Short answer: an agency stack has six jobs: managing creators and agreements, storing and approving content, planning the calendar, posting to the platforms, keeping account access secure, and measuring traffic. Pick one tool per job and write down who owns it. Farmero covers the posting and warm-up job on your own iPhones; it is not a CRM, an editor or a view-count dashboard.
The six jobs
| Job | What the tool does | Typical options | Must have |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator management (CRM) | Contracts, contacts, onboarding, payouts records | A CRM or a well-kept spreadsheet | Per-creator records, access control |
| Content storage and approval | Raw, edited, approved folders; approval log | Cloud storage plus a shared sheet | Version history, per-model folders |
| Planning | Weekly calendar per model and platform | Spreadsheet, project board | One view across platforms |
| Posting | Gets approved clips onto accounts | Native apps by hand, platform-approved schedulers, phone-based automation | Confirmation that posts went live |
| Access and security | Passwords, two-factor, device list | Password manager, authenticator | Per-person access, revocation |
| Measurement | Views, profile visits, link clicks, subscribers per account | In-app insights, a link tool with tags, destination tracking links | One link per account |
Useful templates: content calendar, content approval, tracking per account.
Choosing the posting layer
| Approach | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| By hand in the apps | A few accounts; full control | Time grows with every account; wrong-account mistakes |
| Schedulers that use official APIs | Supported account types and post formats | Each platform's API limits; see TikTok API posting limits |
| Automation on your own iPhones | Many accounts, the real apps | May breach platform terms; hardware to manage |
| Cloud phones | No hardware on site | Usually Android, not iOS; see cloud phones vs real iPhones |
Whatever you choose, nobody can promise an account will never be restricted, and no tool fixes content that breaks the guidelines.
What to leave out of the stack
Some "growth tools" do things the platforms prohibit: selling followers, likes or views, running comment bots, faking locations or devices, or reviving banned accounts. TikTok, for example, does not allow "buying or selling followers or engagement for financial gain" (archived guidelines, as of 17 September 2026). Keep them out; they put every account at risk.
Before adding any tool, write down what job it does, who owns it, what data it holds and how you would remove it. Tools that hold account logins or content deserve the most scrutiny, and any tool that asks for logins it does not need is worth skipping.
Where Farmero fits
Farmero is the posting and warm-up layer. It is a Mac app that drives your own iPhones over USB and posts to your TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts through the real apps, up to eight accounts per phone. It confirms each post on the profile, marks unconfirmed ones uncertain instead of retrying, and reports what posted, what did not and what it refused, on the Mac or to Telegram or ntfy. It supports TikTok photo slideshows, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. A local MCP server lets Claude or another MCP client check fleet status, queue posts (publishing still gated by your switch) and take phone screenshots.
It does not edit video, pick sounds, or report view counts. Plans start at $49 a month; see pricing.
FAQ
What is the minimum stack for a new agency?
A spreadsheet for creators and the calendar, cloud storage with approval folders, a password manager, and a way to tag links per account.
Do agencies need a CRM from day one?
Not usually. A well-kept sheet works for a few creators; move to a CRM when records get hard to keep consistent.
Can one tool do everything?
Rarely well. Separate tools for separate jobs, with clear owners, are easier to replace.
Is Farmero a scheduler?
It schedules and posts, but on your own iPhones through the real apps rather than through a platform API.