The best time to post on Facebook: morning or afternoon?

The best time to post on Facebook is on a weekday, say Sprout Social and Buffer, which both rank Saturday among the worst days. On the hour, the studies clash: Sprout Social recommends Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 to 8 p.m., Buffer mornings with Thursday at 9 a.m. on top, and ranks afternoons among the weakest slots. Hootsuite bets on very early mornings.

By Jérémy Santos Updated on October 24, 2026 Tested on his own PlugKit account since September 2026.

This page is part of the guide: Best time to post on Instagram

What the studies say, day by day

Three studies give Facebook slots for every day, in your audience’s local time. Read on 24 October 2026.

Day	Sprout Social (2026)	Buffer (2026)	Hootsuite (2025)
Monday	12 to 1 p.m.	9 p.m., then 10 p.m. and 7 p.m.	5 p.m.
Tuesday	12 to 8 p.m.	8 a.m., then 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.	5 a.m.
Wednesday	12 to 8 p.m.	8 a.m., then 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.	6 a.m.
Thursday	12 to 2 p.m., then 8 p.m.	9 a.m., then 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.	6 a.m.
Friday	midday	8 a.m., then 7 a.m. and 6 a.m.	6 a.m.
Saturday	no peak	10 p.m., then 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.	6 a.m.
Sunday	worst day of the week	10 a.m., then 9 a.m. and 8 a.m.	8 a.m.

Scope:

Sprout Social (31 March 2026): nearly 2 billion engagements across 307,000 profiles from more than 30,000 customers, 27 November 2025 to 27 February 2026, six networks pooled, Facebook included.
Buffer (19 October 2026): more than 14 million Facebook posts sent through Buffer by businesses, creators and influencers. The period isn’t stated on the page.
Hootsuite (19 November 2025): more than 1 million posts, times localized across 118 countries. 2025 data.

Morning or afternoon: the studies clash

This is the sharpest contradiction in the whole series. Sprout Social sees a big block from 12 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday: people watch Reels and join comment threads at lunch, in the afternoon lull and in the evening.

Buffer says almost the opposite: mornings, 6 to 11 a.m., do best on weekdays, and the afternoon (12 to 5 p.m.) is the weakest window on most days. Its one exception is Monday, whose best slots fall in the evening.

Hootsuite goes even earlier: in its view, Facebook peaks between 5 and 8 a.m., when people check their phones on waking up, and Tuesday at 5 a.m. is its best slot.

Two of the three agree on one thing: Saturday is weak (Sprout Social, Buffer). And all three put a day between Tuesday and Thursday on top.

By time zone

Hootsuite is the only study with a time-zone breakdown for Facebook:

Time zone (Hootsuite)	Best slots
Eastern (EST)	Monday and Wednesday 7 to 9 p.m.
Central (CT)	Wednesday 7 p.m.
Central European (CET)	Tuesday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday 6 to 9 a.m., Thursday and Saturday 5 to 7 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.
Japan (JST)	Wednesday 2 to 4 p.m.

The US evenings here sit far from Hootsuite’s own global ranking, which puts 5 a.m. first. One more reason not to trust a single global average.

Find your own Facebook slot

Inside Facebook. Later suggests starting with your Page insights in Meta Business Suite, which show your audience’s age, gender and location, then logging the time and early engagement of every post in a spreadsheet.

With your AI and PlugKit. PlugKit reads the analytics of your Facebook Page (not a personal profile): impressions, reach, clicks, likes, comments and shares, including posts published directly on Facebook. Ask your AI for the weekday by hour grid filtered on Facebook, in your local time, and check how many posts each cell holds before you trust the average.

Limits

A Page, not a profile. PlugKit only handles Facebook Pages; a personal profile is neither published to nor measured.
Morning or afternoon, the studies won’t settle it for you. With conclusions this far apart, only a test on your own Page can.
Few posts, little certainty. A cell filled by a single post isn’t a slot.

If you post the same content on Instagram, compare with the best time to post on Instagram: the slots don’t always overlap.

Frequently asked questions

What time should you post on Facebook?

It depends on the study. Buffer finds mornings, 6 to 11 a.m., with Thursday at 9 a.m. first. Hootsuite finds very early mornings, from 5 a.m. on Tuesday. Sprout Social finds afternoons, 12 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. All three are local-time averages: check them on your Page.

When should you post on Facebook on Wednesday?

It's Buffer's best day, with 8 a.m. (its second-best slot of the whole week), 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sprout Social recommends 12 to 8 p.m. Hootsuite says 6 a.m., and 7 p.m. for a Central time audience.

When should you post on Facebook on Friday?

Mornings for Buffer (8, 7 and 6 a.m.) and Hootsuite (6 a.m.). Sprout Social recommends midday and warns that engagement drops as the workweek wraps up.

When should you post on Facebook on Sunday?

Sprout Social calls it the worst day of the week. Buffer, however, ranks Sunday at 10 a.m. as its third-best slot of the week, ahead of 9 and 8 a.m. Hootsuite says 8 a.m., and 11 a.m. in Central European time.

When should you post on Facebook and Instagram?

If you post the same content to both, Sprout Social gives the widest shared window: Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (Facebook 12 to 8 p.m., Instagram 1 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 12 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday). In Buffer's data the two networks don't overlap: mornings on Facebook, mostly evenings on Instagram.

Let your AI do your social media chores.

Try PlugKit for free 7 days free, no credit card.

Affiliate link: it costs you nothing extra.