Postkey vs Publer
Postkey vs Publer: the Publer alternative with DM automation
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool. Publer schedules your posts and lets you answer comments by hand. Postkey schedules too, then turns those comments into DMs, and its MCP server lets an AI assistant run the DMs as well as the posts.
The short answer
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool: one MCP connection lets your AI assistant build and switch on DM automations, answer the inbox, and schedule posts to 10 networks, across every account on your plan. Publer is a low-cost scheduler for 13 networks, with an MCP server on Business for drafts, scheduling and analytics. We found no DM automation and no DM inbox on its pages. Postkey schedules to 10 networks, turns comments into DMs, and answers them.
Updated October 28, 2026 (Publer's pages)
What an AI agent can do in each
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool: one MCP connection lets your AI assistant build and switch on DM automations, answer the inbox, and schedule posts to 10 networks, across every account on your plan. Here is the same list for Publer, from its own pages on October 28, 2026.
| Publer | Postkey | |
|---|---|---|
| MCP server | Yes, tools for drafts, scheduling, accounts and analytics (Publer gives no count) | Yes, up to 52 tools |
| Builds and switches on DM automations | No: we found no DM automation (searched October 28, 2026) | Yes, and switching on waits for your yes |
| Reads and answers the DM inbox | Not listed | Yes, each reply waits for your yes by default |
| Schedules and publishes posts | Yes, to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky and WordPress | Yes, to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Telegram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and Google Business |
| Accounts one connection reaches | The Publer account and its workspaces | Every account on your plan, up to 15 |
| Plans that include it | Business and Enterprise | Every plan, inside the plan's limits |
| Sign-in | OAuth, or a Publer API key | OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, or an agent key |
| In the official MCP Registry | Not found | Not yet |
"Not listed" and "None found" mean we could not find it on Publer's own pages on October 28, 2026, not a statement by Publer.
Sources: Publer help: MCP server
Why Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool
Postkey's MCP server can build, edit and switch on automations. An agent can do the whole job:
- Build, edit and switch on DM automations: comment to DM, keyword DMs, follow to unlock, collecting emails.
- Read the inbox, draft replies and send them once you say yes.
- Write, schedule and publish posts, and set the DM keyword each post's comments reply to.
- Find and tag contacts, and report how posts and automations did.
- Up to 52 tools in one MCP server, with OAuth sign-in or an agent key, and a skill file that teaches the agent the rules.
- Approvals, limits and protection from instructions hidden in DMs built in, so you can let an agent run it.
Side by side
| Publer | Postkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Comment to DM and keyword DMs | Not listed | Yes |
| Follow to unlock | Not listed | Yes |
| Collect emails in the DM | Not listed | Yes |
| Shared inbox | Yes (comments only, opened per post from the calendar; no DMs) | Yes |
| AI replies | Yes (AI Assist suggests a comment reply that you post yourself) | From Create |
| DM channels | None found (searched October 28, 2026) | Instagram and Messenger |
| Post scheduler | Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky and WordPress | Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Telegram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and Google Business |
| Instagram accounts | "A social account is a single social profile, Page, Group, or channel. For every 9 social accounts, the 10th one is free." | Up to 15 on one plan, sharing one contact allowance |
| How usage is billed | A price per social account and per member, monthly or yearly; every tenth account is free. Yearly billing is 20% off. | Plans include contacts each month, shared by all the plan's accounts; extra contacts are charged, never cut off |
Publer has a free plan with 3 accounts; Professional has a 7-day trial and Business a 14-day trial, and yearly billing is 20% off. We found no DM automation and no DM inbox on its pages; its unified inbox, Kibo, is on its roadmap as a separate product.
Sources: publer.com/plans, Publer help: plans and pricing, Publer help: Professional vs Business, Publer help: comments of published posts, Publer help: comments with AI Assist, Publer roadmap, Publer help: MCP server, Publer API docs
What Postkey does after the post goes out
- Comment to DM: everyone who comments your keyword gets the link by DM, with a public reply.
- Follow to unlock and email capture inside the DM.
- A shared inbox for Instagram and Messenger DMs, with AI replies from Create.
- The post and its keyword are scheduled together, so the DMs start when the post goes live.
What each costs
Publer's list prices in US dollars, as its pricing page showed them on October 28, 2026, then Postkey's in US dollars. Monthly billing unless it says yearly.
| Plan | A month | Billed yearly | Accounts | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publer Free | $0 | Not shown | 3 | 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 1 user |
| Publer Professional | $5 | Not shown | 1 | Priced per social account: the price shown is for one account and one user |
| Publer Business | $10 | Not shown | 1 | Priced per social account: the price shown is for one account and one user. The API and the MCP server |
| Publer Enterprise | Not published | Not shown | Not published | Custom pricing, billed yearly |
| Postkey Free | $0 | Free | 2 | 25 contacts a month |
| Postkey Essential | $15 | $144 a year | 2 | 250 contacts a month |
| Postkey Create | $34 | $300 a year | 5 | 2,500 contacts a month, Postkey AI |
| Postkey Pro | $85 | $708 a year | 10 | 7,500 contacts a month, Postkey AI |
| Postkey Advanced | $175 | $1428 a year | 15 | 25,000 contacts a month, Postkey AI |
List prices before tax. Plans change; check each pricing page before you buy.
Where Publer is a good fit
- Publishes to 13 networks, Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky and WordPress among them.
- A free plan with 3 social accounts, and a low price per account.
- A public API and an MCP server on Business.
- Bulk scheduling, recycled and recurring posts, and posting from RSS.
Where Postkey is the better fit
- You want comments on your posts to turn into DMs with your link, automatically.
- You want one inbox for Instagram and Messenger DMs, with AI replies.
- You want your AI assistant to build DM automations and answer DMs, not only post.
- You want the MCP server on every plan, Free included.
Switching from Publer
- 01
Connect your accounts to Postkey with each network's own sign-in.
- 02
Move your scheduled posts: ask your assistant to recreate them in Postkey, or add them to your posting schedule yourself.
- 03
Add a comment keyword and a link to the posts that should send a DM, and switch on the automation with the post.
Questions
We found none on Publer's pages (searched October 28, 2026). You can answer comments on a published post by hand, with an AI suggestion; its unified inbox, Kibo, is on its roadmap as a separate product.
Yes, on Business and Enterprise. By Publer's help center it lists accounts and workspaces, makes drafts, schedules posts and reads analytics.
For scheduling a few accounts, often yes: Publer has a free plan and a low price per account. Postkey adds DM automation, a DM inbox and AI replies.
Not yet. Publer posts there; Postkey schedules to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Telegram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and Google Business.
Yes. Postkey's Free plan has 25 contacts a month and 5 scheduled posts a week, and paid plans start with a free trial.