Postiz alternative: hosted, agent-ready, no self-hosting

Postiz self-hosted is free in licence terms and not free in time: the official Docker Compose brings up Postgres, Redis and Temporal, wants 2 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM minimum, and expects a reverse proxy because it sets secure cookies. If you would rather not run that, the cloud starts at $29 a month for 5 channels, and there are other hosted options. Prices and documentation below were checked on September 7, 2026.

What Postiz is, honestly

Postiz is an open-source social media scheduler from Gitroom, AGPL-3.0, with 35,549 stars on GitHub when checked September 7, 2026. Its introduction advertises scheduling across 34 platforms. You get a calendar UI, AI post generation, a media library, analytics, team members, and both a hosted cloud and a self-host path.

It is genuinely good at what it is: a dashboard where a person plans posts. That is worth saying plainly, because most "alternative to X" pages exist to trash X. Postiz is not bad software. It is software with a shape, and the shape is a scheduling product with an API bolted to the side.

PlugKit has the opposite shape. It is an API and a hosted MCP server for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, X, WhatsApp and Telegram, where the primary user is an AI agent rather than a person at a calendar. No dashboard to run, nothing to patch.

Postiz pricing on the cloud

From the Postiz cloud plans, checked September 7, 2026:

Every tier includes custom integrations, webhooks and API access, plus a monthly quota of AI images and videos that grows with the plan. Most new organisations are offered a 7-day trial; there is no permanent free plan on the cloud.

Compare that to PlugKit, checked on plugkit.co the same day: $29 a month for 5 connected accounts on Creator, or $97 a month for 30 on Pro, with Pro extras at $3 for accounts 31 to 100 and $1.50 beyond that. X is billed separately: $0.005 per post read, $0.015 per publish, or $0.200 for a post containing a URL. See the billing details.

At 30 channels Postiz cloud is $49 and PlugKit Pro is $97. If your job is scheduling posts on 30 channels and nothing else, Postiz cloud has the lower subscription price. PlugKit is worth the $48 difference when its supported inbox, comment replies and comment-to-DM workflows are the job you need done. Both products include MCP.

What "postiz self hosted" actually requires

The system requirements page is specific, which I appreciate. Checked September 7, 2026:

Docker Compose is the recommended path and it brings Postgres, Redis and Temporal with it. Standalone Docker means you bring your own three. Production wants a reverse proxy for HTTPS because Postiz sets secure cookies.

Add to that the platform setup: self-hosting can require your own developer apps. Meta app review, a TikTok developer app, a LinkedIn app, X API access. On a hosted product the vendor handles its platform integrations, though your accounts still need to meet each network's requirements. With self-hosting, app setup and review can become part of your workload, not just the VPS.

Self-host anyway if data residency is a hard requirement, if you want to modify the code, or if you enjoy running things. Those are good reasons. "It is free" is not one, once you count the app reviews.

The Postiz API: publishing, post lists and analytics

This is where the exact operations matter. From the Postiz public API docs, checked September 7, 2026:

• Base URL https://api.postiz.com/public/v1/
• Auth: API key in the Authorization header, or an OAuth token prefixed pos_
• GET /public/v1/integrations to list connected channels
• POST /public/v1/posts to create or schedule a post
• POST /public/v1/upload to upload media
• GET /public/v1/posts to list posts and their states
• GET /public/v1/analytics/{integration} for channel analytics
• Check the current API limits for your deployment before sizing a polling workflow.

That is a publishing API, and it is a fine one. The published OpenAPI reference lists no dedicated endpoints for reading DMs, listing incoming comments or running keyword comment-to-DM automations. That is a gap for an agent handling incoming conversations, not a claim that Postiz has no comment features: it also advertises auto-comments and exposes provider-specific tools.

PlugKit's API covers publish, inbox, comments, analytics, campaigns and webhooks under one request shape, and its MCP documentation lists 77 tools at https://api.plugkit.co/mcp. Add PlugKit to Claude Code:

claude mcp add -t http plugkit https://api.plugkit.co/mcp

OAuth 2.1 is the recommended auth, with mcp:read and mcp:write scopes so you can give an agent read-only access for a week before it is allowed to publish. These scopes apply to OAuth, not full-access API keys. The pattern is explained in how to give your AI agent social media access, and the servers are compared side by side in social media MCP servers compared.

Postiz vs Buffer vs the rest

Seven hosted options plus Mixpost for the self-host camp, prices checked September 7, 2026 on each vendor's own site. Buffer's $5 rate is billed yearly; the other recurring entry prices below use monthly billing:

Buffer is the honest answer to "postiz vs buffer" if a human does the scheduling: $5 a channel with annual billing is worth comparing and the $0 plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each. Buffer's API exists but is quota-limited per plan so check the operations and quotas your integration needs. Mixpost is the other self-host option, a one-time $299 for the Pro licence, with one year of updates included, plus your own hosting.

If per-account billing is what you are actually shopping for, the arithmetic against Zernio is in the Zernio alternative page.

Where Postiz beats PlugKit

Platform coverage, first: Postiz advertises 34 platforms, including destinations such as blogs, Mastodon, Bluesky, Discord and Reddit, beyond PlugKit's listed integrations. If you publish to Mastodon or Reddit, PlugKit does not do it and no comparison table changes that.

Source code, second. AGPL-3.0 means you can read it, fork it, run it on your own hardware without relying on PlugKit to host that software. That is a real form of insurance and PlugKit does not offer it.

Price at the top of the range, third. 100 channels for $99 a month on Postiz Ultimate has lower account charges than PlugKit Pro with extras at that volume.

The visual layer, fourth: a calendar, a design tool, AI post generation. PlugKit has a dashboard for connecting accounts and watching deliveries, not a content studio.

Where a hosted API wins

You do not patch it. There is no Postgres to back up, no Redis to size, no Temporal upgrade to schedule, no self-hosted stack to operate. Postiz Cloud shares that benefit. With PlugKit, an Instagram workflow can include: list unanswered DMs, get the comments on the last Reel, reply to the ones asking about price, start a comment-to-DM automation on a keyword. If handling replies is the job, those are the calls your agent needs throughout the day. A scheduling-only API does not cover that job. See the Instagram and Campaigns guides.

Rate limits need checking too: both vendor limits and the platforms' own limits can apply. The network-level limits are listed in the rate limits table. More context on the whole category is in the social media API hub, and the shorter head-to-head lives at the Postiz alternative page.

If the hosted route is the one you want: $29 a month for 5 connected accounts, cancel anytime.

FAQ

Is Postiz really free?

The self-hosted version is, under AGPL-3.0. You still pay for a server with 2 vCPU, at least 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB of disk, running Postgres, Redis and Temporal, plus your time keeping it patched and your own developer apps on each platform. The cloud version is not free: it starts at $29 a month for 5 channels after a 7-day trial, with no permanent free plan.

Does Postiz have an API?

Yes, a public REST API at https://api.postiz.com/public/v1/ with an API key or an OAuth token in the Authorization header. Publicly documented are listing integrations, creating posts, uploading media, listing posts and retrieving analytics. Its published OpenAPI reference has no dedicated inbox-reading or comment-to-DM endpoints. Provider-specific tools and auto-comments are a separate matter; check current limits too.

What is the best Postiz alternative if I do not want to self-host?

It depends on the job. For scheduling by hand, Buffer from $5 a channel a month with annual billing. For an API and MCP server an agent drives on supported platforms with the inbox included, PlugKit at $29 a month for 5 accounts. For broad platform coverage with ads, Zernio, billed per connected account after the first two. For a single brand with a deep API, Ayrshare from $149 a month.

Postiz vs Buffer: which one should I pick?

Buffer if a person schedules the posts and its queue fits the job: from $5 per channel a month with annual billing, or a $0 plan for 3 channels. Postiz if you want to own the software, need platforms Buffer does not cover, or want unlimited team members at $39 a month. If the job includes inbox and comment automation, compare the exact operations separately rather than assuming a scheduler covers them.

Can an AI agent drive Postiz?

Yes. Postiz ships an MCP server and a public API covering publishing, post lists and analytics. Its published OpenAPI reference does not list dedicated endpoints for reading DMs or listing incoming comments, so do not treat its publishing API as a ready-made conversational inbox.

AB

Antoine BlancoFounder of PlugKit. Runs his own Instagram, YouTube and X accounts through the API and MCP server described here.