Metricool vs Hootsuite
Metricool and Hootsuite 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
| Metricool | Hootsuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Marketing & SEO | Marketing & SEO |
| Starting price | Free; paid plans from $20/mo (checked October 2026) | $99/mo (checked October 2026) |
| Free tier | Yes | 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
Metricool lists a free tier and Hootsuite does not.
Metricool has the lower starting price ($20/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
Metricool
Social media scheduling, analytics and reporting tool with a Free plan for 1 brand; paid plans start at $20 a month billed annually ($25 monthly).
Who it is for
Metricool's plans scale from a single brand on the Free plan to agencies, with team and client management, roles and post approval on Advanced and Custom. Its pricing page does not list team members on Free or Starter.
Strengths
- Metricool's pricing page lists a Free plan with $0 pricing: 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics, the AI assistant and the Metricool MCP.
- Metricool lists Starter (up to 10 brands) with unlimited publishing under its Fair Use Policy, 100 competitor profiles, LinkedIn, PDF and PPT reports, unlimited analytics history, Flows, and Google Drive and Canva integrations.
- Metricool lists Advanced and Custom with unlimited team members, team and client management, role management, a post approval system, custom report templates, a Data Studio connector and the Metricool API (Zapier, Make).
- Metricool lists AI assistant credits per brand each month: 5 on Free, 20 on Starter and 35 on Advanced, with custom credits on Custom.
- Metricool says it can be canceled anytime, with paid access continuing to the end of the billing cycle and the account then becoming free. Upgrades credit the unused part of the old plan.
- Metricool's privacy policy says it stores all data on servers within the European Union and does not carry out international data transfers.
Limitations
- Free is limited to 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month, 30 days of analytics and 5 AI credits per brand a month, with no LinkedIn or X/Twitter connection and no Flows, Smartlinks, Google Drive or Canva integration.
- X/Twitter is an add-on on Starter and above: Metricool's help center lists $10 a month or $120 a year per connected X account. Advanced Analytics is a separate add-on, listed from $12 a month on Starter and $36 a month on Advanced.
- Metricool's pages are not fully consistent: its premium-vs-free article describes Starter as up to 10 brands at $20 billed annually, while the pricing page prices up to 5 brands at $20 and up to 10 at $36. The same article says annual billing gives two months free, while the listed prices imply about 20% off.
- The pricing page does not state a refund policy. Metricool's privacy policy, as read, does not mention AI features or whether data is used to train AI models, and says data may be shared within the team.blue group.
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.
