Overview
What Is Later?
Later is a social media scheduling and marketing tool. It is a vital tool for businesses and individuals to plan and schedule content for social media. Later’s features include a drag-and-drop content calendar, automatic posting, analytics, and reporting.
Later also offers a fair share of analytics and third-party integration and team collaboration capabilities for easy social media management.
What Is Zoho Social?
Zoho Social is a social media management tool that enables businesses, to manage their social media presence. As a versatile tool, it works for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google My Business.
With Zoho Social, you can easily schedule posts for social media, gain recommendations for the best time to post and monitor the real-time performance of your content. It also offers a fair share of analytics and reporting capabilities to gain detailed analytics and reporting on social media performance.
It also offers team collaboration to streamline your workflows. Unlike Zoho Social’s alternatives, it provides CRM integration capabilities to leverage your social media interactions for coming up with customer data.
Overall, it is a comprehensive social media management tool that helps businesses streamline their social media operations and improve their social media performance.
Best Suitable for
Later
Start with $40
Influencers, Small Business
Zoho Social
Start with $15
Freelancers, Startup Agencies, Growing Agencies
SocialPilot
Start with $30
SMBs, Agencies, Multi-Location Brands
At a Glance
What the users feel about any product or tool describes a great deal about how good it actually is. So let’s compare Zoho social vs. Later in terms of their user ratings to know about their popularity.
According to the number of user reviews, Zoho Social is a much more popular social media scheduler than Later. Both tools are considered equally easy to use and enjoy equal overall star ratings. However, Later has a slightly better rating for support quality.
Note: It’s worth mentioning that SocialPilot, a more user-friendly tool, received higher scores for its quality of support.
For a comprehensive understanding, herein is a clear comparison of ratings for all three tools.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Reviews | 283 | 2392 | 621 |
| Overall Star Rating | |||
| Ease of Use | |||
| Quality of Support | |||
| Ease of Setup | |||
| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
Quick Comparison – Later vs. Zoho Social
When comparing Later vs. Zoho Social, it’s important to consider the main features that differentiate the two platforms.
One key difference between these two platforms is the price point. Zoho Social’s agency plan will cost you almost $240 more than Later’s advanced plan. Due to this difference, Later can be seen as a strong Zoho Social alternative.
Despite this price difference, both platforms offer robust publishing capabilities, collaboration, and analytics capabilities for reporting insights.
Additionally, both platforms are available in multiple languages to cater to a global clientele. However, Later lags in offering some important features like a content library, competitor tracking, and white-labeling.
Note: Another budget-friendly tool that doesn’t miss on offering important features is ScialPilot. Just like Later, SocialPilot has very reasonable price plans that you can choose without missing out on important features like a content library, white-labeling, etc.
For a quick comparison of the most important features of Later, Zoho Social, and SocialPilot, see the tabular comparison given below.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Can't Miss to Compare | |||
| Minimum Pricing | $40/Month | $15/Month | $30/Month |
| Number of Accounts | 36 | 100 | 30 |
| Number of Team Members | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Number of Posts that Can Be Scheduled | Unlimited | 350 | Unlimited |
| Core Capabilities | |||
| Scheduling & Publishing |
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| Analytics |
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| Inbox |
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| Collaboration |
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| Competitor Tracking |
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| Whitelabel |
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| Localization | English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese | German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | German, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Support | Email & Live Chat | Email, FAQs, Webinars, Product Guide, Forum | Email, Chat, Social Media, Phone |
| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial | |
Review
Positive
- Later's ability to monitor all forms of communication, including direct messaging and comments, offers complete oversight and improves overall communication management.
- The availability of analytics in Later, including the ability to view the best posting times and the most engaging posts, offers some valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t.
- The monthly layout feature in Later offers a well-defined preview of upcoming posts for the month, providing a helpful tool for organized content planning.
Negative
- Later has limited analytical functions, hindering access to essential data, which can be a drawback for the user. The absence of necessary information affects the user negatively.
- One disadvantage of the story scheduling section in Later is that it can be confusing and difficult to understand. Despite potentially being a matter of personal learning, it has not been a straightforward experience for the user.
- The free plan of Later restricts the user's ability to view the calendar, with a limited range of only a few weeks in the past.
Positive
- Zoho Social allows you to manage and schedule posts on all your social networks, resulting in significant time savings and freeing up more time for other tasks.
- An advantage of using Zoho Social is the ability to monitor comments and engage with users. Using a centralized system to manage social media allows you to stay on top of conversations, respond to feedback, and build relationships with your audience.
- Zoho Social includes a feature that analyzes data and suggests the optimal time to post, maximizing the reach and engagement of social media content.
Negative
- Zoho Social's mobile app currently has limited capabilities, which may be frustrating for users who prefer to manage tasks on the go or away from their desktop.
- Most advanced features and services in Zoho Social are only available to users who pay for a subscription or access a paywall, limiting the functionality and value for free users.
- Zoho Social's interface requires some refinement to better direct users to the correct sections for editing certain features.
Positive
- SocialPilot's interface is easy to use. Unlike other tools, it doesn't require a learning curve hence users get used to it pretty quickly.
- You can upload and schedule up to 500 posts at once using SocialPilot through its handy bulk import feature. These can be link posts, text, or even image posts to any of the platforms which SocialPilot supports.
- Users get to see how each and every post would look on the social platform it is meant for even before it is published. The newly designed SocialPilot dashboard generates a preview of the post with all the content and customizations, before scheduling it. This gives insights as to how the customer would see the post content.
Negative
- Some users have reported receiving error messages with scheduled posts. However, they acknowledge that this issue is not unique to SocialPilot and is also present in other social posting platforms. It is simply a minor inconvenience at times.
- SocialPilot does not have a color coding feature which simplifies the interface and makes it easier to navigate.SocialPilot does not have a color coding feature which simplifies the interface and makes it easier to navigate.
- SocialPilot does not have a free version available, leaving users with only a 14-day free trial option to test the app. The free trial can be accessed without the need for a credit card, making it a risk-free opportunity for those who want to explore the features and capabilities of the app before making a purchase.
Pricing – Later vs. Zoho Social
Pricing is a crucial factor to make a meaningful comparison between Zoho Social vs. Later. So, let’s compare.
Zoho Social’s agency plan which allows five users to connect a total of 100 social accounts, is priced at $320 per month. In contrast, Later’s equivalent advanced plan costs only $80 per month and allows six users to connect up to 36 accounts with unlimited post-scheduling capability.
If we compare the base level plans of both these platforms, Zoho Social is a little cheaper with its standard business plan, that costs only $15 per month, compared to Later’s corresponding plan, which charges $18 per month.
Note: SocialPilot, is a great alternative to Zoho Social which charges only $100 per month for its agency-level plan while allowing a team capacity of six members with unlimited post-scheduling capability.
To get a clearer perspective on the pricing plans of Zoho Social vs. Later and SocialPilot, check out the comparison below.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|---|---|---|
|
Growth
$40/per month
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Business - Standard
$15/per month
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Professional
$30/per month
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Advanced
$80/per month
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Business - Professional
$40/per month
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Small Team
$50/per month
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Scale
$200/per month
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Business - Premium
$65/per month
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Agency
$100/per month
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| - |
Agency
$320/per month
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Agency+
$200/per month
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| - |
Agency plus
$460/per month
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- |
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14 Days Free Trial
Credit Card Required
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15 Days Free Trial
Credit Card Required
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14 Days Free Trial
No Credit Card Required
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| Learn More | Learn More | Start Your free Trial |
In-depth Scheduling and Publishing Capabilities Comparison
Many brands and businesses opt for social media management tools to automate content publishing. That is why scheduling and publishing are crucial aspects of these social media tools.
Later and Zoho Social are two such tools that help with this automation. Both tools offer advanced queueing, platform-centric customization, in-app integrations, and other essential features.
However, there are some significant differences between them, such as Later doesn’t offer Canva integration that facilitates content creation. On the other hand, Zoho Social lags in offering hashtag suggestions. It also fails to support carousel posts for Facebook that Later does support.
Note: SocialPilot stands out from these in this regard by allowing carousel posts and offering boost post scheduling capability for Facebook. SocialPilot also allows Canva integration that makes it stand out from other Later alternatives.
To offer an in-depth comparison, the table below outlines the scheduling and publishing features for Later, Zoho Social, and SocialPilot.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart & Advanced Queueing |
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| Customize Post for Each Platform |
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| Post Preview |
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| Canva Integration |
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| Unsplash Integration |
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| Slack Integration |
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| URL Shortener |
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| Visual Post Support (Image, Video, GIF) |
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| UTM Parameters |
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| Cloud Storage |
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| Hashtag Suggestions |
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| Advance Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Save Draft Posts |
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| AI Assistant |
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| Watermark on Images |
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| Bulk Scheduling |
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| Content Curation |
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| Auto publishing from RSS |
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| Social media calendar |
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| Mobile App |
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| Browser Extension |
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| Advance Facebook Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Reel Scheduling |
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| Support Album Posts |
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| Support Carousel Posts |
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| Alternate Text on Image |
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| Support Facebook First Comment |
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| Audience Targeting |
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| Boost Post Scheduling |
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| Support Mention and Hashtags |
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| Advance Twitter Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Location Tagging |
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| Support Mention and Hashtags |
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| Support Multiple Image Posts |
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| Threads Scheduling |
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| Advance Instagram Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Reel Scheduling |
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| Story Scheduling |
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| Tag Profiles on Images |
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| Location Tagging |
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| Support Instagram First Comment |
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| Instagram Grid |
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| Advance LinkedIn Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Audience Targeting |
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| Support LinkedIn First Comment |
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| Advance YouTube Publishing Capabilities | |||
| #shorts Scheduling |
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| Mention of Other Youtube Accounts |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial | |
In-depth Analytics Capability Comparison
It is impossible for marketers to make informed decisions without trends and data to guide them. Analytics data serves as this information for marketers to develop social media strategies. So, let us make a note of all the analytics and reporting capabilities of Later or Zoho social to know which is better.
Both these tools offer valuable analytics for all types of social media content. Although, Later fails to offer downloadable white label reports and a custom report builder that Zoho social does offer.
Herein is a detailed comparison of all analytics features offered by both platforms. To better weigh all your options, we have also included SocialPilot’s essential analytics and reporting features.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitelabel Downloadable Report in PDF Format |
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| Email PDF Report to Client |
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| Auto Schedule Report with Team and Client |
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| Custom Report Builder |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
In-depth Inbox/Listening Capability Comparison
To effectively manage social media, it is crucial to create engaging content and actively engage with your audience. To do that, social inboxing and listening capabilities are necessary.
Both Later and Zoho Social allow users to reply to messages. However, in this section of the debate, Zoho Social holds a strong position than Later. Zoho Social allows real-time listening while allowing you to reply to visitor posts, questions, and reviews.
Note: It’s worth stating that SocialPilot’s social inbox is a useful tool for managing conversations across multiple platforms from a single dashboard. It provides all social listening features like Zoho social but at a fairly less price.
Let us take a look at the comparison below to compare Later vs. Zoho Social along with SocialPilot to know all their inbox and listening capabilities.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Can Reply Message |
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| Can Reply Questions and Reviews |
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| Can Reply on Visitor Posts |
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| Real-Time Social Listening |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
In-depth Social Media Collaboration Capability Comparison
Team collaboration is crucial to maintaining consistent brand messaging, timely responses to inquiries, and effective content creation. With that in mind, let’s compare the collaborative features of Later and Zoho Social.
Both Sprout Social and Agorapulse allow per-post multi-user collaboration for team members to work seamlessly. Both tools provide access management and content approval workflows assign specific roles, and ensure efficient workflow.
Note: While Later is a cost-effective tool, its inability to onboard unlimited clients can be a big drawback for agencies and businesses. On the other hand, SocialPilot doesn’t come with this limitation despite being a budget-friendly option.
To help you cultivate a clear perspective, we have compared all collaboration capabilities of Later, Zoho Social, along with SocialPilot.
|
Later |
Zoho Social |
SocialPilot |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Free Unlimited Client Onboarding |
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| Per Post Multi-User Collaboration |
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| Access Management |
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| Content Approval Workflow |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
