For most people, the best self-hosted social media management tool is Postiz: it's free under AGPL-3.0, covers around 30 networks, and doesn't hold any features back from the self-hosted edition. Pick Mixpost Pro if you want a polished app with approvals and unlimited workspaces for a one-time $299 license, or BrightBean Studio if you want a free social inbox and don't need X. Postbase is the better fit if you'd rather deploy to Vercel and Supabase than run Docker, and you want AI tools like Claude to post through a built-in MCP server, as long as its six networks cover you.
We make Postbase, so weigh what we say about it accordingly. Licenses, release dates and star counts come from each project's GitHub repo, and prices and features from their own sites, all checked on 28 October 2026. Star counts move quickly, so treat them as a snapshot.
The short answer
- Best overall, and the most networks: Postiz.
- A one-time license with team approvals: Mixpost Pro.
- Scheduling plus a social inbox, free: BrightBean Studio (no X).
- The fediverse, plus image and video editors: OpenPost.
- Serverless hosting (Vercel and Supabase) and AI agents: Postbase.
How do the self-hosted options compare?
| License | Networks | What you run | Latest release | Hosted option | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postiz | AGPL-3.0 | About 30 | Docker: Postgres, Redis, Temporal | v2.25.3, Oct 2026 | Postiz Cloud, from $29/month |
| Mixpost | MIT (Lite); Pro and Enterprise are commercial | 3 on Lite, 12 on Pro | Laravel app | 2.6.0 (Lite), Mar 2026 | Mixpost Cloud |
| BrightBean Studio | AGPL-3.0 | 11, no X | Docker: Django, Postgres | No tagged releases; active | Free hosted version |
| OpenPost | AGPL-3.0 | 16 | Docker, one container with SQLite by default | v7.31.1, Oct 2026 | OpenPost Hosted (waitlist) |
| Postbase | AGPL-3.0 | 6 | Next.js on Vercel or any Node host, plus Supabase | Updated Oct 2026 | Postbase Cloud, from $29/month |
What does self-hosting actually cost you?
You get the code to read and change, no lock-in, your data on your own servers, and no per-channel or per-seat fees.
You don't get free access to the networks. Every self-hosted tool here needs you to register your own developer app with each network (X, LinkedIn, Meta, TikTok, Google) and pass its review. Postiz's README warns that Meta, YouTube and TikTok approvals "can take weeks." X also charges for API use: Postbase's self-hosting docs put it at about $0.015 per post and $0.20 per post with a link, billed to your own X developer account.
That's the main reason many people who like open source still pay for a hosted edition: someone else handles app reviews, token refreshes and uptime, and you can still read the code and leave.
Which self-hosted tool is best for most people?
Postiz
Postiz is the biggest open-source scheduler by a distance, with about 40,000 GitHub stars and around 30 networks on its pricing page, including X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Mastodon. Its README says the cloud and self-hosted editions are "the same core Postiz product" and that it doesn't gate features or limit the license. Self-hosted, you get unlimited channels, posts and team members, plus the public API, webhooks, MCP server and CLI pointed at your own instance.
- What you run: Docker (or Coolify, Railway or any VPS), with Postgres, Redis, storage and Temporal. Its Docker Compose guide was tested on a VM with 2 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs.
- AI features: available with your own OpenAI (or other provider) keys.
- Hosted: $29/month for 5 channels, up to $99/month for 100 (pricing).
- Best for: almost anyone who wants the widest network coverage and is comfortable with Docker.
Which is best for agencies and teams?
Mixpost
Mixpost is a Laravel app with three editions. Lite is free and MIT-licensed, but only posts to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon, and its last release was in March 2026. Pro ($299 one-time) adds Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Pixelfed and Google Business Profile, plus unlimited workspaces and team members, an approval flow, an API, MCP and webhooks. Enterprise ($1,199 one-time) adds white-label branding and client billing. Pro and Enterprise include a year of updates, with optional renewal after that.
- License: MIT for Lite. Pro and Enterprise are commercial licenses, so they're self-hosted but not open source.
- Hosted: Mixpost Cloud is available too.
- Best for: agencies that want approvals and client workspaces and prefer a one-time payment to a subscription.
BrightBean Studio
BrightBean Studio is a newer Django project that pairs scheduling with a unified inbox for comments, mentions, DMs and reviews, plus analytics, approval stages and a client portal. It covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, Mastodon and DEV.to, but not X. Its README says every feature is available to every user, with "no paid tier."
- What you run: Docker Compose with Postgres 16+, or Heroku, Render or Railway.
- Hosted: a free hosted version.
- Best for: small teams and agencies that want an inbox and client approvals, and don't post to X.
Which is best for the fediverse?
OpenPost
OpenPost moves fast and supports 16 networks, including fediverse platforms most tools skip: Pixelfed, PeerTube, Lemmy and PieFed, alongside Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord, Pinterest and Telegram. It also has image and video editors, an inbox, workflows, and an API, SDK, CLI and MCP server.
- What you run: Docker Compose. The default is one container with SQLite and local media storage, the lightest setup here.
- Hosted: signups are on a waitlist while it finishes platform approvals.
- Best for: fediverse-heavy users, and anyone who wants editing tools in the same app.
Which is best if you want AI agents to post?
Postbase
That's us. Postbase is an AGPL-3.0 scheduler for X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok and YouTube, with Instagram, Facebook and Threads not available yet. It's a young project (the repo started in September 2026), so it has far fewer stars and contributors than Postiz.
What's different is how it runs. Postbase is a Next.js app backed by Supabase (Postgres and Auth), so you can deploy it to Vercel or any Node host instead of looking after Docker containers. From the installation docs, you need:
- Node.js 20+
- a Supabase project
- an object storage bucket for media (Cloudflare R2 or any S3-compatible bucket)
- OAuth apps for the networks you want to post to
Only the Supabase keys are required. Anything you don't configure, such as a network, billing or AI generation, is hidden in the app (configuration). The MCP server works over OAuth once you set your public URL, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI tools can sign in to your own instance and draft or schedule posts, with everything landing on a calendar you can check.
- Hosted: the same product on Postbase Cloud, from $29/month for 5 channels with a 7-day free trial (pricing).
- Watch out for: six networks, a much smaller community than Postiz, and self-hosted X posting is billed to your own X developer account.
- Best for: developers who already use Vercel and Supabase, and people who want an AI agent to post for them.
What about TryPost and Socioboard?
TryPost is a young AGPL-3.0 project (v2.0.0 in October 2026) with a hosted version at trypost.it. We didn't check its network list or prices, so look at its site before deciding.
Socioboard still turns up in older lists, but its last release was in 2019. We'd treat it as unmaintained.
Should you self-host or use a hosted edition?
Self-host if you:
- need your data on your own infrastructure
- are comfortable running a database, a queue and a web app, and keeping them updated
- can register a developer app with each network and wait for approvals
Use a hosted edition of any tool here if you'd rather spend the time posting. With an open-source tool you can still read the code, and move to your own servers later.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted social media management tool?
Postiz, for most people: it's free under AGPL-3.0, covers around 30 networks, and the self-hosted edition has the same features as its cloud. Mixpost Pro is the pick for a one-time license with approvals, BrightBean Studio for a free inbox without X, and Postbase for Vercel and Supabase hosting and AI agents.
Is there a free, open-source alternative to Buffer or Hootsuite?
Yes. Postiz, BrightBean Studio, OpenPost and Postbase are all AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host. Mixpost Lite is free under MIT but only posts to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon.
Is Mixpost open source?
Only Mixpost Lite, which is MIT-licensed. Pro ($299) and Enterprise ($1,199) are one-time commercial licenses that you self-host.
What do you need to self-host a social media scheduler?
A server or hosting platform, a database, storage for media, and your own developer app with each network you post to. Postiz, BrightBean Studio and OpenPost run on Docker; Postbase runs on Vercel or any Node host with Supabase. Meta, YouTube and TikTok app approvals can take weeks.
Is self-hosting cheaper than a hosted scheduler?
Usually, if you count only hosting. But you also pay in setup and upkeep time, and X charges your own developer account for API use (about $0.015 per post and $0.20 with a link, per Postbase's docs). Hosted editions of Postiz and Postbase start at $29/month.
Which self-hosted scheduler works with Claude and other AI tools?
Postiz, Mixpost Pro, OpenPost and Postbase all have an MCP server. Postbase's works over OAuth on your own instance once you set its public URL, so AI tools sign in without an API key.
Postbase