Buffer vs Mastodon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Cross-platform posting
- Content scheduling
- Idea organization
- Performance analytics
- Calendar view
- Apple Watch app
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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
Mastodon
Connect with others on a decentralized social network. Share posts, images, and videos in chronological order without algorithms or ads. Discover new content and participate in conversations across the fediverse.
- Chronological feed
- No algorithms or ads
- Discover new users and topics
- Post with images, videos, and polls
- Create custom lists
- Filter content
- Cross-platform communication
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Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what’s happening. Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight. This is the official iOS app for Mastodon. In our app, you can: EXPLORE ■ Discover new writers, journalists, artists, photographers, scientists and more ■ See what’s happening in the world READ ■ Keep up with people you care about in a chronological feed with no interruptions ■ Follow hashtags to keep up with specific topics in real time CREATE ■ Post to your followers or the whole world, with polls, high quality images and videos ■ Participate in interesting conversations with other people CURATE ■ Create lists of people to never miss a post ■ Filter words or phrases to control what you do and don’t want to see AND MORE! ■ Login and switch between multiple accounts ■ No spoilers! You can put your posts behind content warnings A POWERFUL PUBLISHING PLATFORM You no longer have to try and appease an opaque algorithm that decides if your friends are going to see what you posted. If they follow you, they’ll see it. If you publish it to the open web, it’s accessible on the open web. You can safely share links to Mastodon in the knowledge that anyone will be able to read them without logging in. Between threads, polls, high quality images, videos, audio, and content warnings, Mastodon offers plenty of ways to express yourself in a way that suits you. A POWERFUL READING PLATFORM We don’t need to show you ads, so we don’t need to keep you in our app. Mastodon has the richest selection of 3rd party apps and integrations so you can choose the experience that fits you best. Thanks to the chronological home feed, it’s easy to tell when you’ve caught up on all updates and can move on to something else. No need to worry that a misclick will ruin your recommendations forever. We don’t guess what you want to see, we let you control it. PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS Mastodon is not like a traditional social media platform, but is built on a decentralized protocol. You can sign up on our official server, or choose a 3rd party to host your data and moderate your experience. Thanks to the common protocol, no matter what you choose, you can communicate seamlessly with people on other Mastodon servers. But there’s more: With just one account, you can communicate with people from other fediverse platforms. Not happy with your choice? You can always switch to a different Mastodon server while taking your followers with you. For advanced users, you can even host your data on your own infrastructure, since Mastodon is open-source. NON-PROFIT IN NATURE Mastodon is a registered non-profit in the US and Germany. We are not motivated by extracting monetary value from the platform, but by what’s best for the platform. AS FEATURED IN: TIME, Forbes, Wired, The Guardian, CNN, The Verge, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Gizmodo, PCMAG.com, and more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mastodon at none against Buffer's 12. Buffer's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Buffer sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Mastodon asks for nothing beyond the download.
Buffer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35K and 13K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Buffer's written reviews are positive against 48% of Mastodon's.
Buffer ships an update every 5 days, Mastodon monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Buffer | Mastodon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (35K ratings) — better | 4.5 (13K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.2% of reviews — better | 48.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 35K — better | 13K |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #148 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 154 MB | 110 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Buffer, Inc. | Mastodon GmbH |
Customer experience
Buffer
Mastodon
User reviews
Buffer
From 35K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Mastodon
From 13K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Friendly and welcoming community
- 🚀 Decentralized and free from corporate control
- 🔒 No data collection or ads
- 🤖 Good alternative to Twitter
- 💡 Ability to self-host servers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Confusing onboarding and server selection
- 📱 Limited functionality compared to web version
- 🔍 Difficulty finding and following people
- 🕰️ Slow or delayed notifications
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
Mastodon
Reported bugs
4 issues- Can't log in or create account
- Keyboard freezes during editing
- Inconsistent behavior when switching accounts
- Notifications not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Add local and federated timelines
- Improve search and discovery features
- Implement edit and delete post functionality
- Add support for animated GIFs
- Provide better accessibility options
In-app purchases
Buffer
- Essentials - 1 Channel$5.991 Month
- Essentials+Team: 1 Channel$11.991 Month
- Essentials - 2 Channels$11.991 Month
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- 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
Mastodon
No in-app purchases









