Pricing
Buffer, Later, Hootsuite and Metricool for a small agency, priced in dirhams
4 September 2026. 7 min read.
Prices below are the vendors’ published list prices on 4 September 2026, converted at the UAE peg, before tax. Ignis is shown at its price on 25 September 2026.
You run a handful of clients, you invoice in dirhams, and every scheduler on your shortlist quotes in dollars. Here are Buffer, Later, Hootsuite and Metricool in AED, side by side, with the one rule in each price list that decides how your bill grows. The broader picture, and why the currency matters less than the shape, is in social media tools, priced in dirhams.
How the prices were worked out
The UAE Government fact sheet puts it in one line: “Since February 2002, the Arab Emirati Dirham (AED) is pegged to the US dollar (USD). 1 USD = AED 3.6725.” Every AED figure here is the dollar list price multiplied by 3.6725 and rounded to two decimal places. Nothing is added for tax, and nothing is added for the foreign-currency charge your card may apply, because that rate belongs to your bank.
None of the four lists a dirham price. Buffer says subscriptions are “billed in U.S. dollars (USD), regardless of your location” (Buffer support). Later’s pricing page says “Prices are billed in USD, applicable taxes are extra” (Later). Hootsuite shows dollars, lists USD in the structured data on its plans page, and notes its prices “do not include applicable taxes” (Hootsuite). Metricool toggles between euros and dollars (Metricool). So the AED column is what the list price is worth at the peg, not necessarily the line that will appear on your statement.
Buffer: priced per channel
| Plan | What the price buys | USD a month | USD a month, billed yearly | AED a month, billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Essentials | Per channel, unlimited posts, 1 user | 6.00 | 5.00 | 18.36 |
| Team | Per channel, unlimited team members, approvals | 12.00 | 10.00 | 36.73 |
A channel is one connected account, so a client with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn is four channels. Past ten channels the rate drops. Buffer prints the volume tiers for monthly billing: USD 4 (AED 14.69) each for channels 11 to 25 and USD 3 (AED 11.02) each for channels 26 to 50, on both paid plans. For yearly billing it prints worked totals instead: 25 channels is USD 100 (AED 367.25) a month on Essentials and USD 150 (AED 550.88) on Team. Buffer calls annual billing a 20 per cent discount; on the cards it is USD 5 against USD 6 per channel on Essentials and USD 10 against USD 12 on Team. All of that is on Buffer’s pricing page, as checked on 4 September 2026.
Buffer’s supported channels include Facebook Pages and groups, Instagram, LinkedIn Pages and profiles, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Threads, plus other networks outside the Ignis eight. Reddit and WhatsApp do not appear on the list. On tax, Buffer collects it only in the US states it names and in the UK, and the UAE is not mentioned.
Later: priced per social set
| Plan | What the price buys | USD a month | USD a month, billed yearly | AED a month, billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 social set, 1 user | 25.00 | 18.75 | 68.86 |
| Growth | 2 social sets, 2 users, Social Inbox | 50.00 | 37.50 | 137.72 |
| Scale | 6 social sets, 4 users | 110.00 | 82.50 | 302.98 |
A social set is one profile on each network Later supports. Six of those are in the Ignis eight: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube. The other two are outside it. Later’s pricing page prints the yearly rate first and labels it “3 months free | 25% off”, with the monthly rate behind a Bill Monthly toggle. Growth and Scale sell extra social sets at USD 11.25 (AED 41.32) a month and extra users at USD 3.75 (AED 13.77) on the yearly view; Starter cannot add either. There is no free plan on the page, only a 14-day trial. Checked on 4 September 2026.
Tax is decided by your mailing address, and Later says it “is in the process of rolling out sales tax/VAT globally” (Later help centre).
Hootsuite: priced per user
| Plan | What the price buys | USD per user, monthly, billed annually | AED per user, monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Per user, up to 10 social accounts | 99 | 363.58 |
| Professional | Per user, unlimited social accounts | 199 | 730.83 |
| Advanced | Per user, unlimited accounts, approvals and message assignment | 399 | 1,465.33 |
Hootsuite’s plans page states: “Paid plans start at $99 for a Standard plan, $199 for a Professional plan, and range up to $399 for an Advanced plan.” Each card is per user per month, billed annually, so the table shows that rate. There is no free plan. The 14-day trial carries daily posting limits. Checked on 4 September 2026.
On the integrations page, Threads publishing is on every plan, WhatsApp is “Receive and respond to WhatsApp messages in Hootsuite Inbox” with no publishing, and Reddit is monitoring through an app. Connecting WhatsApp needs “a verified business account and administrator access in Meta Business Manager” (Hootsuite help).
Metricool: priced per brand
| Plan | What the price buys | USD a month | USD a month, billed yearly | AED a month, billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 brand, 30 days of analytics | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Starter | Up to 5 brands | 25 | 20 | 73.45 |
| Starter | Up to 10 brands | 45 | 36 | 132.21 |
| Advanced | Up to 15 brands, team and client management, post approval | 67 | 53 | 194.64 |
| Advanced | Up to 25 brands | 107 | 85 | 312.16 |
| Advanced | Up to 50 brands | 210 | 159 | 583.93 |
A brand is one client, whatever number of accounts it holds. Metricool’s pricing page shows euros or dollars, marks annual billing as “save up to 24%”, and gives the free plan one brand, 30 days of analytics and every network except LinkedIn and one outside the eight. Team and client management, role management and post approval sit on Advanced. The page prints brand counts, not seat counts, so confirm how many people can log in before you choose a tier. Checked on 4 September 2026.
Metricool is a Spanish company and “does not charge VAT” to customers outside the EU (Metricool help centre).
Which of the eight platforms each tool publishes to
| Platform | Buffer | Later | Hootsuite | Metricool | Ignis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | |
| Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | |
| TikTok | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish |
| Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish (paid plans) | Publish | |
| YouTube | Publish (Shorts) | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish |
| Threads | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish | Publish |
| No | No | Monitoring only | No | Publish | |
| No | No | Inbox only | No | Publish and inbox |
Sources: Buffer supported channels, Later pricing, Hootsuite integrations, Metricool pricing and the Ignis features page. Each of the four also publishes to networks outside the eight, and their own pages list those.
Inbox coverage, stated plainly
- Buffer. Community handles comments. The help article covers how each network feeds comments in and does not mention Instagram DMs, Messenger or WhatsApp.
- Later. Social Inbox is on Growth and Scale and “currently supports: DMs and comments for Instagram and Facebook, Comments for TikTok”. It “is a beta feature and is available on Later for desktop only at this time” (Later help centre). No WhatsApp.
- Hootsuite. Every plan. Facebook and Instagram private messages and comments, WhatsApp messages, TikTok, LinkedIn and Threads (Hootsuite inbox).
- Metricool. Facebook and Instagram comments and private messages, TikTok comments, LinkedIn comments and mentions, YouTube comments, and reviews on one network outside the eight (Metricool help centre). WhatsApp is not listed.
- Ignis. Instagram DMs, Messenger and WhatsApp, with comments and mentions in the same list, one list per client, and the time left on each reply window. Basic reads it. Growth and Agency reply from it. More in one inbox for Instagram DMs, Messenger and WhatsApp.
A worked example: five clients, five channels each, two people
Twenty-five connected accounts, two of you, annual billing where the vendor offers it. Each row names the lowest plan that holds the twenty-five accounts and says who fits. Where a cheaper plan seats only one of you, it is listed too, so you can see what the second seat costs.
| Tool and plan | Why that plan | USD a month | AED a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer Team | Buffer prints 25 channels on Team, billed yearly, at USD 150 a month. Both of you fit, members are unlimited | 150.00 | 550.88 |
| Buffer Essentials | Buffer prints 25 channels on Essentials, billed yearly, at USD 100 a month. One user, so one of you | 100.00 | 367.25 |
| Later Scale | Five clients need five social sets. Scale holds six, with four users | 82.50 | 302.98 |
| Hootsuite Professional, one user | Twenty-five accounts is more than Standard allows | 199.00 | 730.83 |
| Hootsuite Professional, two users | Two seats at USD 199 | 398.00 | 1,461.66 |
| Metricool Starter, 5 brands | Five brands fit. Seat count is not printed on the plan | 20.00 | 73.45 |
| Metricool Advanced, 15 brands | If you want team and client management and post approval | 53.00 | 194.64 |
| Ignis Agency | AED 49 covers one client workspace, plus 4 more at AED 29 each. Both of you sit inside the ten seats. Billed yearly, like the rows above: AED 1,650 a year. Billed monthly it is AED 165 a month | Billed in AED | 137.50 |
Read the table as five different shapes rather than a ranking. Buffer counts channels, so it moves the day a client adds a sixth account. Later counts social sets, so it moves at the seventh client. Hootsuite counts people, so it moves the week you hire. Metricool counts brands, so it moves at the sixth client. Ignis counts client workspaces too, at AED 29 for each one after the first, and includes ten seats before anyone pays for a member. Change any of those numbers and a different row comes out lowest, so run your own count before you renew.
Where Ignis sits in the same table
Basic is free and stays free: one seat, one client, three connected accounts, thirty posts a month, three platforms, a read-only inbox and no automations. Growth is AED 49 a month for one client workspace, ten seats, unlimited posts, all eight platforms and automations. Agency starts at the same AED 49 with one client workspace and ten members included, and it is the plan that grows: AED 29 a month for each additional client workspace and AED 5.50 per member past ten. The white-label client portal comes with Growth and Agency at no extra cost. Pay for a year and two months are free.
Five clients on Agency is AED 165 a month, client portal included. The estimator on the pricing page totals your exact numbers, the features page lists what each plan opens, and the FAQ covers currency, refunds and billing. Everything is billed in AED by Novamind Technologies FZE, so the figure on the page is the figure on the invoice.
Four things that change the final bill
- Tax. Buffer collects tax in the US states it lists and in the UK. Later charges by mailing address and is rolling tax out globally. Hootsuite’s prices exclude applicable taxes. Metricool does not charge VAT outside the EU. Ignis is billed in AED.
- Your card. A dollar or euro subscription is a foreign-currency purchase on a UAE card. Ask your bank what it adds, then put that on top of the AED column.
- Annual or monthly. Buffer calls its annual discount 20 per cent (USD 5 against USD 6 per channel), Later says 25 per cent, Metricool says up to 24 per cent, and Hootsuite’s plan cards show the annual-billing rate. Ignis annual is ten months for twelve.
- The unit. Channel, social set, user, brand or client. Price against the one you expect to grow fastest next year, because that is the line that will move.
Sources
- UAE Government fact sheet: the dirham peg, 1 USD = AED 3.6725
- Buffer pricing
- Buffer support: your bill, taxes and VAT explained
- Buffer support: supported channels
- Buffer support: how comments work in Community
- Later pricing
- Later help centre: manage DMs and comments with Social Inbox
- Later help centre: sales tax and VAT information
- Hootsuite plans
- Hootsuite integrations
- Hootsuite social media inbox
- Hootsuite help: connect a WhatsApp account
- Metricool pricing
- Metricool help centre: inbox manager
- Metricool help centre: VAT on your invoice
- Ignis pricing and features
Run one client, or ten, from one place.
Basic is free for one client. Growth is AED 49 a month, with every platform and the automations.