Some links on this page may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. This never affects our rankings or opinions.
Buffer
From $0Best for: solo marketers and small businesses managing one or two social channels.
Buffer's AI Assistant (included even on the free plan) drafts captions and adjusts tone, plus an Ideas board for turning half-formed thoughts into publishable posts. Pricing is per channel, so costs climb as you add accounts.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Up to 3 channels |
| Essentials | $6/channel/mo | More channels, full AI assistant |
| Team | $12/channel/mo | Team collaboration |
Hootsuite
From $99/moBest for: teams and enterprises managing multiple accounts who need proper social listening.
Hootsuite goes beyond scheduling with genuine listening tools to track brand and competitor mentions, plus AI features for content generation and timing optimisation. A bigger investment than the others here.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99/user/mo | Core social management |
| Advanced | $249/user/mo | Listening, advanced AI features |
Canva
From $0Best for: marketers needing fast, on-brand visuals without a dedicated designer.
Already covered on our real estate tools page, but worth repeating here, Canva's Magic Studio (Magic Write, Magic Edit) is genuinely one of the highest value-per-dollar AI tools for any small marketing team.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Basic AI features |
| Pro | $15/mo | Full Magic Studio, brand kits |
SocialBee
Contact for pricingBest for: teams wanting the most capable AI content generation among the scheduling tools.
SocialBee's AI Copilot includes DALL-E 3 image generation and over 1,000 ready-made prompts, generally regarded as the most capable AI layer among the pure scheduling tools compared here.
Visit SocialBee →Before You Subscribe
What actually matters when comparing marketing tools
Scheduler vs true AI-first tool
Most "AI" social tools are schedulers with a caption-writing layer bolted on, not tools that generate content from scratch. Know which you're buying before comparing price.
Per-channel pricing adds up
Buffer and similar tools charge per connected channel. Do the maths at your actual channel count, not the advertised entry price.
Don't buy the whole stack at once
Start with the bottleneck you actually have, writing captions, designing graphics, or scheduling, rather than buying every AI marketing tool available.
Check Spam Act and Privacy Act compliance
Any tool handling customer contact lists or automated sends needs to fit within the Spam Act 2003 and Privacy Act 1988, confirm consent records and unsubscribe handling before scaling up automation.
Need a marketing strategy, not just tools?
Browse verified Australian AI marketing agencies who can build this out for you.
Browse AI Marketing Agencies