Head to head

GrowSocialelion vs Publer

GrowSocialelion is an open-source alternative to Publer: AGPL-3.0, free to self-host, no per-account or per-member billing, and X publishing included through your own credentials. Publer is closed SaaS priced per account plus per member, keeps X off its free plan, and reserves its API for Business customers. Publer's approval flows and bulk tools remain its strong cards.

GrowSocialelion

GrowSocialelion is an open-source AI social media manager: the agent drafts, schedules and engages behind per-action approval gates, free to self-host under the AGPL-3.0.

8 channels · plans: Self-hosted, Hosted

Publer

Publer is a paid SaaS social media manager that schedules and bulk-publishes to 13 networks, priced per social account plus per team member, with an API reserved for its Business tier.

13 channels · plans: Free, Professional, Business, Enterprise

Pricing and plans

What each side charges

GrowSocialelion

Self-hosted$0

HostedLaunching

Publer

Free$0/mo

Professional$5/mo

Business$10/mo

EnterpriseCustom/mo

Channels

Where each one publishes

GrowSocialelion

Bluesky
Dev.to
Lemmy
Mastodon
Nostr
Telegram
Tumblr
X
Discord
Dribbble
Facebook Pages
Farcaster
Google My Business
Hashnode
Instagram
Kick
LinkedIn
Listmonk
Medium
MeWe
Moltbook
Pinterest
Reddit
Skool
Slack
Threads
TikTok
Twitch
VK
Whop
WordPress
YouTube

Publer

Bluesky
Facebook Pages
Google My Business
Instagram
LinkedIn
Mastodon
Pinterest
Telegram
Threads
TikTok
WordPress
X
YouTube
Dev.to
Discord
Dribbble
Farcaster
Hashnode
Kick
Lemmy
Listmonk
Medium
MeWe
Moltbook
Nostr
Reddit
Skool
Slack
Twitch
VK
Whop

We build GrowSocialelion, so read every table here knowing that. Channel support and plan prices were compiled from public listings and vendor pages on 2026-08-27; a tool's own site always wins over this page. GrowSocialelion's own column is generated from its live platform catalog, so it cannot claim a network the app does not publish to.

The verdict

Pick Publer if

If bulk scheduling and RSS automation are the center of your workflow, Publer does both today and we do neither yet.

If you manage clients who approve posts, Publer's client-approval levels are shipped and documented; our approval gate governs the agent, not external client reviewers.

If your networks are Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or WordPress, Publer publishes to them now; those sit in our planned catalog.

Pick GrowSocialelion if

You want the whole product open: an ai agent drafts, schedules and engages, and every action is approval-gated — human approval, semi-auto or autopilot, per action type. The app is AGPL-3.0 with no paid tier hiding features, and 500+ free tools live now: character counters with sourced limits, generators, and more

The switching guide lives at the Publer alternative page.

Questions

Asked before choosing

How is Publer priced?

As of 2026-08-27: free for 3 accounts without X, then Professional from $5 a month and Business from $10, plus $4 to $7 per extra account and $2 to $3 per extra member. GrowSocialelion has no per-account or per-member billing; the app is free to self-host.

Why doesn't Publer's free plan include X?

Their help center states X accounts are paid-only because of X's Enterprise API cost. GrowSocialelion connects X through your own developer app credentials instead, so X is available on the free self-hosted app.

Is Publer open source?

No. Publer is closed-source SaaS with no self-host option. GrowSocialelion's whole app is AGPL-3.0 on GitHub.

Does Publer have an API for automation?

Yes, but only for Business and Enterprise customers, limited to 100 requests per 2 minutes. GrowSocialelion ships MCP in the free app, and the agent's publish tool is the same one the UI uses, behind the same approval gate.

Keep comparing

Compare alternatives

GrowSocialelion: compare alternatives

Publer: compare alternatives

Ready to try the open one?

GrowSocialelion is AGPL-3.0, free to self-host, with an approval-gated AI agent and 500+ free tools that need no account at all.

Open the free tools Start free