Hootsuite vs Sprout Social
Hootsuite and Sprout Social side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Hootsuite | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Marketing & SEO | Marketing & SEO |
| Starting price | $99/mo (checked October 2026) | $79/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Not listed | Not listed |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Neither lists a free tier, so expect to pay to use either one.
Sprout Social has the lower starting price ($79/mo against $99/mo for Hootsuite). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Marketing & SEO category.
About each tool
Hootsuite
Social media management suite with AI for scheduling, inbox, listening and analytics. Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually.
Who it is for
Hootsuite sells per-seat plans for individuals and teams managing social profiles, from Standard (10 accounts) to Enterprise for organizations that need SSO, governance and expert onboarding. Its pages say Standard is not designed for more than 10 accounts, advanced approvals or routing, or high-volume messaging.
Strengths
- Hootsuite lists unlimited scheduled posts, AI post and image generation, one inbox and brand and competitor monitoring on Standard, with up to 10 social accounts.
- Hootsuite says Professional adds unlimited accounts, automated inbox replies and DM automation, trend forecasting up to 90 days ahead, custom reports, and benchmarking against up to 20 competitors (five on Standard).
- Hootsuite says Advanced adds content approvals, internal comments, message assignment with skill-based routing, customer satisfaction surveys, and team performance measurement.
- Hootsuite lists SSO, custom compliance, Salesforce integration, advanced listening with 13 months of historical data, and expert onboarding on Enterprise.
- Hootsuite's FAQ lists Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, WhatsApp and Pinterest as supported networks; Instagram and TikTok scheduling require business accounts.
- Hootsuite offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required and says you can cancel anytime; Standard, Professional and Advanced are sold on monthly or annual billing.
Limitations
- There is no permanent free plan. Trial accounts are capped at 10-20 posts a day per organization, depending on plan, and cannot use bulk scheduling.
- Hootsuite's pages disagree in places: the Standard page body says 10 accounts but its meta description says up to five, and the plans page says you are not charged automatically after the trial while the Terms of Service say Hootsuite charges automatically when a trial ends.
- The Terms of Service say that if you cancel or downgrade a paid plan you pay for the rest of the current term and are not entitled to a refund; plans renew automatically.
- Hootsuite's AI terms (last modified July 29, 2025) say it may use Customer Content and outputs to improve its AI services during and after the term, may send content to third-party AI providers, and describe no opt-out. They also make the customer responsible for checking output accuracy and bar uses such as spam and building competing models.
Sprout Social
Social media management platform with an AI assistant, Trellis. Essentials is $79 per seat a month billed annually ($99 monthly).
Who it is for
Sprout prices every plan per seat, from Essentials for up to 5 profiles to a quote-based Enterprise plan, so it targets social teams of different sizes. Higher tiers add unlimited profiles, sentiment analysis, an API and helpdesk integrations, and Enterprise adds onboarding, SSO setup and priority support.
Strengths
- Sprout's pricing page lists a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.
- Sprout lists Trellis in every plan with 100 AI credits per seat each month, and its help center says AI Assist features do not count toward that usage limit.
- Sprout lists unlimited profiles from Professional (Essentials and Standard connect 5), with 10 brand keywords per group on Standard and Professional and 20 on Advanced.
- Sprout lists the Sprout API, Salesforce and Zendesk helpdesk integrations, sentiment in Smart Inbox and Reviews, and Message Spike Alerts on Advanced.
- Sprout lists Enhance Post by AI Assist from Professional and Enhance Reply by AI Assist from Advanced, plus unlimited AI-generated alt text on lower tiers.
- Sprout says its generative AI features do not use customer data to train third-party models, and that its contracts with providers (it names AWS, Anthropic and OpenAI) bar training on data or prompts sent to them.
Limitations
- There is no free plan. Essentials, the entry tier, is priced per seat and connects 5 social profiles, with no brand keywords listed.
- Trellis Chat and Skills use credits: 100 per seat each month in every plan. Trellis Plus is a paid add-on at $28 per user a month billed annually or $35 billed monthly, with 1,000 credits up to a fair use cap whose size is not stated. Unused credits are forfeited at the monthly reset.
- Premium Analytics, Listening, Employee Advocacy and Professional Services are separate add-ons for Standard and above, and Sprout lists no prices for them. Sprout notes that adding profiles as add-ons can cost more than moving to Professional.
- Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current contract term, and publishing then stops. After a trial ends without a subscription, Sprout deletes account data 30 days later. Sprout's AI data page does not describe an opt-out or how long prompts are kept.
