Scheduling Pinterest and Instagram Together: 7 Tools Ranked by What the Pair Costs
Affiliate disclosure: some links here are affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no cost to you. The order below follows the stated criterion and nothing else; no vendor paid for a position or saw this page before it went up.
If you post to both Pinterest and Instagram, the first thing to know in October 2026 is that Tailwind, the scheduler built around Pinterest, no longer covers both for new accounts. Since September 25, 2026, it has sold Pinterest-only plans, accounts created since late September 2026 cannot connect Instagram or Facebook, and its help center says scheduling to Instagram and Facebook ‘is available only on legacy plans’. The other six all auto-publish to both networks. On annual billing the cheapest paid route is Buffer Essentials at $10 /month for two channels, $120 billed yearly, and the dearest is Hootsuite Standard at $99 per user/month, billed annually.
The same two accounts cost anywhere from $10 to $99 a month, so price is a fair place to start, but it is not the whole bill. Some plans cap posts (Later Starter allows 30 posts per profile a month), some charge per seat and some per channel. The Pinterest side of these tools also varies far more than the Instagram side: whether one Pin can go to several boards, whether secret boards work, how long Pin analytics keep counting. This page ranks on the price of the pair and reports those limits beside each product. Every price and plan limit comes from the vendors’ own pages, read on 23 October 2026 and re-checked on 24 October 2026; the Trustpilot scores in the FAQ are as displayed there on 23 October 2026. Nobody installed or subscribed to anything.
What this ranking measures
This ranking measures one thing: what the cheapest paid plan costs per month, on the vendor’s own annual billing, for one person to auto-publish to one Pinterest account and one Instagram professional account. Annual billing is the yardstick because it is the only basis all seven publish (Hootsuite prints no monthly price), and the monthly price is shown beside every pick. Per-unit pricing is counted for exactly that setup: two channels at Buffer, one seat at Sprout Social and Hootsuite, one social set at Later and Planoly, the smallest brand tier at Metricool. A product whose current plans cannot publish to both networks ranks below every product that can, whatever it costs. Free plans are named in the verdict but do not rank, because their limits are published unevenly. Deliberately not measured: Pinterest depth, analytics, AI, interface or support. Nobody installed or subscribed to any of these.
The short answer
Buffer bills per channel, and a channel is one connected account, so a Pinterest account plus an Instagram account is two channels and nothing more. At two channels Essentials is the cheapest paid plan on this page that auto-publishes to both. What the low price leaves out is Pinterest depth: no Pinterest comment replies in Buffer’s community inbox, basic rather than advanced Pinterest analytics, no Pinterest keyword research, and no automatic same-URL spacing like Tailwind’s Pin Spacing (Buffer’s queue posts at time slots you set).
Planoly defines a social set as up to one of each channel, Instagram and Pinterest included, so the pair fits inside Starter’s single set. It is built around Instagram, with a grid preview and Instagram DM automations. On Pinterest it publishes one image or video per Pin to one existing board: its own help guide rules out posting one Pin to several boards and creating boards from Planoly.
Both free plans reach Pinterest and Instagram. Buffer Free connects up to 3 channels and holds 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, refilling as they publish. Metricool Free covers 1 brand, 20 published posts a month and 30 days of analytics, with no credit card. Neither ranks above, because free-plan limits are published unevenly: Later’s Free plan appears in its help center but not on its pricing page, and Tailwind’s help center calls its monthly-credit Free plan legacy while its free-plan limits article sits behind a login.
All 7 compared
| # | Product | Best for | Price from | What decides its place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two accounts on the smallest bill | $10 /month, 2 channels · $120 billed yearly (save 2 months); $12 /month, 2 channels · Billed monthly (Essentials) | $10/month on yearly billing for the two channels, the lowest of the seven | Visit | |
| 2 | Instagram-first creators who also pin | $14/month billed annually, or $16/month billed monthly (Starter) | $14/month on annual billing for 1 Social Set, which links one account per network | Visit | |
| 3 | Light scheduling across many networks | $18.75 USD/month, billed yearly; $25.00 USD/month, billed monthly (Starter) | $18.75/month billed yearly for 1 social set, capped at 30 posts per profile a month | Visit | |
| 4 | Several brands on one budget | Up to 5 brands for $20/month (Annual) or $25/month (Monthly), USD (Starter) | $20/month on annual billing for up to 5 brands, each with one Pinterest and one Instagram profile | Visit | |
| 5 | Teams that need reporting on Pinterest | $79 per seat/month (annual billing); $99 per seat/month billed monthly (Essentials) | $79 per seat/month on annual billing for Essentials, 5 social profiles | Visit | |
| 6 | Pinterest as one channel in a bigger team | $99 per user/month, billed annually (Standard); monthly price not published | $99 per user/month billed annually, the highest of the six that qualify, and no monthly figure published | Visit | |
| 7 | Pinterest-only publishing | $17.99/mo on Annual; $29.99/mo on Monthly (Pin Scheduling & Creation, per Pinterest account) | Plans sold to new accounts publish to Pinterest only; Instagram scheduling is legacy-plan only | Visit |
1. Buffer
Why it sits at 1 $10/month on yearly billing for the two channels, the lowest of the seven
Buffer charges per channel, and it defines a channel as one social account you connect. With the pricing page’s channel stepper set to 2, Essentials reads $10 /month, $120 billed yearly, or $12 /month billed monthly. Essentials has unlimited scheduled posts per channel, first comment scheduling and a 14-day free trial, and Buffer says its pricing was last updated in November 2025. Its pages give two paid ceilings: the pricing FAQ caps fair use at 5000 posts per channel in general, while the Pinterest page allows up to 2,000 pins at a time on paid plans; the FAQ does not say whether Pinterest has a lower limit.
For each Pin you choose the board, title, description and link, and photo, GIF and video Pins can all be scheduled, and the help center says you can publish to a board marked secret. It adds a limit of 25 posts per 24 hours for customers who verify their email (5 without). Two things are missing on Pinterest: Buffer’s engagement features, which are comment replies in its community inbox (‘Engagement is not available for Pinterest at this time’), and advanced analytics, since the pricing table gives Pinterest business accounts basic analytics only. Instagram business and creator accounts get every feature column, auto-publishing included. Personal Instagram profiles are limited to reminder (notification) publishing.
- Per-channel billing puts the pair at $10/month on yearly billing, the lowest here, the Free plan connects up to 3 channels, and Pins can go to secret boards.
- No Pinterest comment replies in the community inbox and no advanced Pinterest analytics, and Buffer gives two paid ceilings: 5000 posts per channel in general, 2,000 pins at a time on the Pinterest page.
2. Planoly
Why it sits at 2 $14/month on annual billing for 1 Social Set, which links one account per network
Starter is $14/month billed annually or $16/month billed monthly, with 1 Social Set, 1 user and no add-ons. Planoly’s pricing FAQ says a social set lets you link up to one of each social channel, Instagram and Pinterest among them, so one Starter plan covers the pair. Annual billing saves up to 15%, and every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial. Planoly says it launched in 2016 as the first visual Instagram planner, and its extras still lean that way: a grid preview, Instagram DM automations and an inbox that covers Instagram only.
Pinterest auto-posts from the web and mobile apps: one image or video per Pin, a board as the only required field, descriptions up to 800 characters. The help guide lists what it does not support for Pinterest: carousels, product tagging, posting one Pin to several boards, and creating a new board from Planoly. Its own pages also disagree about Starter. The homepage card says up to 60 uploads per month, while the pricing page says unlimited uploads and the help guide says unlimited posts.
- One Social Set holds one account on each network, so Pinterest and Instagram both fit inside the $14/month Starter plan.
- No posting one Pin to several boards, no board creation and no Pinterest carousels, and the homepage’s 60 uploads a month contradicts the pricing page’s unlimited uploads.
3. Later
Why it sits at 3 $18.75/month billed yearly for 1 social set, capped at 30 posts per profile a month
Starter is $18.75 USD/month billed yearly (‘3 months free | 25% off’) or $25.00 USD/month billed monthly. It includes 1 social set of 8 profiles, one on each platform with Pinterest and Instagram among them, and 1 user. Starter schedules up to 30 posts per profile a month. Later counts a post when it is scheduled, not when it publishes, and the pricing page says Starter cannot add extra social sets, users or AI credits. Growth, at $37.50 USD/month billed yearly, raises the cap to 180 posts per profile a month.
Later says it is a Pinterest Marketing Partner with exclusive API access for scheduling video Pins. Its help center states the Pinterest limits plainly. Pins can go only to public boards, not secret ones. Pinterest analytics cover only Pins scheduled through Later, and Later tracks each Pin for two weeks after it posts. The pricing card names Best Time to Post for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, while Later’s Pinterest scheduler page says Pins can be scheduled at your personal best time to post. On Instagram, Later auto-publishes single images, carousels, Stories and Reels and supports First Comment.
- One social set covers one account on each of 8 platforms, so Pinterest and Instagram are both in the $18.75/month Starter price.
- Starter’s 30 posts per profile a month caps a daily pinner, Pins go to public boards only, and Pin analytics stop two weeks after each Pin posts.
4. Metricool
Why it sits at 4 $20/month on annual billing for up to 5 brands, each with one Pinterest and one Instagram profile
Starter costs $20/month on the Annual tab for up to 5 brands, or $25/month on Monthly. Up to 10 brands costs $36/month annual or $45/month monthly. Each brand holds one profile per social network, so a single brand covers a Pinterest and an Instagram account. Starter adds unlimited content publishing (subject to a Fair Use Policy whose base threshold, in the legal terms, is 600 posts per brand a month), analytics with unlimited history, and Canva and Google Drive. Prices exclude VAT. The pricing page offers no standard free trial of paid plans, but the Free plan never expires and needs no credit card.
The help center describes Pinterest scheduling as image or video Pins with text up to 800 characters, a board you select or create, and an optional title and link. Pinterest analytics are organic only and need a business account. Pinterest is absent from Metricool’s Inbox network list and from its competitor-analysis rows. Metricool says Instagram posts, Stories, Reels and carousels all publish automatically, with no reminder notifications. It describes itself as a ‘Google, Pinterest, Meta, LinkedIn and X partner’.
- $20/month on annual billing covers up to 5 brands, each with its own Pinterest and Instagram profile, and the Free plan reaches both networks too.
- No Pinterest inbox or Pinterest competitor tracking, and team members and the post approval system start on Advanced, from $53/month.
5. Sprout Social
Why it sits at 5 $79 per seat/month on annual billing for Essentials, 5 social profiles
Essentials, a new publishing-focused plan, costs $79 per seat/month on annual billing or $99 per seat/month billed monthly, and allows 5 social profiles. Pinterest and Instagram profiles both count toward that limit. The pricing table marks Pinterest Included on Essentials. Sprout’s help article on Pinterest, however, lists availability as Standard, Professional and Advanced and does not name Essentials, so confirm before buying Essentials for Pinterest. Standard is $199 per seat/month on annual billing ($249 monthly). This rank depends on the pricing table: if Essentials does not include Pinterest, the cheapest qualifying plan is Standard at $199 per seat/month and Sprout would rank below Hootsuite. The 30-day free trial is of Professional and needs no credit card, and every plan includes 24/5 live phone and chat support.
Sprout says it is an official Pinterest Marketing Partner. It publishes single-image and single-video Pins to one or more boards, can create a new board from Compose, and requires a Pinterest Business Account. Idea Pins, Carousel Pins and Shopping Pins are not supported, and Pinterest gets no Smart Inbox, listening or competitor reports. A dedicated Pinterest Profiles Report covers the account. Instagram grid planning and bulk scheduling are not included until Professional, at $299 per seat/month.
- Publishes a Pin to one or more boards, creates boards from Compose and has a dedicated Pinterest Profiles Report, with a 30-day trial.
- $79 per seat/month is nearly eight times Buffer’s two-channel price, and Sprout’s own Pinterest help article does not list Essentials.
6. Hootsuite
Why it sits at 6 $99 per user/month billed annually, the highest of the six that qualify, and no monthly figure published
Standard is $99 per user/month, billed annually, and manages up to 10 social media accounts. Hootsuite confirms that monthly billing exists (‘Annual billing provides a lower per-user monthly rate compared to month-to-month billing’) but prints no monthly figure, so this page cannot compare one. There is no free plan. The 14-day trial needs no credit card, limits posting to 10-20 posts per organization per day depending on plan, and excludes bulk scheduling.
Hootsuite schedules Pins to several accounts or boards at once, on public, private and shared boards, and can build secret boards. Pinterest is missing from its inbox network list and its social ads list, and Pinterest as a listening source is Enterprise-only. Its analytics ‘Best times to publish’ charts include Pinterest, but the Perch ‘Recommended times to publish’ row does not. Hootsuite says it is an official Instagram Partner, and Instagram feed posts, Reels and Stories auto-publish from a Business account.
- Schedules Pins to several boards at once, including private and shared boards, in a calendar that holds every connected network.
- No monthly price published and no free plan, and approval workflows start at Advanced, $399 per user/month billed annually.
7. Tailwind
Why it sits at 7 Plans sold to new accounts publish to Pinterest only; Instagram scheduling is legacy-plan only
Since September 25, 2026, Tailwind has sold three Pinterest tools, Pin Scheduling & Creation, Pinterest SEO and Pinterest Engagement, separately or as a Bundle. Its help center states: ‘The current plans are for Pinterest. Scheduling to Instagram and Facebook is available only on legacy plans.’ New accounts created since late September 2026 cannot connect Instagram or Facebook, and Smart.bio, Tailwind’s Instagram link-in-bio page, does not work on them. That is why it ranks last for this reader: no plan sold to new subscribers covers the pair, at any price.
It is the only tool here built solely for Pinterest. Pin Scheduling & Creation is $17.99/mo on Annual or $29.99/mo on Monthly, per Pinterest account, with 300 credits a month at 1 credit per scheduled Pin. Its Pinterest-only features include SmartSchedule time slots, Pin Spacing (by default, Pins linking to the same URL publish 7 days apart), interval scheduling across several boards, CSV bulk upload including video Pins, Ghostwriter copy and weekly SmartPin drafts. Keyword Research, which shows Pinterest search volume when available, is the separate Pinterest SEO tool at $11.99/mo on Annual ($14.99 monthly). The Tailwind pages read for this comparison say nothing about secret boards, which Hootsuite and Buffer say they support. Measured on Pinterest only, on annual billing, Buffer Essentials would be $5/month (one channel), Planoly $14, Tailwind $17.99 and Later $18.75.
- Built solely for Pinterest, with SmartSchedule, Pin Spacing and interval scheduling across boards, keyword research as a separate tool, and a free start with no credit card.
- Current plans cannot publish to Instagram, so a Pinterest-and-Instagram setup needs a second tool on top.
Which one fits your situation
Buffer Essentials at $10 /month for two channels on yearly billing, or $12 /month monthly. If 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time is enough, Buffer Free connects up to 3 channels for $0.
Planoly Starter ($14/month billed annually, $16 monthly) has the grid preview and Instagram DM automations, but posts each Pin to one existing board. Later Starter ($18.75 USD/month billed yearly, $25 monthly) covers eight platforms in one social set, but stops at 30 posts per profile a month.
This page does not rank this case, so here are both routes. For scheduling alone, Buffer Essentials covers one Pinterest account for $5/month on yearly billing ($6 monthly). For Pinterest-specific tools (SmartSchedule, Pin Spacing, interval scheduling, SmartPin), Tailwind’s Pin Scheduling & Creation is $17.99/mo on Annual ($29.99 monthly) per Pinterest account, with keyword research a separate $11.99/mo on Annual; Tailwind starts free with no credit card, through one-time trial actions that include 10 scheduled Pins.
Metricool Starter covers up to 5 brands for $20/month on annual billing, and each brand holds its own Pinterest and Instagram profile. Team members and the post approval system need Advanced, from $53/month.
Buffer puts approval workflows on Team, at $10 per channel per month on yearly billing ($12 monthly), so $20/month for the pair. Later includes internal and external approvals from Growth, at $37.50 USD/month billed yearly. Metricool’s post approval system starts on Advanced, from $53/month. Sprout Social’s message approval workflow starts at Professional, and Hootsuite’s approvals at Advanced. Tailwind’s Viewer role sends posts to an admin for approval, but only for Pinterest.
Sprout Social offers the longest trial: 30 days of Professional with no credit card. Buffer, Later, Planoly and Hootsuite offer 14 days, and Later and Hootsuite say theirs needs no credit card. Metricool has no standard paid-plan trial, but its Free plan never expires. Tailwind starts free, with no card and one-time trial actions that do not reset monthly.
What this market gets people for
- Assuming Tailwind still schedules Instagram. It did before September 2026, and older comparisons predate the change. Buffer’s own ‘Tailwind vs Buffer’ page is a blog post dated July 10, 2023, and Tailwind’s own comparison page still shows an outdated $14.99/mo (Plus) price. Since September 25, 2026, new Tailwind accounts are on a Pinterest-only plan type that cannot connect Instagram or Facebook.
- Reading a per-unit price as the price of your setup. Buffer charges per channel, Hootsuite per user, Sprout Social per seat, Tailwind per Pinterest account, Later and Planoly per plan, each plan bundling a fixed number of social sets (1 on Starter, 2 on Growth, 6 on Planoly Pro or Later Scale; extra sets are add-ons above Starter), and Metricool per band of brands. The number in bold on each card describes a different thing, so price the exact accounts and logins you need.
- Comparing an annual-equivalent rate with a monthly one. Tailwind’s $17.99/mo is an annual rate charged once a year; the monthly price is $29.99/mo. Later’s $18.75 becomes $25.00 monthly, and Sprout Social’s $79 becomes $99. Hootsuite publishes only its annual-billing prices, so its monthly cost cannot be checked on its page at all.
- Connecting a personal account and expecting auto-publishing. Buffer limits personal Instagram profiles to reminder publishing. Sprout Social cannot connect a personal Pinterest account at all, and Hootsuite needs an Instagram Business account. Later’s video Pins need a Pinterest business account in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, and Metricool’s Pinterest analytics need a business account.
Questions buyers ask
Can Tailwind still schedule Instagram posts?
Only on legacy plans. Tailwind’s help center says ‘The current plans are for Pinterest. Scheduling to Instagram and Facebook is available only on legacy plans’, and that accounts created since late September 2026 cannot connect Instagram or Facebook. Pro, Advanced and Max are legacy plans that new subscribers cannot buy.
What is the cheapest way to schedule Pinterest and Instagram together?
Among paid plans, Buffer Essentials at $10 /month for two channels, $120 billed yearly, or $12 /month billed monthly. Among free plans, Buffer Free (up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time) and Metricool Free (1 brand, 20 published posts a month) both reach the two networks.
Which of these can send one Pin to several boards?
Hootsuite schedules Pins ‘to several accounts or boards at once’, Sprout Social lets you choose one or more boards in Compose, and Tailwind’s interval scheduling spreads one Pin across several boards over several days. Planoly’s help guide says it cannot. Buffer, Later and Metricool do not describe it on the pages read for this comparison.
Do any of them post to secret boards?
Hootsuite says you can schedule to public, private and shared boards and build secret boards. Buffer’s help center says you can publish to a board marked secret. Later says it can only connect to public boards, not secret ones. The other four do not say either way on the pages read.
Which are official Pinterest partners?
By their own account: Tailwind (‘an official Pinterest Marketing Partner’ and ‘Pinterest’s longest standing developer partner — since 2012’), Later and Sprout Social (both Pinterest Marketing Partners), and Metricool (‘Google, Pinterest, Meta, LinkedIn and X partner’). Buffer, Hootsuite and Planoly make no Pinterest partner claim on the pages read. These are vendor claims and were not checked with Pinterest.
What do reviewers on Trustpilot say?
As displayed on Trustpilot on 23 October 2026: Metricool 4.1 from 687 reviews, Buffer 4.1 from 142, Planoly 3.2 from 61, Tailwind 3.0 from 304, Sprout Social 1.8 from 88, Later 1.4 from 352 and Hootsuite 1.3 from 556. Sprout Social’s profile includes some reviews about other products. G2 blocked automated access for all seven, so no G2 score is shown.
What none of them publish
These are the questions a buyer would want settled that no vendor on this page answers in public. If one of them decides your purchase, ask the vendor and hold them to the answer.
- Hootsuite’s monthly price for any plan: it confirms month-to-month billing exists but prints no figure.
- Tailwind’s ongoing free-plan limits: the help article ‘Current Free plan limits & Tailwind credits’ requires a login, and the credits article calls the monthly-credit Free plan legacy while feature pages still advertise a Free plan. Only the one-time trial actions are public.
- Whether Sprout Social Essentials includes Pinterest: the pricing table says it does, but the Pinterest help article lists only Standard, Professional and Advanced. Sprout’s rank above Hootsuite depends on the pricing table being right.
- Whether Buffer’s Pinterest ceiling is lower than its general one: the pricing FAQ gives a fair-use cap of 5000 posts per channel, the Pinterest page says 2,000 pins at a time on paid plans.
- Buffer’s annual discount: the cards say ‘save 2 months’, the billing FAQ says ‘a 20% discount’.
- Later’s Free plan: the help center lists it at 12 posts per profile per month, but the pricing page does not show it. The help center also says annual plans get ‘4 months free’ against the pricing page’s ‘3 months free | 25% off’.
- Which Later plans include Pinterest click tracking: the plan reference and two Pin help articles say Growth and up, while the pricing table and the Analytics Data by Plan article tick Starter as well.
- Whether Later’s Best Time to Post covers Pinterest: the pricing card names Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, while the Pinterest scheduler page mentions scheduling Pins at your personal best time to post.
- Planoly Starter’s upload limit: 60 per month on the homepage, unlimited on the pricing page. The homepage also shows Pro at $444 billed annually, which is not 12 times $47.
- Pinterest-specific daily posting caps: only Buffer publishes one (25 posts per 24 hours with a verified email). None of the other six states one on the pages read.
- Whether Tailwind Create, Tailwind Communities and Insights come with any current plan: Tailwind still markets all three, but none is named on a current plan card or in the plans article, and the Insights help articles predate the September 2026 plan change.
