8 of the Best Hootsuite Alternatives

Hootsuite is one of the best-known names in social media management. It’s also one of the priciest with plans starting at $99 per user per month, and approval workflows only arrive on the $399 Advanced tier. If that’s why you’re looking for Hootsuite alternatives, you’re in the right place.

We compared the 8 best alternatives to Hootsuite on price, features, and who each tool genuinely suits.

Quick answer: what are the best alternatives to Hootsuite?

The best Hootsuite alternatives in 2026 are Agorapulse for agencies and mid-market teams, Sprout Social for enterprises that need deep reporting, Buffer for solo creators on a budget, and Metricool for analytics-first marketers. Later suits visual brands, while SocialPilot, Sendible and Loomly are budget picks for agencies and small teams.

Hootsuite alternative at a glance

Tool	Best for	Starting price	Free plan	Free trial
Agorapulse	Agencies and mid-market teams	$79/user/month	No	30 days
Sprout Social	Enterprises needing deep reporting	$79/seat/month	No	30 days
Buffer	Solo creators and small businesses	$5/channel/month	Yes (3 channels)	14 days
Later	Visual-first brands and creators	$18.75/month	Limited	14 days
Metricool	Analytics-first marketers	$20/month (up to 5 brands)	Yes (1 brand)	No
SocialPilot	Budget-conscious agencies	$25.50/month	No	14 days
Sendible	Agencies managing many clients	$25/month	No	14 days
Loomly	Small teams needing simple approvals	$49/month	Limited (offered after trial)	15 days
Hootsuite (for reference)	Enterprises wanting broad integrations	$99/user/month	No	14 days

How we evaluated these Hootsuite alternatives

We evaluated each tool across six criteria: publishing and scheduling, inbox and engagement, reporting and ROI, team collaboration and approvals, pricing transparency, and customer service quality. Prices come from each vendor’s pricing page or help center. Review scores come from G2 and Capterra.

1. Best Hootsuite Alternative: Agorapulse

Agorapulse stands out as the best Hootsuite alternative. It ranks as one of the top social media management tools on G2 and TrustRadius. With a comprehensive suite of tools for social media management, Agorapulse is favoured for its user-friendly interface, powerful analytics and reporting, and responsive customer support.

Platforms supported: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Google Business Profile, Threads and Bluesky

Best for: Mid-sized businesses and agencies seeking an all-in-one solution for social media management with strong analytics and social listening tools

Choose it if: you want approval workflows, a unified inbox and ROI reporting without paying entreprise prices.

Not for: Fortune 500 companies that need entreprise consumer intelligence or PR and broadcast monitoring.

Agorapulse feature highlights

What customers love most about Agorapulse:

1. Unified social inbox for comments, messages and ad comments across every connected network.
2. Intuitive publishing with shared calendars, content labels, and approval workflows that allow you to collaborate and get client approvals easily.
3. AI writing assistant helps you write social media posts faster and Archie, AI content repurposing tool.
4. Posts are automatically created with UTM links, so you can track your success. Comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, including an integration with your Google Analytics data, provide deep insights into social media performance.
5. Social listening features provide discovery of trends and insights about your brand and competitors.
6. Award-winning customer service, so you always get fast, friendly support in industry-record time.

Pros: Agorapulse shines with its intuitive interface, detailed analytics, and responsive customer support. Stand-out features include the shared calendars, approval workflows, and custom labels/tagging system. The social media ROI tool enables users to prove the real business value of social media efforts.

Cons: The options for third-party integrations can be a drawback for some users.

Hootsuite vs Agorapulse

Agorapulse outperforms Hootsuite in terms of inbox management, user experience, and custom service. Its analytics are more detailed. The platform is also more user-friendly. Plus, Agorapulse outshines Hootsuite in terms of price, particularly for companies looking to scale. If you require more than one user account, Agorapulse is likely the better option for your wallet.

Read: The REAL Hootsuite pricing revealed

Agorapulse pricing

Agorapulse has four plans available: Standard, Premium, Advanced, and Custom. All plans include 10 social profiles shared across users, with extra profiles at $10 per month each. A free trial available for 30 days lets you see whether Agorapulse is right for your business.

Plan	Annual billing	Monthly billing	Highlights
Standard	$79/user	$99/user	Unlimited scheduling, unified inbox, reporting, AI writing tools, Archie
Professional	$119/user	$149/user	Adds approval workflows, ad comment moderation, Instagram product tagging, link in bio
Advanced	$149/user	$199/user	Adds bulk publishing, shared calendars, advanced ROI reporting, competitor benchmarking
Custom	On request	On request	Unlimited profiles, SSO, dedicated account manager

Overall, Agorapulse is the best Hootsuite alternative for agencies and mid-market businesses looking to streamline their social media management due to its excellent customer support and advanced features for a cost-effective price.

2. Hootsuite Alternative: Buffer

Buffer has evolved into a formidable competitor to Hootsuite. It focuses on simplicity in social media management.

Platforms supported: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Google Business Profile

Best for: Ideal for small businesses, solopreneurs, and anyone seeking a straightforward social media management tool
Choose it if: You mainly need clean, affordable scheduling
Not for: Agencies or teams that need a full inbox, listening or advanced reporting

Buffer feature highlights

• Post tagging
• AI assistant for writing posts and captions
• Community inbox for comments
• Approval workflows and access controls on Team
• One of the few social media management tools that integrates with Mastodon

Pros: Buffer is known for its user-friendly interface, efficient scheduling options, and versatile post creation tools.

Cons: Reporting and engagement tools are lighter than all-in-one platforms. Buffer is open about the fact that it doesn’t do deep listening.

Hootsuite vs Buffer

Buffer is far cheaper for a small team and has a gentler learning curve. Hootsuite covers more ground for larger teams, including listening and advanced reporting

Buffer pricing

The free plan covers up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel. Essentials costs $5 per channel per month billed annually ($6 monthly) for one user. Team costs $10 per channel per month billed annually ($12 monthly) with unlimited users. Per-channel rates drop as you add channels.

3. Hootsuite alternative for visual brands: Later

Later is a visual-first planner for Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, with link-in-bio tools and a creator-commerce offering through Mavely.
Platforms supported: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Threads.

Best for: Brands and marketers focusing on visually rich content, especially for Instagram

Choose it if: Your strategy lives on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

Not for: Teams that publish to X or need strong collaboration and approvals.

 

Later feature highlights

• Offers a visual content calendar and intuitive scheduling tools
• Has a Link in bio feature with shoppable links
• Plans built around social sets, each a bundle of up to 8 profiles
• AI credits for captions and ideas (5 on Starter, 50 on Growth, 100 on Scale)

Pros: Excellent visual planning and link-in-bio monetization. G2 and Capterra users rate it 4.4 to 4.5.

Cons: No X scheduling, lighter analytics, and post limits on lower plans (30 posts per profile per month on Starter). Team collaboration is thinner than on agency-focused tools.

Hootsuite vs Later

Later is the better pick for visual planning on Instagram and TikTok at a fraction of Hootsuite’s price. Hootsuite is the better fit if you need X, a full inbox, or listening.

Later Pricing

Starter costs $18.75 per month billed annually ($25 monthly) for 1 social set and 1 user. Growth is $37.50 per month annually ($50 monthly) and Scale is $82.50 per month annually ($110 monthly). Each paid plan has a 14-day free trial. Later’s help center documents a limited free plan that isn’t shown on its pricing page.

4. Hootsuite alternative for simple team approvals: Loomly

Loomly positions itself as a versatile tool for social media marketing, focusing on ease of use and collaborative features. It’s particularly popular among small marketing agencies, businesses, and freelance social media managers, making it a good alternative to Hootsuite.

Platforms supported: Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Google My Business

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses seeking a focus on content creation and team collaboration

Choose it if: Easy collaboration matters more than the inbox or listening depth

Not for: Growing teams that will soon need more than 12 accounts

Loomly feature highlights

• Content calendar with post ideas and an AI Assistant
• Approval workflows on the Starter plan
• Advanced analytics included on Starter
• Integrations with Canva, Google Drive and Unsplash

Pros: User-friendly, excellent for team collaboration, and helpful for content creation and planning

Cons: Loomly removed its mid-tier plans in 2025, so teams outgrowing the Starter plan will face a large jump to the next tier.

Hootsuite vs Loomly

Loomly’s strengths lie in content creation support and team collaboration. It’s more suitable for businesses that prioritize these aspects over Hootsuite’s broader feature set. Loomly does not offer social listening features.

Loomly pricing

No free plan available. The base plan starts at $49/month when billed annually. The next tier plan, Beyond, starts at $249 per month billed annually. Entreprise pricing is custom for more than 61 accounts.

5. Hootsuite alternative for analytics: Metricool

Metricool is a versatile tool designed for analyzing, managing, and growing digital presence. It combines organic and paid ads reporting (Google, Meta, TikTok) in one dashboard, at a low per-brand price.

Platforms supported: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Twitch, and Google Business Profil.

Best for: Data-driven businesses and marketers managing several brands.

Choose it if: You want organic and paid reporting in one place without per-user fees.

Not for: Teams that need a robust unified inbox or social listening.

Metricool feature highlights

• Integrates with CMS platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, and Wix
• Can connect to Google Ads and Looker Studio accounts
• Organic and paid ads analytics in one dashboard
• Competitor Analysis
• Pricing per brand, with unlimited team members within your brand limit

Pros: Comprehensive analytics, affordability, and a broad range of tools for data-driven marketing

Cons: Its interface can be overwhelming, especially for new users. You also cannot connect more than 50 social profiles, not even on the enterprise plan. The free plan excludes LinkedIn and X. X is a paid add-on on Starter, and full X analytics, approvals and the API require the advanced plan.

Hootsuite vs Metricool

Metricool offers more detailed analytics than Hootsuite at a more affordable price point. So, it makes a strong Hootsuite alternative for businesses focused on data. However, Hootsuite is stronger on inbox management, listening and entreprise integrations.

Metricool pricing

A free plan is available and covers 1 brand with 20 scheduled posts per month. Starter starts at $20 per month billed annually for up to 5 brands ($36 for up to 10). Advanced starts at $53 per month billed annually for up to 15 brands. Custom pricing is available for larger teams.

6. Hootsuite alternative for multi-client agencies: Sendible

Sendible is a comprehensive platform built around agency workflows: client dashboards, approvals and white-label options.

Platforms supported: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Google Business Profile

Best for: Ideal for smaller agencies managing multiple accounts

Choose it if: Client-facing workflows and reporting are your main priority

Not for: Teams that want white label included without paying extra

Sendible feature highlights

• Client dashboards and approval workflows from the Traction plan
• Priority inbox
• Custom reports, capped per user on lower plans
• White label as a paid add-on on Advanced and Enterprise

Pros: Robust integration options, and effective for team collaboration. It can also can be white-labeled.

Cons: The learning curve might be steep for some users compared to Hootsuite. Daily posting limits apply per user on every tier (100 sends a day on Creator). White label costs extra even on the $299 Advanced plan.

Hootsuite vs Sendible

Sendible has much better customer support than Hootsuite. However, Hootsuite has more platform connections available. Sendible also does not have a plan available that offers unlimited post scheduling. The limit tops out at 500, even on the highest plan.

TikTok scheduling with Sendible isn’t the best. Sometimes, it will take up to 30 minutes to process a single post.

That being said, Sendible is much more budget-friendly if you need more than one user account. Hootsuite doesn’t offer this unless you are on the Team plan, which is $249/month.

Sendible pricing

It starts at $25/month when billed annually for the freelancer plan, which includes 1 user account and 6 social profiles. For more than 6 social profiles, you need to move to the Traction plan, which is $76/month. Advanced is $299 per month and Enterprise starts at $750 per month.

7. Budget Hootsuite alternative for agencies: SocialPilot

SocialPilot positions itself as a budget-friendly social media scheduling and analytics tool. Prices are set per plan rather than per user, which keeps costs predictable for small agencies.

Platforms supported: Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, and Google My Business

Best for: Suited for small businesses and digital agencies that need a budget-friendly yet comprehensive social media management tool

Choose it if: You want many accounts and client approvals for well under $100 a month

Not for: Teams that need social listening or deep reporting

SocialPilot feature highlights

• Bulk scheduling through .csv uploads
• Social inbox
• Manager and client approvals
• Provides post analytics and downloadable PDF reports

Pros: Affordable pricing, bulk scheduling capabilities, and comprehensive analytic

Cons: Analytics are lighter on lower plans, and there is no built-in social listening. Agency features are spread across several tier upgrades.

Hootsuite vs SocialPilot

With its focus on affordability and bulk scheduling, SocialPilot is a strong alternative for small businesses and agencies looking for a cost-effective tool.

SocialPilot Pricing

No free plan available here. Plans start at $25.50/month when paid annually. This includes 10 social media accounts and one user. For access to some of the more advanced features like client approvals you need to pay for the Premium plan, which is $85/month. But it’s still cheaper than Hootsuite.

8. Hootsuite Alternative: Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a high-end social media management platform (that comes with a high price tag, too).

Platforms supported: Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Best for: Larger businesses or enterprises needing a full-featured social media management solution with deep reporting

Choose it if: Reporting depth matters more than budget

Not for: Small teams or agencies watching per-seat costs

Sprout Social feature highlights

• Smart Inbox with message tagging and sentiment
• Interactive reporting and competitor insights
• Listening that covers Reddit and review sites such as Glassdoor and the App Store
• Trellis, an AI agent layer, with 100 credits per seat per month on every plan

Pros: Offers a full suite of features, which makes it a comprehensive tool for enterprise organizations

Cons: The cost can be prohibitive for smaller businesses. It might offer more features than necessary for simple social media tasks. Some features, such as content libraries or external approvals, aren’t available unless you purchase the Advanced plan. That starts at $499/month.

Read more: How Much Does Sprout Social Really Cost?

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s advanced features, particularly in social listening and available integrations, make it a preferred choice for larger organizations or those needing a more detailed approach than Hootsuite. However, Agorapulse still has a higher rating on G2 than both Hootsuite and Sprout Social, which makes Agorapulse a better alternative to Hootsuite.

Sprout Social pricing

Sprout Social does not have a free plan. The lowest tier plan, Essentials, starts at $79 per seat per month billed annually. Standard is $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399 per seat per month billed annually.

Read more: Agorapulse vs Hootsuite vs. Sprout Social

Which Hootsuite Alternative Will You Choose?

The key takeaway for businesses is that it all comes down to choosing a tool that aligns not just with their current needs but also their growth trajectory and long-term goals.

While some of the platforms available may prioritize advanced analytics and reporting, others might find value in content creation support or budget-friendly solutions. The diversity in these platforms ensures that there is a tool out there that fits just right for every social media management need.

By exploring all of the alternatives to Hootsuite that are available you can be sure to find a tool that will help you elevate your social media presence and connect effectively with your audience.

Want to see if Agorapulse is right for your business? Give it a try for free. No strings attached.

Hootsuite alternatives FAQ

What is the best alternative to Hootsuite?

For most agencies and mid-market teams, Agorapulse is the best Hootsuite alternative. It includes a unified inbox, publishing, reporting and optional listening, with approval workflows from $119 per user per month instead of $399. Enterprises focused on reporting depth may prefer Sprout Social.

Is there a free alternative to Hootsuite?

Yes. Buffer offers a free plan for up to 3 channels, Metricool has a free plan for 1 brand, and Agorapulse’s free Archie plan covers AI content creation and publishing for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Free plans have limits, so check post caps and supported networks before committing.

What is cheaper than Hootsuite?

Every tool on this list starts below Hootsuite’s $99 per user per month. Buffer starts at $5 per channel, Later at $18.75, Metricool at $20, Sendible at $25, SocialPilot at $25.50 and Agorapulse at $79 per user, all billed annually. The bigger savings appear when you need approval workflows.

Which Hootsuite competitors are best for agencies?

Agorapulse, Sendible and SocialPilot are the strongest Hootsuite competitors for agencies. Agorapulse combines client approvals, a unified inbox and ROI reporting. Sendible focuses on client dashboards and white-label options. SocialPilot offers the lowest flat pricing with client approvals on its Premium plan.

Does Hootsuite have a free plan?

No. Hootsuite no longer offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $99 per user per month for Standard, $199 for Professional and $399 for Advanced, billed annually. Nonprofits can access discounted rates.

Which Hootsuite alternative will you choose?

The right Hootsuite alternative depends on your team, not on a feature count. Solo creators get the most value from Buffer or Later. Analytics-first marketers will like Metricool. Agencies on a tight budget should look at SocialPilot or Sendible, and enterprises that need deep reporting can justify Sprout Social.

If you’re an agency or a growing team that wants publishing, an inbox, reporting and approvals in one place, at a price you can see before you talk to sales, try Agorapulse free for 30 days. No credit card needed.