The Peril of X/Twitter's Pricing: Why Later's Absence and Metricool's Add-on Shape 2026's Creator Tools

The social media landscape in 2026 continues to evolve at a relentless pace, and one of the most significant shifts we're seeing revolves around X/Twitter's integration, or rather, the lack thereof, in popular scheduling tools. This isn't just about a single platform; it's about how platform policies and API costs are forcing providers to rethink their pricing structures, often to the detriment of creators.

The median entry price for AI social media tools stands at £29 a month on monthly billing, with entry plans stretching from £18 to £97 for 37 tools with verified prices postdom.com. However, these median figures often mask significant complexities when it comes to specific platform support, particularly for a powerhouse like X/Twitter.

Later's X/Twitter Blackout and the 'Per Social Set' Model

Later, a prominent player in the social media scheduling space, has embraced a 'per social set' model. Their Starter plan, at approximately £18.75 per month when billed annually, provides one 'social set' that bundles a single profile for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Snapchat shows.farm. On the surface, this offers a broad suite of platforms for a fixed price.

However, a critical omission continues to plague Later as of October 2026: its complete lack of support for X/Twitter shows.farm. Later dropped X/Twitter support in August 2025 due to high API costs, and it remains unsupported today shows.farm. For many B2B brands, journalists, and content creators who rely on X for real-time engagement and news dissemination, this absence is a substantial deal-breaker. Paying £18.75 for a set of channels, only to find a crucial platform missing, highlights the limitations of the 'per social set' approach when a core channel isn't included.

Metricool's 'Per-Brand' Model and the X/Twitter Surcharge

Metricool, on the other hand, operates on a 'per-brand' model, which initially seems advantageous. Their free plan allows one connected brand across multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and even Google Ads shows.farm. Paid plans for Metricool begin at around €20 a month for five brands shows.farm. This model appeals to those managing a single entity across various channels.

However, a significant caveat emerges in 2026: adding X/Twitter is an extra €10 per account per month shows.farm. This transforms Metricool's seemingly straightforward 'per-brand' advantage into an unexpected 'per-account' cost for X/Twitter users, eroding some of its initial appeal. For brands heavily reliant on X/Twitter, this additional charge can quickly add up, making the overall cost less predictable than it first appears.

Buffer's Per-Channel Approach

To round out the picture, Buffer continues with a 'per-channel' pricing model. Their free plan is quite generous, offering three channels with 10 queued posts each, and includes their AI Assistant with a weekly suggestion limit shows.farm. Paid plans begin at approximately £5 per channel per month when billed annually for their Essentials tier shows.farm. While simple, the cost scales directly with each additional channel, and for a creator managing a comprehensive social presence, this can easily exceed the £29 median for AI social media tools postdom.com.

A Better Path for Solo Creators

These pricing complexities highlight a clear gap in the market for solo creators focused on specific, high-impact platforms like TikTok and YouTube. While the broader market grapples with X/Twitter's API costs and various pricing models, a straightforward approach is often more predictable and cost-effective. ShowsFarm offers a clear Pro plan at £11 per month or £99 per year, regardless of channel count shows.farm. This includes unlimited AI slideshow generation, full queue management, and direct scheduling and publishing to TikTok and YouTube. For creators specialising in these visually-driven platforms, avoiding the convoluted pricing structures and hidden surcharges of other tools makes ShowsFarm an exceptionally appealing solution.