Planable vs Metricool: Client Sign-Off or the Monthly Report

The short answer: you are right that both tools can hold a post until a client says yes, but they price that gate very differently: six clients on Planable Pro cost 6 x $59 = $354 a month on monthly billing, while Metricool puts its approval system on Advanced at $67 a month for up to 15 brands (checked on 26 October 2026 on the Planable and Metricool pricing pages). Pay Planable's rate when the review itself is the work: comments and suggested edits on the post, drafts hidden from the client, newsletters and ads in the same review. Take Metricool when the posts are rarely argued over and the deliverable is a monthly report with the ad accounts in it.

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Planable changes where the conversation with a client happens. Each client gets a private workspace, the post appears as the network will show it, and the discussion sits in its margin instead of an email thread. Metricool treats approval as one step in a pipeline whose end product is the report: draft, send for review, publish, measure, with paid and organic numbers in one brand.

Before you price either:

1. Multiply clients by the workspace fee. Planable bills each workspace, and recommends one per client. For example, four clients on Pro billed yearly cost 4 x $49 = $196 a month, and the Analytics add-on adds 4 x $12 = $48, at the yearly rates on its pricing page. Metricool's $67 Advanced tier covers the same four with room for eleven more (Metricool pricing).
2. Check last month's volume per client against the caps. Planable Pro allows 150 posts and 10 social pages per workspace a month, Basic 60 posts and 4 pages, per its pricing file. Metricool's paid plans have no monthly cap below its fair use review.
3. Count the rounds, not only the days. For the slowest client, count how many versions the last ten posts went through before the yes. If it is one, a simple gate is enough. If it is four, the margin comments are what you are buying.

Sign-off, detail by detail

Three questions that settle it

Does the client need a login?

In Planable, yes. Its client approval guide invites the client with the Client membership type and Approver permission, then shares a custom view of posts not yet approved; a public link lets someone outside read and comment but not approve. In Metricool, no. Its approval guide adds a reviewer by email address, groups that reviewer's posts in a portal, and lets you choose the portal's language. A client who refuses another login is easier to serve in Metricool.

What does the fee count?

Planable counts clients, and every new client is a new line on the bill. Metricool counts brands in bands of 15, 25 and 50 on Advanced, so the tenth client costs nothing extra. The trade is that Planable's users are unlimited on Basic too, while Metricool's team members arrive only with Advanced.

Who reads the report?

If the client's monthly question is whether last month's ads paid off, Metricool already holds the ad accounts beside the posts. Planable's Analytics add-on covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Google Business pages and up to 5 competitors, per its pricing file, and lists no ad accounts.

Clients you sign off for, priced

Planable Pro at $59 a month monthly or $49 billed yearly, against Metricool Advanced, checked on 26 October 2026 on the Planable and Metricool pricing pages. Sums are mine; add-ons excluded.

Planable's add-ons are per workspace: Analytics $14, Social inbox $9 and Social listening $99 a month on monthly billing. Metricool's Advanced tier costs $53 a month billed annually for 15 brands, and X adds $10 per connected account (Planable pricing file, Metricool pricing).

An AI step that ends with the client

Metricool's MCP server works on every plan, and its plan requirements page lists creating posts for review and sending them for review among its planner tools. So an assistant can draft next week's three posts for one brand from your brief and send them to the client's email for review. The person's check is built in: the client reads each post in the portal, a rejection always blocks publication, and an edit after sending resets the review. The review itself still needs Advanced.

Planable's MCP guide points the other way: it calls watching approval status and reading comments one of the most popular uses, and suggests starting with read-only requests. A morning prompt that lists every post still unapproved across workspaces, with the client's last comment on each, gives the account manager a chase list; the replies to the client stay human.

Test the gate before paying for it

The free step needs no tool. Send one client next week's posts in a shared document, ask for a yes or a change on each, and count the rounds. That number tells you which of the two you need.

Then trial with real work. Planable's free start is 50 posts in total, with no card and no time limit, but the approval types on it are None and Optional, per the pricing file. Because that free start leaves out Required approval, the gate an agency is buying can only be tested once a $59 workspace is paid for, so plan the trial around feedback, not enforcement. Metricool's free plan carries no approvals at all, so judge its report there and its gate after upgrading.

Choose Planable if

• Your job is getting a client's yes on every post, with comments and suggested edits on the post itself.
• Drafts must stay hidden from the client until your team is ready, and a post must lock once approved.
• Newsletters, blog posts or ads go through the same review as social.

Choose Metricool if

• Your job is the monthly report per client, ads included, and approval is one step before it.
• Clients approve from an email link and will not take another login.

How to Use Planable runs one month of client approvals end to end.

FAQ

Can a client approve in Planable without an account?

No. Public links let people view posts and leave feedback without logging in, but approval needs a Client member with Approver permission, per Planable's client approval guide.

Does Metricool's approval system work on Starter?

No. Its approval guide says the feature is on the Advanced and Custom plans, and in the mobile app.

What happens if I edit a Metricool post after sending it for review?

You send it again, and the previous review is reset. Planable's Lock Content after Approval setting works the other way: it blocks edits once a post is approved.