ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d look closely at Buffer’s Team plan.

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn publishing and scheduling, including standard posts and other common formats. SaaS Compared Social Media Dashboard
• Team approvals: The Team plan adds unlimited team members, access levels, internal notes, and approval workflows—useful when writers create posts and someone else signs off before publishing. SaaS Compared
• Analytics: Provides post and channel performance analytics without requiring a separate reporting platform. Social Media Dashboard
• Remote collaboration: The shared workflow, notes, permissions, and approvals are particularly well suited to a distributed five-person team.
• Cost: Current reported pricing is about $10 per channel/month when billed annually for Team, with unlimited team members. SaaS Compared

One important alternative

If approval workflows and review comments are the central requirement, Planable is worth considering. It is specifically designed around collaborative content review, with multi-step approvals, inline comments, and platform-accurate previews, including LinkedIn. Its analytics are less comprehensive than an all-in-one social-management platform, though. Social Media Dashboard

If analytics/reporting for leadership is the priority, Sprout Social is the more heavyweight option. It offers collaborative calendars, multi-level approval workflows, role-based permissions, and substantially deeper reporting, but its per-seat pricing makes it a much bigger investment for five people. Sprout Social Social Media Dashboard

My practical shortlist: Buffer for a lean team wanting simplicity + approvals + analytics; Planable if approvals are the heart of the workflow; Sprout Social if sophisticated reporting is worth the higher cost. Social Media Dashboard Social Media Dashboard

buffer.com
planable.io
sproutsocial.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d look closely at Loomly.

It fits your requirements particularly well:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule LinkedIn content alongside your other social channels from a shared calendar.
• Team approvals: Loomly supports multi-tier approval workflows, so drafts can move from creator → reviewer → final approver without relying on Slack/email. Loomly
• Remote collaboration: It supports notifications through Slack and Microsoft Teams, plus mobile approvals—useful when your five-person team isn't working in the same place. Loomly
• Analytics: It provides advanced analytics and lets you export reports; Loomly says its Starter tier includes Advanced Analytics after five posts are scheduled. Loomly
• Team size: Loomly's Starter offering includes 12 social accounts and custom roles/approval workflows, so a five-person team isn't forced into an enterprise-style setup just to get approvals. Loomly

How I'd compare the alternatives

Hootsuite, for example, supports up to three approval layers and detailed permissions, but approval workflows are limited to its higher-tier plans. Hootsuite Sprout also offers multi-level approvals and role-based permissions alongside deeper analytics. sproutsocial.com Planable is particularly approval-focused, but its analytics are comparatively lighter. sproutsocial.com

My practical shortlist: start demos/trials with Loomly and Planable. If your team expects sophisticated reporting, social listening, or a larger social operation later, add Sprout Social to the comparison.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com, with Planable as the alternative if approvals are the biggest priority.

My pick: Buffer

Buffer fits your requirements well because it combines:

• LinkedIn scheduling — schedule posts and manage your publishing calendar.
• Team collaboration and approvals — teammates can draft, review, and approve content before publishing.
• Analytics — track post performance and LinkedIn results.
• Remote-friendly workflow — everyone can work from the same content calendar rather than passing drafts around Slack/email.
• Reasonable pricing — Buffer's Team plan is currently listed at $10 per social channel/month when billed annually, with unlimited team members. Buffer Buffer

For a five-person team, the important distinction is that Buffer charges by connected social channel rather than by team member, so adding your four teammates doesn't multiply the subscription cost. Buffer

If approvals are your #1 concern: Planable

planable.io is particularly strong for approval-heavy marketing workflows. It supports multi-step approvals, inline comments/suggested edits, and LinkedIn publishing. Its weakness is that its analytics are lighter than those of a dedicated social-management platform. Social Media Dashboard

Quick decision

Bottom line: I'd start with Buffer Team for a five-person remote marketing team. If your workflow is essentially writer → editor → marketing lead → final approver, I'd test Planable alongside it because its approval experience is especially strong. Social Media Dashboard Buffer

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend hootsuite.com if you want one platform that covers all three requirements well.

My pick: Hootsuite

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn publishing and unlimited scheduled posts, with a unified content calendar. Hootsuite
• Team approvals: Its higher-tier plans include formal review/approval workflows, permissions, and team collaboration—useful when posts need a second pair of eyes before publishing. Hootsuite G2
• Analytics: Tracks LinkedIn organic and paid metrics, provides performance reports, best-time-to-post recommendations, and competitive benchmarking. Hootsuite
• Remote-team friendly: Everything lives in a shared workspace rather than requiring spreadsheets, Slack threads, or email-based approvals.

The catch: Hootsuite gets expensive for five users. Its current Advanced tier is listed at $399/user/month when billed annually, and that's the tier with the strongest approval/team features. G2

A potentially better-value alternative

If your priority is easy approvals and collaboration, I'd seriously consider planable.io. It's designed around content review, comments, versioning, and multi-level approvals, including LinkedIn scheduling. Its analytics are lighter than Hootsuite's, though. Buffer Social Media Dashboard

Bottom line:

• Best all-in-one: Hootsuite
• Best for a small team with approval-heavy workflows: Planable
• Best if budget matters most: Buffer, though its team/approval and analytics capabilities are less comprehensive. Buffer

For a five-person remote team, I'd choose Planable if LinkedIn content approval is the main workflow, and Hootsuite if analytics and broader social management are equally important.

My recommendation: buffer.com

For a five-person remote marketing team, I’d pick Buffer as the best balance of LinkedIn scheduling, approvals, collaboration, and analytics.

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule posts to both LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs/carousels, and link posts. Buffer Help Center
• Team approvals: Team members can have “Needs Approval” permissions, while designated people review, approve, or reject drafts. Help Center Help Center
• Remote-friendly workflow: Everyone gets their own login rather than sharing credentials, and you can control which channels each person can access. Help Center
• Analytics: LinkedIn reporting includes impressions, clicks, engagement, followers, engagement rate, comments, shares, and more; paid tiers add deeper Insights and reporting. Help Center Buffer
• One approval queue: Buffer's All Channels view lets an approver see drafts awaiting approval across channels in one place. Help Center

How I'd set it up for five people

2 content creators → 2 marketers → 1 marketing lead/approver

Creators draft posts → marketers review/edit → marketing lead approves → Buffer publishes → team reviews analytics weekly.

One alternative worth considering

If your team needs much more sophisticated approval workflows, reporting, permissions, and enterprise-style social management, look at sproutsocial.com. It has LinkedIn scheduling, user permissions, approval workflows, and deeper page-level analytics, but I'd choose it over Buffer mainly if you're willing to pay more for those advanced capabilities. Sprout Social Sprout Social

Bottom line: For a 5-person remote marketing team, Buffer is my first choice—simple enough that everyone will actually use it, while still covering the approval and analytics workflow you described.

My pick: buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer’s Team plan. It hits your three requirements without the complexity or enterprise pricing of heavier social suites.

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule text, images, PDFs/carousels, videos, and link posts to LinkedIn Pages and profiles. Buffer Help Center
• Team approvals: The Team plan includes unlimited users, access levels, and content approval workflows, so you can have marketers draft while a manager reviews before publishing. Buffer
• Analytics: You get LinkedIn performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, engagement rate, followers, comments, and shares, plus longer-range/custom analytics on paid plans. Buffer Help Center
• Remote collaboration: Drafts, notes, permissions, approvals, and a shared content calendar keep the workflow centralized rather than relying on Slack/email for sign-off. Buffer
• Cost: Buffer currently lists Team at $12/month per channel when billed monthly, or $10/month per channel annually for the first 10 channels. Five team members themselves don't add per-user charges. Help Center

How I'd set it up

Content marketer → Draft in Buffer → Marketing lead → Approve → Auto-publish → Weekly analytics review

If you're only managing one LinkedIn Page, that's particularly inexpensive: the Team plan would be roughly $12/month monthly or $120/year, rather than paying separately for five seats. Help Center

One alternative worth considering

sproutsocial.com is stronger if you expect your team to need sophisticated reporting, permissions, social listening, or customer/community management. It also supports LinkedIn scheduling and approval workflows. Sprout Social But for a five-person marketing team primarily needing schedule + approve + measure, I'd choose Buffer for the better simplicity/value tradeoff.

If you tell me how many LinkedIn Pages/profiles you manage and whether you also need Instagram/X, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 platforms and compare their actual costs.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: You can schedule posts for both LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs/carousels, and links. Buffer Help Center
• Team approvals: Buffer has built-in draft/approval workflows. You can give marketers “Needs Approval” access while keeping publishing rights with an editor or team lead. Help Center Help Center
• Analytics: It tracks impressions, clicks, reactions, comments, shares, engagement rate, followers, and other LinkedIn performance metrics. Buffer
• Remote-friendly collaboration: Each teammate gets their own login, with channel-level permissions rather than everyone sharing an account. Help Center
• Shared calendar: Everyone can see what's planned and when it is going live, which is particularly useful when the team works asynchronously. Buffer

How I'd set up your five-person team

1 marketing lead: Full access + final approval
3 content marketers: Needs Approval
1 designer/contractor: Draft/content access as needed

That gives you a simple flow:

Draft → internal feedback → approval → scheduled → published → analytics

I’d choose Buffer over Hootsuite for a five-person team unless you need a more enterprise-oriented social-management system. Hootsuite is also strong on LinkedIn scheduling and analytics, but Buffer's combination of straightforward approvals, permissions, and analytics is a particularly good fit for a small remote team. hootsuite.com

Bottom line: Buffer is my pick for your team.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com as the best balance of simplicity, collaboration, LinkedIn support, and cost.

My pick: Buffer

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports text, images, GIFs, PDFs/carousels, video, and link posts. Buffer
• Team approvals: Team members can create drafts and send them through an approval process before publishing. Buffer
• Analytics: Provides LinkedIn impressions, clicks, likes, comments, shares, follower growth, and post/page performance. Buffer
• Remote-friendly: The shared workflow keeps drafting, reviewing, and scheduling in one place rather than relying on Slack/email for approvals.
• Cost: It's considerably more economical for a five-person team than enterprise-oriented tools such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite. Current comparisons put Buffer's paid pricing around the low single-digits per channel/month, versus substantially higher per-user pricing for the enterprise platforms. SaaS Compared Searchlab

How I'd rank the alternatives

Planable is the one I'd consider instead if your five-person team has a particularly rigorous review process. It's built around visual content review, comments, versioning, and multi-step approvals, though its analytics are lighter than the all-in-one enterprise suites. Social Media Dashboard Buffer

Bottom line: Start with Buffer unless you specifically need multi-stage approvals or very sophisticated marketing reporting. For a five-person remote team primarily managing LinkedIn, it avoids paying enterprise-suite prices for functionality you may not use.

buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com as the best balance of scheduling, approvals, collaboration, and analytics.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn alongside other major social networks.
• Team approvals: You can create shared workspaces and approval workflows, so posts can be reviewed before publishing.
• Analytics: Built-in analytics cover post performance and provide insights into what’s working.
• Remote-friendly: The shared calendar/workspace makes it easy for writers, reviewers, and the person publishing to work asynchronously.
• Cost: Considerably less expensive than enterprise-oriented options such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite. Current comparisons put Buffer's paid pricing around $5–$6 per social channel/month, depending on plan/billing. SaaS Compared Buffer

Two alternatives worth considering

• planable.io — I'd choose this if approval and feedback is the biggest pain point. It's specifically designed around content review, inline comments, and multi-step approvals, though its analytics are less comprehensive. Social Media Dashboard
• sproutsocial.com — Best if you need serious reporting, role-based permissions, multi-level approvals, and social intelligence, but it's substantially more expensive and probably overkill for five people. Sprout Social

My pick: Buffer for a typical five-person marketing team; Planable if your workflow involves lots of stakeholder review; Sprout only if analytics/reporting justify a premium platform.

If you tell me your monthly budget and whether you're scheduling LinkedIn company pages, employees' personal profiles, or both, I can narrow it down to the best plan.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer Team as the best balance of simplicity, collaboration, and cost.

🥇 Best fit: Buffer Team

buffer.com supports LinkedIn Pages and profiles, unlimited scheduling, team collaboration, approval workflows, permissions, and analytics. Its Team plan includes unlimited users, so all five teammates can participate without paying per seat. Buffer Buffer

Why I’d pick it:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Plan posts in a shared calendar and schedule them ahead of time.
• Approvals: Assign drafting/review responsibilities and require posts to be approved before publishing. Help Center
• Team of five: Unlimited team members on Team, with access controls for who can work on which channels. Buffer
• Analytics: Track impressions, engagement, follower growth, post performance, and create/export reports. Buffer
• Pricing: Buffer's current Team pricing is $10/month per channel when billed annually (with higher monthly pricing), rather than charging separately for each teammate. Buffer

How I'd compare the alternatives

Hootsuite has particularly strong approval and collaboration functionality on its Advanced plan, along with LinkedIn scheduling and analytics, but it's more oriented toward larger social operations. Hootsuite Hootsuite

Sprout Social is the premium choice if analytics are a major priority. Its Professional tier includes approval workflows and deeper reporting, but it starts at $299/seat/month billed annually—a substantial jump for a five-person team. Sprout Social Sprout Social

Bottom line: For five remote marketers primarily managing LinkedIn, I'd start with Buffer Team. It gives you the shared calendar → draft → approval → scheduling → analytics workflow without the complexity or cost of an enterprise social suite.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer.

buffer.com supports LinkedIn scheduling, team drafts/approvals, permissions, and LinkedIn analytics in one relatively straightforward workspace. Buffer Help Center Help Center

Why Buffer fits a 5-person team

• Scheduling: Plan LinkedIn posts on a shared calendar and schedule text, images, PDFs, videos, carousels, and links. Buffer
• Approvals: Give contributors a Needs Approval role so they create drafts and submit them for review, while designated people approve and schedule them. Help Center Help Center
• Analytics: Track LinkedIn impressions, clicks, engagement, followers, comments, shares, and post-level performance. Help Center
• Remote collaboration: Everyone gets their own login, so you don't have to share credentials. You can also control access by channel. Help Center
• Simple workflow: For example: writer → approver → scheduled → analytics review.

How I'd compare the alternatives

Sprout is particularly strong if you need multi-step approval workflows, sophisticated permissions, external stakeholders, and deeper reporting. Sprout Social Sprout Social Support Hootsuite is also strong for LinkedIn scheduling and analytics, including recommended publishing times. Hootsuite

Bottom line: I'd start with Buffer for five people. It hits your three requirements without forcing a small remote team into an unnecessarily complex social-media suite. If your approval process involves clients or several layers of sign-off, I'd step up to Sprout Social.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

1. Sprout Social — Best overall for a mature marketing workflow

Best if: you want strong approvals, reporting, and room to grow.

Why it fits a 5-person team:

• Shared content calendar for planning campaigns
• Role-based permissions and approval workflows
• Detailed LinkedIn analytics and reporting
• Good audit trail for “who drafted/approved/published what”
• Strong collaboration features for remote teams

Tradeoff: usually one of the more expensive options, especially if you need multiple users.

2. Zoho Social — Best value for a small team

Best if: you want a capable team workflow without enterprise pricing.

Features include:

• Scheduling and publishing calendar
• Team collaboration and approvals
• Custom roles/permissions
• Analytics dashboards and reports Zoho

For five people, this is often the kind of tool that balances cost and functionality well.

3. Buffer — Best for simplicity

Best if: your team mainly needs “draft → review → schedule → measure” without a complex social operations system.

Pros:

• Easy adoption for non-social specialists
• Clean content calendar
• Good for smaller teams managing LinkedIn alongside a few other channels

Tradeoff:

• Approval workflows and reporting depth may feel lighter than enterprise-focused platforms.

4. Hootsuite — Best if LinkedIn is part of a larger social operation

Best if: you manage many channels, stakeholders, or brands.

Strengths:

• Scheduling across many networks
• Team permissions
• Approval workflows
• Analytics/reporting

Tradeoff:

• Can be more platform than a five-person LinkedIn-focused team needs.

5. Ordinal — Best LinkedIn-first option

Best if: LinkedIn is your primary channel (executive thought leadership, company page, employee advocacy).

It focuses heavily on LinkedIn workflows, including drafting, scheduling, collaboration, approvals, and analytics. Ordinal

My recommendation for your exact setup

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d rank them:

1. Zoho Social — best balance of price + approvals + analytics
2. Sprout Social — best if reporting quality and governance matter
3. Ordinal — best if LinkedIn is the main growth channel
4. Buffer — best if you want simplicity
5. Hootsuite — best if you expect to scale into a larger social operation

A workflow I’d aim for:

• Content strategist: creates drafts
• Designer/copywriter: edits assets and copy
• Marketing lead: approves
• Social manager: schedules/publishes
• Analyst: reviews performance monthly

For five remote teammates, I’d avoid tools that only offer a shared calendar but lack approval history—those usually push feedback back into Slack/email threads.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com as the best balance of LinkedIn scheduling, approvals, collaboration, and cost.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule posts through a shared content calendar and manage your LinkedIn publishing alongside other social channels. Buffer Buffer
• Team approvals: Its Team plan lets contributors submit posts for approval, while approvers can edit, approve, or reject them. Buffer
• Good for remote workflows: Shared workspaces, internal notes, permissions, and approval workflows keep review out of scattered Slack/email threads. SaaS Compared
• Analytics: Buffer provides post/channel performance reporting and broader social insights, which should cover most small-team LinkedIn reporting needs. Buffer
• Cost-effective for five people: Buffer's Team pricing is primarily based on connected channels rather than charging five full per-user seats, making it particularly attractive for a small team. SaaS Compared

The alternatives

My pick: Buffer Team. If your workflow is essentially “marketer drafts → teammate/manager reviews → approve → schedule → measure LinkedIn performance,” it should fit very well without imposing the complexity or cost of an enterprise platform.

If approval workflow is the #1 priority, I'd choose Planable instead; if advanced analytics/social listening is the #1 priority, I'd move up to Sprout Social.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Planable if LinkedIn content approval is the priority.

planable.io

Why Planable fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule LinkedIn posts and manage them from a shared content calendar.
• Team approvals: This is Planable’s standout feature. Team members can draft, comment, suggest edits, and approve posts in the same workflow, including multi-step approvals. Social Media Dashboard Buffer
• Remote collaboration: The visual feed makes it easy for a writer, marketer, and manager to review the exact post without passing drafts around Slack/email.
• Analytics: It provides performance reporting, although its analytics are lighter than dedicated analytics-heavy platforms. Social Media Dashboard
• Cost: Paid plans currently start around $33/workspace/month, making it considerably more approachable for a five-person team than enterprise-oriented options. Social Media Dashboard

How I'd rank the alternatives

Buffer is worth considering if you want something simpler: it supports LinkedIn scheduling, team approval, and LinkedIn performance metrics including impressions, clicks, likes, comments, and shares. Buffer Buffer

If your five-person team needs serious reporting for leadership/client presentations, I'd step up to Sprout Social. Its collaborative calendar, multi-level approval workflows, permissions, and deeper analytics are stronger, but you're paying for a substantially more sophisticated platform. sproutsocial.com sproutsocial.com

Bottom line: Planable for the best balance of LinkedIn + approvals + remote teamwork; Sprout Social if analytics are equally important as workflow.

My pick: buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer’s Team plan. It hits the three things you care about without the complexity or enterprise-level overhead of heavier social suites.

• LinkedIn scheduling: Buffer supports scheduling for LinkedIn Pages and profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs, carousels, and link posts. Buffer Buffer
• Team approvals: The Team plan includes unlimited team members, roles/permissions, notes, and approval workflows, so you can have marketers draft while someone else reviews and approves before publishing. Buffer Buffer
• Analytics: You get LinkedIn post/page performance data, including engagement, reactions, comments, audience growth, visibility, and other metrics. Buffer
• Good fit for remote work: The shared calendar, comments/notes, approval flow, and permissions keep feedback inside the platform rather than scattering it across Slack and email. Buffer
• Pricing: Buffer currently lists Team at $10/month per connected channel when billed annually ($12 monthly), with unlimited users. So if you're managing one LinkedIn Page, the software cost can be quite modest. Buffer Buffer

When I'd choose something else

If your team needs very sophisticated reporting, social listening, multiple stakeholders/clients, or complex approval hierarchies, I'd look at sproutsocial.com instead. It has stronger enterprise-oriented workflows and LinkedIn reporting, but is likely overkill for a five-person marketing team. sproutsocial.com sproutsocial.com

Bottom line: Start with Buffer Team. For five people primarily coordinating LinkedIn content, it's probably the best balance of ease of use + approvals + analytics + cost.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling, team approvals, and analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

1. sproutsocial.com — Best overall for a structured marketing team

Best fit if you need a professional workflow with approvals and reporting.

Why it fits a 5-person team:

• Shared content calendar for planning campaigns
• Role-based collaboration and approval workflows
• Strong LinkedIn publishing and performance reporting
• Good analytics for engagement, growth, and campaign measurement
• Better suited if stakeholders (clients, executives, brand leads) need visibility before posts go live

Sprout Social supports collaborative calendars, scheduling, drafts, approvals, and reporting workflows designed for teams managing multiple social profiles. Sprout Social Sprout Social

Choose it if: LinkedIn is a serious acquisition/brand channel and you need accountability.

2. buffer.com — Best value and easiest to adopt

Best fit if your team wants something simple and lightweight.

Strengths:

• Very easy remote collaboration
• LinkedIn scheduling for Pages and profiles
• Drafts, notes, approvals (on team plans)
• Straightforward analytics
• Lower learning curve than enterprise tools

Buffer supports LinkedIn scheduling, analytics, collaboration, and approval workflows for teams. Buffer Buffer

Choose it if: You have five people but a relatively simple approval chain (writer → reviewer → publisher).

3. hootsuite.com — Best for larger-scale social operations

Best fit if LinkedIn is only one part of a broader social strategy.

Strengths:

• Shared calendars
• Approval workflows
• Scheduling across many networks
• Reporting dashboards
• More mature social listening and monitoring options

Hootsuite provides team scheduling, approvals, and analytics capabilities across social channels, including LinkedIn. Hootsuite Hootsuite

Choose it if: Your team manages LinkedIn plus several other channels and needs centralized control.

My recommendation for your exact scenario

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d pick:

1. Sprout Social — if you have budget and want a polished marketing workflow.
2. Buffer Team — if you want the best balance of cost, simplicity, and collaboration.
3. Hootsuite — if you’re operating a multi-channel social program.

A practical workflow would be:

Content creator → Marketing reviewer → Brand/manager approval → Scheduled publishing → Weekly analytics review

For most 5-person teams, Buffer Team is probably the sweet spot, while Sprout Social becomes worthwhile when reporting and governance matter more than simplicity. Buffer Sprout Social

I’d also consider whether you need approvals for LinkedIn company pages only or for employees’ personal LinkedIn profiles—that can change the best choice.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

1. Planable — Best overall for approval workflows

planable.io

Best fit if your team’s biggest challenge is getting posts reviewed and approved quickly. Planable is built around collaboration: drafts, comments, approvals, and publishing are handled in one workspace. It supports LinkedIn scheduling and offers analytics options. PostPlanify Social Media Dashboard

Why it fits a 5-person remote team:

• Excellent draft → review → approval workflow
• Stakeholders can comment directly on posts instead of using Slack/email threads
• Good visual calendar for campaigns
• Easy for non-social teammates (executives, product, sales) to approve content

Potential downside:

• Analytics are not as deep as dedicated enterprise reporting tools. Social Media Dashboard

My pick if: you publish thought leadership, executive posts, product announcements, or anything requiring approvals.

2. Sprout Social — Best analytics and reporting

sproutsocial.com

Best fit if leadership cares about proving LinkedIn ROI. Sprout has strong reporting, social listening, engagement management, and team workflows. CloudTweaks

Strengths:

• Deep LinkedIn performance analytics
• Executive-friendly reports
• Good for tracking engagement trends and audience growth
• Strong permissions and team management

Potential downside:

• Usually more expensive than tools designed for small teams. CloudTweaks

My pick if: your marketing team has a serious reporting requirement or needs to show LinkedIn impact to executives.

3. Agorapulse — Best balance of publishing + engagement

agorapulse.com

Agorapulse combines scheduling, approvals, analytics, and a shared inbox for managing comments and messages. Social Media Dashboard

Strengths:

• Good shared calendar
• Approval workflows
• Analytics and reporting
• Useful if your team also manages LinkedIn conversations

Potential downside:

• Per-user pricing can become expensive as teams grow. Social Media Dashboard

My pick if: your team does both content publishing and community management.

4. Hootsuite — Best if you expect to scale

hootsuite.com

Hootsuite is a mature platform with scheduling, approvals, permissions, and reporting. Postbeam

Strengths:

• Strong governance controls
• Good for multiple brands/accounts
• Lots of integrations

Potential downside:

• Can be overkill for a five-person marketing team focused mainly on LinkedIn. Postbeam

My recommendation for your exact team size

For a 5-person remote marketing team, I’d start with Planable unless analytics are your primary requirement. It matches the day-to-day workflow most small marketing teams struggle with: creating drafts, collecting feedback, getting sign-off, and keeping a consistent LinkedIn publishing cadence. Social Media Dashboard

A practical workflow would be:

1. Content strategist drafts posts
2. Designer/copywriter reviews assets
3. Marketing lead approves
4. Executive/product stakeholder signs off where needed
5. Analytics review happens monthly

That setup usually fits a five-person distributed team well.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Planable.

It’s particularly strong when your workflow is draft → review → approval → schedule, rather than just “queue up posts.” Planable supports LinkedIn, visual previews, comments/suggested edits, version history, and multi-level approval workflows. Social Media Dashboard Buffer

My shortlist

Why I’d pick Planable

• Approvals are the centerpiece: teammates can comment directly on posts, suggest changes, and approve them without messy Slack/email threads. Social Media Dashboard
• Good for remote collaboration: the calendar/feed views give everyone a shared view of what's being prepared and what's approved.
• LinkedIn is supported alongside other major networks. Social Media Dashboard
• Reasonable entry cost: current comparisons put paid plans starting around $33/workspace/month, though pricing can change. Social Media Dashboard
• The tradeoff: its analytics are lighter than Hootsuite or Sprout Social. Buffer

If analytics are just “how did our LinkedIn posts perform?”, Planable is my pick.

If you need serious monthly reporting, benchmarking, and deeper performance analysis, I'd choose Sprout Social instead. Sprout combines multi-level approvals with substantially deeper reporting, but you're paying for a much more extensive social-management suite. Sprout Social

Bottom line: Planable for a five-person remote marketing team; Sprout Social if analytics are a major part of your team's job.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

Sprout Social Buffer## My recommendation: Planable or Sprout Social

Best overall for your scenario: Planable

For a five-person remote marketing team, I’d lean toward Planable if your main pain point is getting posts reviewed and approved without endless Slack threads.

Typical workflow:

1. Copywriter drafts LinkedIn post.
2. Designer attaches creative.
3. Marketing lead comments/requests edits.
4. Manager approves.
5. Scheduler publishes.
6. Team reviews performance afterward.

It is designed around collaborative content review and approvals, which is usually the biggest bottleneck for distributed teams. Sprout Social

Choose Sprout Social if analytics are a priority

Pick Sprout if your team needs:

• Executive-ready LinkedIn reports
• Engagement trends
• Performance comparisons
• More advanced permissions and governance

Sprout is stronger when social performance reporting is tied to business goals, but the cost is typically higher. Sprout Social

A practical stack for a 5-person remote team

• Content manager: drafts posts and maintains calendar
• Subject-matter experts: review LinkedIn copy
• Marketing lead: final approval
• Analyst: reviews monthly performance reports
• Designer: supplies assets

For that structure, I’d rank them:

1. Planable — best balance of approvals + ease of use
2. Sprout Social — best if reporting is mission-critical
3. Hootsuite — best if you manage many channels beyond LinkedIn
4. Buffer — best budget/simple option

Social Media Dashboard BufferIf you tell me your approximate budget (for example, under $100/month, $100–300/month, or enterprise) and whether you manage company pages only or employee LinkedIn profiles too, I can narrow it to one choice.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d shortlist these:

My recommendation

For your setup, I’d choose:

1. Best overall: Sprout Social

Pick this if LinkedIn is a serious growth channel and you need:

• Executive-ready monthly reports
• Clear ownership (writer → reviewer → approver)
• Performance comparisons by post type, campaign, or author
• Room to scale beyond five people

It is the strongest “marketing operations” choice. Sprout Social

2. Best value for a 5-person content team: Planable

Pick this if your workflow looks like:

1. Copywriter drafts post
2. Designer attaches creative
3. Marketing lead comments/edits
4. Manager approves
5. Post publishes

Planable is particularly good when reducing Slack/email approval loops matters more than deep analytics. Social Media Dashboard

3. Best if you also manage many channels: Hootsuite

If LinkedIn is only one part of a wider social program (LinkedIn + Instagram + X + Facebook + monitoring), Hootsuite is a safer all-in-one platform. Searchlab

Suggested setup for your five people

A practical team structure:

• Content creator(s): draft posts and upload assets
• Subject matter experts: comment on accuracy
• Marketing manager: final approval
• Analytics owner: reviews monthly performance

For a five-person remote team, I would avoid a tool where approvals happen through exported spreadsheets or email threads.

My ranking for your exact needs:

1. 🥇 Planable — best workflow fit for a small remote marketing team
2. 🥈 Sprout Social — best if analytics and reporting justify the budget
3. 🥉 Hootsuite — best if you manage many channels
4. Buffer — best budget/simple option

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g., under $100/month, $100–300/month, or enterprise) and whether you post from company pages, employee profiles, or both, I can narrow it to one choice.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend buffer.com as the best overall fit.

Why Buffer

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs/carousels, and link posts. Buffer Buffer
• Team approvals: You can give team members a “Needs Approval” role, so they can draft and submit posts while an admin approves them before publication. Buffer
• Remote collaboration: Everyone gets their own login, with channel-level permissions rather than sharing credentials. It also has comments/feedback and a shared content calendar. Buffer Buffer
• Analytics: LinkedIn reporting covers impressions, clicks, reactions, comments, shares, engagements, engagement rate, follower growth, and more. Buffer Buffer
• Good scale for five people: It gives you the collaboration features you'd actually need without being as enterprise-oriented as some larger social suites.

One alternative worth considering

If your team needs much deeper reporting, benchmarking, audience analysis, and more sophisticated approval workflows, I'd look at sproutsocial.com. Its LinkedIn integration specifically includes publishing, team permissions, approval workflows, and detailed Page analytics. sproutsocial.com

My pick: Buffer for a five-person team that wants a straightforward workflow:
Writer → draft → reviewer approval → scheduled LinkedIn post → shared analytics.

If LinkedIn is only one part of a broader multi-channel operation, Sprout Social becomes more compelling.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + approvals + analytics, I’d prioritize a platform with a shared calendar, clear review workflows, and reporting that doesn’t require exporting everything manually.

My top recommendation:

Best overall: Planable

planable.io

Why it fits a 5-person remote team:

• Strong approval workflows (draft → review → approve → publish)
• Comments and feedback directly on posts (less back-and-forth in Slack/email)
• Visual LinkedIn post previews
• Shared content calendar for distributed teams
• Good permissions for writers, editors, managers, and approvers

Trade-off: analytics are not its strongest area compared with dedicated reporting platforms; you may need an analytics add-on or another reporting workflow. PostPlanify

Best if your team’s biggest pain is: “Who approved this post, and where is the latest version?”

Best if analytics matter most: Sprout Social

sproutsocial.com

Strengths:

• Deep reporting and dashboards
• Team workflows and approvals
• Good for measuring content performance over time
• Better fit if LinkedIn is part of a broader social strategy

Trade-off: usually more expensive than smaller-team tools, so it may be more platform than you need for only five people. Brandwatch

Best if your team’s biggest pain is: “We need executive-level reporting.”

Best budget/simple option: Buffer

buffer.com

Strengths:

• Easy scheduling
• Clean interface for remote teams
• Good for a lightweight content calendar
• Lower complexity than enterprise tools

Trade-off: approval workflows and analytics are less robust than platforms built specifically for larger marketing operations. Cleverly

Best if your team’s biggest pain is: “We just need everyone aligned and posting consistently.”

My shortlist for your situation

hootsuite.com is another established option, but for a five-person team it may be heavier and more expensive than necessary. PostPlanify

My pick

For a five-person remote marketing team, I’d start with Planable if your workflow involves approvals from managers, executives, or clients. If reporting to leadership is the priority, choose Sprout Social instead.

Before committing, I’d test:

1. A week of LinkedIn drafts with all five teammates involved.
2. One approval cycle with comments/revisions.
3. A monthly analytics report export.

That will reveal more than a feature comparison.

My shortlist for your situation

hootsuite.com is another established option, but for a five-person team it may be heavier and more expensive than necessary. PostPlanify

My pick

My pick: buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d start with Buffer’s Team/paid collaboration setup. It hits the sweet spot between ease of use and the workflow you described:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn text, images, GIFs, PDFs, videos, links, and carousels. Buffer
• Team approvals: Team members can create drafts and route them for review/approval before publishing, which works well for a distributed team. Buffer Buffer
• Analytics: LinkedIn reporting includes impressions, clicks, followers, likes, comments, shares, and other performance metrics. Buffer
• Remote-friendly: Everyone can work from the same content calendar rather than passing posts around in Slack or spreadsheets.
• Cost: It is substantially cheaper than enterprise-oriented options. Current comparisons put Buffer's paid plans at roughly $5–$12 per social channel/month, depending on plan and billing. SaaS Compared Buffer

When I'd choose something else

Bottom line: For five marketers primarily coordinating LinkedIn content remotely, I'd trial Buffer first. If your approval process is something like writer → marketing manager → legal → executive, skip straight to Sprout Social, because its workflow controls are considerably more sophisticated. Sprout Social Sprout Social

buffer.com

Recommendation: buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d pick Buffer’s Team plan. It hits your three requirements without the complexity or cost of enterprise-oriented platforms.

• LinkedIn scheduling: Buffer supports LinkedIn scheduling, including LinkedIn Pages/profiles and document/PDF posts. Buffer
• Team approvals: The Team plan includes approval workflows, access levels, permissions, and collaboration notes, so marketers can draft while a manager reviews before publishing. Buffer Buffer
• Analytics: It includes advanced analytics, extended date ranges, custom metric sets, and reporting. Buffer
• Five-person team: Team has unlimited users, so you don't have to buy five separate seats. Buffer
• Remote-friendly: The shared calendar, drafts, notes, and approval workflow give everyone a common asynchronous workflow rather than relying on Slack/email for sign-offs.

Cost

Buffer currently lists the Team plan at $12/month per social channel when billed monthly, or $10/month per channel when billed annually. So if LinkedIn is your only channel, that's roughly $12/month for the whole five-person team on monthly billing. Buffer Buffer

What I'd choose instead

If your team needs very sophisticated analytics, competitive benchmarking, multiple approval stages, or extensive social-listening/customer-care features, I'd look at sproutsocial.com. Its Professional plan has multi-approver workflows and much deeper reporting, but at $299/user/month billed annually, it's dramatically more expensive for a five-person team. sproutsocial.com support.sproutsocial.com

Bottom line: For a five-person remote marketing team primarily wanting LinkedIn + scheduling + approvals + useful analytics, Buffer is the best value and the one I'd start with.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

postplanify.com

My recommendation for your five-person remote team

Pick Planable if LinkedIn content needs review before publishing.
A typical workflow would be:

1. Copywriter drafts the LinkedIn post
2. Designer attaches creative assets
3. Marketing lead comments/requests edits
4. Manager approves
5. Scheduler publishes
6. Team reviews performance data

That approval flow is where Planable tends to stand out: it is built around content collaboration rather than just being a posting queue. postplanify.com

Choose Buffer instead if:

• Your team is small and fast-moving
• Only one person usually approves content
• You mainly need a calendar and reliable scheduling
• You also manage Instagram, X, Facebook, etc.

Buffer is simpler and often easier for teams that do not need complex review chains. www.liniest.com

Choose Hootsuite or Sprout Social if:

• You report LinkedIn performance to executives or clients
• You need deeper analytics dashboards
• You manage multiple brands/accounts
• You need stronger permissions and governance

They are more powerful, but may be more platform than a five-person team needs. postplanify.com

A practical stack for your team size

• Best overall: Planable + LinkedIn native analytics
• Best budget option: Buffer
• Best analytics-heavy option: Sprout Social
• Best enterprise/process option: Hootsuite

Before committing, I’d test one month with your actual workflow: create 10–20 posts, run them through approvals, and export a performance report. The friction usually appears in approvals and collaboration—not in the scheduling itself.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend hootsuite.com.

Why it fits your requirements:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Strong scheduling and a visual content calendar, including LinkedIn post previews and recommended publishing times. Hootsuite
• Team approvals: Supports approval workflows where posts can be assigned to reviewers, with approval history. Searchlab
• Analytics: Provides post-level metrics such as impressions, reach, engagement rate, clicks and shares, plus more customizable dashboards on higher tiers. Searchlab
• Remote collaboration: Everyone can work from a shared calendar rather than passing drafts around Slack/email.
• Room to grow: It handles multiple social networks if your team eventually expands beyond LinkedIn. Sprout Social

Two alternatives worth considering

My pick: Hootsuite if approval governance is important. Buffer is the better choice if your five-person team mainly needs a lightweight calendar and straightforward analytics; its Team workflow lets contributors submit posts for approval before scheduling. buffer.com

If LinkedIn is your only important channel, I’d also consider a LinkedIn-specialist platform rather than paying for a broad social suite.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d prioritize a collaboration-first social media management platform rather than a creator-only scheduler. My top recommendation:

Best overall: Planable

PostPlanifyWhy it fits a 5-person remote team:

• Strong approval workflows — draft → comment → revise → approve → publish flows work well when managers, brand leads, or executives need sign-off. PostPlanify
• Shared content calendar — everyone can see upcoming LinkedIn posts and campaign timing. PostPlanify
• Post previews — useful for catching formatting issues before publishing to LinkedIn. PostPlanify
• Unlimited collaborators on paid plans (helpful if you occasionally bring in executives or clients for approvals). PostPlanify

Best for: a marketing team where content quality control matters more than having the deepest possible social listening.

Other strong options

Buffer — best simple/low-maintenance option

CleverlyGood if your workflow is:

1. Content writer drafts posts
2. Marketing lead reviews
3. Posts get scheduled

Pros:

• Easy learning curve
• Clean scheduling calendar
• Good for small teams managing multiple channels

Tradeoff:

• Approval workflows and enterprise-style governance are less robust than dedicated collaboration tools. Cleverly

Hootsuite — best if analytics and reporting are the priority

Influencer Marketing Hub BrandwatchGood for teams that need:

• More advanced reporting
• Multiple social networks beyond LinkedIn
• Monitoring and inbox management

Tradeoff:

• Usually more expensive and may feel heavy for a five-person marketing team. Influencer Marketing Hub

Loomly — best middle ground

Influencer Marketing HubGood fit if you want:

• A visual content calendar
• Collaboration
• Approval steps
• Multi-channel planning

It’s often a nice fit for marketing teams that are growing but don’t need enterprise tooling.

My shortlist for your team

For a five-person remote marketing team, I’d start with Planable if approvals are a daily reality. If your team mostly self-publishes and just needs organization, Buffer or Loomly will likely be faster and cheaper. PostPlanify Influencer Marketing Hub

For a 5-person remote marketing team, I’d recommend Hootsuite.

Why it fits your requirements:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn publishing with a visual calendar and best-time-to-publish recommendations. www.hootsuite.com
• Team approvals: Its team workflow supports assigning posts to reviewers and approval histories, which is useful when writers/designers and a marketing lead are working asynchronously. searchlab.nlwww.itechguides.combuffer.com
• Analytics: Provides post-level metrics and customizable analytics dashboards, so your team can see which LinkedIn content is actually performing. searchlab.nl
• Good for remote collaboration: You can centralize the content calendar rather than coordinating approvals through Slack/email.
• Room to grow: It supports broader social management if you eventually add Instagram, Facebook, X, etc.

My shortlist

Sprout Social is worth considering if analytics and sophisticated approval workflows are more important than price; it has particularly strong collaboration and reporting capabilities. searchlab.nlwww.itechguides.combuffer.com

Buffer is the cheaper, simpler alternative, but its team/approval workflow is relatively basic compared with Hootsuite and Sprout. searchlab.nlwww.itechguides.combuffer.com

Bottom line: For five people working remotely and specifically needing LinkedIn + scheduling + approvals + analytics, I'd start by trialing Hootsuite. If your team is heavily data-driven and willing to pay more, trial Sprout Social alongside it.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer.

Why it fits particularly well:

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule posts to both LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs, and carousels. buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Team approvals: Team members can create drafts and submit them for approval, while an editor/admin controls what gets published. Buffer also has a centralized Approvals view, which is handy for a distributed team. support.buffer.comsupport.buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Analytics: Paid plans provide advanced LinkedIn Page analytics, including engagement, impressions, clicks, shares, and engagement rate, plus reporting/export capabilities. support.buffer.comsupport.buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Simple remote workflow: Each person gets their own login and appropriate permissions, so you don't have to share credentials. support.buffer.comsupport.buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Good fit for a five-person team: It's less heavyweight than enterprise-oriented social suites while still giving you calendar → draft → approval → publishing → reporting in one system.

One alternative worth considering

Sprout Social is the better choice if your team needs more sophisticated governance, reporting, and stakeholder workflows. It supports LinkedIn scheduling, role-based permissions, approval workflows, shared calendars, audit trails, and recurring reports. sproutsocial.com

My pick: Buffer for a five-person team that wants something straightforward and cost-conscious; Sprout if you're managing a larger/complex content operation or reporting heavily to clients/executives.

If LinkedIn is the primary channel, I'd start with Buffer.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer, specifically its Team plan.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, with unlimited scheduled posts on paid plans. support.buffer.combuffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Team collaboration: The Team plan includes unlimited users, access levels, internal notes, and content approval workflows, so your five-person team can draft → review → approve → publish without relying on Slack/email. support.buffer.combuffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Analytics: You get post performance, engagement, impressions, follower growth, campaign/tag analytics, and exportable reports. Advanced LinkedIn analytics are available for LinkedIn Pages. support.buffer.combuffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Good economics for a small team: Buffer charges by connected channel rather than per team member. Its current Team pricing is $12/month per channel when billed monthly, or $10/month per channel on annual billing, with unlimited users. support.buffer.combuffer.comsupport.buffer.com

How I'd compare the alternatives

Hootsuite does offer sophisticated approval workflows and analytics, but its Standard/Advanced plans are positioned more toward broader, larger-scale social operations. www.hootsuite.com Sprout is even more enterprise-oriented; its Professional plan is currently listed at $299/user/month when billed annually. www.g2.com

Bottom line: For five remote marketers primarily managing LinkedIn plus potentially other social channels, Buffer Team gives you the best balance of scheduling, approvals, analytics, and cost. I'd only move to Hootsuite or Sprout if you need sophisticated social listening, competitor benchmarking, or enterprise governance.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Hootsuite.

Why it fits your requirements:

Hootsuite specifically supports LinkedIn scheduling with a visual content calendar and LinkedIn analytics, including best-time-to-publish insights. www.hootsuite.com Its team plans also provide approval workflows, roles/permissions, assignments, and more advanced reporting. searchlab.nl

My shortlist

1. Hootsuite — best overall for your team
Best if you want a mature workflow where one person creates a LinkedIn post, another reviews it, and the approved version gets scheduled. It's particularly attractive if you're also managing Instagram, Facebook, X, etc. stackbriefly.com

2. Sprout Social — best analytics
I'd choose this if reporting is a major priority. It offers multi-level approval workflows, role-based permissions, collaborative calendars, and significantly deeper analytics. sproutsocial.com The tradeoff is cost: it's positioned toward larger/more sophisticated teams. searchlab.nl

3. Buffer — best budget/simple option
Great if your team wants an easy scheduler without a lot of complexity. It supports LinkedIn and team approvals, but its collaboration/approval system is more basic and its analytics aren't as deep as Hootsuite or Sprout. searchlab.nl

What I'd pick

Hootsuite is the sweet spot for five people: robust enough for a real approval process and reporting workflow without jumping all the way to an enterprise-oriented platform.

A sensible workflow would be:

Writer → Editor/SME approval → Marketing lead approval → Schedule → Weekly analytics review

If LinkedIn is your only channel and you're mainly publishing thought-leadership posts, I'd also consider a LinkedIn-focused tool rather than paying for a broad social suite.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Sprout Social as the best overall fit.

Why Sprout Social

• LinkedIn scheduling: You can draft, schedule, and queue LinkedIn Company Page posts from a shared publishing calendar. sproutsocial.comsproutsocial.com
• Team approvals: It supports role-based permissions and approval workflows, so you can have marketers create content while a lead/manager reviews it before publishing. sproutsocial.com
• Analytics: Strong LinkedIn reporting covering page growth, engagement, publishing performance, audience demographics, and paid vs. organic performance. sproutsocial.com
• Remote-friendly workflow: The shared calendar, permissions, audit trail, asset library, and shareable reports are particularly useful when people aren't working in the same office. sproutsocial.comsproutsocial.com
• Room to grow: It works well if LinkedIn is only one part of your social strategy; you can manage multiple networks from the same system.

Two alternatives worth considering

My pick: If your five-person team has a real editorial process—e.g. writer → marketing lead → scheduled post—go with Sprout Social. If you mainly want straightforward scheduling and approvals without a heavyweight social-management platform, Buffer is probably the better value.

If you tell me your approximate monthly budget (e.g. <$100, $100–300, $300+), I can narrow this down to the best plan for five users.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer as the best balance of ease, collaboration, and cost.

Buffer

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule posts to both LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs, carousels, and links. buffer.com
• Team approvals: Team members can create drafts, assign approval requirements, reject posts with feedback, and approve everything from a centralized approvals view. support.buffer.com
• Good remote-team permissions: You can give people different access levels and control who can approve posts. support.buffer.com
• Analytics: LinkedIn Page analytics include impressions, engagement, clicks, followers, shares, and engagement rate, with more advanced analytics on paid plans. buffer.com
• Relatively lightweight: Buffer is designed for small teams, whereas heavier enterprise platforms can be overkill for five marketers. Buffer's current comparison lists it at $5/month per channel starting price, versus $199/month per seat for Sprout Social. buffer.com

One alternative worth considering

Sprout Social is the better choice if your team needs more sophisticated reporting, role-based permissions, multi-level approvals, campaign management, or extensive social listening. Its LinkedIn integration specifically supports publishing, approval workflows, permissions, and detailed Page analytics. sproutsocial.com

Sprout Social

My pick: Start with Buffer for a five-person remote team. Move to Sprout Social if reporting/governance becomes a major part of your workflow.

If you tell me your approximate monthly budget and whether you're managing just LinkedIn or LinkedIn + other social channels, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer as the best balance of ease, collaboration, and cost.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports both LinkedIn Pages and personal profiles, including text, images, video, PDFs, and carousels. buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Team approvals: Buffer’s Team plan includes formal draft approval workflows. You can designate who requires approval and centralize posts awaiting approval. support.buffer.com
• Permissions: Team members can have different access levels, so you can separate content creators from final approvers. support.buffer.com
• Analytics: Paid plans provide LinkedIn Page analytics including impressions, engagement, shares, and engagement rate; advanced analytics are available for Pages. buffer.comsupport.buffer.com
• Good for remote work: The shared calendar, drafts, approval queue, and channel-specific permissions mean you don't need to coordinate everything through Slack or spreadsheets.

How I'd structure your 5-person team

3 content creators → 1 marketing lead → 1 analytics/strategy person

Creators submit posts as drafts → marketing lead approves → Buffer schedules/publishes → analytics person reviews performance and reports back.

If your team manages lots of clients, complex approval chains, or sophisticated reporting, I'd look at Sprout Social instead. It has more advanced permissions, approval workflows, reporting, and team governance, but is generally a heavier platform. sproutsocial.com

Runner-up: Hootsuite — strong LinkedIn scheduling and analytics, particularly if you're managing many social networks alongside LinkedIn. www.hootsuite.com

My pick: Buffer for a five-person team unless you specifically need enterprise-grade reporting/workflows.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer.

Buffer

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: You can schedule LinkedIn posts and manage them through a visual content calendar. buffer.com
• Team approvals: Its Team plan includes unlimited team members, access levels, and content approval workflows, so you can have marketers draft posts while a manager reviews/approves them. buffer.com
• Analytics: Team includes advanced analytics, custom analytics, takeaways, reports, and branded reporting. buffer.com
• Remote-friendly: Comments/notes and permission controls make it practical when people aren't working synchronously. buffer.com
• Good economics for a five-person team: Buffer's Team plan is currently listed at $10/month per channel when billed annually, with unlimited team members. buffer.com

How I'd compare the alternatives

Hootsuite offers strong LinkedIn scheduling and analytics, but its current plans are substantially more expensive. www.hootsuite.com Sprout is similarly powerful, particularly for reporting and LinkedIn management, but is generally positioned at a higher price point. sproutsocial.com

Bottom line: If your workflow is roughly “marketer drafts → teammate/manager reviews → approve → schedule → measure results,” Buffer Team is probably the best balance of simplicity, collaboration, and cost for five people. buffer.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Sprout Social if team approvals and reporting are genuinely important.

Why Sprout Social fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Draft, schedule, and queue LinkedIn posts from a shared content calendar. sproutsocial.com
• Team approvals: You can create multi-step, multi-user approval workflows, so posts can move from writer → reviewer → final approver without relying on Slack/email. support.sproutsocial.comsupport.sproutsocial.com
• Permissions: Assign different publishing/reporting permissions based on each teammate's role. sproutsocial.comsupport.sproutsocial.com
• Analytics: Stronger reporting than LinkedIn's native scheduler, including post/Page performance and audience engagement insights. sproutsocial.com
• Remote-friendly workflow: The shared calendar and approval history give everyone visibility into what's drafted, waiting for approval, scheduled, and published.

Two alternatives worth considering

My pick: Sprout Social if the five-person team needs a real editorial process. If you're primarily looking for “one person creates → another approves → it automatically posts → everyone can see the results,” it's particularly well suited.

One caveat: Sprout's more sophisticated approval workflows are tied to its Professional and Advanced plans, so I'd verify the current plan/user pricing before committing. support.sproutsocial.comsupport.sproutsocial.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Planable.

Why Planable is the best fit

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn personal profiles and company pages, including scheduling posts, PDFs/carousels, and first comments. help.planable.io
• Team approvals: This is where Planable stands out. You can have drafts reviewed, commented on, and approved before publishing. Its Pro plan includes required approvals, while Enterprise adds multi-level approval chains. help.planable.io
• Remote collaboration: Comments, annotations, internal notes, and approval status all live alongside the post, which is much cleaner than coordinating reviews through Slack/email. planable.io
• Analytics: Its LinkedIn analytics cover impressions, engagement, clicks/CTR, follower growth, reach, and post-level performance; analytics are an add-on. help.planable.io
• Good economics for five people: Planable's pricing is per workspace rather than per user, with unlimited users. The Pro plan is currently $49/workspace/month and includes required approvals; analytics is an additional $12/workspace/month according to the current pricing page. planable.io

Planable

How I'd set it up

Content creator → Marketing lead → Final approver → Auto-schedule

Everyone works from the same calendar. Writers create drafts, the marketing lead leaves comments/edits, the designated approver gives the green light, and approved posts can automatically enter the publishing schedule. help.planable.io

Runner-up: Hootsuite

If your team needs deeper analytics, social listening, or a broader social-management/inbox platform, I'd consider Hootsuite instead. Its Team offering includes approval workflows, team permissions, and custom analytics, but it's substantially more expensive for a five-person team. searchlab.nl

Bottom line: For a five-person remote team primarily focused on LinkedIn + collaborative content review + straightforward analytics, I'd choose Planable. If analytics/social listening are more important than ease of collaboration, look at Hootsuite or Sprout Social. taqtics.com

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer.

Why Buffer fits

• LinkedIn scheduling: Supports LinkedIn publishing alongside other major social channels. buffer.com
• Team collaboration: Its Team plan includes unlimited team members, access levels, internal notes, and content approval workflows, so your five-person team can draft → review → approve without passing files around. buffer.com
• Analytics: Includes post performance, engagement, impressions, follower growth, reach, engagement rate, date-range comparisons, custom analytics, and report exports. buffer.com
• Good fit for remote work: The shared calendar and approval workflow give everyone a single place to see what's being proposed, what's awaiting approval, and what's scheduled.

The main reason I'd choose it over Sprout Social: cost. Buffer's Team plan is currently $10/month for one channel when billed annually, with unlimited team members; pricing scales by connected channel. buffer.com By comparison, Sprout Social's Professional plan is $299/user/month billed annually, so five users would be a much larger investment. sproutsocial.com

When I'd choose Sprout instead

If your team needs much deeper reporting, competitive analysis, social listening, or sophisticated multi-approver workflows, Sprout Social is the stronger enterprise-grade option. Its Professional plan specifically supports custom workflows with multiple approvers and advanced reporting. support.sproutsocial.com

Bottom line: For a five-person remote marketing team primarily needing LinkedIn + scheduling + approvals + useful analytics without an enterprise price tag, Buffer is my pick.

For a remote marketing team of five, I’d recommend Buffer as the best balance of simplicity, collaboration, and cost.

Why Buffer fits your team

• LinkedIn scheduling: Schedule posts in advance and manage your LinkedIn publishing calendar from one place.
• Team approvals: Buffer’s Team plan includes approval workflows, so writers can prepare posts while another teammate reviews/approves them before publication. buffer.com
• Analytics: Provides post and channel performance analytics without requiring a heavyweight enterprise platform.
• Remote-friendly: A shared calendar and approval workflow make it easy to see what's drafted, awaiting review, approved, or scheduled.
• Cost: Buffer's Team plan is currently listed at $12 per channel/month, with unlimited users and approval workflows. buffer.com

How I'd compare the main options

Hootsuite's Team offering is designed around approvals, roles and permissions, while Sprout Social is particularly strong in analytics and collaboration—but both are positioned further upmarket. searchlab.nl

My pick: Start with Buffer Team if your primary workflow is create → review → approve → schedule → measure. If your five-person team needs multiple layers of approval, detailed content feedback, or client/executive sign-off, I'd look closely at Planable instead; it's particularly focused on collaborative content approval. www.reddit.com

If you tell me your approximate monthly budget and whether you're scheduling only LinkedIn or other channels too, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + team approvals + analytics, I’d prioritize a platform with a shared content calendar, permission controls, approval workflows, and reporting—not just a basic scheduler. www.socialautopost.com

My top picks:

My recommendation for your team

Start with Buffer if your workflow is:

1. Marketing lead drafts posts
2. 1–2 teammates review
3. Someone schedules and checks results weekly

It’s likely enough for a five-person remote team without adding unnecessary complexity. www.techradar.com

Choose Hootsuite instead if you need:

• formal approval chains (e.g., writer → manager → legal/client)
• role-based permissions
• multiple LinkedIn pages/accounts
• executive reporting dashboards

www.getcreator.io

Choose Sprout Social if analytics are the main reason you’re buying a tool (campaign attribution, benchmarking, executive reports). www.techradar.com

For a typical 5-person marketing team, my shortlist would be:

1. Buffer — best value/simple setup
2. Hootsuite — best workflow controls
3. Sprout Social — best analytics depth

If you tell me your approximate budget (e.g., <$50/mo, $50–200/mo, $200+/mo) and whether you post from company pages, employee profiles, or both, I can narrow it to one.

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + approval workflows + analytics, I’d shortlist these:

My pick for your situation:

1. Choose Sprout Social if LinkedIn is a serious growth channel and you need a clean review process:
   • Writer creates draft
   • Marketing lead reviews
   • Brand/legal stakeholder approves
   • Scheduler publishes
   • Team reviews performance

2. Choose Buffer if you’re a lean team and the main goal is “stop chasing approvals in Slack and keep a calendar.” It will likely be easier for five remote teammates to adopt. support.buffer.comsproutsocial.com

3. Choose Hootsuite if you expect to expand beyond LinkedIn into many channels, regions, or larger stakeholder groups. www.linkedin.com

For a five-person remote marketing team, I’d probably run a trial of Sprout Social vs Buffer first: Sprout for workflow depth, Buffer for simplicity and cost control. support.buffer.comsproutsocial.com

A few evaluation questions before committing:

• Do you need approvals from people outside marketing (executives, clients, legal)?
• Are you scheduling company pages only, or also employee/personal LinkedIn profiles?
• Do you need analytics for content optimization (engagement trends, best posting times) or just monthly reporting?

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn scheduling + approval workflows + analytics, I’d shortlist these platforms:

My recommendation

For your specific setup, I’d pick:

1. Planable — if approvals are the biggest pain point.
A five-person remote team usually benefits from having one shared calendar where someone can draft, another person can leave comments, and a final approver can sign off before publishing. postplanify.com

2. Buffer — if you want something lightweight and affordable.
Choose this if your team already has a clear approval process in Slack/Notion and mainly needs scheduling plus basic reporting. www.techradar.com

3. Hootsuite or Sprout Social — if you manage multiple channels, executives’ accounts, or need deeper reporting dashboards. www.techradar.comwww.techradar.com

A practical workflow for five people would be:

• Content strategist creates drafts
• Designer attaches assets
• Marketing lead reviews/edits
• Brand owner approves
• Scheduler publishes
• Analytics owner reviews monthly performance

If LinkedIn is your primary channel (especially B2B/founder thought leadership) rather than one of many social channels, I’d lean toward a LinkedIn-focused workflow tool rather than a large social suite. www.postbeam.ai

For a remote marketing team of five that needs LinkedIn post scheduling, approval workflows, and analytics, I'd narrow it to these options:

My recommendation

For a five-person remote marketing team, Sprout Social is probably the best fit if your budget allows.

Why:

• Clear draft → review → approval workflow
• Role-based permissions so only approved posts publish
• Shared content calendar
• Detailed LinkedIn performance reporting
• Easy collaboration without relying on email or spreadsheets
• Scales well if your team grows beyond five people. www.techradar.com

If cost is a bigger concern, I'd recommend Hootsuite next. It offers:

• Content scheduling
• Review and approval workflows
• LinkedIn publishing
• Team assignments
• Comprehensive analytics at a lower price point than Sprout Social, though the interface has a steeper learning curve. www.linkedin.com

If you're trying to keep costs as low as possible, Buffer is an excellent choice. It has one of the simplest interfaces and solid analytics, but its collaboration and approval features are less extensive than Sprout Social or Hootsuite. www.techradar.com

For a remote team of five, I'd summarize it like this:

• Best overall: Sprout Social
• Best balance of features and price: Hootsuite
• Best budget option: Buffer
• Best value for agencies/small businesses: SocialPilot www.techradar.com

For a remote marketing team of five that primarily needs LinkedIn post scheduling, team approvals, and analytics, my top recommendation is:

1. SocialPilot ⭐ Best overall value

Why it fits:

• Native scheduling for LinkedIn and other major social platforms
• Built-in approval workflows so drafts can be reviewed before publishing
• Role-based collaboration for distributed teams
• Analytics and reporting for engagement and post performance
• Generally more affordable than enterprise-focused alternatives while still offering team features. www.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.comwww.techradar.comwww.techradar.com

Best if: You want a balance of collaboration, reporting, and cost.

2. Sprout Social

Strengths:

• Excellent analytics and reporting
• Sophisticated approval workflows
• Strong collaboration tools
• Premium user experience

Downside:

• One of the more expensive options, which can be hard to justify for a five-person team unless advanced reporting is a priority. www.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.comwww.techradar.comwww.techradar.com

Best if: Analytics are your highest priority and budget is less of a concern.

3. Hootsuite

Strengths:

• Mature scheduling platform
• Team permissions and approvals
• Robust analytics
• Large integration ecosystem

Downside:

• Higher pricing and a steeper learning curve than many competitors. www.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.comwww.techradar.comwww.techradar.com

Best if: Your team expects to grow or needs many integrations.

4. Buffer

Strengths:

• Very easy to learn
• Reliable LinkedIn scheduling
• Good basic analytics
• Affordable

Downside:

• Collaboration and approval features are more limited compared with SocialPilot or Sprout Social. www.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.comwww.techradar.comwww.techradar.com

Best if: Simplicity is more important than advanced workflows.

Recommendation summary

For a five-person remote marketing team, SocialPilot offers the best combination of scheduling, approval workflows, analytics, and pricing. If your team later needs deeper reporting, social listening, or customer engagement features, Sprout Social is the natural upgrade.

For a remote marketing team of five that primarily needs LinkedIn scheduling, team approvals, and analytics, I'd narrow it to these options:

My recommendation

For a fully remote team of five, urlSocialPilotturn0search1 is probably the best fit.

It offers:

• Shared content calendar
• Approval workflows so posts can be reviewed before publishing
• Role-based permissions for marketers and managers
• LinkedIn company page scheduling
• Performance analytics and reporting
• Collaboration features without enterprise-level pricing www.techradar.comwww.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.com

If approvals are your biggest challenge

If your workflow involves multiple reviewers, comments, and revisions before anything goes live, Planable is particularly strong. It emphasizes visual post previews, inline comments, approval stages, and an intuitive content calendar that many distributed marketing teams appreciate. planable.io

If you need executive-level reporting

If you'll regularly present results to leadership or clients, Sprout Social provides richer analytics, reporting, and benchmarking than most competitors, though it comes at a noticeably higher subscription cost. www.techradar.comwww.socialpilot.cowww.techradar.com

For most remote teams of five, I'd rank them:

1. urlSocialPilotturn0search1 — best value and feature balance
2. Planable — best collaboration and approvals
3. Sprout Social — best analytics
4. Buffer — best for simplicity
5. Hootsuite — best for larger organizations with bigger budgets