People participating in the open social web have a problem. It is not yet possible to reach users from multiple sites such as Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads with a single post. Third-party tools are available, but most are designed for small businesses and creators, and are commensurately expensive. To solve this problem, a new cross-posting app called Croissant, released today, offers an affordable way to cross-post between social services for just $2.99 per month.
The app was designed and developed by Ben McCarthy, a Dublin-based designer and developer best known for the popular camera app Obscura, along with Canadian iOS developer Aaron Vegh.
McCarthy explains: “…I found myself very frustrated with the process of publishing a post with multiple images and alt text for each image on multiple services. I copied the text, swapped apps, pasted it, and then redirected it back to the original. Go back, tap to open image, tap to open alt text, copy alt text, replace app, paste alt text, change back,” he says. “It doesn't take long for the programmer's brain to kick in and think, 'This could be better.'”
Image credit: Croissant
When discussing this issue with others, McCarthy was pointed to solutions like the cross-posting service Buffer. However, Buffer's subscription tiers are designed to best accommodate professionals, teams, brands, businesses, and agencies, as well as anyone focused on social media marketing. The same goes for large platforms like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Sprinklr, and Brandwatch.
“We wanted to target people who use social media as part of their job, but perhaps aren't directly making money from it,” he says.
Meanwhile, a competition led by subscription management platform RevenueCat inspired him to start building. With Vegh's help, the app was completed in about a month, McCarthy said.
At launch, you'll be able to easily cross-post to Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads using the iPhone app. Also supports threaded posts, image attachments, alt text for Mastodon and Bluesky, automatic drafts, content warnings for Mastodon, and audience options (who can see your posts, as supported by each network) I'm doing it.
Croissant is optimized for iOS 18 and supports iOS 18 colored icons in addition to custom app icon selection.
If the app gains traction, the team hopes to roll it out to other platforms such as iPad and Mac, as well as add features like scheduled posts and auto-complete usernames and hashtags.
Image credit: Croissant
Croissant competes not only with Buffer, but also with other cross-posting tools with free plans like Fedica, as well as other consumer-centric cross-posting apps and open social clients like Openvibe.
Of course, you may not need cross-posting tools in the long run. Already, bridges are being built between Mastodon and Bluesky, while Instagram Threads is fully integrated with the open social web, also known as the fediverse, a group of interconnected services running on top of the ActivityPub protocol. We are working on collaboration.
Croissant, on the other hand, can be a useful addition for early adopters who want to participate in multiple spaces more easily.
In addition to the $2.99 monthly tier, users can also pay $19.99 annually for Croissants or a one-time $59.99 for life.