Agorapulse vs Dash Hudson: The Battle for the Better Tool

Choosing the right social media management tool can make a huge difference in a business’s online presence and bottom line.

Choosing the wrong tool, on the other hand, can throw hundreds of hours and dollars down the drain.

If Agorapulse and Dash Hudson are on the shortlist for social media management, picking the right tool will save time, money, and stress.

This article will detail the key differences between these two tools and how Agorapulse can benefit a wider range of businesses looking to better manage social.

Pro tip: Start a free trial of Agorapulse now before heading into the matchup. That way, you can test the features in real time as you read along.

Agorapulse vs Dash Hudson: Feature Matchup

Ding, ding, ding, let the matchup begin!

This round will cover the essential aspects of social media management, examining how each platform compares on publishing, inbox management, reporting, listening, and social proof capabilities.

Publishing

Let’s kick off our feature comparison by exploring Dash Hudson’s and Agorapulse’s publishing capabilities and how they cater to the unique needs of social media managers.

As a platform geared heavily toward Instagram and TikTok, Dash Hudson has publishing features social media managers expect, such as:

• Instagram grid view
• Instagram product tagging (where available)
• LikeShop (link in bio)
• Content library

It also has two noteworthy features for these social media channels. The first is trending TikTok audio, which allows users to incorporate hip-at-the-moment audio with their content.

The second (available on the two most expensive plans) is “Vision,” a feature that uses AI to predict the performance of photos and videos in scheduled posts.

Some noteworthy publishing features are missing, however. On G2, this Dash Hudson user points out the absence of the previously mentioned Canva integration, the ability to move posts on a monthly calendar, and an AI writing assistant for captions.

Agorapulse will appease this G2 reviewer, as it offers Canva integration, an AI writing assistant, and the ability to move posts just about anywhere.

Users of Agorapulse also rave about publishing features like:

• First comment on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
• Twitter threads
• Saved hashtags

Unfortunately, Dash Hudson users don’t have these features to save time when publishing on social media.

Agorapulse doesn’t offer these features in favor of Instagram bells and whistles—not to worry. It provides an Instagram grid view, product tagging (where allowed), a PulseLink in Bio, and a content library.

 

Inbox

In their own ways, Dash Hudson and Agorapulse help marketers send conversation starters out to social channels. But how do they compare with addressing conversations that come in from social media?

Dash Hudson gives an inbox to all users except the entry “grow” plan. (At $249/mo, I’d want an inbox.)

This inbox lets users reuse saved replies and assign incoming messages. Users of the top two plans (starting at $1,249/mo) receive inbox automation to process messages more quickly.

That’s about it.

Unsurprisingly, only three of the 314 Dash Hudson reviews on G2 mention the inbox.

Agorapulse understands that a social media management tool should capture all sides of a conversation. All plans—even the free one—include an inbox where messages and comments made on a brand’s content can be quickly found.

Social media managers love the Agorapulse inbox. It is mentioned in 102 of the 924 Agorapulse reviews on G2.

Over 98% of those reviews are super-positive, like this one from a performance analyst at an enterprise company.

Unlike Dash Hudson, Agorapulse makes automation and workflow options affordable. On plans starting at just $79/per user/month (billed annually), teams can use workflow capabilities to provide better customer service and reputation management. Time-saving inbox automation and saved replies are on plans beginning at $119 per user/month (billed annually).

Additional Agorapulse inbox features (that are not in Dash Hudson) include:

• LinkedIn and Google Business inbox (Dash Hudson doesn’t support Google Business at all.)
• Conversation tagging to easily organize customer feedback
• Collision detection to prevent awkward duplicative efforts
• Ad comment capturing for Facebook and Instagram

Agorapulse was the first social media management tool to tout “Inbox Zero,” and its strength in breezing through customer conversations clearly outweighs Dash Hudson’s capabilities.

Reporting

Marketing departments always want to prove the ROI of their social initiatives. So, let’s talk about reporting on these two social media management tools.

Dash Hudson features analytics for organic and paid content. Its dashboard provides metrics unique to brands that publish heavily on TikTok and Instagram, including “Creator Earned Media Value” and “Entertainment Score.”

However, not all Dash Hudson users can prove their worth, as only the top two plans (starting at $1,249/mo) have access to reports and dashboards.

Users of those top two plans can purchase a custom-priced Premium Analytics add-on to receive:

• Competitive reports on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X
• Customized reports
• Campaign reports

Agorapulse gives reports to every user. This communications manager on TrustRadius loves how accurate and helpful Agorapulse’s analytics are in planning future content strategy.

Community management reports showing how effectively a team handles inbox conversations are available on the Team plan ($79+ per user/month). Users on the Advanced plan ($119+ per user/month) can access customized reports, white-label reports, and UTM campaign analytics.

In this video, a marketing director shares how Agorapulse’s comprehensive reporting features, particularly its Social ROI tool, unveiled a 12% surge in her company’s revenue, highlighting its ability to deliver measurable results and invaluable insights.

Listening

Social listening is crucial to any successful social media strategy. It allows brands to stay attuned to customer sentiment, industry trends, and potential crises.

Dash Hudson and Agorapulse both offer listening capabilities at an extra charge. But, how each tool charges for listening differs wildly.

Dash Hudson offers users of its two highest plans the option to purchase its Social Listening add-on for $999/mo.

Advanced listening across the web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on Agorapulse costs just $40/search/month. What’s nice is that one search can contain multiple hashtags and keywords, as in this example.

Agorapulse vs Dash Hudson: Approaches to Social Proof

Marketers know they must incorporate social proof alongside their perfectly crafted, team-vetted posts. Unlike the nameless, faceless folks behind brand content, social proof features real, living people on social media endorsing a product or service.

Dash Hudson and Agorapulse both understand the importance of social proof but equip marketers to incorporate it from different perspectives.

Agorapulse emphasizes the importance of employee advocacy, an approach in which a business’s employees share their love of the company’s new product, service, or initiative. Sure, employee advocacy doesn’t have the viral potential of, say, having Tom Brady or Lionel Messi hawk a product. But it’s been scientifically proven to increase business outcomes (and attract better employee candidates to boot).

The employee advocacy add-on is available for $150/mo on the Standard, Professional, and Advanced plans.

Dash Hudson, on the other hand, focuses on influencer marketing from two angles.

For quicker wins, its user-generated content capabilities let marketers easily introduce themselves to followers and ask these content creators for permission to share their content on their business social media channels.

Brands with more time and a bigger budget can use Dash Hudson’s influencer marketing CRM (creator relationship management) to track outreach and ROI efforts.

The Engage ($1,249/mo) plan includes these influencer marketing features.

Agorapulse vs Dash Hudson: Pricing Matchup

Next round of the matchup: Money.

At first glance, the pricing models of Dash Hudson and Agorapulse seem like apples and oranges.

Upon further reflection, it’s easy to see which tool is priced for which type of marketing team.

No-cost options

Both Agorapulse and Dash Hudson offer marketers the opportunity to test-drive their solutions before committing to a purchase.

While Dash Hudson does not offer a free plan, it does give a 14-day free trial on any of its four plans.

Agorapulse offers a free plan and a 30-day free trial for all its plans except for its top-tier, personalized Custom plan.

Paid plans

Dash Hudson Monthly Billing Prices

Except where noted, all plans include unlimited users and “1 social set per brand.” Similar to Zoho Social and Metricool pricing models, this model restricts users to one brand profile per social channel.

• Grow: $249/mo
• Engage: $749/mo
• Advance: $1,249/mo
• Enterprise: Starts at $2,499/mo — includes all brand handles.

Those looking for a discount can sign up for annual billing to save 10%.

Agorapulse Monthly Billing Prices

Unlike Dash Hudson, Agorapulse charges per user. However, its pricing structure is more flexible for adding social media profiles. Profiles don’t have to all be tied to one brand, and additional profiles can be added to a plan for just $15/mo each.

• Standard: $69/mo per user for 10 profiles
• Professional: $99/mo per user for 10 profiles
• Advanced: $149/mo per user for 10 profiles
• Custom: Cost based on the customer’s unique needs.

Agorapulse gives annual billing subscribers a 20% discount.

Which social media management tool is more affordable?

Here’s a scenario to figure out which social media marketing tool is more affordable:

• A business needs a tool to support 3 users and 10 social profiles.
• Must-have features include reporting and hashtag listening for its brand (2 searches).

Dash Hudson subscribers must get the Advance plan to get reporting and to be eligible for the listening add-on. The Advance plan costs $1,249, and social listening runs for $499.

Since Dash Hudson only supports 7 media profiles for 1 brand, users must pay extra for those 3 profiles. (The cost for extra profiles isn’t publicly available.)

Even if the extra profiles are free, this scenario with Dash Hudson will run $1,748/mo.

On Agorapulse, the Professional plan has reporting and allows for social listening. The base price of $99/mo, multiplied by 3 to account for the desired users, comes to $297/mo. The 2 listening searches will run an additional $80/mo.

Agorapulse comes out significantly less expensive, with a total cost of only $377/mo.

Here’s the scenario breakdown in visual form.

Profiles/Users	Required Features	Dash Hudson	Agorapulse
10/3	Reporting, 2 listening searches	$1,748+/mo	$377/mo

So, Who Wins This Matchup?

This Agorapulse versus Dash Hudson matchup reveals, more than anything, that each platform caters to different audiences and marketing needs. 

Dash Hudson’s strengths lie in its Instagram and TikTok-specific features, making it a sound choice for beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands focused on aesthetics and influencer marketing.

However, Agorapulse’s feature offering, affordable pricing plans, and support for a broader range of social networks make it a more versatile option for businesses that need an all-in-one solution for social media management, particularly those in the services and B2B spaces.

Dhariana Lozano, social media strategist and co-founder of Block & Ave, encourages due diligence when choosing a social media management tool.

“It’s important to compare social media management tools because one interface might work for you while another doesn’t. It depends on what makes your brain happy, including which tool is more visually appealing or which makes the process easier for you to work.”

So, take the matchup findings and this advice from a social media professional and sign up for the Agorapulse 30-day free trial!