Comparison

Buffer vs Heartbeat Chat

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Buffer

Streamline your social media presence by planning, scheduling, and publishing content across multiple platforms from one app. Engage with your audience and track performance with insightful analytics. Ideal for creators looking to grow their online presence efficiently.

Highlights
  • Cross-platform posting
  • Content scheduling
  • Idea organization
  • Performance analytics
  • Calendar view
  • Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

Post to every social platform with a single app — simple, flexible, and powerful. Buffer helps creators stay consistent without the busywork. Plan and publish your posts automatically, engage with your audience, and keep track of what’s working, all from your phone. Whether you’re sharing your first TikTok, building an audience on LinkedIn, or running multiple accounts, Buffer gives you the tools to grow without feeling overwhelmed. What’s new in v15.0 • Fresh new design with Apple’s Liquid Glass system • Brand-new Apple Watch app (queues, goals, streaks, ideas) • Capture ideas instantly with the iOS Shortcut, Action Button, or on your wrist • New calendar day view across all channels WHY CREATORS LOVE BUFFER PLAN, SCHEDULE, AND PUBLISH • Share to Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, and more. • Schedule YouTube Shorts, TikToks, Instagram Reels, and Stories. • Cross-post content across platforms with a single tap KEEP YOUR IDEAS ORGANIZED • Save inspiration in a central content library • Use tags to keep ideas organized by theme or campaign • Move ideas straight to your schedule when ready SEE WHAT WORKS • Simple analytics and reports show your top-performing posts • Track growth, clicks, and engagement A CALENDAR BUILT FOR CREATORS • Get an at-a-glance view of your upcoming posts • Drill down from a monthly to weekly view NEED HELP? Our friendly team is here for you with world-class support via email and social. Email: hello@buffer.com Twitter: @buffer Facebook: http://facebook.com/bufferapp Instagram: @buffer Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bufferapp/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bufferapp Privacy Policy: https://buffer.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://buffer.com/legal/terms-of-use/year/2023

About

Heartbeat Chat

Build and manage your online communities with a versatile platform. Engage members through chat, voice, and video, and create a knowledge base for lasting discussions. Integrate with other tools to automate actions and track growth.

Highlights
  • Customizable channels for chat and posts
  • Voice rooms for real-time conversations
  • Presence indicators for a shared room feel
  • Knowledge base creation from discussions
  • Integration with Zoom, Google Calendar, Salesforce, etc.
  • Automated community match-ups and intros
  • Permission management and payment processing
Features
Read full description

Heartbeat is the home for all your online communities. Create a space where you and your community can have fun through chats, threads, voice, and video. Heartbeat works great for online schools, accelerators, incubators, paid communities, innovations hubs, support groups, and so much more! Whether its a massive, established community, or you're just getting started, Heartbeat makes it easy to build lasting, genuine relationships. LAUNCH AN INVITE-ONLY COMMUNITY SPACE: - Customize channels to use posts or chats and design a space just for you and your community to have deep discussions about how the world is changing or just to share the best restaurants in Atlanta. - Voice rooms help you take your conversations to the next level — jump into a voice room with 1 click - Presence indicators floating around the app show you where other people are, and make it feel like you're in the same room CREATE A LASTING LIBRARY OF KNOWLEDGE - Turn insightful posts into long-lasting knowledge base articles & grow your community off the great conversations that happen - Organize information vital to your community members & create a space they can always reference for the best information - Manage access through powerful permissioning tools native to Hearbeat SCALE YOUR COMMUNITY LIKE A BOSS - Use deep integrations with Zoom, Google Calendar, Salesforce, Hubspot, Airtable, and more to automate community actions & track deep analytics over time to see how your community is growing - Automate in-community match-ups and conversations through customizable, weekly Heartbeat intros - Create moderators, special access permissions, manage payments, oversee projects & more within your customizable community space

Screenshots

Buffer4 screens
Heartbeat Chat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Buffer at 4.7 against Heartbeat Chat's 3.9. Buffer also leads on ratings volume (34K vs 119) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). Heartbeat Chat's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Buffer sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Heartbeat Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Buffer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buffer has 34K ratings behind it against 119, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Buffer's written reviews are positive against 39% of Heartbeat Chat's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buffer ships an update weekly, Heartbeat Chat every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Buffer versus Heartbeat Chat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBufferHeartbeat Chat
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (34K ratings) — better3.9 (119 ratings)
Positive reviews54.6% of reviews — better39.1% of reviews
Number of ratings34K — better119
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#133 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size154 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBuffer, Inc.Heartbeat Chat, Inc

Customer experience

Buffer

All ratings34,422 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews573 reviews
Positive54.6%
Neutral10.1%
Negative35.3%

Heartbeat Chat

All ratings119 ratings
Positive67.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative26.9%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive39.1%
Neutral12.5%
Negative48.4%

User reviews

Buffer

From 34K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Easy to use
  • 🕰️ Convenient scheduling
  • 🔍 Helpful for social media management
  • 🤖 Automated posting
  • 📈 Improved engagement and growth

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Stability issues and bugs
  • 🔗 Unreliable platform integrations
  • 📸 Limited image/video handling capabilities
  • 🔒 Frustrating login/authentication problems
  • 💰 Expensive paid plans

Heartbeat Chat

From 119 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 🚀 Fast and streamlined experience
  • 💡 Great for community building and hosting
  • ✨ Elegant toggling between memberships
  • ✅ User-friendly features for admins

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy and buggy performance
  • 🐌 Slow loading times
  • ❌ Difficult login process for users
  • 📱 Poor iPad optimization
  • ⚠️ Invasion of privacy concerns

Bugs and requests

Buffer

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Drafts not registering in visual calendar
  • Inability to reorder scheduled posts
  • Inconsistent behavior between mobile and desktop versions
  • Automatic posting not working as expected
  • Issues with image/video quality and formatting

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for Twitter threads
  • Improve visual planning and calendar view
  • Integrate with more platforms like Slack and Discord
  • Allow more customization and control over posts
  • Provide better analytics and performance insights

Heartbeat Chat

Reported bugs

40 issues
  • Audio playback stops when phone locks
  • Users struggle with logging in
  • App is not optimized for iPad, especially in landscape view
  • Invasion of privacy concerns regarding photo access
  • Notifications are inconsistent and important messages are missed
Show 35 more
  • Auto-subscriptions and difficulty with cancellation
  • App performance is non-existent, leading to slow loading and unresponsiveness
  • Content overlaps
  • Tiny frame on iPad, displaying a mobile view
  • Forced photo upload during sign-up
  • Email already in use error after providing email
  • Courses are inaccessible
  • Slow response from support
  • App fails to update
  • Unable to access community
  • Unable to cancel subscription
  • Charged without consent
  • App not working on iPhone
  • App freezes frequently
  • White screen issues upon opening the app
  • App does not function correctly
  • Messages not sending when the send button is tapped
  • App doesn't work on tablets
  • Phantom notifications causing frustration
  • App crashes frequently
  • Jank and unstable performance
  • App shows it has posted but it never publishes
  • Notifications and Activity pages have major glitches and don't refresh
  • Unable to pull down the Activity page to refresh
  • App started messing up immediately, unable to access anything
  • App asks for information, then shows an error that it cannot find the channel
  • App loads but nothing is tappable or responsive
  • App is constantly freezing
  • App crashes after iOS update
  • App shows communication but refuses to show what it is
  • App shows a white screen and is unusable
  • App shows a white screen and is garbage
  • App shows it has posted but it never published the comment
  • Notifications are funky and make zero sense
  • App doesn't work correctly on iPhone

Requested features

17 requests
  • Allow audio to play while phone locks
  • Improve iPad optimization, especially in landscape view
  • Fix the app icon to not resemble a dating app
  • Allow users to change their RSVP to an event after confirming
  • Enable users to join public threads via the app
Show 12 more
  • Improve image embedding, especially on mobile
  • Reduce excessive white space
  • Fix notification logic
  • Improve image insertion functionality
  • Add permalinks to the app
  • Allow location changes within the app
  • Fix phantom notifications
  • Enable profile editing
  • Fix the login process for users
  • Make the app work on tablets
  • Improve backend setup on mobile
  • Allow deletion of communities on mobile

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Buffer

Subscriptions11
  • Essentials - 1 Channel$5.991 Month
  • Essentials+Team: 1 Channel$11.991 Month
  • Essentials - 2 Channels$11.991 Month
Show 8 more
  • Pro for 1 Month2 variants$14.991 Month
  • Essentials - 3 Channels$17.991 Month
  • Essentials - 4 Channels$23.991 Month
  • Essentials - 5 Channels$29.991 Month
  • Essentials - 6 Channels$35.991 Month
  • Small Business$99.991 Month
  • Small Business for 1 Month$99.991 Month
  • Pro for 1 Year$144.991 Year
None

Heartbeat Chat

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Buffer free?
Buffer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Heartbeat Chat free?
Heartbeat Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Buffer or Heartbeat Chat?
Buffer is rated higher. Buffer averages 4.7 out of 5 from 34K ratings, while Heartbeat Chat averages 3.9 from 119 ratings.
Do Buffer or Heartbeat Chat have ads?
Neither Buffer nor Heartbeat Chat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Buffer or Heartbeat Chat?
Buffer ships an update weekly, and Heartbeat Chat every 5 weeks. Most recently, Buffer was updated on September 26, 2026 and Heartbeat Chat on September 22, 2026.

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