Ayrshare and Preflight both have a REST API for posting to social networks, and they are built for different people. Ayrshare is a social media API for products: a SaaS platform embeds it so that the platform's own customers connect their accounts, and the bill follows the number of connected social profiles. Preflight is an app with an API: you and your clients use the web app, and scripts and AI assistants call the same API and MCP server. The first question is therefore who connects the accounts, your customers inside your product or you and your clients. If you are looking for tools at Ayrshare's level of API, the wider list is on the alternatives pages.
Side by side
| Preflight | Ayrshare | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A scheduler app with a REST API and an MCP server | A social media API platform to embed in a product |
| Pricing model | Flat plans by channel count | By active social profile: one customer, brand or location with any number of networks |
| Entry price | Free (3 channels), $13, $24, $64 a month | Premium $149 a month (1 profile), Launch $299 (up to 10 profiles), Business from $599 (30 profiles), Enterprise custom |
| Yearly billing | Ten months' price for twelve | 17 percent off |
| Free plan or trial | Free plan with the API, 3 channels, 20 posts a month | 28-day trial of Launch; no free plan |
| Users | 1, 1, 3 and 10 seats by plan | Premium is a single user; unlimited team members from Launch |
| API access | Every plan, Free included | Every plan |
| Posts and calls | Plan allowances: 20, 150, 600 and 3,000 posts a month | Unlimited posts and API calls on every plan |
| Webhooks | Every plan | Launch and above |
| MCP server | Every plan, Free included | An MCP server and an AI agent API are listed in its navigation |
| Networks | YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn (profiles), Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram, Discord, Tumblr | 14+ networks; its pricing page names LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Pinterest, Bluesky, YouTube and Reddit |
| Users' own accounts | Accounts belong to workspaces of Preflight's own users | Multi-tenant: user profiles per customer, white-label branding on Launch and up, a component to link accounts inside your app |
| Pre-publish validation | Every network's real rules; a public check endpoint that needs no account | Not described on the pricing page |
| Approvals and calendar | Web app with calendar, drafts and client approval links | The pricing page is written for developers and speaks of dashboard logins |
| Analytics and moderation | Included; history from 30 days on Free to 2 years on Studio; comments inbox on six networks | Basic on Premium, advanced from Launch; comment, DM and review moderation per profile |
Where Ayrshare is ahead
- Building a product on top. One customer with several networks counts as one profile, the profile can be created and deleted through the API, and billing follows the active profiles, which is the shape a SaaS platform wants. Preflight does not offer white-label profiles or an account-linking component for your own customers.
- X and Reddit, named on its pricing page. Preflight posts to neither.
- Volume. Business drops from $8.99 to $1.99 a profile a month (yearly billing) past 500 profiles, and Enterprise goes lower. The page quotes more than 30 million API calls a day.
- Support for a platform. Email and chat on the higher plans, and a dedicated account manager on Enterprise.
- Messaging APIs, including a WhatsApp API announced on the page, beyond posting.
Where Preflight is ahead
- Price for your own use. To post to your own accounts, or a studio's clients, through an API, $13 to $64 a month with 8 to 60 channels, or nothing for three channels, against $149 for one profile on Premium. Plans are on the pricing page.
- The app is included. A composer, calendar, drafts and client approval links come with the API; the rest of the team does not need to write code.
- Checks before sending. Instagram's 30 hashtags and JPEG-only pictures, TikTok's 23 to 60 fps, Threads' 500 characters with emoji by the byte, YouTube's 5,000 bytes. The same rules are available from a public endpoint,
POST /v1/platforms/check, without an account, and listed on the limits page. - MCP on every plan, documented at the MCP docs, so an assistant can draft, validate and queue posts from a free account.
- Community networks. Discord, Telegram, Mastodon and Tumblr, none of which the Ayrshare pricing page names.
What they share
A REST API on every plan, scheduling, analytics, comments, and a trial or free plan to test it on.
Who should choose which
Choose Ayrshare if you are building a SaaS, an agency platform or an AI product where your customers connect their own social profiles, you need white-label profiles and volume pricing, or you need X and Reddit.
Choose Preflight if you or your clients post to your own accounts, you want an app and an API for the price of a plan, twelve networks, approvals by link, pre-publish checks and a free plan to start on. Documentation is at the API docs.
Ayrshare's prices and limits read from ayrshare.com/pricing on 27 October 2026; Preflight's from the pricing page and its code the same day. Ayrshare's Premium card says up to 14 accounts and its comparison table says 13; both appear on the page.
Questions people ask
- How is Ayrshare priced?
- By active social profile, not by user, post or API call. Premium is $149 a month for one profile, Launch $299 for up to ten, Business from $599 for thirty with a per-profile rate after that, and Enterprise is custom. Yearly billing saves 17 percent, and Launch has a 28-day free trial.
- Is Preflight an alternative to Ayrshare?
- For posting to your own or your clients' accounts through an API, yes, at $0 to $64 a month with an app included. For embedding social posting in a product so that your customers connect their own accounts, with white-label profiles, no: Preflight does not offer that.
- Does Preflight have an API on the free plan?
- Yes. API keys, webhooks and the MCP server come with every plan, Free included. The free plan has three channels and 20 posts a month.
- Which networks does Ayrshare support that Preflight does not?
- Its pricing page names X and Reddit among 14+ networks. Preflight posts to twelve networks and covers neither of them; it adds Discord, Telegram, Mastodon and Tumblr, which the Ayrshare pricing page does not name.
- Can I validate a post without an account?
- Yes, on Preflight: POST /v1/platforms/check returns the verdict of each network's rules for a text and files without an API key, within a rate limit. Ayrshare's pricing page does not describe a validation endpoint.