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At ColdIQ, LinkedIn is our primary growth channel. Our team has nearly 250K combined followers, and 70% of our pipeline comes inbound from LinkedIn. We also manage LinkedIn content for our clients, so we use writing and scheduling tools daily at scale.
AuthoredUp has earned its place as the go-to formatting tool for LinkedIn creators. A Chrome extension at $19.95/month, it gives you a rich text editor, 300+ hooks library, post analytics, and draft management. Companies like Microsoft, SAP, EY, and Accenture have teams using it. Their positioning is clear: "No automation. No cookies." Everything stays within LinkedIn's Terms of Service.
But formatting is only one piece of the LinkedIn content puzzle. Teams that want AI-assisted writing, scheduling, lead generation, or multi-platform publishing eventually hit a ceiling. Here is the full breakdown of AuthoredUp alternatives for 2026.
1. What AuthoredUp Does Best (and Where Teams Look Elsewhere)
AuthoredUp does one thing well: it makes writing and formatting LinkedIn posts easier. The rich text editor supports bold, italic, bullet points, and emojis directly in the compose window. The hooks library gives you 300+ proven opening lines to start from. Post analytics track impressions, engagement rates, and follower growth over time. Draft management lets you save and organize ideas without leaving LinkedIn.
The TOS-safe positioning is a genuine differentiator. AuthoredUp does not automate engagement, schedule posts through unofficial APIs, or store browser cookies. For compliance-sensitive teams at large enterprises, that matters.
Where teams start looking for alternatives:
→ No AI writing assistance. AuthoredUp helps you format content, but it does not help you create it. There is no AI writer, no content suggestions, and no repurposing engine.
→ No scheduling. You write and post directly from the editor. There is no queue, no calendar view, and no way to plan content days or weeks in advance.
→ No automation features. No auto-likes, auto-comments, auto-DMs, or engagement pods. This is by design, but teams that want to scale their LinkedIn presence often need some level of automation.
→ No lead database. AuthoredUp is purely a content tool. There is no way to find prospects, export leads, or connect your LinkedIn activity to a sales pipeline.
→ Limited to writing and formatting only. If your workflow involves creating content, scheduling it, analyzing performance across platforms, and generating leads from engagement, you need multiple tools alongside AuthoredUp to cover each step.
None of these are flaws. AuthoredUp chose a narrow scope and executes it well. But for teams that want an all-in-one LinkedIn growth platform, the alternatives below cover significantly more ground.
2. The Best AuthoredUp Alternatives in 2026
2.1 Taplio. Best Overall Alternative
Taplio is the all-in-one LinkedIn growth platform for 2026. Where AuthoredUp focuses on formatting, Taplio covers the full workflow: AI-powered writing, scheduling, analytics, carousel creation, Chrome extension, and a lead database with 3M+ profiles on the Pro plan.
The AI writer is trained on 500M+ LinkedIn posts. It generates drafts, rewrites your content in different tones, and suggests hooks based on what performs in your niche. The scheduling tool includes a visual calendar, queue system, and optimal posting time recommendations. The carousel creator lets you turn text posts into visual slides without leaving the platform.
For sales teams, the Pro plan adds auto-DM capabilities and access to a 3M+ lead database with filters for title, industry, company size, and location. That bridges the gap between content creation and pipeline generation, something no other LinkedIn tool on this list does at the same depth.
Key features:
→ AI writer trained on 500M+ LinkedIn posts
→ Visual scheduling with calendar view and queue
→ Carousel creator for visual content
→ Chrome extension for on-platform use
→ Analytics dashboard with engagement tracking
→ 3M+ lead database with filters (Pro plan)
→ Auto-DM for prospect outreach (Pro plan)
→ Content inspiration feed from top creators
Pricing (billed annually):
→ Starter: $32/month. 250 AI credits, scheduling, 5M+ post ideas library, analytics, Chrome extension.
→ Growth: $49/month. Adds carousel creator, content inspiration, 500 AI comment credits, and relationship building tools.
→ Pro: $149/month. Adds 3M+ lead database, auto-DM, priority support.
Taplio holds a 4.6/5 rating across 1,431 reviews.
→ Target audience: B2B founders, sales leaders, and marketing teams that want AI writing, scheduling, and lead generation in one LinkedIn platform
→ Limitation: The lead database and auto-DM features are only available on the Pro plan at $149/month, which is a significant jump from the Growth tier
ColdIQ deal: Get 30% off any Taplio plan with code BF30 at taplio.com.
2.2 Kleo. AI Content with Voice Learning
Kleo differentiates itself through voice learning. The AI does not just generate generic LinkedIn content. It studies your past posts and writing patterns, then produces drafts that sound like you wrote them. For creators who have an established voice and do not want AI output that feels templated, that is a meaningful feature.
The platform includes 170+ swipe files from top-performing LinkedIn posts, a graphic generation tool for visual content, and scheduling. The voice learning improves over time as you publish more content through the platform.
Key features:
→ AI writing with voice learning that adapts to your style
→ 170+ swipe files from high-performing LinkedIn posts
→ Graphic generation for visual content
→ Scheduling and content calendar
→ Performance analytics
Pricing:
→ Creator: $49/month. AI writer with voice learning, swipe files, scheduling.
→ Business: $99/month. Adds team features, advanced analytics, priority support.
→ Target audience: Established LinkedIn creators with a distinct voice who want AI assistance that matches their style, not generic output
→ Limitation: Higher starting price than AuthoredUp and some competitors. The voice learning needs a body of existing content to work effectively, so new creators may not see the full benefit immediately.
2.3 Shield Analytics. LinkedIn Analytics Platform
Shield Analytics is built for one purpose: deep LinkedIn analytics. If your reason for leaving AuthoredUp is that the built-in analytics are too basic, Shield goes significantly deeper. The platform tracks post performance, audience growth, engagement patterns, and content trends over time with granularity that LinkedIn's native analytics and AuthoredUp cannot match.
Shield Agent, their AI feature, analyzes your data and surfaces recommendations: which content types perform best, what posting times drive the most engagement, and where your audience growth is accelerating or slowing.
Key features:
→ Deep LinkedIn analytics with historical data tracking
→ Shield Agent AI for performance insights and recommendations
→ Content type analysis (text vs. image vs. carousel vs. video)
→ Audience demographics and growth trends
→ Team dashboards for multi-profile tracking
→ Exportable reports
Pricing:
→ $25/profile/month. All features included per profile.
→ Target audience: Content marketers and teams that need detailed LinkedIn analytics beyond what AuthoredUp or LinkedIn natively provides
→ Limitation: Analytics only. No content creation, no AI writing, no scheduling. You need a separate tool for everything except data analysis.
2.4 ContentIn. Affordable LinkedIn Content Tool
ContentIn (contentin.io) positions itself as the affordable entry point for LinkedIn content creation. It has built traction with solo creators and small teams that want core features without a premium price tag.
The platform includes AI writing, templates, scheduling, and basic analytics.
Key features:
→ AI-assisted content writing
→ Post templates and content frameworks
→ Scheduling and queue management
→ Basic analytics and performance tracking
Pricing:
→ Essentials: $15/month. AI writing, templates, scheduling, basic analytics.
→ Target audience: Solo creators and small teams that want LinkedIn content tools at an accessible price point
→ Limitation: Feature depth is more limited than platforms like Taplio or Kleo, particularly around lead generation and advanced AI capabilities.
2.5 Buffer. Multi-Platform Scheduling
Buffer is not a LinkedIn-specific tool. It is a multi-platform social media scheduler that supports LinkedIn alongside Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and more. For teams managing content across multiple channels, Buffer consolidates scheduling into a single dashboard.
The free tier supports up to three channels, making it the lowest-cost option on this list for basic scheduling needs. The LinkedIn-specific features are less deep than dedicated tools, but the multi-platform convenience is the tradeoff.
Key features:
→ Multi-platform scheduling (LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest)
→ Visual content calendar
→ Team collaboration and approval workflows
→ Basic analytics per platform
→ Browser extension for quick sharing
→ Free tier available
Pricing:
→ Free: Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel.
→ Essentials: $5/channel/month. Unlimited scheduling, engagement tools, analytics.
→ Team: $10/channel/month. Adds collaboration, approval workflows, draft sharing.
→ Target audience: Marketing teams managing content across multiple social platforms who want LinkedIn scheduling as part of a broader tool
→ Limitation: LinkedIn-specific features are basic compared to dedicated tools. No AI writing, no LinkedIn lead database, no carousel creator. Analytics are surface-level for LinkedIn specifically.
Before choosing a LinkedIn content tool, understanding what types of content your audience engages with can sharpen your strategy. Preview how your posts will look before publishing:
LinkedIn Post Previewer
Post Content
Paste your LinkedIn URL to auto-fill your profile
Preview
2.6 Hypefury. Social Media Automation
Hypefury started as a Twitter/X growth tool and expanded to support LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Its core strength is automation: auto-retweets, engagement features, thread scheduling, and content recycling. For teams that want to systematize their social media output across platforms with automation built in, Hypefury covers that use case.
The LinkedIn support includes scheduling, basic analytics, and cross-posting from other platforms. The automation features are more developed on the X/Twitter side, but the multi-platform approach means you can manage a unified content strategy from one tool.
Key features:
→ Multi-platform scheduling (LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)
→ Content recycling and evergreen queue
→ Auto-engagement features
→ Thread creation and scheduling
→ Basic analytics per platform
→ Content inspiration feed
Pricing:
→ Starter: $29/month. Multi-platform scheduling, automation, and content recycling.
→ Target audience: Creators and teams active on X/Twitter and LinkedIn who want automation and cross-platform content management
→ Limitation: LinkedIn features are secondary to X/Twitter. The automation capabilities are deeper on Twitter, and LinkedIn-specific functionality (AI writing, lead gen, carousels) is less developed than dedicated LinkedIn tools.
3. Comparison Table
| Platform | Starting Price | AI Writing | Scheduling | Analytics | Lead Database | Multi-Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taplio | $32/month | Yes (500M+ posts trained) | Yes | Yes | Yes (3M+, Pro) | No (LinkedIn only) |
| Kleo | $49/month | Yes (voice learning) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (6 platforms) |
| Shield Analytics | $25/profile/month | No (Shield Agent for insights) | No | Yes (deep) | No | No (LinkedIn only) |
| ContentIn | $15/month | Yes | Yes | Basic | No | No (LinkedIn only) |
| Buffer | Free / $5/channel/month | No | Yes | Basic | No | Yes (7+ platforms) |
| Hypefury | $29/month | Limited | Yes | Basic | No | Yes (6+ platforms) |
For reference, AuthoredUp pricing: $19.95/month. Formatting, hooks library, analytics. No AI writing, no scheduling, no lead database.
4. Which Alternative Should You Pick?
The right choice depends on what you need beyond AuthoredUp's formatting capabilities.
If you want the full LinkedIn growth platform, Taplio covers AI writing, scheduling, analytics, carousels, and lead generation in one tool. The AI writer trained on 500M+ posts produces content that performs, and the Pro plan's lead database bridges the gap between content and pipeline. It is the strongest overall upgrade from AuthoredUp. Get 30% off with code BF30 at taplio.com.
If you have an established writing voice and want AI that matches it, Kleo learns your style over time and generates content that sounds like you, not like a template.
If your primary gap is analytics depth, Shield Analytics provides the deepest LinkedIn performance data available, with AI-powered recommendations included.
If you need an affordable starting point, ContentIn starts at $15/month with core features at an accessible price.
If you manage content across multiple social platforms, Buffer consolidates scheduling into one dashboard with a free tier.
If you are primarily active on X/Twitter and want LinkedIn as part of a broader automation strategy, Hypefury handles both with built-in automation features.
If your LinkedIn activity is part of a larger outbound strategy, connecting your content efforts to prospect intent signals can help you prioritize who to engage with:
Fields marked with * are required
Quick examples:
Intent Signals
5. Conclusion
AuthoredUp built a solid product for what it does: formatting, hooks, and TOS-safe LinkedIn writing. For teams that only need a better text editor inside LinkedIn, it remains a strong choice at $19.95/month.
But many LinkedIn-focused teams in 2026 need more than formatting. AI writing saves hours per week. Scheduling lets you plan content in advance. Analytics tell you what is working. Lead databases turn engagement into pipeline. AuthoredUp does not cover any of those.
Taplio stands out as the strongest overall alternative because it covers the full LinkedIn growth workflow in one platform. AI writing trained on 500M+ posts, visual scheduling, carousel creation, deep analytics, and a 3M+ lead database on the Pro plan. It replaces not just AuthoredUp, but the two or three other tools you would need alongside it. Get 30% off with code BF30 at taplio.com.
The LinkedIn content tool you choose compounds over time. Your templates, analytics history, and workflows all build on the platform you pick. Choosing based on where your LinkedIn strategy is heading, not just where it sits today, saves the switching cost later.
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