Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: Cost per Seat (2026)
Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: both bill per seat. Hootsuite from $99 with 10 accounts, Sprout Social from $79 with 5 profiles. Pricing and features compared.
Evgenii PlugarevPublished
Hootsuite and Sprout Social both bill per user. Hootsuite Standard costs $149 per user a month, or $99 billed yearly, with 10 social accounts and an inbox. Sprout Social Essentials costs $99 per seat a month, or $79 billed yearly, with 5 profiles, and its inbox starts on Standard at $249.
Pick Hootsuite for up to 10 accounts on the entry plan or an inbox at the lowest price. Pick Sprout Social for publishing to 5 profiles or fewer, for Reddit and Snapchat, or for approvals on a lower plan. We make Pubblica, a flat-price scheduler, and list it as a third option. Prices are in US dollars, from each vendor's official pricing page.
| Hootsuite | Sprout Social | Pubblica | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per user | Per user | Flat price |
| Paid plans from | $99 per user/mo, billed yearly | $79 per user/mo, billed yearly | $20/mo |
| Free plan | No | No | 20 posts/mo, no X |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 30 days, no card | 7 days, card required |
| Social accounts | 10 on Standard | 5 on Essentials | Unlimited |
| Networks | 9 | 11 | 9 |
| Telegram | No | No | Yes |
Hootsuite vs Sprout Social pricing
Sprout Social has the lower entry price, and Hootsuite's entry plan includes more accounts and an inbox. With monthly billing, the entry plans cost $149 per user on Hootsuite and $99 per seat on Sprout Social. On both, each person on the team adds a seat, and the plan you need depends on how many accounts you connect and which features you use.
| Hootsuite | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | None | None |
| Entry plan | Standard: $149 per user/mo, 10 accounts | Essentials: $99 per seat/mo, 5 profiles |
| Inbox from | Standard, $149 per user/mo | Standard, $249 per seat/mo |
| Unlimited accounts from | Professional, $299 per user/mo | Professional, $399 per seat/mo |
| Approvals from | Advanced, $499 per user/mo | Professional, $399 per seat/mo |
| Top self-serve plan | Advanced: $499 per user/mo | Advanced: $499 per seat/mo |
| Yearly billing | $99, $199 and $399 per user/mo | $79, $199, $299 and $399 per seat/mo |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 30 days, no card |
| Refunds | Reviewed on request | Not offered on cancellation |
| Nonprofit pricing | Up to 60% off | $239 and $299 per seat/mo on Professional and Advanced |
Neither tool has a free plan: Hootsuite's plans page lists only paid plans, and Sprout Social's pricing page offers a trial instead. For every tier, see Hootsuite pricing and Sprout Social pricing.
What each plan costs in six scenarios
Sprout Social costs less for one person publishing to 5 profiles or fewer and for teams that need approvals. Hootsuite costs less when you need an inbox or more than 5 accounts. Prices use monthly billing.
| Scenario | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person, 5 profiles, publishing only | Standard, $149/mo | Essentials, $99/mo |
| 1 person, 5 profiles with inbox | Standard, $149/mo | Standard, $249/mo |
| 1 person, 10 profiles | Standard, $149/mo | Professional, $399/mo |
| 1 person, 25 profiles | Professional, $299/mo | Professional, $399/mo |
| 3 people, 10 profiles with inbox | Standard × 3, $447/mo | Professional × 3, $1,197/mo |
| 5 people with approvals, 25 profiles | Advanced × 5, $2,495/mo | Professional × 5, $1,995/mo |
The biggest Sprout Social step is the sixth profile: Essentials and Standard stop at 5, so one person moves from $99 to $399 a month. On Hootsuite, the step comes at the 11th account, from $149 to $299. Yearly billing lowers Hootsuite by 20 to 34% and Sprout Social by 20 to 25%.
On Pubblica, Pro costs $20 a month for unlimited accounts and posts on all 9 networks, so one person publishing to 5, 10 or 25 accounts pays $20 a month.
Networks and features
Hootsuite publishes to 9 networks: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Pinterest. Sprout Social publishes to 11: the same nine plus Reddit and Snapchat.
| Feature | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Social accounts | 10 on Standard, unlimited from Professional | 5 on Essentials and Standard, unlimited from Professional |
| Inbox for comments and messages | All plans | Standard and up |
| Posting times | Recommended times, all plans | Optimal send times and ViralPost, all plans |
| Bulk scheduling from CSV | Standard and up, 350 posts at once | Professional and up, 350 posts at once, no video |
| Post approvals | Advanced | Professional; external approvers on Advanced |
| AI | 100 AI credits a month, all self-serve plans | Trellis, 100 credits per seat a month, all plans |
| Monitoring | Brand monitoring, all plans | Keyword and location monitoring from Standard; listening as an add-on |
Hootsuite's inbox covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Threads, TikTok, Google Business Profile and WhatsApp. Professional adds inbox and DM automation and a 90-day trend forecast, and Advanced adds message routing and team metrics. Sprout Social's inbox adds WhatsApp and Messenger, and Standard also brings review management. Professional adds message tagging and competitor, tag and paid insights, and Advanced adds sentiment, helpdesk integrations and the Sprout API.
How posting works in Hootsuite and Sprout Social
Hootsuite schedules posts through a composer and a calendar, and Sprout Social uses a calendar and a queue. In Hootsuite, the composer recommends a time to post for your goal. Canva is built in, and a drag-and-drop calendar shows posts across all networks. During the trial, you can schedule 10 to 20 posts per organization, depending on the plan.
In Sprout Social, you can pick a time or add a post to Sprout Queue, which fills the time slots you set for each profile. ViralPost, Sprout's send-time optimization, can pick the times for queued posts instead. The pricing page caps queued posts at 10 a day on Essentials and Standard, 20 on Professional and 30 on Advanced. Sprout Social publishes Instagram photos, videos, Reels, carousels and Stories directly, and sends Stories with stickers to its mobile app to finish.
Who should choose Hootsuite
Hootsuite fits one person or a team with up to 10 accounts that answers messages along with publishing. Choose Hootsuite if:
- You run 6 to 10 accounts on your own. Standard covers 10 accounts for $149 a month, while Sprout Social moves to Professional at $399 from the sixth profile.
- You want an inbox on the entry plan. Every Hootsuite plan includes the unified inbox for comments and DMs, including WhatsApp.
- You schedule in bulk. Standard imports up to 350 posts at once from a CSV file.
- You track your brand and competitors. Standard includes brand monitoring and benchmarks against 5 competitors, Professional against 20.
- You run a registered charity. Hootsuite offers nonprofits up to 60% off.
Hootsuite holds 4.3 out of 5 on G2 from 7,511 reviews and 4.3 on Gartner Peer Insights from 481. To compare more options, see our list of Hootsuite alternatives.
Who should choose Sprout Social
Sprout Social fits people who publish to a few profiles and teams that need approvals, reviews and reporting. Choose Sprout Social if:
- You publish to 5 profiles or fewer. Essentials costs $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly, with the queue, ViralPost and optimal send times.
- Your team needs approvals. Message approval workflows come with Professional at $399 per seat. On Hootsuite, they start with Advanced at $499.
- You publish to Reddit or Snapchat. Sprout Social covers both, along with the nine networks Hootsuite supports.
- You manage reviews and customer care. Standard adds review management, and Advanced adds sentiment and helpdesk integrations.
- You want a longer trial. The free trial lasts 30 days and needs no card.
Sprout Social holds 4.4 out of 5 on Capterra from over 600 reviews. To compare more options, see our list of Sprout Social alternatives.
A third option: Pubblica
Pubblica is a social media scheduler with one flat price. Pro costs $20 a month for unlimited accounts and posts on all 9 networks, including X and Telegram, so the bill stays the same as you add accounts. You write a post once, pick the accounts and publish it right away or at the time you set.
- Free plan: $0, 20 posts a month on every network except X, with no card.
- Accounts: unlimited on both plans, including several accounts on the same network. Workspaces group them by brand.
- Trial and refunds: Pro has a 7-day free trial, which needs a card, and a 14-day money-back guarantee on payments.
If you mainly publish posts to many accounts, start with Pubblica, a free social media scheduler.
