Maeve Social vs Planable in 2026: Approval-routing depth versus workspace collaboration
Maeve Social is the sharper choice for rule-based client approvals and version-aware sign-off. Planable is the broader collaboration workspace, with unlimited users, visual review, and a calendar that can hold newsletters, briefs, ads, and articles.
Maeve Social
Planable- Maeve Standard costs $99 per month and adds internal approvals, browser-based client review links, shareable calendars, and aggregate analytics; Maeve Basic does not include client approvals.
- Planable Pro costs $49 per workspace per month and includes unlimited users, required approval, 10 social pages, 150 created posts, grid view, and a public API.
- Maeve can route approval stages by channel, platform, post type, author, label, pillar, format, or campaign, then require any, all, or ordered reviewers.
- Planable keeps comments, suggested edits, text annotations, guest-view links, version history, and private team-only drafts beside the content.
- Maeve lists publishing to nine platforms on every paid plan and REST API, CLI, and MCP access across its published tiers.
- Planable can review blog articles, newsletters, ads, press releases, and briefs through Universal Content, not only social posts.
- Planable Analytics and Social Inbox are paid workspace add-ons on Basic and Pro, while Maeve lists comments, DMs, analytics reports, and branded reports in its wider product surface.
Choose Maeve Social when approval is the expensive part of publishing. Its Standard plan gives an agency client review links that work without an account, routing rules based on attributes such as campaign or post type, and stages that can require any, all, or ordered approvers. Choose Planable when the team needs a broad, accessible collaboration surface: one workspace per client or brand, unlimited users, comments and annotations beside the draft, and review for marketing material beyond social posts. The price comparison is less tidy than it first looks. Maeve Basic starts at $25 per month, but the approval workflow begins at Standard for $99 per month. Planable Basic costs $33 per workspace per month, while Pro costs $49 and adds required approval, a public API, grid view, 10 pages, and 150 created posts. Neither is simply the cheaper alternative. Maeve spends the budget on approval precision; Planable spends it on an adaptable workspace with many invited reviewers.
The tools at a glance
Maeve Social
Approval-led social publishing with client links, routing rules, and version-aware sign-off
Maeve Social is built for the moment a content calendar meets a real approval chain. It combines a social calendar, grid planner, composer, analytics reports, inbox, and publishing to nine supported platforms, but the approval engine is its differentiator. A team can create reusable routes based on channel, platform, post type, author, label, pillar, format, or campaign. Each route can have internal and client stages, and each stage can require a decision from any reviewer, every reviewer, or people in a defined order. That is much closer to an editorial production workflow than a standard approve-or-reject toggle.
Client participation is deliberately low-friction. A reviewer can use a browser link to approve, comment, or request changes without creating an account. Maeve also documents version differences, manager override, reminders, closing times, and failed-post recovery, which are useful safeguards when a campaign changes near its publishing date. Standard is the relevant plan for this job at $99 per month or $950 per year: it adds internal and client approvals, shareable calendar links, all-channel aggregate analytics, and 1,500 monthly AI credits. Basic costs $25 monthly, but it excludes the approvals that make Maeve distinctive.
Maeve is not merely an approval add-on. Its published plans list REST API, CLI, and MCP access, and the product includes comments and DMs, analytics reports, branded reports, and best-time-to-post insights. Yet its public comparison does not make every workspace and account cap as easy to compare as Planable does, and its three-day trial is short for a complicated agency migration. Choose Maeve when you need exact control over who clears content and how it progresses. Do not choose it just because you need a shared calendar with casual feedback, where Planable is less specialised and easier to budget per client workspace.
| Feature | Basic $25/mo or $240/year | Standard $99/mo or $950/year | Premium $199/mo or $1,900/year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish to nine platforms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Internal and client approvals | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shareable calendar links | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Aggregate analytics | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI credits per month | 800 | 1,500 | 3,000 |
| REST API, CLI, and MCP | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trial | 3 days | 3 days | 3 days |
Planable
Workspace-based content planning, review, approvals, and scheduling for social and marketing teams
Planable turns collaboration into the organising principle. Each workspace belongs to a client, brand, or location and holds its connected pages, calendar, collaborators, campaigns, assets, and approval settings. The per-workspace price includes unlimited users on Basic and Pro, so an agency can invite a client, legal reviewer, freelancer, and internal colleague without building a separate seat budget. Feedback stays beside the draft through comments, suggested edits, text annotations, guest-view links, private team-only drafts, and version history. This is a stronger fit than Maeve when the main need is getting many people into a clear visual review process.
The plan structure is unusually concrete. Basic is $33 per workspace per month for four social pages and 60 created posts, with optional approval. Pro is $49 for 10 pages and 150 posts, and adds required approval, grid view, a public API, MCP connector, Zapier, Canva, and Slack integrations. Enterprise has custom pricing, 50 pages, unlimited posts, multi-level approval, list view, and included Analytics and Social Inbox. The trial permits 50 created posts but not X publishing, so a team should use it to test the review workflow rather than every channel edge case.
Planable publishes to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, and Threads. Its meaningful advantage over a social-only review tool is Universal Content: articles, newsletters, ads, press releases, and briefs can appear in the same planning and approval environment. The trade-off is that Analytics, Social Inbox, and Social Listening are separate product layers, with Analytics and Inbox paid add-ons on Basic and Pro. Planable also has required and Enterprise multi-level approval, but the reviewed profile does not document Maeve-level routing rules by campaign, post attributes, or ordered approval stages. Buy it for collaborative breadth and predictable workspace boundaries, not for the most prescriptive approval engine.
| Feature | Basic $33/workspace/month | Pro $49/workspace/month | Enterprise Custom pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Created posts | 60/workspace/month | 150/workspace/month | Unlimited |
| Social pages | 4/workspace | 10/workspace | 50/workspace |
| Users | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Approval workflow | None or optional | Required available | Multi-level |
| Content views | Feed and calendar | Adds grid | Adds list |
| Public API | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analytics and Social Inbox | Paid add-ons | Paid add-ons | Included |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Maeve Social | Planable |
|---|---|---|
| Primary fit | Approval-led social production | Workspace collaboration and content review |
| Relevant approval tier | Standard, $99/mo | Pro, $49/workspace/mo |
| Client review method | Browser link without account | Guest-view links and workspace collaboration |
| Approval-routing detail | Rules by channel, platform, post type, author, label, pillar, format, campaign; any, all, or ordered stages | Optional on Basic, required on Pro, multi-level on Enterprise |
| Published entry price | $25/mo | $33/workspace/mo |
| User model | Public cap comparison is not fully comparable | Unlimited users on Basic and Pro |
| Non-social content review | Not listed in verified profile | Universal Content for articles, newsletters, ads, press releases, and briefs |
| Analytics and inbox | Comments, DMs, reports, and analytics listed; validate exact workflow | Paid add-ons on Basic and Pro; included Enterprise |
| Developer access | REST API, CLI, and MCP on all plans | Public API, MCP connector, Zapier, Canva, and Slack on Pro and Enterprise |
Which should you choose?
PlanablePlanableMaeve SocialThese tools overlap on calendars, publishing, feedback, analytics surfaces, and approvals, but their centre of gravity is different. Maeve Standard is a better answer when approval itself needs design: routes can follow content attributes, clients can review by browser link, and version-aware stages make a difficult sign-off process visible. Planable is a better answer when the team needs a shared operating space for many people and many content types. Its unlimited-user model and $49 Pro approval tier make it practical for routine agency work, even though the complete suite cost can grow with Analytics or Inbox add-ons.
Bottom line
Pick Maeve Social Standard if time is being lost to inconsistent client sign-off and you need approval rules that match the campaign, channel, author, or post type. Pick Planable Pro if a client workspace needs unlimited collaborators, required approval, a public API, and a calendar that can cover social posts alongside newsletters, briefs, ads, and articles. Maeve offers the deeper approval design, but its $99 tier and short trial require a focused test. Planable offers the clearer collaboration starting point, but budget its paid Analytics and Inbox layers if those are part of the purchase.
Frequently asked questions
Is Maeve Social or Planable better for a social media agency with complicated client approval routes?
Maeve Social Standard is the better fit for complicated client approval routes because it documents reusable rules based on campaign, channel, platform, author, post type, labels, pillars, and formats. Its stages can require any reviewer, all reviewers, or a fixed order, while Planable’s verified profile focuses on required approval and Enterprise multi-level workflows.
Can a client approve content in Maeve Social or Planable without paying for another seat?
Maeve Social lets a client approve, comment, or request changes through a browser link without creating an account, while Planable includes unlimited users in Basic and Pro workspaces and also provides guest-view links. Maeve is the more explicit no-account approval option; Planable is easier to use when many reviewers should participate inside a workspace.
What is the cheapest plan with required social post approval in Maeve Social and Planable?
Planable Pro is the lower published entry point for required approval at $49 per workspace per month, while Maeve Standard costs $99 per month and includes internal and client approvals. Planable Basic only supports no requirement or optional approval, and Maeve Basic does not include approvals.
Which tool can review a newsletter or marketing brief alongside a social media calendar?
Planable can review newsletters, blog articles, ads, press releases, and briefs through Universal Content alongside social posts. Maeve Social’s reviewed profile centres on social planning, publishing, approvals, inbox activity, analytics, and reporting rather than a comparable non-social content workspace.
Do Planable or Maeve Social include analytics and social inbox features in their starting plans?
Planable lists Analytics and Social Inbox as paid add-ons on Basic and Pro, with both included on Enterprise. Maeve lists comments and DMs, analytics reports, advanced insights, and branded reports in its wider product surface, but its public plan table should be tested against the exact reporting and inbox requirements before purchase.
Reviewed by Filipe Lins DuarteCo-Founder & CEOVast experience talking to customers and users to understand what good software looks like. Background spans commercial and product roles.
Checked by John RiceCo-Founder & CTO15+ years building tech products and web applications. Conducted hundreds of user interviews to know what a good product looks like.
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