Social Media and AI Messaging Tools Compared (2026): Prices for Small Businesses
Small businesses usually need two things from social media software: posts that go out on time, and customer messages that get answered quickly. Most tools do one of the two. We compared Ozvelo with seven popular schedulers and six AI messaging tools, using their public prices on 24 October 2026.
All prices are per month. “Billed yearly” is the monthly equivalent when you pay for a year upfront. Dollar prices also show an approximate euro figure.
- Cheapest for scheduling only: Publer and Buffer, followed by Metricool and Later.
- None of the seven schedulers includes an AI that answers customers on its own on its regular plans; Hootsuite offers one on Enterprise only.
- AI messaging tools answer messages but don't publish posts. Their cheapest plans with AI run from $29 to €299 a month billed yearly, some with a fee per AI conversation on top.
- Ozvelo does both from €10 a month billed yearly. A typical business with three accounts pays €20, with 300 AI replies included.
Social media schedulers
Monthly price for three accounts and one person, billed yearly, and how each tool handles customer messages.
| Tool | 3 accounts, billed yearly | AI answers customer messages on its own | WhatsApp messages | Website chat and contact form | Booking and appointments | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozvelo | €20Essentials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Buffer | $15Essentials × 3 · ≈ €13 | NoAI suggests comment replies; a person sends them | No | No | No | Yes3 channels, 10 queued posts per channel |
| Hootsuite | $99Standard · ≈ €88 | PartlyOnly on Enterprise, price on request | YesAll plans; needs a verified Meta business account | PartlyAdvanced and Enterprise only | No | No14-day trial |
| Later | $18.75Starter · ≈ €17One profile per network; no Google Business Profile | NoReplies are manual | No | No | No | PartlyDescribed in the help centre, not on the pricing page; 14-day trial |
| Sprout Social | $79Essentials · ≈ €71No inbox; the inbox starts at Standard ($199 per seat, yearly) | NoRule-based chatbots on Advanced; AI rewrites human replies | YesFrom Standard; the number stops working in the WhatsApp app | No | No | No30-day trial |
| Metricool | €16Starter5 brands | NoNo automatic replies; Flows send your own fixed texts | No | No | No | Yes1 brand, 20 posts a month |
| SocialPilot | $25.50Essentials · ≈ €23No inbox on this plan | PartlyFrom Standard: AI replies to Messenger and Instagram DMs on keyword triggers; no knowledge base | No | No | No | No14-day trial |
| Publer | $9.60Professional · ≈ €9 | No | No | No | No | Yes3 accounts |
Cheapest plan that covers publishing to three accounts. The cheapest plans of Sprout Social and SocialPilot have no inbox.
AI customer messaging tools
Cheapest plan with AI replies that covers three accounts, billed yearly, and how the AI is charged.
| Tool | Cheapest plan with AI | How AI is charged | Schedule and publish social posts | Booking and appointments | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozvelo | €20Essentials | Answers on its own from your Q&A, documents and products; 300–1,000 replies a month included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ManyChat | $29Pro · ≈ €26 | Plans sized by active contacts a month; AI is included from Pro (new pricing since March 2026). | No | No | Yes |
| Tidio | €56.67Starter + Lyro 5050 AI conversations a month | Plans sized by conversations handled by people; the Lyro AI agent is a separate add-on priced per AI conversation. | No | No | Yes |
| respond.io | $159Growth · ≈ €142 | Per plan with included users and monthly active contacts; AI agents from Growth. | No | No | No |
| Trengo | €299Boost+ €0.25–0.30 per AI conversation | Per plan with included users and conversations; each AI conversation costs extra. | No | No | No |
| WATI | €119Pro250 AI replies a month | WhatsApp-first plans; AI agent replies included from Pro, more through the Astra add-on. | No | No | No |
| Intercom | $29Essential · ≈ €26+ $0.99 per AI conversation | Per seat, plus $0.99 for each conversation the Fin AI agent handles (“outcome”). | No | No | No |
None of these tools schedules or publishes social media posts.
What it costs to do both jobs
If you pair a scheduler with an AI messaging tool, you pay twice. Buffer for three channels ($15) plus ManyChat Pro ($29) comes to about $44 a month (≈ €39). Metricool Starter (€16) plus Tidio Starter with 50 Lyro conversations (€56.67) comes to about €73. Ozvelo Essentials with three accounts is €20 a month billed yearly and includes 300 AI replies.
Where others are stronger
Large teams that need social listening, advanced reporting or review management across many sites are better served by Hootsuite or Sprout Social. Agencies publishing for many brands get more per euro from Metricool or Publer. Marketing teams building complex Instagram funnels may prefer ManyChat's flow builder, and e-commerce support teams Tidio's live chat.
Why Ozvelo for a small business
Ozvelo's assistant answers customers on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, email and your website in their language, using only your own information, and hands anything it doesn't know to your team. The same dashboard plans and publishes posts to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and WordPress.
Website chat and a contact form are included in every plan, booking is part of Team, and a voice reception screen answers guests aloud. Prices are in euros, the free plan has no time limit, and the interface is available in English, Turkish, Czech, German and Polish.
Detailed comparisons
- Ozvelo vs Buffer
- Ozvelo vs Hootsuite
- Ozvelo vs Later
- Ozvelo vs Sprout Social
- Ozvelo vs Metricool
- Ozvelo vs ManyChat
- Ozvelo vs Tidio
Our take
If you only schedule posts, a low-cost scheduler is enough. If customers message you every day, a tool that answers them is where the time savings are, and Ozvelo is the most affordable way we found to get both in one subscription.
Sources and notes
- Buffer: pricing
- Buffer: help centre
- Hootsuite: plans
- Hootsuite: AI chatbot
- Hootsuite: social inbox
- Later: pricing
- Later: help centre
- Sprout Social: pricing
- Sprout Social: help centre
- Metricool: pricing
- Metricool: help centre
- ManyChat: pricing
- ManyChat: Pro plan (help centre)
- ManyChat: WhatsApp pricing guide
- Tidio: pricing
- Tidio: WhatsApp integration (help centre)
- SocialPilot: plans
- Publer: plans
- respond.io: pricing
- Trengo: prices
- Trengo: AI billing
- WATI: pricing
- Intercom: pricing
- Intercom: Fin pricing
- Ozvelo: pricing
Prices and features were checked on the vendors' public pages on 24 October 2026. Prices change; check the vendor's site before you buy. Prices exclude VAT unless the vendor shows them otherwise.
Dollar prices are converted to euros only for orientation, at the European Central Bank reference rate of 23 October 2026 (1 € = 1.1193 $).
Buffer, Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social, Metricool, ManyChat, Tidio, SocialPilot, Publer, respond.io, Trengo, WATI, Intercom is a trademark of its respective owner. Ozvelo is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Buffer, Hootsuite, Later, Sprout Social, Metricool, ManyChat, Tidio, SocialPilot, Publer, respond.io, Trengo, WATI, Intercom. This comparison is based only on publicly available information; if anything here is out of date, write to us and we will correct it.