer networks than Postiz; no Discord or Telegram.
When to stay with Postiz
- You want the code, or your compliance team wants it.
- You post to a network nobody else supports (Lemmy, Nostr, Warpcast, VK).
- You want unlimited team members for $39.
- You already run the Docker stack and the developer apps are approved. The hard part is behind you.
Prices and plan contents read from postiz.com/pricing and the other vendors' pages on 5 October 2026.
Questions people ask
- Is Postiz free?
- The code is free under AGPL and you can self-host it. The hosted service starts at $29 a month for five channels; there is no hosted free plan.
- Which hosted schedulers post to Discord and Telegram like Postiz?
- Preflight posts to both, with Discord webhooks (including forum threads) and Telegram bots (albums, silent posts, pinning). Publer and PostFast post to Telegram only.
- Do the alternatives have an MCP server?
- Preflight, PostFast, Post Bridge, Buffer, Metricool, Blotato and Mixpost all do as of autumn 2026. Preflight's includes validate_post, which checks a draft against each network's rules before create_post.