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Monthly report · September 2026

Social media scheduling, September 2026: 0 open gaps across 7 read companies.

As the catalog read it in September 2026 · written Oct 1, 2026. This report does not change after it is written.

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Forge’s own counts and the quoted claims with their sources are CC BY 4.0 — cite as Ambera Forge, Social media scheduling, September 2026. Carried market-size figures are their publishers’ and are not in the file.

What was read

7 companies placed; 7 read during September 2026.

Gaps closed and opened

No complaint theme was raised about two or more read companies this month. There is no previous month on record to compare against.

Who entered

7 companies placed (Buffer, Hootsuite, Later, Typefully, Publer, Per-channel pricing, Solo creators and small brands posting daily); 0 products sighted by a search and not yet read.

Pricing moves

5 of 7 read companies have a pricing entry on record; 10 pricing changes recorded across 5 companies this month.

  • Per-channel pricing [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthBuffer, the primary example of per-channel pricing, offers a free plan for up to 3 channels and paid plans starting around $5-6/month per channel (Essentials), with a Team tier around $10-12/month per channel. source
  • Buffer [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 2 changes this monthBuffer's current plan structure is Free ($0, 3 channels, 10 posts/channel), Essentials ($5/channel/month billed annually, $6 monthly), and Team ($10/channel/month annually, $12 monthly), with pricing scaling per connected channel rather than per account. source
  • Hootsuite [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthMultiple secondary sources agree Hootsuite dropped its permanent free plan and now requires a paid plan or a 30-day free trial (credit card required) to use the product. source
  • Later [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 3 changes this monthLater Social's current paid tier structure is three plans — Starter ($18.75/mo annual, $25/mo monthly), Growth ($37.50/mo annual, $50/mo monthly), and Scale ($82.50/mo annual, $110/mo monthly) — each scoped by 'Social Sets' (bundles of up to 8 profiles), users, posts-per-profile caps, and metered AI credits, with add-ons sold for extra sets, users, and AI credits on Growth and Scale. source
  • Solo creators and small brands posting daily [FACT] Sep 30, 2026 · 3 changes this monthInstagram's native in-app scheduler now lets any public account schedule feed posts, carousels, and Reels for free, up to 75 days ahead and 25 posts per day, since March 2026. source

What users raised

27 themes raised by users; the most raised: Advanced features (listening, custom reporting) gated to higher tiers (1 of 6), Agency tier removal raises effective cost for agencies (1 of 6), AI Assistant limited to captions, not full content strategy (1 of 6).

  • Advanced features (listening, custom reporting) gated to higher tiers 1/6
  • Agency tier removal raises effective cost for agencies 1/6
  • AI Assistant limited to captions, not full content strategy 1/6
  • AI writing described as light/assistant-level, not a full voice engine 1/6
  • Analytics depth 1/6
  • Basic analytics limitations 1/6
  • cost scales fast with channel count 1/6
  • Enterprise pricing lacks transparency 1/6
  • Feature set too basic for complex agency workflows 1/6
  • Google Business Profiles not covered in Insights analytics 1/6
  • Hidden/complex volume-discount pricing bands 1/6
  • Hootsuite perceived as too complex/dense interface 1/6
  • Hootsuite perceived as too expensive 1/6
  • Lacks team management on lower tiers 1/6
  • Limited free tier (low post cap, no AI) 1/6
  • Limited social listening 1/6
  • Limited team collaboration features vs. competitors 1/6
  • Missing unified inbox 1/6
  • No permanent free plan 1/6
  • Per-account cost scaling 1/6
  • per-channel pricing becomes costlier than flat-rate at scale 1/6
  • Per-channel pricing multiplies cost quickly for multi-account users 1/6
  • per-seat pricing penalizes growing teams 1/6
  • Per-seat pricing scales expensively for teams 1/6
  • Post caps at lower tiers restrict active posting 1/6
  • Pricing page/info inconsistent or hard to verify 1/6
  • Reduced focus on core scheduling after influencer-marketing rebrand 1/6

Funding by quarter

Withheld: something was read in 1 of the last 8 quarters. A series needs at least 2 to say anything a single reading does not.

The ledger this month

31 observed claims recorded this month, 3 inferences counted apart, 4 sources that did not answer.

  • PRODUCT · 13
  • PRICING · 10
  • COMPLAINT · 3
  • POSITIONING · 3
  • DISCOURSE · 2

How big this market is, as its publishers state it

No market-size figure has been recorded for this level yet. Not read is not zero.

Research-house estimates for this sector, carried side by side under each house’s own name. Estimates of one market can differ several-fold; none is averaged, and none is Forge’s.

No publisher is named for this level yet, so there is nothing to read from. Publishers are authored in the taxonomy and arrive with a deploy.

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