Buffer vs Photolio
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
Photolio
This app organizes your contacts using photos, allowing you to quickly find people by recognizing their faces. It supports tagging multiple individuals in a single image and grouping contacts for various relationships. Enjoy seamless access to communication and social apps with a photo-first approach.
- Photo-first contacts
- Tag multiple people in photos
- Group contacts
- Multiple profiles
- One-tap communication access
- Light & Dark Mode
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Photolio is a new kind of contact manager — built around people, photos, and connections. Traditional contacts are mostly names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Photolio gives you a more visual and personal way to organize the people in your life — family, friends, classmates, teammates, coworkers, communities, and people you just met. PEOPLE, NOT JUST CONTACT RECORDS Keep the practical details you expect from contacts — phone numbers, email addresses, social profiles, websites, and more — while organizing them around the people they belong to. Photolio helps you see the person behind the contact, not just another name in an address book. PHOTOS GIVE CONTACTS CONTEXT Your contacts know how to reach someone. Your photos remember the moments you shared. Photolio brings those two things together. Photos add context to the people in your life — helping you remember not only who someone is, but the groups, relationships, and moments that connect you. TURN GROUP PHOTOS INTO CONTACTS A group photo can be more than a memory. Tag people directly in a photo and turn it into a visual group contact. Tap anyone in the photo to see who they are, open their contact or profile, and find the ways you can reach them. Use it for family photos, trips with friends, school clubs, teams, events, parties, reunions, work groups, and everyday moments. ONE PERSON, MANY WAYS TO CONNECT Keep phone numbers, email addresses, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, websites, and other ways to connect together. Tap a contact method to call, message, email, visit a website, or open a social profile directly in the corresponding app. Instead of remembering which platform someone is on, start with the person and choose how you want to connect. YOUR IDENTITY, YOUR PROFILES Photolio isn’t only about the contacts you save. You can create and share your own profiles, too. Create profiles for different parts of your life and choose what you want to share. Your personal, professional, school, or other profiles can represent different sides of you without forcing everything into one identity. Share your profile with a public link or QR code, making it easy for people to discover who you are and the ways you’ve chosen to connect. FOLLOW PEOPLE, NOT PLATFORMS When someone has a Photolio profile, you can follow the person — not just one username on one platform. Following connects you to their Photolio identity. When they update the contact information or social profiles they choose to share, you can continue to access their latest shared information in Photolio. No more relying on an old phone number, email address, or social handle saved years ago. The connection stays with the person, while they remain in control of what they share. FOR PEOPLE YOU ALREADY KNOW — AND PEOPLE YOU JUST MET Photolio isn’t only for meeting new people. Use it as a visual contact manager for your family, closest friends, classmates, teams, coworkers, communities, and everyone else who matters to you. And when you meet someone new, Photolio gives you another way to exchange profiles, remember the moment, and stay connected afterward. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR MOMENTS. YOUR CONNECTIONS. Contacts tell you how to reach someone. Photos remind you of the moments you shared. Photolio brings them together.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Buffer at 35K against Photolio's 1. Buffer also leads on chart position (#153 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). Photolio's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Photolio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Photolio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buffer has 35K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Buffer ships an update every 5 days, Photolio weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Buffer | Photolio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (35K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 35K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #153 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 148 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buffer, Inc. | 军 王 |
Customer experience
Buffer
Photolio
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
Photolio
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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 Month$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 for 1 Month$99.991 Month
- Pro for 1 Year$144.991 Year
Photolio
- Photolio Pro - Monthly$3.991 Month
- Photolio Pro - Annual$34.991 Year









