Buffer

Social media scheduling and management software for small businesses, creators and individuals.

Social mediaSaaSRemote workOpen startupBootstrapped growth

Active^{Source [1]}^{Source [7]}Last verified Oct 2, 2026

About Buffer

Buffer lets users plan, schedule and publish posts to networks including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and Mastodon, with analytics, community engagement, a link in bio Start Page and an AI assistant.^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}

It began as a Startup Sprint project in November 2010 and grew from a Twitter only scheduler into a broader social media toolkit for small businesses, creators and individuals.^{Source [1]}

Buffer is an open company: since 2013 it has shared its finances, salary formula and every team member's salary, and its public metrics page shows live ARR, MRR, customers and churn. On October 2, 2026 it showed $26.87 million ARR and 82,077 customers. The whole team works a four day week.^{Source [1]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [7]}

After a 2014 Series A it chose profitable, slower growth over a venture path, buying back most Series A shares in 2018. Joel Gascoigne remains CEO and wrote in 2018 that he owned over 45 percent of the stock.^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]}

Watch

Getting Started with Buffer Tutorial by Buffer on YouTube

What happened

Joel Gascoigne started Buffer in late 2010 to schedule tweets; it joined AngelPad in 2011, raised a $3.5 million Series A in 2014 and went through layoffs and a co-founder departure before returning to profitability. In 2018 it spent $3.3 million buying out its main VC investors. It is independent, remote and publishes its revenue and salaries.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}

Timeline

2026-10Public dashboard showed $26.87 million ARR, the highest figure in its history on the dashboard.^{Source [7]}
2020-06Retired Reply, the product built from Respondly.^{Source [9]}
2018-07Spent $3.3 million buying back Series A shares from seven investors.^{Source [2]}^{Source [10]}
2017Co-founder Leo Widrich and CTO Sunil Sadasivan left the company.^{Source [2]}
2015-12Acquired Respondly and rebranded it Buffer Reply.^{Source [11]}^{Source [12]}
2015Rapid hiring led to cash shortfalls and a round of layoffs to restore profitability.^{Source [2]}
2014-12Raised a $3.5 million Series A led by Collaborative Fund.^{Source [2]}
2013-10A security breach let attackers post spam through users' linked Twitter and Facebook accounts; Buffer paused sharing and said passwords and billing data were not exposed.^{Source [13]}^{Source [14]}
2013Began publishing salaries and finances and gave up office space to become fully remote.^{Source [1]}^{Source [8]}
2011-12Raised a $330,000 seed round.^{Source [2]}
2011-08Accepted into AngelPad with a $120,000 investment.^{Source [2]}
2010-11Launched as a Startup Sprint project for scheduling tweets.^{Source [1]}^{Source [5]}

Products and brands

Publish: Plan and schedule content across social networks.^{Source [7]}
Create: Library of content ideas.^{Source [7]}
Insights: Performance analytics.^{Source [7]}
Community: Engagement with comments and followers.^{Source [7]}
Start Page: Link in bio page builder.^{Source [7]}
AI Assistant: Help writing and repurposing posts.^{Source [7]}
Buffer API and Social Media MCP: Programmatic and AI agent access to Buffer.^{Source [7]}
Reply (retired): Social customer service tool from the Respondly acquisition, sunset June 2020.^{Source [9]}

How it makes money: Free and paid subscription plans; the public dashboard reports average revenue per user of $27.22 (October 2026).^{Source [7]}^{Source [5]}

Leadership

Joel Gascoigne	CEO and Co-Founder^{Source [1]}	Since 2010
Carolyn Kopprasch	Chief of Staff^{Source [1]}
Jenny Terry	VP of Finance and Operations^{Source [1]}
Åsa Nyström	VP of Customer Advocacy^{Source [1]}

Funding and financials

ARR (public open dashboard): $26.87 million (October 2, 2026)^{Source [7]}
MRR (public open dashboard): $2.24 million (October 2, 2026)^{Source [7]}
Customers (public open dashboard): 82,077 (October 2026)^{Source [7]}
ARR history (public open dashboard): $5.23M (Dec 2014), $22.20M (Dec 2019), $17.86M (Dec 2023), $23.41M (Dec 2025)^{Source [7]}
Valuation (self-reported): $80.8 million implied by the 2018 buyback; $60 million at the 2014 Series A^{Source [2]}
Net profit (self-reported): About $400,000 to $500,000 per month (September 2018)^{Source [2]}

Date	Round	Amount	Investors
2018-07	Stock buyback^{Source [2]}	$3.3 million	Seven of sixteen Series A investors, including lead Collaborative Fund, sold 67.29% of Series A shares back
2014-12	Series A^{Source [2]}	$3.5 million at a $60 million valuation	Led by Collaborative Fund
2011-12	Seed^{Source [2]}	$330,000
2011-08	Accelerator^{Source [2]}	$120,000	AngelPad

Notable acquisitions

Respondly^{Source [11]}^{Source [12]}

2015

Not disclosed

People on Founded, and where they went next

1 person on record, connected to 1 other company.

Person	Here	Also built
Joel Gascoigne	Founder, CEO2010 to now	OnePage2010Shut down

Sources

About Buffer, Buffer. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
We spent $3.3M buying out investors: Why and how we did it, Joel Gascoigne (personal site), 2018-09-10. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
About me, Joel Gascoigne (personal site). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer: Turn A Side Project Into A Profitable Full-Time Company, with Joel Gascoigne, Mixergy, 2012-12-12. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer (application), Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer: Social media management for everyone, Buffer. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Transparent Metrics Dashboard, Buffer. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Transparent Salaries, Buffer. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
We Are Sunsetting Reply, Here's Everything You Need to Know, Buffer, 2020-05-11. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Post announcing the $3.3 million investor buyout, X (@joelgascoigne), 2018-08-29. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer Has Acquired Social Media Customer Service Tool Respondly! Here's the Full Story, Buffer, 2015-12-17. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer expands into social media helpdesk as it acquires Respondly, The Next Web, 2015-12-17. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Social Scheduling Tool Buffer Gets Hacked, Floods Twitter And Facebook With Weight Loss Spam, TechCrunch, 2013-10-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Buffer security breach: Resolved, here is what you need to know, Buffer. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

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