Postiz-cheap

A self-hostable social media scheduler for creators who want a shared calendar, a focused post composer, and control over their own deployment.

▶ Watch: Free Open-source Postiz alternative

Postiz-cheap brings post planning, platform-specific copy, AI writing, account connections, and publishing into one Next.js app. Run it on your own infrastructure and choose the providers you want to use. The application is MIT licensed; hosting, AI, social publishing, and payment providers may charge separately.

Postiz-cheap is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Postiz.

• Plan in one calendar. Review scheduled, processing, published, and failed posts. Create a post from a calendar slot, or edit and remove an existing post.
• Compose for several channels. Select connected platforms, add text and media, and adjust platform-specific options such as privacy, tags, and video settings.
• Preview before publishing. Switch between platform previews and check the configured text limits before submitting a post.
• Draft with AI. Generate a title, caption, and tags for a selected platform and tone, then review and edit the suggestion in the composer.
• Work with a conversational assistant. Brainstorm ideas and refine social copy in the AI agent workspace, with recent conversation context included in follow-up prompts.
• Connect and manage accounts. Start a provider authorization flow, review connected accounts, rename them, or disconnect them.
• Review published videos. Use the gallery to find and download successfully published videos returned by connected channels.
• Self-host the application. Keep the application and scheduled-post records on infrastructure you control. External provider services are still required for sign-in, AI, and social publishing.

The integration UI currently lists these channels. Available formats and options depend on the connected account and the provider's current API support.

These limits and options are application defaults. Social networks and provider APIs can apply additional account, media, or policy restrictions.

1. Sign in to the studio with Google.
2. Open Integrations and connect the social accounts you want to use through MuAPI.
3. Create a post from the calendar or composer. Choose one or more platforms, attach media, and enter platform-specific copy and options.
4. Optionally generate a first draft with the AI writer or ask the social marketing agent for ideas.
5. Preview the post, then publish it immediately or set a future date and time.
6. Return to the calendar to review its status. Successfully published videos are also available in the gallery.

AI-generated copy is a starting point. Review it for accuracy, brand voice, rights, and each platform's publishing rules before you submit it.

• Web application: Next.js 16 App Router and React 19
• Styling and components: Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion, and React Icons
• Database: PostgreSQL accessed through Prisma
• Authentication: NextAuth with Google sign-in
• AI and social integrations: MuAPI
• Optional credit checkout: Stripe

Post records are stored per target platform in PostgreSQL. The app records the scheduled time, account, media URL, copy, publishing status, provider request ID, and any error returned during publishing.

This repository contains the application, not a managed Postiz-cheap hosting service. There is no required application subscription: when you self-host, you pay for your own server and database. Real AI writing, account connections, media handling, and publishing use MuAPI, whose usage charges may apply. Social networks can also impose their own limits or fees.

The app includes optional Stripe checkout. Its current credit packs are Starter (100 credits for $5), Pro (500 for $15), and Business (2,000 for $45); the amounts are set in src/lib/config.js. Configure Stripe only if you want to offer checkout, and confirm your Stripe setup before launch. The in-app credit balance is separate from charges billed directly by MuAPI or a social network.

• Node.js and npm
• A PostgreSQL database
• A Google OAuth client for Google sign-in
• A MuAPI API key for AI generation, social account connections, and publishing
• Stripe credentials only if you want to enable credit checkout

git clone https://github.com/Anil-matcha/postiz-cheap.git
cd postiz-cheap
npm install
cp .env.example .env

Set the values you need in .env. Keep secrets server-side and out of source control.

Generate a unique NEXTAUTH_SECRET for a deployment, for example with openssl rand -base64 32.

In Google Cloud, create an OAuth client and add the callback URL for the environment:

http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google

For production, use the same path on your HTTPS domain and set NEXTAUTH_URL to that domain. Google sign-in is the sign-in flow exposed by the application UI.

npx prisma db push
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. The development server uses the configured database and provider keys; without MuAPI credentials, AI and live social integrations will not work.

• Set NEXTAUTH_URL to the public HTTPS URL and configure the matching Google OAuth callback.
• Use a production PostgreSQL database. Supply a pooled DATABASE_URL for application traffic and a direct DIRECT_URL for Prisma schema operations where your host supports both.
• Store Google, MuAPI, and Stripe secrets in the deployment provider's secret manager. Rotate any secret that has been committed or exposed.
• If you enable Stripe checkout, configure the webhook endpoint at /api/stripe/webhook and set STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET to the signing secret for that endpoint.
• The repository does not include a separate always-on scheduler or worker. Due scheduled posts are triggered and provider status is polled when the authenticated GET /api/posts route runs. Add and operate a reliable background worker before depending on unattended scheduled publishing.
• The authentication configuration includes a demo credentials provider for evaluation. It does not validate a password. Remove or replace that provider before exposing the application publicly; the login page itself presents Google sign-in.
• Back up PostgreSQL and verify provider permissions, media requirements, privacy settings, and rate limits before using a production account.

The routes are implemented in src/app/api and most require an authenticated session.

src/app/          Pages, layouts, and API routes
src/components/   Calendar, composer, previews, navigation, and agent UI
src/lib/          Authentication, database, billing, and integration services
prisma/           PostgreSQL data model and Prisma configuration
public/           Static application assets

• Google sign-in returns a callback error: Check that the OAuth redirect URI exactly matches ${NEXTAUTH_URL}/api/auth/callback/google for the environment.
• Database commands fail: Check that DIRECT_URL reaches PostgreSQL directly; use DATABASE_URL for the application's runtime connection.
• AI or account connection routes report a missing key: Set MUAPIAPP_API_KEY in the server environment and restart the app.
• Posts stay scheduled: Confirm the app is running and that the authenticated /api/posts route is being called. The repository does not run a background scheduler by itself.
• Stripe checkout fails: Verify all three Stripe variables and the webhook URL and signing secret in your Stripe account.
• Demo data appears instead of persisted data: Check database connectivity. Some routes fall back to an in-memory demo store when PostgreSQL is unavailable; that data is not a production persistence mechanism.

Issues and pull requests are welcome. For a change, describe the workflow and social platforms it affects, keep provider credentials out of commits, and document any new environment variables.

MIT. See LICENSE.