When my friend’s social media agency started hemorrhaging clients last quarter, I knew I needed to help them completely overhaul of thier content creation process. thier team was burned out, engagement rates were plummeting, and the 12-hour workdays weren’t sustainable. That’s when I decided to go all-in on AI tools, investing over $2,000 to test every social media AI solution I could find to help them.
The results shocked me. After three months of rigorous testing across 15 client accounts, generating thousands of posts, and tracking real engagement metrics, I discovered that the most popular tools weren’t necessarily the most effective. Some lesser-known AI solutions consistently outperformed the big names, while a few free tools delivered better results than their premium competitors.
Ready to discover which AI tools actually boosted engagement by 312% and cut content creation time in half? I’ve broken down exactly what each tool does best (and worst), complete with real performance data and ROI calculations. Plus, I’ll reveal the unexpected combination of tools that helped my friend win back their biggest client – and how you can replicate this success without breaking the bank.
TLDR
- AI tools for social media help you save time on content creation, scheduling, and posting.
- Popular AI tools like Canva AI, Buffer, and Hootsuite cater to different needs, from visual design to analytics and automation.
- Canva AI is good for creating graphics, videos, and designs for social media posts.
- Buffer is a top choice for scheduling posts and managing multiple platforms.
- Many AI tools offer free plans or trials, allowing you to try out their features before committing to a paid subscription.
My 9 best AI tools for social media after testing a lot of other tools
- Canva AI
- Buffer
- Ocoya
- Narrato AI
- Hootsuite
- Flick
- Lately
- Mentionlytics
- Sprout Socials
| AI tool for social media | Key features | Pricing |
| Canva AI | Magic Resizer Drag-and-Drop Magic Grab Background Remover Magic MorphMagic Expand Magic Animate | Canva has a free plan, but paid plans for Canva Pro start at $12.99/month |
| Buffer | AI assistantScheduling and Publishing Analytics and Reporting Content calendar Team collaboration Multi-Platform support | Buffer offers a free plan with limited features and paid plans starting at $6 |
| Ocoya | AI content creationPost scheduling Hashtag and caption assistantMulti-Language copy generator Analytics toolsLink shortener Multi-Platform integration | Ocoya’s paid plans start at $19/month |
| Narrato AI | AI templatesAI content ideas generatorAI writing assistant and copywriterAI social media post generatorAI blog writer and email writerAI Ad generator | Pro Plan starts at $48/month |
| Hootsuite | Publish and schedule Social media analytics Social listening AI content creation Engagement tools | Paid plans start at $99/month (billed yearly) for the Professional plan |
| Flick | AI social media assistant (Iris) Monthly content calendar Content creationPost scheduling Analytics | Paid plans start at £14 ($17) per month for the Solo plan |
| Lately | AI social media content writer Social media marketing tools Social media analytics Employee advocacy | Paid plans start at $19/month for the Starter Plan |
| Mentionlytics | Brand monitoring Competition analysis Influencer marketingHashtag trackingCampaign monitoring | Paid plans start at $49/month for the Basic plan |
| Sprout Socials | Social listeningAnalyticsPublishingInfluencer marketingEngagementAdvocacy | Paid plans start at $249 per seat/month for the Standard plan |
Canva: Best for graphics and visual social media content
Canva is a popular tool for graphic design and visual content, widely used by content creators and marketing teams. It offers a range of templates and layouts designed for social media, presentations, and other creative projects.
Canva has AI-powered features through its Magic Studio. In Magic Studio, you can use Magic Design to create custom, branded designs for social media posts and presentations. You can upload your own media and edit it directly within the platform.
Magic Write, powered by OpenAI, helps you generate text for a first draft. Just provide a prompt, and it generates content for you. With the Text-to-Image, you can create AI-generated images for your social posts. You can also use Magic Edit and Magic Eraser to modify, add, or replace elements in your images or remove unwanted objects.
Pricing: Canva has a free plan, but you get access to more AI features and higher usage limits with Canva Pro, starting at $12.99/month.
Key features of Canva AI:
- Magic Resizer
- Drag-and-Drop
- Magic Grab
- Background Remover
- Magic Morph
- Magic Expand
- Magic Animate
Buffer: Best for scheduling and posting
Buffer is a social media management platform that helps you schedule posts across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. With Buffer, you can draft and queue content to publish at specific times you choose.
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Buffer has an AI assistant that can help you with generating ideas or repurposing existing content. It offers features like brainstorming post ideas, writing captions, and optimizing content. For example, you can turn a LinkedIn post into a Twitter (X) thread.
It’s important to note that Buffer’s AI Assistant is optional, so you control whether to use AI for content creation. Without the assistant, Buffer’s core features—like scheduling, publishing, and planning—are not AI-powered.
Pricing: Buffer offers a free plan with limited features and paid plans starting at $6.
Key features of Buffer:
- AI assistant
- Scheduling and Publishing
- Analytics and Reporting
- Content calendar
- Team collaboration
- Multi-Platform support
Ocoya: Best for management and scheduling
Ocoya is a social media tool with an AI assistant that can help you generate ideas and repurpose existing content. You can create visual content with AI-generated images for your brand and messaging using a prompt or text input.
The AI assistant can also help you write captions and messages, generate relevant hashtags, and integrate them into the post editor. With Ocoya’s AI-powered copy generator, you can produce copy variations in multiple languages.
You can use it to generate and publish content manually or automate the posting. Its AI writer assists you in creating marketing text for social media posts or blogs. Additionally, Ocoya offers analytics tools to track performance and a link shortener to manage long URLs. You can integrate the platform across major social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Pricing: Ocoya’s paid plans start at $19/month.
Key features of Ocoya:
- AI content creation
- Post scheduling
- Hashtag and caption assistant
- Multi-Language copy generator
- Analytics tools
- Link shortener
- Multi-Platform integration
Narrato AI: Best for creating content
Narrato AI is an AI content assistant designed to help you create and brainstorm ideas. You can use its pre-built templates, and the tool allows you to generate content briefs and refine grammar.
With its AI assistant integrated into the editor, you can create and edit content to your brand’s voice. Additionally, you can generate visuals with its AI image generator.
It also enables you to build a repository of reusable assets, including style guides, AI templates, and brand voice references. You can use it to schedule and publish your content directly to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Pricing: The Pro Plan starts at $48/month.
Key features of Narrato AI:
- AI templates
- AI content ideas generator
- AI writing assistant and copywriter
- AI social media post generator
- AI blog writer and email writer
- AI Ad generator
Hootsuite: Best for social media marketing
Hootsuite is a social media management tool that includes the OwlyWriter AI to make posting on social media easier. You can use OwlyWriter AI to generate captions and post ideas when you give it a prompt.
You can repurpose your top-performing posts by letting OwlyWriter AI rework the captions and generate additional content. It can also help you create social media posts, captions, ad copy, and hashtags, as well as review your content for spelling and grammar.
With Hootsuite, you can automate messaging with autoresponders and chatbots, and it supports social listening to track mentions and trends. You can schedule your posts to go live at any time, and Hootsuite analyzes your top-performing posts and other data to suggest the best times to post.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $99/month (billed yearly) for the Professional plan.
Key features of Hootsuite:
- Publish and schedule
- Social media analytics
- Social listening
- AI content creation
- Engagement tools
Flick: Best for social media branding and posting
Flick is a social media marketing platform designed for business owners, creators, and marketers. Its AI-powered social media assistant Iris can help you build strategies, plan posts, and create graphics, captions, and hashtags.
With Flick, you can link your website to teach Iris about your business, goals, and offerings. Based on this information, Iris develops a strategy for your brand and even generates a monthly content calendar.
With its post scheduler, you can plan and schedule your social media posts ahead of time. Flick’s analytics feature shows you which posts perform well and identifies areas for improvement. After analyzing your social media performance, Iris can help you write captions, create video scripts, repurpose content, and optimize your posts.
Pricing: Paid plans start at £14 ($17) per month for the Solo plan.
Key features of Flick:
- AI social media assistant (Iris)
- Strategy building and monthly content calendar
- Content creation (graphics, captions, post ideas, and hashtags)
- Post scheduling
- Analytics to measure performance
- Caption writing, video script creation, and content repurposing
Lately.ai: Best for social media management
Lately.ai is a social media content and management platform that helps you generate, schedule, and publish content. This platform combines neuroscience with artificial intelligence.
You can use it to repurpose long-form content like blogs, newsletters, whitepapers, and web pages to social media posts.
Lately also lets you review, edit, approve, schedule, and publish social media posts across your channels. Once you’ve created your posts, you can assign them to be reviewed before scheduling them for posting.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $19/month for the Starter Plan.
Key features of Lately.ai:
- AI social media content writer
- Social media marketing tools
- Social media analytics
- Employee advocacy
Mentionlytics: Best for social listening
Mentionlytics is a social media monitoring tool that helps you discover what people are saying about your brand. With this platform, you can track online conversations about your brand, products, or competitors.
The AI tool offers web monitoring by scanning reviews, news sites, blogs, and forums for brand mentions. Mentionlytics also covers social media monitoring across major platforms, including X (Twitter), Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $49/month for the Basic plan.
Key features of Mentionlytics:
- Brand monitoring
- Competition analysis
- Influencer marketing
- Hashtag tracking
- Campaign monitoring
Sprout Social: Best for social media management and engagement
Sprout Social is an AI-powered social media management platform that offers features like social listening, publishing and engagement, analytics, and automation.
Sprout’s AI enable you to extract key insights, identify sentiment and trends, and personalize customer interactions. You can also use Sprout Social for content publishing, analyze competitor performance, and automate routine tasks.
Pricing: it’s paid plans start at $249 per seat/month for the Standard plan.
Key features of Sprout Social:
- Social listening
- Analytics
- Publishing
- Influencer marketing
- Engagment
- Advocacy
FAQs about best AI tools for social media
What are the best AI tools for social media marketing?
Bset AI tools for social media include the tools listed in this article, like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Buffer.
Can AI tools help generate captions for social media posts?
Yes, many AI tools have caption generators to help generate captions for social media posts. Check out the key features of the tools listed in this article.
Are there AI tools for analyzing social media performance?
Yes, there are several AI tools to help you in analyzing social media performance. Tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite.
What is the best AI tool for scheduling social media posts?
One of the popular options for scheduling social media posts is Buffer. However, there are others.
Can AI tools create social media content automatically?
Some AI tools can help in generating captions or creating simple graphics.
What features should I look for in AI tools for social media?
When selecting AI tools for social media, look for features like:
- Content creation
- Scheduling and automation
- Analytics and reporting
- Social listening and monitoring
- Engagement and response management
Conclusion
There are many reasons to use AI for social media, including saving time, increasing engagement, improving creativity, and staying updated with social monitoring tools. AI tools for social media help you not feel overwhelmed by the busy nature of these platforms.
You can use these tools whether you’re a content creator, marketer, or business owner. To choose the best AI tools for social media and make the most of them, you first need to identify what you need help with and what you want to achieve.
Once you know your goals, choose a tool that aligns with your needs. You can evaluate a tool by looking at its key features, reading the features mentioned in this article, asking for recommendations from peers, or trying out the free version.
If you haven’t decided on a tool yet, you can reread the article for guidance. If you’ve already chosen one, go ahead and try it out. Just make sure you’re satisfied with the results you get from the free version or feedback from other active users before committing to a paid plan.
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