Moving to Publlish from Another Tool

Switching social media management tools always feels like more work than it should be. The good news is that moving to Publlish is fairly straightforward — there's no complex data migration, no complicated import process, and you can be up and running the same day.

This guide walks you through everything you need to do to make the switch cleanly, whether you're coming from Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later, or any other tool.

What You're Actually Moving

When switching social media tools, most teams need to move three things:

1. Channel connections — your social accounts need to be connected to Publlish instead of (or in addition to) your old tool
2. Scheduled content — any posts you've planned or drafted that haven't gone live yet
3. Team access — your team members need to be set up in Publlish with the right permissions

Content that has already been published doesn't need to be migrated — it lives on the social platforms themselves and Publlish will pull in historical data as you connect each channel.

Step 1 — Set Up Your Publlish Account

If you haven't already, start by creating your Publlish account and choosing the right plan for your team.

• If you're a solo marketer managing a few channels, the Essential plan is likely the right starting point
• If you're a team, check how many seats and channels you need before choosing a plan
• If you're an agency, the Agency plan is built for managing multiple client accounts

See the full plans and pricing breakdown →

Not sure if Publlish is the right fit? Start with an overview of what Publlish does →

Step 2 — Connect Your Social Channels

This is the core of the migration. You'll need to connect each of your social media accounts to Publlish.

How to connect your channels:

1. Go to Channels in your Publlish dashboard
2. Click Connect a Channel
3. Select the platform and log in when prompted
4. Repeat for each channel

Publlish supports TikTok, Facebook (Pages and Groups), Instagram (Business and Creator accounts), YouTube, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.

Important notes:

• Connecting a channel to Publlish does not disconnect it from your old tool. You can run both in parallel during your transition period if needed.
• Instagram requires a Business or Creator account. If you've been using a personal Instagram account in another tool, you'll need to switch to a Business or Creator account before connecting. See the Instagram connection guide →
• Facebook Pages and Groups connect separately. See the Facebook connection guide →

Full guide to connecting channels in Publlish →

Step 3 — Recreate or Import Your Scheduled Content

This is usually the biggest concern when switching tools — what happens to all the content you've already planned?

Unfortunately, there's no automatic way to import scheduled posts from another tool into Publlish. Social media platforms don't expose your draft or scheduled content via API, so no third-party tool can pull it across for you.

Your options:

Option A — Bulk upload via CSV If you have your content plan in a spreadsheet (which most teams do), you can use Publlish's bulk upload feature to import multiple posts at once. Format your spreadsheet with columns for caption, media URL, channel, date, and time, and upload it directly. See how to bulk upload posts →

Option B — Recreate manually For smaller content libraries (a week or two of posts), it's often faster to just recreate them directly in Publlish. Use your old tool's scheduled post list as a reference and rebuild from there.

Option C — Run parallel for a period Keep your old tool running for content that's already scheduled close to going live, and start all new content in Publlish. Once your old tool's queue is empty, you fully switch over.

Most teams find Option A or C works best depending on how much content is in the queue.

Step 4 — Set Up Your Team

Once your channels are connected and your content is queued, invite your team members to Publlish.

1. Go to Settings → Team
2. Click Invite a Member and enter their email address
3. Choose their permission level — you can control who can create posts, who can approve, and who has admin access

If you're migrating from a tool that had specific role structures (like Hootsuite's publisher/analyst roles), Publlish has its own permission system. Take a few minutes to map your team's roles to Publlish's permission levels before sending invites.

Full guide to adding users and setting permissions →

Step 5 — Set Up Your Approval Workflow

If your current tool had a content approval process, recreate it in Publlish before your team starts using it.

In Publlish, you can:

• Set certain users to "requires approval" so their posts go into a draft queue for a manager to review
• Use Notes on posts to leave feedback or comments during the review process
• Approve or reject posts directly from the dashboard

See how draft and approval workflows work →

Step 6 — Cancel Your Old Tool (When You're Ready)

Don't rush to cancel your old subscription on day one. Give yourself at least one to two weeks of running Publlish before fully switching off the old tool. This gives you time to:

• Make sure all your channels are properly connected and posting correctly
• Get your team comfortable with the Publlish interface
• Handle any edge cases or platform-specific quirks

Once you're confident everything is working, you can cancel your old subscription.

Common Questions When Migrating

Will my historical analytics carry over? No. Analytics from your previous tool stay in that tool. Publlish will start building its own analytics data from the point your channels are connected. Historical post data from the social platforms themselves (likes, reach, etc.) may be visible going back a limited period, depending on what each platform's API allows.

Can I connect the same social account to both my old tool and Publlish at the same time? In most cases, yes. Social platforms generally allow multiple third-party tools to be connected simultaneously. However, be careful with Instagram — some permission changes can affect connections in other tools. We recommend testing your old tool's functionality after connecting to Publlish.

What if I was using features in my old tool that Publlish doesn't have? Check the Publlish features and plans page → to see what's available. If there's a specific feature you relied on, reach out to Publlish support — some features may be on the roadmap.

Do I lose my content drafts from my old tool? Drafts in your old tool stay in your old tool unless you export them. Most tools let you export scheduled or draft content as a CSV. Download that export before cancelling your old subscription.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to migrate to Publlish? For most teams, connecting channels takes under 30 minutes. Rebuilding or importing scheduled content depends on how much you have — from one hour to a full day for larger content libraries.

Can I import posts from Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later into Publlish? There's no direct import integration. The most efficient way is to export your content as a CSV from your old tool and use Publlish's bulk upload feature to import it.

Will switching tools affect my social media accounts? No. Connecting or disconnecting a social media management tool doesn't affect your social accounts, followers, or existing posts. It only changes which tool has permission to post on your behalf.

What should I do with content that goes live during the transition? Pick a clean cutover date. Content scheduled before that date goes out from your old tool; everything after is managed in Publlish. This avoids duplication and confusion.

Is there a Publlish onboarding team to help with migration? Publlish support is available to help with any connection or setup questions during your migration. For Agency plan customers, additional onboarding support may be available.

Next Steps

• Getting started with Publlish publishing features →
• Connecting your channels to Publlish →
• Publlish plans, pricing and features →
• Adding your team and setting permissions →