The open-source Loomly alternative
GrowSocialelion is an open-source alternative to Loomly: AGPL-3.0, free to self-host, with an AI agent that drafts, schedules and engages behind an approval gate you set per action. Loomly is closed-source SaaS priced by connected accounts, $65 monthly for 12, then $332 for 60. Its entry plan is unusually complete, with approvals and analytics included.
GrowSocialelion
AGPL-3.0 · open source
An AI agent that drafts, schedules and engages across 8 networks today, every action behind an approval gate you set. The whole app is free to self-host, and 500+ free tools live now: character counters with sourced limits, generators, and more
Loomly
closed source
Loomly is a closed-source SaaS social media calendar for teams, publishing to 9 networks with approval workflows and analytics on every plan, priced by how many social accounts you connect.
What each side charges
GrowSocialelion
Self-hosted
$0
The full app under AGPL-3.0. Networks, the agent, approvals and the inbox are not billing units.
Hosted
Launching
No hosted pricing exists yet, so none is claimed here.
Loomly
Starter
$65/mo
billed monthly. $49/mo billed annually; 12 social accounts, 3 users
Beyond
$332/mo
billed monthly. $249/mo billed annually; 60 social accounts, unlimited users
Read on Loomly's pricing page on 2026-08-27.
Where each one publishes
GrowSocialelion
Publishing today
- X
- Threads
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Mastodon
- Pixelfed
- Bluesky
- Discord
- Slack
- Telegram
- Nostr
- Dribbble
- Lemmy
- Tumblr
- Misskey
- Twitch
- Kick
- LINE
- Wykop
- Plurk
- Dailymotion
- PeerTube
- Dev.to
- Qiita
- TabNews
- Hatena Blog
- Hashnode
- Ghost
- WordPress
In the catalog
- Farcaster
- VK
- Snapchat
- Naver Cafe
- Zalo Official Account
- Odnoklassniki
- RedNote
- Behance
- Product Hunt
- daily.dev
- Medium
- Substack
- Quora
Loomly
8 of 31 in the comparison set
- Facebook Pages
- Google My Business
- Threads
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Bluesky
- Dev.to
- Discord
- Dribbble
- Farcaster
- Hashnode
- Kick
- Lemmy
- Listmonk
- Mastodon
- Medium
- MeWe
- Moltbook
- Nostr
- Skool
- Slack
- Telegram
- Twitch
- VK
- Whop
- WordPress
- X
Their own count: 9 networks per their own list, read 2026-08-27.
Loomly vs GrowSocialelion, on the record
| Loomly | GrowSocialelion | |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals | Approval workflows on every plan; custom roles and workflows on Beyond | Every agent action is approval-gated: human, semi-auto or autopilot, per action type, in the free app |
| AI content | AI captions and post generation, metered monthly by plan | The agent drafts per network, in your voice, with no monthly AI meter in the self-hosted app |
| Users | 3 on Starter; unlimited starts at $332/mo | Self-hosted: seats are not billed |
| Cost at 13+ accounts | $332/mo (Beyond), since Starter stops at 12 | Self-hosted: $0, accounts are not billed |
| Fediverse | Not listed on its integrations page | Mastodon, Bluesky and Nostr publish today |
We build GrowSocialelion, so read the table knowing that. Every Loomly fact on this page comes from Loomly's own pages, checked 2026-08-27. If a price changed since, their page wins.
Both sides of the ledger
What Loomly does well
Starter is unusually complete: approval workflows, advanced analytics, AI captions and post generation, and 12 social accounts all sit on the entry plan rather than an upsell tier. (source, 2026-08-27)
Deep format support on the big networks: Instagram Reels, Stories and carousels, YouTube videos and Shorts, TikTok videos scheduled in advance, Threads text, image, video and carousel posts. (source, 2026-08-27)
The workflow plugs into the rest of the stack: Zapier, Slack and Microsoft Teams for notifications, plus Canva, Google Drive, Giphy and Unsplash for assets. (source, 2026-08-27)
Where Loomly stops
The cliff between plans is severe. Starter is $65 a month for 12 accounts and 3 users; the next step is Beyond at $332 a month ($249 annual). There is nothing in between. (source, 2026-08-27)
Starter caps the team at 3 users. A fourth person means the $332 plan, whatever your account count. (source, 2026-08-27)
AI usage is metered per month on both plans, and custom roles, custom workflows and custom branding are Beyond-only. (source, 2026-08-27)
Closed source and SaaS only, with no self-host option. Snapchat is not fully automated either: it publishes through push notifications to your phone. (source, 2026-08-27)
Who should stay with Loomly
If your team approves each other's drafts, or clients sign off on your calendar, stay with Loomly. Its approval workflow is built for human reviewers passing posts around. Our approval gate supervises the AI agent's own actions; it does not replace a client review round.
If you live on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Facebook, Loomly publishes to them today with strong format coverage, and those networks are still planned in our catalog.
If you have at most 12 accounts, 3 people and no server, Starter at $49 to $65 a month is a fair hosted deal, and our hosted version has not launched.
Loomly deserves credit for what it puts on the entry plan. Approval workflows, advanced analytics and AI post generation all ship on Starter, where most rivals hold approvals hostage on a team tier. The formats are deep too: Reels, Stories, Shorts and carousels all schedule natively. The problem is the shape of the pricing. Twelve accounts and three users fit in $65 a month; the thirteenth account, or the fourth teammate, costs $332. That cliff is the reason this page exists.
GrowSocialelion has no cliff because it has no meter. The AGPL app is free to run, connects accounts without counting them, and bills no seats. The AI goes further than caption generation: an agent researches, drafts per network, schedules and engages, and every one of those actions passes an approval gate you configure per action type. Loomly's gate is people approving people's drafts; ours is you approving an agent's work.
Asked before switching
How much does Loomly cost compared to GrowSocialelion?
As of 2026-08-27, Loomly's Starter is $65 per month billed monthly or $49 billed annually, for 12 social accounts and 3 users. Beyond is $332 monthly or $249 annually, for 60 accounts and unlimited users. GrowSocialelion is free to self-host under the AGPL with no account or seat billing; its hosted version is pre-launch.
Is Loomly open source?
No. Loomly is closed-source SaaS with no self-hosting option. GrowSocialelion's entire app is AGPL-3.0 on GitHub.
Does Loomly include approval workflows on its cheapest plan?
Yes, Starter includes approval workflows, which is better than most competitors. Custom roles and custom workflows require Beyond at $249 to $332 per month. In GrowSocialelion, the approval gate is the core of the free app: every agent action is set to human approval, semi-auto or autopilot, per action type.
Which networks does each support?
Loomly's integrations page lists 9 networks: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile and Snapchat, the last via push notifications. GrowSocialelion publishes to 8 today (X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram, Tumblr, Nostr, Lemmy, DEV) with 30 more researched in the catalog.
Other alternatives
Try the part that is already free
The hosted app is still pre-launch, so we will not pretend there is a signup. What runs today: the open-source app on your own server, and 500+ free tools that need no account, including character counters whose every limit carries a source, something Loomly's tools do not offer.