If you need to post to social media from code, you have two choices: integrate each network's API yourself, or use a unified API that has done it for you. This guide compares the unified options and explains when going direct makes more sense.
Pricing and features are from each product's official pages, checked on 26–27 September 2026.
First: do you even need a unified API?
Go direct if you only post to one or two networks, especially easy ones. Bluesky needs no app review at all, and Mastodon only needs a token. Our guides to the X, LinkedIn and Bluesky APIs show the whole job.
Use a unified API when you need several networks, especially the ones with heavy app reviews (TikTok, Meta, YouTube), or when you'd rather not maintain OAuth flows, token refreshes, media uploads and retries for each one.
The two kinds of unified API
This is the most important distinction, and most comparisons skip it:
- Platform APIs are built for products that post on behalf of many customers: white-label, multi-tenant profiles, and per-profile billing. Ayrshare and Zernio are in this group.
- Scheduler APIs are built for posting to your own or your team's accounts, usually alongside a calendar app. Postbase, Buffer, Postiz, Post Bridge, Typefully and Publer are in this group.
If you're building a SaaS where your users connect their accounts, you want the first kind. If you're automating your own posting, a scripted launch or an AI agent, the second is simpler and much cheaper.
At a glance
| Built for | Starting price | Pricing model | MCP server | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zernio (formerly Late) | Platforms | 2 accounts free | Per connected account | Yes, OAuth or API key |
| Ayrshare | Platforms | $149/month | Per profile | Yes, API key |
| Postbase | Your own accounts | $29/month | Flat per plan | Yes, OAuth or API key |
| Postiz | Your own accounts | $29/month | Flat per plan | Yes |
| Buffer | Your own accounts | Free plan includes API | Per channel | Yes, OAuth |
| Post Bridge | Your own accounts | $39/month | Flat tiers | Yes, OAuth |
| Typefully | Your own accounts (text) | Free plan includes API | Per account set | Yes, OAuth |
| Publer | Your own accounts | Business plan | Per account | Business plans only |
Platform APIs
Zernio (formerly Late)
Late rebranded as Zernio in 2026. The API, keys and pricing carried over; the SDK moved from @getlatedev to @zernio. It covers 17 networks, including Reddit, Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram and Slack, and goes well beyond posting: DMs, comments and ads. Its hosted MCP server has more than 280 tools and supports OAuth.
- Price: first 2 connected accounts free, then $6 per account (3–10), $3 (11–100) and $1 (101+) per month.
- Watch out for: no Mastodon. It's developer-first, not a calendar for marketers.
Ayrshare
Ayrshare is the established platform API, with multi-tenant profiles for white-labelling and 14 networks, including WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat. Its MCP server has 27 tools and authenticates with your API key.
- Price: from $149/month (1 profile), up to $599/month for 30 profiles.
- Watch out for: since March 2026, posting to X needs your own X API credentials. No Mastodon.
Scheduler APIs
Postbase
That's us, so weigh this one accordingly. Postbase has a small REST API (list channels, create posts and threads, list and cancel scheduled posts) and a hosted MCP server that Claude, Claude Code, Cursor and others sign in to with OAuth. Everything your code creates shows up on the Postbase calendar, where a person can check it.
curl https://www.postbase.so/api/v1/posts \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $POSTBASE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"body": "Shipped!", "channel_ids": ["..."], "scheduled_at": "2026-10-01T09:00:00Z"}'
- Price: $29/month for 5 channels; the API and MCP server are on every plan.
- Watch out for: the API and MCP server post text and threads today; media is added in the composer. Networks today are X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok and YouTube.
Postiz
Open source with 30+ networks, and an API, CLI and MCP server on every plan. The strongest pick if you want both broad coverage and the option to self-host.
- Price: $29/month for 5 channels, up to $99/month for 100.
Buffer
Buffer includes its API on every plan, including Free (one key, 3,000 requests a month), with more keys and requests on Team. Its remote MCP server signs in with OAuth.
- Price: free plan, then $5 per channel per month.
Post Bridge
Post Bridge bundles its REST API, CLI and MCP server into its current plans, and focuses on high-volume posting, including bulk video.
- Price: $39/month for 15 accounts.
Typefully
Typefully's API v2 and MCP server are on every plan, including Free. It's text networks only: X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon.
Publer
Publer's API and MCP server are only on its Business and Enterprise plans.
How to choose
- Your users connect their own accounts (SaaS): Zernio or Ayrshare.
- Automating your own posting, cheaply: Buffer's free API for a couple of channels; Postbase or Postiz at a flat price beyond that.
- An AI agent that posts, with a human checking: any scheduler with an MCP server and a calendar. See the best MCP servers for social media.
- Text only, threads first: Typefully.
- One or two easy networks: go direct to the network's API.
Whichever you pick, build a retry that can't post twice. Save each post's id as it goes out, and treat a network error after a successful create as "check before retrying", not "try again".
Postbase