A Gain alternative for client approvals
Gain is a content approval platform for agencies and marketing teams. Each client gets a workspace with its own calendar, posts go through approval rounds you set up, and approved posts can be scheduled and published to nine networks. Files, documents and web pages can go through the same approval flow.
Read this bit first. PostDecks does not schedule or publish anything. It previews posts and collects client approval, and you keep posting however you post today. If you want scheduling and approval in one tool, PostDecks is not it.
What Gain does better
- It schedules and publishes, and holds a post back until it is approved. PostDecks does neither.
- Approval rounds run in order, each set to need everyone or any one person, and it sends a slow client reminders for you.
- Reviewers can mark up images, PDFs, presentations and spreadsheets, not only social posts.
- It covers Google Business Profile, Reels and Shorts, and on the Agency plan and up it puts your logo on the approval pages.
Where PostDecks is the better answer
- It is free. Gain starts at $99 a month billed yearly, for 3 team members and 6 client workspaces.
- Nothing to move. You keep the scheduler you use, and PostDecks handles showing the post and getting the yes.
- It previews Bluesky, which Gain does not list among its networks.
- Previewing and exporting need no account, and your images never leave your browser while you do it.
What each one costs
Gain
Starter at $99, Agency at $199 and Agency Premium at $399 a month billed yearly, or $119, $239 and $479 billed monthly. They include 3, 6 and 20 team members and 6, 12 and 30 client workspaces. Reviewers, social accounts and scheduled posts are unlimited on every plan, and there is a 14-day trial with no card.
PostDecks
PostDecks is free. Previewing and exporting need no account, and client approval links come with a free one.
Gain pricing checked on from their own pricing page. Prices change, so confirm with them before you decide anything on the strength of a number here.
So which one
Buy Gain if
you want approvals and publishing in one place, with rounds, reminders, and posts that cannot go out until a client signs off. Gain is built around exactly that, and PostDecks publishes nothing.
Use PostDecks if
you already schedule posts somewhere you like and only need a client to see the real post and say yes. $99 a month is a lot to pay for that one step.
Questions
- Is PostDecks a replacement for Gain?
- Only if the approval step was all you wanted from Gain. Gain schedules, publishes and reports, and locks a post until it is approved. PostDecks shows the post and collects the sign-off, and you publish however you do today.
- Do clients need an account in either?
- No. Gain emails a reviewer a link to log in with, and a PostDecks client opens the link you send and approves. The difference is on your side: PostDecks needs a free account to send the link, and Gain needs a paid plan.
- How does the pricing compare?
- Gain is priced by plan, from $99 a month billed yearly for 6 client workspaces and 3 team members. PostDecks is free. Previewing and exporting need no account, and client approval links come with a free one. What Gain's price buys is the scheduling, publishing and approval rounds, which PostDecks does not do.
PostDecks is free, and previewing needs no account. Try it against a real post and see whether it covers what you need.