Looking for a Later Alternative? Try Best Free Scheduler in 2020!

Choosing the right tool for Instagram posting can significantly streamline the process of regular content publishing. So no wonder that marketers, business owners, freelancers, and bloggers tend to choose the most simple and yet powerful tool to elevate their content marketing on Instagram.

In this article, we’ll focus on two content planning solutions — Later and Combin Scheduler — and figure out which of them correlates with your business goals.

Later and Combin Scheduler are tools for scheduling and distribution of Instagram content. But nonetheless, there are similarities between the two, there are also several differences.

Now let’s answer why Combin Scheduler is a robust alternative to Later.

Which content can I schedule on Instagram?

Both with Combin Scheduler and Later you can plan Instagram posts and Stories for hours, days, weeks, and months. If you feel like sharing the content right away, you can easily do so by publishing it instantly.

Can I repost other users’ content?

Both of the tools offer this solution. You can repost any content from Instagram, for instance, user-generated content, your clients’ reviews, real-time industry news, etc. The media, caption, and hashtags appear automatically, but you can easily remove or edit them within the apps.

Combin Scheduler also lets you move the repost badge to any place on an image, hide it and change its colour — make it either white or black.

Can the tools auto-publish the content for me?

Combin Scheduler and Later are capable of auto-publishing content but the latter app does it with limitations.

Later can only auto-publish posts — photos, carousels, and videos. If you want to have your Stories published automatically, the tool doesn’t provide this option.

With Later, you will only get a reminder to post your Story manually, the software will not do it for you. A free version of Later doesn’t support this function, either.

Combin Scheduler, in turn, auto-publishes all the content types offered by Instagram. The tool publishes posts and Stories for you. You won’t get any notifications that call you to complete the process within the native app. Combin Scheduler just publishes the content.

You can select multiple Stories in bulk, choose the right time for them to appear on your page, and be good to go. This basic feature is available in every subscription plan offered by Combin Scheduler.

Can I edit the pictures?

Later doesn’t provide you with photo editing features. If you want to edit your photos, you will have to do it in advance before using the software.

Combin Scheduler, however, offers its users this function. You can fit your images to the aspect ratio supported by Instagram, by cropping and zooming the image. You can also change the size of your content to square, vertical, landscape and portrait.

If you want to edit already scheduled Stories with the software, this is possible, as well.

Can I add my links in bio?

Both of the tools have such functions but they operate differently.

By the Link in Bio feature, Later implies shoppable posts which will be useless if your business is not bound to eCommerce.

The eponymous function of Combin Scheduler allows you to add custom trackable links leading traffic from your Instagram to any landing page. While planning your post or Story, you can add a link that will appear in Instagram bio after the media go live.

Is the user interface intuitive?

This question is very judgemental since every user percepts the interfaces of the apps differently. But we have tried out Later and rummaged through customers’ reviews saying that Later’s UI is not very clear and intuitive. So our subjective conclusion is that if you’re not technically savvy, you’ll take time to master the app’s functionality.

Combin Scheduler, in turn, has a very minimalistic design with nothing extra — just the features users need. There will be no trouble while working with the tool.

Can I visually plan my Instagram feed?

Yes, both Later and Combin Scheduler allow you to plan your content visually. The apps offer calendars to see when your posts are about to be published. You can track the scheduled content within a weekly calendar with thumbnails of the posts you’ve planned.

To check how your overall grid looks like, you can use a visual grid layout calendar.

But here’s a thing to point out. With Combin Scheduler, you can clearly see the whole grid, including posts that you have already published. Later blurs these slots, so you can fully evaluate the upcoming posts layout only.

Is there hashtag management?

In terms of hashtags, the tools function differently.

Later suggests the hashtags that seem to be relevant for your post. These hashtags may really match your publication but sometimes they’re not on point. The app doesn’t allow you to save different groups of hashtags for further use.

Combin Scheduler has proper hashtag management. It means that you can store packs of different hashtags in Templates and use them upon necessity.

How many accounts can I manage?

Depending on different subscription plans, both Later and Combin Scheduler allow you to manage up to 5 accounts.

What about pricing?

Combin Scheduler is now completely free for everyone and doesn’t cost a penny for the features which were previously premium. For free, Combin Scheduler offers you 15 Instagram accounts management, Stories, posts and reposts support, ability to schedule the first comment under the posts, bulk image uploading, Link in bio, location and users tagging.

Later offers 5 subscription plans — 2 for individuals and 3 for businesses. The plans vary from free to $49 a month.

Individual plans divide into 2 other plans — Free and Plus ($9).

Plans for business start from Premium for $19 a month and end with the Brand one for $49 which is designed for large agencies and teams.

Final thoughts

The tools have similar functionality. Yet, there are distinctions like Stories auto-publishing, link in bio, and hashtags management that may influence your choice.

If you’re looking for an intuitive and powerful tool that will assume the role of all your content planning, Combin Scheduler is your better option. But all in all, the decision is up to you.

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