BufferChoose Bulkit if
- Publishing is a feature of your product, and your users connect their own accounts.
- You'll go past a few hundred API calls a day, or you post in bursts.
- You connect many accounts and don't want the bill to scale per channel.
ComparisonBuffer AlternativeUpdated October 2026
The Buffer API alternative built to be the product
600 requests/min vs 7,500 requests/month, unlimited profiles
Buffer is back with a real public API: GraphQL, an MCP server and a CLI, on every plan. It's a clean way to automate a Buffer account. Bulkit is a social media API you build a product on: $4.99 a month, a cent per action, unlimited connected profiles and a rate limit sized for production.
BulkitvsBuffer
The short answer
Should you look for a Buffer API alternative?
First, the news if you last checked years ago: Buffer relaunched a public GraphQL API in May 2026 and it's available on every plan, Free included, so 'Buffer has no API' is no longer true. What it gives you is programmatic access to a Buffer account, metered by request quotas: 3,000 requests per 30 days on Free, 7,500 on Essentials and 15,000 on Team, with no more than 250 to 500 a day. Buffer itself is priced per channel, $5 a month per channel on Essentials billed yearly. That suits scripts and internal automations around a Buffer workspace very well. It fits less well if publishing is a feature of your own product, with many connected accounts and bursty volume. Bulkit is $4.99/month with 500 posts and comments included, $0.01 per action after that, 600 requests a minute on every plan, and no per-channel price at all.
Feature comparison
Where each one is strong
The honest grid, including the rows where Buffer has more than Bulkit does today.
| Feature | Bulkit | Buffer |
|---|---|---|
| Public API | REST | GraphQL (relaunched May 2026) |
| API on every plan | Yes | Yes, incl. Free |
| API rate limit | 600 req/min | 100 per 15 min · 250–500/day |
| Scheduling & queues | Yes | Yes |
| Post analytics via API | Yes | Yes |
| Executable MCP server | Yes | Yes |
| CLI | Yes | Yes |
| n8n integration | Yes | Yes |
| End users need a vendor account | No | Yes, a Buffer account |
| Ideas board / content planning | No | Yes |
| Networks | 12 (adds Reddit, Vimeo) | 12 (adds Mastodon, Substack) |
| Unlimited connected profiles | Yes | Priced per channel |
Pricing
Flat and metered vs per-channel plans
Buffer prices by the channel and meters its API by request quotas per plan. Bulkit is one flat plan metered by the posts and comments you actually send.
| Bulkit | Buffer | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | $4.99/mo | $5/channel/mo (Essentials, billed yearly) |
| What's included | 500 posts & comments/mo | Unlimited scheduled posts per channel (fair use) |
| API rate limit | 600 req/min, every plan | 250/day · 7,500 per 30 days (Essentials) |
| Overage | $0.01 per action | Add a channel, or ask for higher API limits |
| Higher tier | None, the same plan scales | Team $10/channel/mo (500/day, 15,000 per 30 days) |
| Connected profiles | Unlimited on every plan | Priced per channel |
| Free option | No free plan; 14-day free trial, then $4.99/mo | Free: 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each, 3,000 API req/30 days |
$19.99
Bulkit / mo
Up to $100/mo
Buffer / mo
Bulkit is ~5.0× cheaper at this volume
Publishing 2,000 posts a month across 20 connected accounts
On Bulkit that's the flat $4.99 plus 1,500 metered actions at $0.01. On Buffer Essentials, 20 channels at $5 each billed yearly is $100 a month before the discount Buffer applies past 10 channels, and 2,000 posts plus status checks has to fit in 7,500 API requests a month and 250 a day. For three channels and light use the comparison flips: Buffer's Free plan, API included, costs nothing.
Meter what you publish, not how often you ask
Request quotas are a fair way to protect an API, but they make you design around the daily cap: batching, caching, and backing off before a 429. Bulkit's limit is 600 requests a minute on every plan and billing follows posts and comments, so polling a post's status or listing channels never eats into what you can publish. Every connected profile stays free.
Last verified · Check Buffer's pricing page →
Head to head
Buffer API pricing and limits, side by side
Buffer meters its API by requests per client per window, and the window that bites first for most integrations is the daily one: 250 requests a day on Free and Essentials, 500 on Team. Above that you contact Buffer's developer support. Bulkit meters what you publish instead of how often you call, and allows 600 requests a minute on every plan. The other structural difference is who holds the accounts. A Buffer app acts on behalf of users who connect their Buffer account; on Bulkit, your users connect their social accounts directly and you never ask them to sign up anywhere else.
- Buffer: 3,000 / 7,500 / 15,000 API requests per 30 days by plan; 250–500 per day.
- Bulkit: 600 requests per minute on the one plan; billing follows posts and comments, not calls.
- Buffer is priced per channel; Bulkit never charges for a connected profile.
- Buffer's apps act for users with a Buffer account; Bulkit's users connect social accounts directly.
- Both ship an executable MCP server and a CLI.
API-first, not an app with an API attached
Bulkit has a full dashboard, drag-and-drop scheduling calendar included, so API-first isn't a missing UI. It's the build order: the REST API is designed, versioned and documented first, and every other surface, calendar included, is a thin shell over those endpoints. Nothing ships to the dashboard before it's callable, the rate limit is the same 600 requests per minute on every plan, and there is no per-plan quota of API keys to manage around.
- REST API
- Node.js SDK
- CLI
- Webhooks
- n8n node
- MCP server
Start with the Bulkit API quickstart, where an API key and one request is the whole first step.
Choose Buffer if
- Your team already plans and schedules in Buffer and you want to script that workspace.
- You're automating three or fewer channels lightly, where Buffer's Free plan with API access costs nothing.
- You want Buffer's creator-friendly app, ideas board and community inbox, or need Mastodon or Substack.
Being upfront about when Buffer wins is what makes the rest of this page worth trusting.
MCP & AI agents
Both have executable MCP servers
Buffer runs a remote MCP server that can read your channels, browse the queue and drafts, schedule and edit posts and pull post analytics, and it works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and more. So this isn't 'we act, they only read'. The differences are what sits underneath: Buffer's MCP reports the per-plan request quota left on every response, and it works on the channels inside a Buffer account. Bulkit's MCP publishes, schedules, replies to comments and pulls metrics across every account you've connected, at 600 requests a minute, on the $4.99 plan.
Read the MCP docsBulkit Agent
Online
Schedule this thread for 9am tomorrow on X, Threads and Bluesky.
9:41 AMbulkit.create_post({ post: { intent: "schedule", scheduledAt: "2026-10-23T09:00:00Z", channels: [x, threads, bluesky] } })
Scheduled across 3 networks for 9:00 AM.
Migration
Moving off Buffer's API (legacy or new)
01 Get a Bulkit API key
Sign up and create a key. If you're on Buffer's legacy REST API, which Buffer retires on February 1, 2027, you were going to migrate anyway.
02 Swap GraphQL mutations for one REST call
Where you created a Buffer post per channel, send one Bulkit post that lists every channel you want it on.
03 Reconnect accounts directly
Add your own platform app credentials (Bulkit is BYOK today), then run each account through Bulkit's OAuth flow once. Your users connect social accounts, not a Buffer login.
FAQ
Bulkit vs Buffer: common questions
Does Buffer have a public API in 2026?
Yes. Buffer launched a GraphQL Public API in May 2026, with an MCP server, a CLI and managed OAuth, and its pricing page lists API access on every plan, Free included. Buffer's older REST API is closed to new clients and is being retired on February 1, 2027.
What are the Buffer API rate limits?
Per Buffer's pricing page and developer docs, limits apply per client and depend on plan: 100 requests per 15 minutes on every plan; 250 a day on Free and Essentials and 500 on Team; and 3,000, 7,500 or 15,000 per 30 days. Higher limits are by request to Buffer's developer support. Bulkit allows 600 requests a minute on every plan.
Is Bulkit cheaper than Buffer?
It depends on how many accounts you connect. Buffer Essentials is $5 per channel per month billed yearly, with a discount past 10 channels; Bulkit is $4.99/month flat with 500 actions included and $0.01 after that, and never charges per profile. At 20 accounts and 2,000 posts a month Bulkit is about $20. With three channels and light use, Buffer's Free plan is cheaper because it's free.
Can I build an app for other users on Buffer's API?
Yes. Buffer supports app clients with OAuth 2.0 and PKCE, and users connect their Buffer account to your app. That means each of your users needs a Buffer account with the channels in it. On Bulkit, your users connect their social accounts directly.
Which networks does each support?
Both reach 12. Bulkit: X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Vimeo, Reddit and Google Business. Buffer lists Mastodon and Substack, which Bulkit doesn't support, and doesn't list Reddit or Vimeo.
Do I need my own Meta or TikTok developer app to use Bulkit?
Yes, for now. Bulkit is bring-your-own-keys (BYOK) today: you add your own developer app credentials for each platform, then connect accounts through Bulkit's OAuth flow. Bulkit-managed platform apps are on the roadmap.
An API sized for your product, not a daily quota
$4.99/mo, 500 actions included, a cent each after, 600 requests a minute. Ship your first post in 5 minutes.