CrossposterCrossposter and Buffer at a glance
Same job – getting one post onto several platforms – done two very different ways. Green ticks are advantages, red crosses are limitations.
| Feature | Crossposter | Buffer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ✓Free and open source (MIT). No plans, no channel limits, no upsell. | Free plan with a small number of channels and a capped queue; paid plans are priced per connected channel, per month. |
| Where it runs | ✓Entirely in your browser. Posts and media never pass through a third-party server. | ✗In Buffer's cloud. Your posts, media and publishing tokens are stored on their servers. |
| Account connections | ✓None. It uses the sites you're already logged into – no OAuth, no API keys, no tokens held by anyone. | ✗Every account is connected through OAuth and Buffer keeps a publishing token for it. |
| Personal & private accounts | ✓Yes. Personal and private Instagram, Threads and Facebook accounts work, because it fills each site's own composer. | ✗Instagram needs a Business or Creator account and Facebook needs a Page; personal profiles aren't supported for direct publishing. |
| Images and video | ✓Photos and video travel with the post, with a built-in crop, trim and annotate editor. | Upload images and video to Buffer; what each platform accepts is limited by its API. |
| Reshare posts from your feed | ✓Yes. Right-click any post in your feed – yours or anyone else's – and share it on to your other platforms. | ✗Not really. Buffer's browser extension shares a page link; it doesn't pull an existing post's text and media into native composers. |
| Platform-native features | ✓Everything. You finish in the real composer, so polls, tags, reel covers and alt text all stay available. | ✗Only what each platform's API exposes. Some features (polls, certain tags, reel options) aren't available. |
| Publishing | You press Post on each platform. Nothing is auto-published, so you see exactly what goes out. | ✓Publishes for you at the scheduled time, with notification-based posting where an API can't. |
| Scheduling | ✗No. Crossposter is for “share this everywhere, right now” – there's no queue and it can't post while your browser is closed. | ✓Yes – queues, calendar, ideal-time slots and a content calendar are the core product. |
| Several accounts on one platform | ✗One account per platform at a time. To post to a second account on the same site, switch accounts there first and crosspost again. | ✓Yes. Add as many channels per platform as your plan allows, each counted (and billed) separately. |
| Analytics, inbox & teams | ✗None. No analytics, inbox, approvals or team features – it's a posting tool, not a management suite. | ✓Yes on paid plans – analytics, engagement inbox, team members and approvals. |
| Mobile | ✗Desktop only – Chrome and Firefox, with Safari on the way. Anything you post from your phone is waiting in your feed for next time you're at a computer. | ✓Yes – iOS and Android apps. |
| Platforms | X, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and UpScrolled – from any of them to any of them. | Facebook Pages, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business and more. |
Where Crossposter is the better fit
Free, with nothing to outgrow
- Completely free and open source. No subscription, no per-channel pricing, no free-plan ceiling.
- No API dependency. It uses each site's own composer, so it isn't affected by platform API pricing, approvals or rate limits.
- Reshare anything. Right-click a post in your feed – yours or someone else's – and send it on, with credit, to your other platforms.
Private by construction
- 100% local, no telemetry. Everything runs in your browser; your posts, media and sessions never touch a third-party server.
- No account connections. You never hand over OAuth access or credentials – you're simply already logged in.
- Personal and private accounts work. Personal Instagram, Threads and Facebook profiles, private or not, because there's no API in the way.
Where Buffer is the better fit
Crossposter is deliberately small, and there are things it doesn't do:
- You want to schedule posts for later or keep a queue running while you're away.
- You manage several accounts on the same platform and switching between them by hand is a chore.
- You need analytics, an engagement inbox or team approvals.
- You post from mobile and want a proper app.
Two limitations worth stating plainly: Crossposter has no scheduling – posts go out when you click Post, and only while your browser is open – and it handles one account per platform at a time. If you run two Instagram accounts, you switch accounts on Instagram itself and crosspost again.
How Crossposter does it
- Right-click a post on any supported platform and choose Crosspost.
- Edit once, pick platforms. The composer captures the text and media; tweak the wording, crop or trim the media, toggle destinations.
- Post natively. Each selected platform's own new-post screen opens, pre-filled. You make the final click, with every native option still available.
There's no sign-up and nothing to connect. Install it, log in to your platforms as usual, and it's ready.
Frequently asked
Is Crossposter a free Buffer alternative?
For sharing a post across platforms, yes – it's completely free and open source with no channel limits. It isn't a replacement for Buffer's scheduling, analytics or team features; those simply aren't things Crossposter does.
Does Crossposter work with a personal Instagram account?
Yes. Buffer (like other API-based tools) needs an Instagram Business or Creator account, but Crossposter fills Instagram's own composer in your logged-in browser, so personal and private accounts work as usual.
Can I use Buffer and Crossposter together?
Absolutely. Many people schedule planned content in Buffer and use Crossposter for the spontaneous “this is great, share it everywhere” moments – or for the platforms and accounts Buffer can't reach.
Buffer is a product of its respective owner and is not affiliated with Crossposter or Mochi Digital AB. Details about Buffer reflect its publicly described plans and features at the time of writing (September 2026); check buffer.com for current pricing and features.