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What's new

What's changed in Refract since launch, newest first.

27 October 2026

  • Guides and comparisons. Guides now has the best Bluesky scheduling tools and the best Mastodon schedulers, side by side with Refract. Comparisons cover alternatives to Buffer, Hootsuite, Later and Metricool, and Refract next to the Buffer API and Ayrshare. Every fact about another tool comes from that tool's own pages, with the date we checked it and the sources listed. The Bluesky and Mastodon pages link the guides about them.
  • A faster website. The heading on the home page and on the other pages of refract.social now shows the moment the page does, blurred, and comes into focus word by word, instead of fading in after it. Refract's styles, scripts and fonts now stay in your browser between visits until they change, so the website and the app open faster after your first visit. llms.txt, the summary of Refract for AI tools, no longer keeps them waiting while it's rebuilt each hour.
  • Download the WordPress plugin. The WordPress page now has Download the plugin, and Get the plugin in Connect account downloads it too. In WordPress, upload it in Plugins › Add New Plugin › Upload Plugin. Until it's in the WordPress plugin directory, update it by downloading it again and uploading it. See WordPress.

26 October 2026

  • Pages for AI apps and developers. refract.social/mcp shows how to connect Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code to Refract, every tool your AI app gets, what keeps you in charge, and prompts to try. Developers covers the API, the MCP server, webhooks, rate limits and the CLI, with a first request to copy. The MCP tools now describe themselves more clearly to AI apps; nothing they do has changed. Rate limits now gives the MCP server's own limit.
  • Free tools on refract.social. Free tools has character counters for X, Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn and Mastodon that count the way each network does, a LinkedIn post preview and a tweet preview that show where the text gets cut, and size guides for TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts and images on every network. They use the same rules the composer checks and need no account, and what you type or add never leaves your browser. Each network's page links its own tools.
  • Emails during your free trial. A welcome email now arrives when you sign up, with the first two steps. On day 5, a short note asks if you need a hand. Admins get an email 3 days before the trial ends and another once it has ended, saying what pauses and that nothing is deleted. Reply to any of them to reach a person. See Your free trial.
  • Page speed and where sign-ups come from. Our public pages now also send PostHog how fast they load and respond. When you sign up, Refract tells PostHog the site that sent you, the first page you opened and its campaign tags, kept with your account's ID. Nothing is stored in your browser for either, and neither carries your name or email address. See the Privacy policy.
  • Every network's page, in more detail. Each network's page on refract.social now shows how to schedule a post there step by step, its limits (text, files, sizes, video length) from the same rules the composer checks, how to find your own best times, and common questions. Every network lists them all with what's open today. To get an email when a network opens, tick the box under Notify me.

25 October 2026

  • A new look for refract.social. The home page, pricing, the agencies page, each network's page and the legal pages are redesigned. The home page shows one note becoming a version for each network as you scroll: written, approved, then waiting in your week. On pricing, set how many accounts, workspaces and people you have and the smallest plan that fits lights up; Only show differences still trims the comparison. Each network's page shows what you can post there, the rules versions follow, what Refract checks and how to connect. The website is dark only now, so its footer no longer has a theme switch; your theme in Refract stays as you set it in your menu.
  • Studio has its own page. refract.social/studio walks through Studio: cropping one photo for every network's shape, making images, the three ways to make a video (a free slideshow, animating a photo, or a clip from a description), editing a video you filmed, the library, AI labels and what each of these costs. The home page has a Studio section too.
  • Menus that show everything. On the website, Product and Platforms open a menu with every feature and every network you can connect, with Beta and Coming soon marked. On a phone, the menu button opens all of it in one list.
  • New sign-in screens. Sign in and Create account sit side by side, with the same ways in as before. The 6-digit code goes into six boxes: type it or paste it, and it's checked as soon as it's complete. Resend code sends a new one.

24 October 2026

  • Pinterest posts go out again. Reconnect Pinterest once. Pinterest needs one more permission to create Pins, so posts to Pinterest failed with "Refract isn't allowed to post to this Pinterest account anymore", even right after reconnecting. Refract now asks for it. In Accounts, select Reconnect on your Pinterest account and allow it, then retry the failed posts.
  • Smoother page changes. Moving between pages cross-fades everywhere in Refract, including the website, sign-in and setup, and the thin loading bar at the top of the window is gone. The main pages show their outline while they load.
  • Calmer page titles, livelier menu. The icon beside each page title no longer moves. Instead, the icons in the sidebar make a small move when you point at them. With reduced motion on in your system settings, nothing moves.
  • The website on phones. The home page and the other pages of refract.social are fixed up for small screens.
  • Recordings of our public pages. The home page, pricing, the network pages, the user guide and sign-in now send PostHog a recording of each visit, so we can see where a page confuses people. What you type is hidden, and so are the email addresses the sign-in steps and the waitlist show. Nothing is stored in your browser for it, a recording isn't linked to an account, and it stops when you go into the app, so nothing inside Refract is recorded. PostHog deletes recordings after 30 days. See the Privacy policy and the Cookie policy.

23 October 2026

  • Leave a file off one network. On a network's tab in the composer, select the eye on a file to leave it off that network; the other networks still post it. When a network takes fewer files than the post has, Keep the first 4 in Checks does it in one click, and a file a network can't post has Leave it off. The preview and Checks of each network show only its own files. See Leave a file off one network.
  • Pictures go as JPEG where a network doesn't take their format. A WebP or PNG picture goes to Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and the other networks that refuse its format as a JPEG copy, so Checks no longer block the post for it. Your file stays as it is.
  • Blog posts fit each network. When a network takes fewer files than a blog post from WordPress has, the files that fit it best go to it and the rest are left off that network only, instead of being dropped from the post. An image Studio makes for a network that none of the pictures fit goes only to that network. See Notes and versions.
  • For developers: posts take and return skipped_media per network, and so do the MCP tools create-draft and get-post. See the API changelog.
  • Connecting finishes on the page. Some sign-in pages, like LinkedIn's, Threads', Facebook's and Instagram's, cut the sign-in window off from Refract. The window then stayed open after you signed in, and Refract didn't show the result: a new account appeared in Accounts only after you reloaded the page. Now the window closes and Refract shows the new account right away with its green outline, or the Pages and accounts to pick from. Reconnect and Renew access work the same way.

22 October 2026

  • Post to Discord. Discord is now a network. In Accounts, select Connect account, pick Discord, then the server and the channel Refract posts to. Posts go out with images, video and link previews, and never ping @everyone. You can edit or remove a message after it's out. Each channel is one account on your plan. See Discord. Refract can only post to the channel you choose. It never sees your Discord login or your messages. To stop it, disconnect the channel in Accounts, or delete Refract's webhook in the channel's Integrations settings.
  • Post to Tumblr. Tumblr is now a network. Connect your account in Accounts and pick the blogs Refract posts to. Posts go out with images, video, links and tags, and you can edit or remove them after they're out. Analytics shows each post's notes. Each blog is one account on your plan. See Tumblr.
  • Post to Slack channels. Slack is now a network, not only a place for notifications. In Accounts, pick Slack and the channels Refract posts to. It uses your organization's Slack connection, the one that sends notifications; if you haven't connected Slack yet, an admin allows Refract in your Slack workspace first. You can edit or remove a message after it's out. Refract can't read your messages. See Slack.
  • Post to Pixelfed. Pixelfed is now a network. In Accounts, enter your server, like pixelfed.social, and sign in there. Refract posts photos and albums with alt text and a caption that fits your server's limits, and you can edit or remove a post after it's out. See Pixelfed.
  • Publish articles to DEV. DEV is now a network. Create a key in DEV's Settings › Extensions, then paste it in Accounts. Articles go out under your own DEV profile, with a canonical link to your original post. You can edit or unpublish an article after it's out, and Analytics shows its views, reactions and comments. See DEV.
  • Beta testers have no limits. While your organization is in the beta, you can connect as many accounts, add as many workspaces and invite as many people as you like, and Analytics keeps all your history. AI credits stay at your beta's monthly amount; you can buy more any time.
  • Usage analytics are stored in the US. PostHog now stores the pageviews of our public pages and the usage events Refract counts in the United States instead of Frankfurt, and keeps them for 7 years. They still carry no names, email addresses, post text or IP addresses, and everything else stays in the EU. See the Privacy policy and the Data processing agreement.

21 October 2026

  • A new Accounts page. Accounts that signed out, or whose access ends within 7 days, wait for you in a Needs attention panel at the top, each with one Reconnect or Renew access button. Accounts are grouped by network, with chips to show one network and a search to find an account. Each account shows its next scheduled post and its connection: how long access lasts and what Refract may do. Pick List or Cards; Refract remembers your choice. Beta networks share one note you can hide. The main channel is now set only in Settings › Voice and rules. See Find your way around the Accounts page and Reconnect an account.
  • Move an account to another workspace. In an account's ⋯ menu, Move to another workspace takes it to another workspace of your organization without signing in again. Its scheduled posts in the old workspace stop going to it, and its published posts stay in that workspace's history. WordPress sites can't be moved. See Move an account to another workspace.
  • Our legal pages cover WordPress sites. The Terms of service, Privacy policy and Data processing agreement now say what Refract receives from a WordPress site you connect, what it sends back, how long it keeps it and how to disconnect. Nothing changes for accounts on other networks.
  • Telegram and YouTube channels go by their name. Across Refract, a Telegram or YouTube channel is now shown by its name, like Facebook Pages and Google Business Profile listings, rather than its @username or @handle.
  • Your Mastodon server's own limits. Refract now reads each Mastodon server's post length, files per post, file sizes and file types when you connect and once a day after that, and the composer checks against them. GoToSocial, Akkoma and Pleroma servers connect under Mastodon the same way, and GoToSocial 0.18 or later, Akkoma and Pleroma posts can be edited after they're out. See Mastodon.
  • Edit or remove a post after it's out. In a published post's details, or the menu at the end of its row in Posts, select Edit on {Network} to change that one account's copy, or Remove from {Network} to take it down there. A removed post stays in Refract, marked Removed with who removed it and when, and its numbers until then stay in Analytics. Admins and Editors can do both, and every change is in the post's history. See Edit or remove a post after it's out.
  • Which networks let you edit or remove a post. Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Mastodon, Telegram and WordPress posts can be edited after they're out, and the same networks plus Bluesky let you remove them. Instagram, Threads, Pinterest and TikTok posts are removed in their own apps. WordPress sites need the Refract plugin 1.1.0 to remove posts. See Edit and remove after publishing.
  • Refract waits when a network asks it to. When a network says to slow down and gives a time, Refract tries again after exactly that wait, up to an hour, instead of its usual 5 and 10 minutes. A post that would go over a network's daily limit waits for the limit to reset instead of failing, and Posts › Failed says when it goes out. See Fix a failed post.
  • "WordPress doesn't share numbers." Analytics now says this in WordPress's row and post cards, and the post detail panel says it for WordPress copies, instead of dashes or "Stats arrive within an hour". See What each network reports.
  • Titles and tags work the same everywhere. YouTube, Pinterest and WordPress titles now show how many characters you have left, and YouTube tags are added one at a time like chips. Checks catch a title or tag the network won't take, with Shorten the title and Remove tag to fix it in one click. Networks that take a community, a canonical link, Send as a draft or Post as get the same fields as they arrive, and Accounts › Defaults sets an account's default community and Post as. See Title, tags and other fields.
  • For developers: GET /api/v1/networks lists the networks you can post to, and the Refract CLI reads its network short names from it. Posts take the new fields title, tags, community_id, canonical_url, as_draft and post_as where a network uses them. See the API changelog.

20 October 2026

  • Refract for WordPress: bring readers back from social. WordPress is now a network. Install the free Refract plugin on your site, then connect from WordPress: Refract › Settings › Connect to Refract, pick the workspace and Allow, or use Connect with a token instead. A site counts as one account on your plan, and removing it in Accounts signs the plugin out. See Accounts and networks.
  • Blog posts become notes. When you publish a blog post, Refract gets it as a draft started from a note, marked From your blog, and writes a version for each network you picked, 1 AI credit each, or the same post for every account for free. The post's images go into your library, cropped for each network. When the blog post changes, the versions you didn't edit are written again. Every version waits for approval. See Notes and versions.
  • Approve in WordPress or in Refract. The editor's Refract panel shows each version with its checks: Approve one, Approve all and add to queue, or Send for approval when the workspace asks for it. A site counts as AI agents and tokens for approval rules. See Approve in WordPress and Team and approvals.
  • Publish to WordPress from Refract. The composer's WordPress tab has a title, formatting buttons, an excerpt, a featured image cropped to 1.91:1, categories and tags from your site, and Publish or Send as a draft. Turn on Let Refract publish to this site in the plugin first. See Writing posts.
  • Connecting a site asks first. The sign-in screen for a WordPress site shows the site's name and address, asks for one workspace, and lists what the site will be able to do. If you haven't set up Refract yet, you set it up first and come straight back.
  • WordPress counts only in Posts published in Analytics, because it doesn't report views, engagements or followers. Client connect links can't include WordPress sites. See Analytics.
  • For developers: endpoints to connect a site, send notes, and read and approve versions, plain JSON media links, four new webhook events and GET /networks.json. See the API changelog.
  • A workspace for each client. Admins can now add workspaces: open the workspace switcher and select New workspace, then give it a name, a time zone and, if you like, the network the client's customers find them on most (it becomes that workspace's main channel when you connect it). The switcher shows how many of your plan's workspaces you use; at the limit it points you to Billing. See Getting started.
  • Deleted posts in Analytics. When a network says a post was deleted, Analytics keeps its numbers up to then, stops asking for more, and says when it was deleted.
  • Unsubscribing asks first. The unsubscribe link in digests and product news now opens a page with an Unsubscribe button, so mail scanners that open links can't unsubscribe you by accident. Your mail app's own unsubscribe button still works in one click.
  • Pictures in emails are shown for 90 days after the email is sent.
  • Viewers and AI tools. Connecting Claude, another AI tool or the Refract CLI needs a role that can draft posts in at least one workspace; for Viewers, the connect screen says so.
  • Mastodon servers are entered by name, like mastodon.social. Addresses with a port number, or an IP address, aren't accepted.
  • Pricing compares every feature. The pricing page now lists everything each plan includes, in groups, with a header that stays in view as you scroll and Only show differences to hide what every plan shares. On a phone, pick a plan to see its features. It also says what was always true: scheduled posts are unlimited on every plan, AI credits are shared by every workspace and person on your subscription, and Help is free.

19 October 2026

  • Ask Help. Select Help in the header, or press ⌘/, to ask how to do something or why something went wrong. Help looks at your workspace and this guide, tells you what happened and what to click, and Show me points at the right button. Next to a failed post, an account to reconnect, a failed import, Studio job or payment, select Ask Help to ask about it straight away. Help never changes anything for you, it's free (50 questions a day), and Send to a person hands the conversation to the Refract team, who reply by email and in Help's History. See Asking Help.
  • Your account menu's link to this guide is now called User guide.
  • The composer shows what's missing. With no account picked, the accounts under Post to get a dashed outline with a +, and Write versions stays in view, greyed out, next to Pick an account above first. Selecting that, or Pick at least one account at the bottom, takes you to your accounts. See Writing posts.
  • Connecting Bluesky is more forgiving, and clearer when it fails. Typing just your name (ownthegame) signs in as ownthegame.bsky.social, like the Bluesky app. The app password field drops stray spaces, hidden characters and capitals that come along with a copy, and refuses anything that isn't an app password before asking Bluesky, so wrong tries don't use up Bluesky's daily allowance. When Bluesky pauses sign-in for a handle after too many wrong tries, Refract says so instead of blaming the password. See Accounts and networks.
  • Fixed: Bluesky accounts were signed out two hours after connecting, with a "needs reconnecting" email, because Refract's hourly renewal of their access was being refused. Renewal works now; reconnect once and the account stays connected.
  • Your first post starts from a note. The last setup step now takes the point of the post in plain words and writes it in your voice, for 1 AI credit, the way the composer does from a note; change anything, Write again, then Add to queue. It goes to your main channel when that's connected. Networks that need settings only the composer has (a board on Pinterest, a title on YouTube, who can view on TikTok) send you to the full composer instead of stopping you at the end. See Getting started.
  • Setup steps move smoothly. The frame of the setup screens stays put between steps while the step itself cross-fades in. While the next step loads, its outline shows in place, with no bar at the top; links and buttons show they're working.
  • One list of setup steps. Home's Finish setting up now includes picking your main channel and setting your voice, the same steps Help suggests under Getting set up, and shows each person only the steps they can act on. Hide for now stays hidden until you come back to it.
  • Fixed: signing up with Google set every new workspace to the Ljubljana time zone. It now takes the zone from your browser, as signing up by email already did.
  • Fixed: the setup step Where do your customers find you most? could offer a network that isn't open for connecting yet.
  • Agencies: the setup copy no longer promises client workspaces, which you can't add from the app yet; it says what you get today, connect links and approvals for your clients.

18 October 2026

  • A user guide, with pictures. Step-by-step help for every part of Refract, right here. Open it from Help in your account menu, or from How this works on the trickier screens. On a phone, the list of pages folds into one menu. See Getting started.
  • Approve from the post itself. Open a post that's waiting for approval from the calendar or Posts, and Approve or Request changes right in its panel. See Team and approvals.
  • Analytics keeps your plan's history. Look back 90 days on Creator, 365 days on Business and 2 years on Agency and Agency Plus. See Analytics.
  • Pages open straight away. Moving between Home, Calendar, Posts, Analytics, Accounts, Studio and Settings shows the page's outline right away while it loads, instead of a bar at the top.
  • A refreshed website. The home page shows starting from a note, your voice and learned rules, and Studio's images and video. Each network's page shows whether you can connect it today, its default rules and what it does with video. Coming soon networks let you ask for one email when they open.
  • Signing in with a password. Show lets you check what you typed, and Forgot your password? takes you to an email code, after which you can set a new password in Settings › Profile and security. See Sign-in and security.
  • Clearer wording: Two-step sign-in is called the same everywhere, client approval hints name the Clients approve by link switch, and Billing explains that free credits include your trial credits.
  • Write once from a note. In the composer, Start from now offers A note or A finished post. From a note, Refract writes a version for each network in your voice, 1 AI credit each. Nothing posts until you approve every version. See Notes and versions.
  • Review versions your way. Approve, Edit or Write again on each card. If you change the note afterwards, choose Write again or Keep the versions.
  • Rules that learn from your edits. When you make the same fix on 3 posts within 30 days, Refract suggests a rule for that network. Choose Save rule, Not now or Don't suggest this.
  • Settings › Voice and rules. Set your main channel, tone, emoji, words to avoid and rules for each network, or copy them from another workspace. See Voice and rules.
  • Main channel. Star the account that matters most, in the composer, on Accounts or during onboarding. Its version comes first and gets the closest look.
  • Smoother movement in the composer's note view, note fields you can see before you click them, roomier dialogs, and even rows of network tiles when you connect your first account.

17 October 2026

  • The send button now chooses when. The composer's main button does what you picked (Add to queue, Schedule, Repeat or Publish now), and its arrow opens the choices. See Writing posts.
  • A confirmation after sending, with the accounts, View post, New post and Done. With Publish now, you see each account's status live.
  • Faster pictures everywhere. Files get small and screen-sized copies, so grids, pickers and the calendar load quicker.
  • A new preview. Studio and the Library show tiles in each file's own shape with a Preview button, and a full-screen view (arrow keys work) with details. Pickers show a file's size, length, where it's been posted and which networks it fits.
  • Notifications always open the right place. If the post, account or file is gone, you stay put and Refract tells you.
  • Fixed: with several networks selected, #, @ and emoji did nothing in the editor.
  • Fixed: saving a draft could fail and create extra drafts when live updates were briefly unavailable.

16 October 2026

  • Video in Studio. Studio now has Images, Video and Library. Make slideshows from your photos for free, or AI clips with Animate a photo and From a description (paid plans only). See Writing posts.
  • Edit video. Trim, crop for each network, pick a cover and add captions, from the Library or the composer. Your original file never changes.
  • AI labels. Posts with AI-made files are labelled as AI-generated on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook Reels and X.
  • Facebook Reels. Facebook posts can be a Feed post or a Reel.
  • Beta and Coming soon networks. Every network is listed, and each shows whether you can connect it yet. See Troubleshooting and FAQ.
  • Official network logos replace the lettered tiles.
  • Fixed: retrying a TikTok photo post could fail because TikTok couldn't download the photo. Failed posts recover when you retry.
  • Fixed: TikTok's Who can view setting stayed empty in the composer.

15 October 2026

  • AI credits, fairly priced. Plans include 150, 400, 1,000 or 3,000 credits a month, a trial gets 25, and you can buy packs that never expire. See Billing and AI credits.
  • Studio on new image models, with quality tiers and an Auto pick.
  • Prices in US dollars, with tax worked out by Stripe for your country. Manage billing opens Stripe's page for your card, invoices and cancelling.
  • A cancelled plan now shows as Cancelled with the date you keep it until. When a plan ends, scheduling pauses and nothing is deleted.
  • Sign in with an email code, a passkey, a password or Google. Continue with Apple was removed. See Sign-in and security.
  • New, clearer emails, each with a Help link and, for workspace emails, Notification settings.
  • Fixed: Studio's Generate could answer "Too Many Attempts".

14 October 2026

  • The developer platform: API, MCP server, webhooks and the Refract CLI. See the API changelog.