The best time to post on X, from the data

What the two big studies found

Buffer analyzed 8.7 million posts on X and published the results in March 2026. It measured likes, replies and reposts. Its top three slots were Tuesday at 9 a.m., Wednesday at 10 a.m. and Wednesday at 9 a.m. Every day of the week peaked somewhere between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Sprout Social analyzed nearly 2 billion engagements across about 307,000 profiles, from 27 November 2025 to 27 February 2026, across several networks including X. It found the best windows from midday to early evening, Monday to Thursday as the best days, and Saturday as the worst.

Why mornings and afternoons both show up

These two results barely overlap. Buffer's best hours end at 11 a.m. Sprout's start at noon. That is a real disagreement, and it is worth being honest about.

Part of the gap is who was measured. Buffer's data comes from posts sent through Buffer. Sprout's comes from more than 30,000 Sprout Social customers. Sprout's data also covers several networks and a three month winter window. Buffer's covers one network.

The other part is how X works. X ranks posts per viewer, based on how likely each person is to reply, repost or like. We explain that in how the X algorithm works. So an average hour matters less than whether the people who care about your topic are scrolling at that moment.

The windows in your time zone

Both studies give local time for the reader. Pick where most of your readers live, and the converter below moves each study's windows onto your clock.

The converter only moves the published windows between time zones. It cannot know when your own followers are online.

How to find your own best time on X

X moves fast, so you can test faster than on LinkedIn. Here is a two week test that fits around real work.

1. Pick one morning slot from Buffer, such as 9 a.m., and one afternoon slot from Sprout, such as 2 p.m., in your readers' time zone.
2. Alternate them for two weeks. Keep the post type similar each time.
3. After 24 hours, note impressions, replies and profile visits for each post. X shows these in post analytics.
4. Compare replies per post. A reply means someone read and cared enough to answer.
5. Keep the slot that wins, and try a new one against it.

If you post a thread, the first post carries the hook. Put your best time slot behind your best thread, not your weakest one. And be free for the first hour to answer replies.

What matters more than the hour

X's open source code shows what it ranks on. It predicts, for each viewer, the chance they will like, reply, repost, quote, share or follow. It also predicts negative actions like "not interested", mute, block and report, and those carry large negative weights. Time of day is not one of the weights. The post and the reader are.

• Write for replies. Replies carry ten times the weight of a like in the current code.
• Avoid bait. A post that makes people mute you costs far more than a like earns.
• Keep it inside the limit. A standard post is 280 characters. See the X character limit.

Scheduling posts on X

X Help says X Pro lets you schedule posts for the future and shows them in a Scheduled column. X Help also says you currently cannot schedule a longer post on the web. If your best slot lands at night for you, schedule a standard post or a thread.