10 Best Social Media Content Calendar Tools [2026]

Short answer: Loomly and Planable are the best dedicated social media content calendars: Loomly for planning with post ideas, Planable for team and client collaboration. CoSchedule is best if social sits inside a wider marketing calendar. SEO Runway gives you list and month calendar views plus an AI-generated month of posts you can edit and publish to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Disclosure: SEO Runway is our product. We ranked it using the same criteria as every other tool, and noted where others do better.

Quick picks

• Best planner with ideas: Loomly
• Best for collaboration: Planable
• Best marketing-wide calendar: CoSchedule
• Best AI month plan: SEO Runway
• Best free template approach: Notion

Content calendar tools compared

*Approximate; verify.

How we chose these tools

We compared each tool's published features, plans and documentation on six criteria: calendar views, collaboration, content library, idea management, AI planning, and price.

1. Loomly: best planner with ideas

Verdict: a calendar that suggests post ideas and guides you through approvals.

Pros: ideas; workflow.

Cons: analytics depth.

2. Planable: best for collaboration

Verdict: clients and teams comment and approve on exact post previews.

Pros: collaboration.

Cons: light analytics.

3. CoSchedule: best marketing-wide calendar

Verdict: social alongside blogs, email and campaigns.

Pros: whole-marketing view.

Cons: price for full features.

4. SEO Runway: best AI month plan

Verdict: generate a month of on-brand post drafts with Gemini, review them in list or month view, edit with photo and video, then publish or schedule to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Pricing: Social from $39/month; 14-day free trial. See plans.

Pros: fast monthly planning; client sign-offs; alongside SEO and local.

Cons: three networks only; no content library or idea board.

5. Later: best visual calendar

Verdict: drag-and-drop visual planning.

Pros: visuals.

Cons: post limits.

6. Hootsuite: best planner in a big suite

Verdict: a planner across many networks.

Pros: breadth.

Cons: price.

7. Sprout Social: best for larger teams

Verdict: calendar, campaigns and approvals at scale.

Pros: depth.

Cons: per-seat cost.

8. Metricool: best free planner

Verdict: a planner with analytics and a free tier.

Pros: free start.

Cons: limits.

9. Sendible: best for agencies

Verdict: calendars per client with approvals.

Pros: agency features.

Cons: interface.

10. Notion: best template approach

Verdict: a flexible database calendar you build yourself.

Pros: free; customisable.

Cons: no publishing.

A free content calendar template

Columns to include:

1. Date and time
2. Network
3. Content pillar (for example education, proof, offer, behind the scenes)
4. Format (image, carousel, video, text)
5. Caption
6. Asset link
7. Link or call to action
8. Owner
9. Status (idea, draft, approved, scheduled, published)
10. Result (reach, engagement), filled in after posting

Related guides

• Our full list of social media tools for agencies
• AI social media post generators

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead should I plan social content?

Two to four weeks for regular posts, with key campaigns planned a quarter ahead. Leave gaps for timely content.

What should a content calendar include?

Date, network, content pillar, format, caption, assets, call to action, owner and status, plus results after posting.

Can AI build a content calendar?

Yes. Tools like SEO Runway draft a month of posts from your brand inputs. Review and edit every post before scheduling.

The bottom line

• Planning with ideas: Loomly.
• Collaboration: Planable.
• Marketing-wide: CoSchedule.
• AI-drafted months for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn: SEO Runway.

Start a 14-day free trial of SEO Runway and generate next month's calendar, or see the social media workspace.