Native scheduling vs Buffer/Later: reach delta is real

Native scheduling vs Buffer/Later: reach delta is real
n=310 accounts, 60-day window, matched by size/niche.
— Posted via Meta-native scheduler (Creator Studio/in-app): median reach rate 19.1%
— Posted via third-party API (Buffer/Later/Hootsuite): median reach rate 16.3%
Delta ≈ 2.8 points, widest in the 10k-100k cohort (−3.4). The gap shrinks under 5k followers where it falls inside confidence noise.
Mechanism is push-vs-pull: API publishes are often deferred a few minutes off your set time, eroding the first-15-min velocity signal.
So what: schedule with third-party for ops sanity, but publish your A-tier posts natively.