Planable Review: Finally, A Social Media Tool That Kills the Spreadsheet
The Verdict
Planable is an absolute "Buy" for marketing agencies and in-house teams struggling with messy approval workflows and client feedback loops. However, solo creators or data-heavy marketers looking for deep social listening should "Pass" in favor of more analytics-focused tools.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 100% Visual Workflow: The "what you see is what you get" interface mimics actual social feeds perfectly, eliminating the need for mockups.
- Universal Content Support: Unlike most rivals, it handles not just social posts, but blog articles, newsletters, and briefs in one calendar.
- Granular Approval Levels: Offers flexible permissions ranging from "zero approval needed" to complex, multi-layer sign-offs (e.g., Copywriter > Manager > Legal > Client).
- Contextual Collaboration: Comments are pinned next to the specific element of the post, functioning like Google Docs for social media.
Cons
- Lightweight Analytics: Reporting features are basic; it tracks engagement metrics but lacks deep demographic data or social listening capabilities.
- No "Link in Bio" Tool: Unlike Later or Buffer, it lacks a native link-in-bio feature for Instagram.
- Mobile App Limits: The mobile app is excellent for approving content on the go but feels clunky for creating complex posts from scratch.
Deep Dive: Features, Value, and Usability
Features & The "Visual" Difference The standout feature of Planable is its commitment to visual fidelity. While competitors rely on list views or generic dashboard previews, Planable creates a mock "feed" for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and more. When you draft a post, it looks exactly as it will on the platform, which is a massive selling point for agencies presenting to clients who lack imagination. Beyond social, the recent addition of "Universal Content" allows teams to collaborate on long-form content like blogs and newsletters within the same ecosystem, effectively bridging the gap between a project management tool (like Trello) and a scheduler.
Ease of Use Planable has one of the lowest learning curves in the SaaS market. The UI is clean, intuitive, and remarkably fast. Onboarding a client or a non-tech-savvy stakeholder is painless because the interface behaves like the social networks they already use. Dragging and dropping posts across the calendar is fluid, and the commenting system eliminates the dreaded "email ping-pong" or slack-thread chaos. The ability to create a "guest" link for external stakeholders to approve content without needing to create an account is a massive friction reducer.
Pricing & Value Proposition Planable operates on a per-user pricing model rather than a per-profile model, which signals its focus on teams rather than volume. The free plan is limited to 50 total posts (lifetime, not monthly), making it purely a testing ground. The paid plans are competitively priced for the collaboration features you get, sitting comfortably between budget tools like Buffer and enterprise giants like Sprinklr. If your team saves five hours a week on approval chasing, the subscription pays for itself immediately. However, for a solo user, the cost may feel high considering the lack of advanced analytics.
The Competition
- Planable vs. Buffer: Buffer is the better choice for solo entrepreneurs and small businesses focused purely on scheduling and affordability. Buffer is cheaper and includes a landing page builder, but it lacks the sophisticated commenting and approval workflows that make Planable essential for teams.
- Planable vs. Sprout Social: Sprout Social is a heavyweight "all-in-one" platform with CRM, deep listening, and enterprise-grade analytics. If you need data to drive strategy, choose Sprout. If your bottleneck is content creation and getting the "green light" from your boss or client, Planable is the superior, more affordable option.
Conclusion: Who is this EXACTLY for?
Planable is specifically engineered for Social Media Agencies and Mid-Sized Marketing Teams where content quality and brand compliance are non-negotiable. If your current workflow involves taking screenshots of posts and pasting them into Excel or Google Sheets for approval, Planable is the exact solution you need to modernize your stack.