Pallyy vs Buffer: Price per Client or per Channel

The short answer: an agency posting for 10 clients with three people pays Pallyy $99 a month on its Agency plan, which includes 10 client sets of up to 11 accounts each (Pallyy pricing, checked on 26 October 2026). The same 10 clients at three accounts each are 30 channels on Buffer Team, $195 a month (Buffer pricing). Buffer is the cheaper choice for one brand on a few channels, for teams that need Mastodon or Substack, and for anyone who wants every colleague in the tool at no cost per seat.

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Pallyy prices the client, not the account. Each client is one social set, whatever mix of networks it posts to, and adding one is a flat $10 a month. Buffer prices every connected account and drops the rate once you pass 10. For a client roster that is the whole difference, and it grows with each client who posts to four networks rather than two.

Do the client maths first:

1. Price your current roster both ways. Pallyy's own FAQ gives the small case: three clients on Pro cost $25 plus two extra sets at $10, so $45 a month (Pallyy pricing). For example, the same three clients on three channels each are 9 x $12 = $108 on Buffer Team, or 9 x $6 = $54 on Essentials with a single user (Buffer pricing).
2. Map each client's accounts onto a set. A Pallyy set holds up to 11 accounts across Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Google Business, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Bluesky (pricing file, network list). A client on Mastodon or a Substack newsletter stays on Buffer's side of the line.
3. Time the approval loop now. Note how many days pass between a draft and the client's yes on the last 10 posts. That is the figure a shared approval calendar has to shorten.

Feature for feature

Sources: Pallyy pricing page, Pallyy pricing file, Pallyy MCP docs, Buffer pricing, Buffer approval guide, Buffer Community guide.

The two things that decide it

Where the client signs off

Pallyy's shared calendar is a live calendar at a link you send, on a Pallyy subdomain or your own domain. Per calendar you switch on read-only, allow post approval, and schedule post on approval, so a client's yes schedules the draft in the same moment. The client needs no Pallyy account. Buffer's approval flow runs inside the account: a contributor with Needs Approval access requests it, and an owner or Full Access user approves (approval guide). Buffer Team seats cost nothing, so you can invite a client as a user, but then the client is working in your tool, with your other clients' channels kept out only by access levels.

What happens as the roster grows

Pallyy's bill moves in client-sized steps and Buffer's in account-sized ones. A client who adds TikTok and YouTube costs Pallyy nothing more and costs Buffer two more channels. Buffer pulls ahead when a client is small: one brand on two channels is $24 on Buffer Team against $25 on Pallyy Pro, with the team seats included.

A drafting agent that cannot publish

Pallyy runs a remote MCP server with 17 tools, the same capabilities as its REST API, and it is included on every plan (MCP docs). The consent screen is where the human check lives. Grant the assistant the Edit posts scope but not Publish posts, and limit the grant to one client's social set; everything outside the selection answers as if it did not exist, per the same page. Then ask it to draft next week's posts for that client from the brief. The drafts land in the calendar, the client approves them on the shared link, and the approval schedules them. Without offline access, a connection expires after an hour. Buffer's MCP server can save posts as drafts too, with the saveToDraft option, but its security notes say the connection covers the whole account, with no per-organization scoping, so an assistant connected for one client reaches every channel.

Prices, side by side

Checked on 26 October 2026 on the Pallyy pricing page, its pricing file and the Buffer pricing page. Monthly billing; yearly figures in brackets where printed. Clients are assumed to use three accounts each.

Buffer's 90-channel line is 10 x $12 + 15 x $4 + 25 x $3 + 40 x $2 = $335, using its volume rates.

Pallyy's FAQ says the 14-day trial of a paid plan asks for card details, charges nothing during the trial, and charges nothing if you cancel before it ends (Pallyy pricing). Taking the card up front means the trial becomes a paid Pallyy subscription unless you act; that is ordinary, and it is why the cancel date belongs in your calendar on day one. Buffer's FAQ says an account with no payment details drops to the free plan when its trial ends.

Choose Pallyy if

• Your job is running social for several clients, each on three or more networks, with a small team.
• Clients approve posts and should never need a login.
• You want an AI assistant drafting for one client at a time, unable to see the others or to publish.

Choose Buffer if

• Your job is one brand, or a few clients on one or two channels each.
• You need Mastodon or Substack in the same queue as everything else.
• Your team is large and changes often, so free seats matter more than flat client pricing.

FAQ

How much does Pallyy cost for five clients?

The Agency plan at $99 a month covers up to 10 clients with three seats; Pro with four extra sets would be $25 + 4 x $10 = $65 for one user, per the Pallyy pricing page. Its FAQ points agencies with five or more clients to Agency.

Can my client see only their own posts?

In Pallyy, yes: each shared calendar belongs to one client's set, and team access is also granted per set (Pallyy pricing FAQ). In Buffer, a client invited as a user sees the channels their access level allows (approval guide).

Does Pallyy's free plan include the MCP server and API?

Yes. Its MCP documentation says the server is included on every plan, the free plan included, alongside the API (Pallyy MCP docs). The free plan itself allows one set and 15 scheduled image posts a month.