Buffer API
Buffer's new GraphQL API is self-serve and in public beta; the legacy REST API is deprecated and closed to new registrations. Personal API keys come with every plan, Free included, but third-party OAuth is not yet enabled, so apps cannot connect end users' accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Buffer scores B on the API Report Card. Buffer's new GraphQL API is self-serve and in public beta; the legacy REST API is deprecated and closed to new registrations. Personal API keys come with every plan, Free included, but third-party OAuth is not yet enabled, so apps cannot connect end users' accounts.
Buffer has a workable official integration path. Most engineering teams can build against it directly. Solid API with minor gaps
Buffer is a cloud social-media management platform that lets small businesses, creators, freelancers, and agencies plan, schedule, publish, analyze, and engage with audiences across 11 social networks from a single dashboard.
Vertical: Social media management / scheduling, horizontal SaaS, not industry-specific. A creator or small-business owner connects their Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, and Facebook accounts via OAuth, drafts a post (often with AI-assisted ideation), schedules it to a per-channel queue or specific time slot, and lets Buffer push to the native APIs at the scheduled moment.
Buffer reports 140,000+ customers and 233k+ monthly active users, and 6sense pegs it at ~2.38% of the broader social-media management category with 3,900+ companies actively using it.
Partial.
Founded 2010 by Joel Gascoigne in Birmingham, UK; one of the earliest dedicated 'queue' social schedulers.
Third-party OAuth is not yet enabled on the new GraphQL API, third-party apps cannot let end users connect their Buffer account, blocking real SaaS integrations. The legacy REST API is closed to new developer registrations, but the GraphQL replacement is still in public beta, integrators face a forced migration with no stable contract. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later, Sprinklr, Khoros, Loomly. Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.