Sprout Social alternatives: 11 social media management tools compared
Sprout Social alternatives are sought mostly by teams that priced the plan with the inbox and reporting they wanted and found it charged per seat. Agencies with many client accounts and small teams that only publish are the two groups that leave most often. They move to flat or per-brand pricing, to cheaper schedulers, or to tools that keep listening and approvals as optional add-ons.
Short answer: The closest replacements for Sprout Social in our social media management ranking are Hootsuite, Agorapulse and Sendible. Choose Hootsuite if you want the same kind of suite and more accounts on the entry plan. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Social Media Management Tools in 2026, and each says where it differs from Sprout Social.
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Pricing: Per user per month, published; from $79 per seat on annual billing
Established in: United States
Built for: An in-house team that must justify the channel to a board
Not for: A two-person marketing team on a budget
01
Why buyers look past Sprout Social
01
Per-seat pricing grows with the team
Sprout Social lists its Standard, Professional and Advanced plans at $199, $299 and $399 per seat per month on annual billing. A team of four on Professional therefore pays for four seats, where tools priced per brand, per workspace or per channel stay flat as people are added. The seat count is the line that most often triggers a review.
02
The useful layers are add-ons or higher tiers
Premium Analytics and Listening are each sold as individual add-ons to Standard and up, and the pricing page gives no figure for them. The Essentials plan at $79 a month on annual billing ($99 monthly) covers 5 profiles and lists profile and post-level reporting, while the consolidated inbox is listed from Standard. Buyers who need listening or deep reports end up comparing a bundle of line items.
03
Profile limits and agency economics
Essentials and Standard include 5 social profiles, with unlimited profiles only from Professional. An agency running a dozen clients with a few accounts each hits the cap early and moves to the $299 tier. Tools that price per workspace or per account let that agency scale cost with the number of clients instead.
Free tier; paid per month by brand, published, low
Social scheduling attached to the Zoho suite
you already run Zoho software and want brand-based pricing with a free entry
#15
03
What each one does differently
1
Hootsuite
Canada · Per user per month, published; from $99 on annual billing
Hootsuite is the closest like-for-like rival: scheduling, a unified inbox and monitoring, with plans at $99, $199 and $399 per month on annual billing. Standard covers 10 accounts, which is more than Sprout's entry plans. It does not make the bill cheaper at the top, and enterprise listening and SSO need a sales conversation.
Switch from Sprout Social if you want the same kind of suite and more accounts on the entry plan.
France · Free tier; paid per user per month, published
Agorapulse sells four tiers with 10 social profiles on each of the three listed ones, so the profile cap stops being the lever. Reporting depth, labels, saved replies and moderation rules sit on the higher tiers, and a 30-day trial is offered. Unlimited profiles and multi-step approvals need the custom plan.
Switch from Sprout Social if inbox and moderation rules matter more than listening and you want a 10-profile limit.
United Kingdom · Per month by plan, published; unlimited users on all plans
Sendible prices by workspaces and profiles, from $29 a month for 6 profiles, and every plan has unlimited users. That removes Sprout's per-seat charge. Assignment and approvals begin at the Plus plan, and white label is a paid add-on on the top plans, so it is built for agencies more than in-house teams.
Switch from Sprout Social if you are an agency and want unlimited users without paying per seat.
Spain · Free tier; paid per month by number of brands, published
Metricool charges by number of brands rather than seats, with a free plan for 1 brand and 20 scheduled posts a month. Paid plans manage 5 to 50 brands, and approvals arrive on the Advanced plan. It is stronger on analytics and reporting than on a team inbox, and white label needs the custom plan.
Switch from Sprout Social if you manage several small brands and want reports without per-seat fees.
Romania · First 50 posts free with no time limit; paid per workspace per month, published; unlimited users
Planable is built around approval: content is drafted in a shared workspace and signed off before it publishes. Pricing is per workspace ($33 Basic, $49 Pro) with unlimited users, and analytics ($12) and inbox ($7.50) are paid add-ons. It does not try to match Sprout's depth in listening.
Switch from Sprout Social if clients or legal teams must approve every post before it goes out.
United States · Free tier; paid per channel per month, published
Buffer prices per connected channel: a free plan with 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel, then $5 per channel per month (Essentials) on annual billing, and $10 (Team) with unlimited members and approval workflows. It is a publishing and light analytics tool, without Sprout's CRM-style inbox.
Switch from Sprout Social if publishing is the main job and you want to pay per channel.
Albania · Free tier; paid per social account per month, published
Publer has a free plan for one user and charges by social account, with extra members and workspaces as separate options. For every nine accounts, the tenth is free. It covers bulk scheduling, recycling and analytics, but it is a lean scheduler next to Sprout's service-desk style inbox.
Switch from Sprout Social if you want to scale cost with the number of accounts and keep a free starting point.
Loomly is a content calendar with approval workflows and roles. Starter is $49 a month on annual billing for 12 accounts and 3 users, and Beyond is $249 for 60 accounts and unlimited users. It plans and approves posts well and offers less than Sprout on reporting and community management.
Switch from Sprout Social if you plan content with approvals and want a fixed price for many accounts.
Romania · Paid per month by plan, sized by profiles and workspaces, published; 14-day trial
SocialBee centres on evergreen content categories and recycling. Plans run from $29 for 5 profiles to $99 for 25 profiles over 5 workspaces, with agency plans above, and extra users cost $10 a month each. A 14-day trial is offered. Listening and an enterprise-grade inbox are not its focus.
Switch from Sprout Social if you publish recurring content across many profiles and budget in tens of dollars.
United States · Per month by plan, published, from $99; listening and employee advocacy priced as add-ons; 14-day trial
Vista Social starts at $99 a month for 15 profiles and 2 users and moves to $199 and $449 plans. Listening is a $75 add-on and employee advocacy $199 for 25 employees, so the extras are priced openly where Sprout does not show them. X access is a separate $29 add-on.
Switch from Sprout Social if you want listening and advocacy as priced add-ons rather than quoted extras.
India · Free tier; paid per month by brand, published, low
Zoho Social has a free plan for 1 brand and 1 team member, and paid tiers priced by brand with team members and brands as add-ons. Agency tiers cover 10 or 20 brands with a client portal. Prices vary by region and currency, and the product suits teams already using other Zoho apps.
Switch from Sprout Social if you already run Zoho software and want brand-based pricing with a free entry.
Sprout Social stays the right choice when the inbox and the reporting are the reason you bought it. If several people answer customers on social, assign and tag messages, and report to leadership, the per-seat price buys one coherent system, and the tools that undercut it do so by leaving out the service-desk layer. Check how many seats you really need before concluding it is too expensive.
05
What moving off Sprout Social involves
01
Reports and tags do not export into other tools as they are
Historic analytics, message tags and saved replies are built on Sprout's own structure. Export the reports you must keep before cancelling, and expect to rebuild tagging rules and templates in the new tool by hand.
02
Connected profiles must be re-authorised
Every social profile is connected through its network's permissions, so each one has to be reconnected in the new tool. Do it while the old subscription is still active, and run both in parallel for one posting cycle so nothing scheduled is lost.
06
Questions about replacing Sprout Social
6 answers
How much does Sprout Social cost?
The pricing page lists Essentials at $79 a month on annual billing ($99 monthly) for 5 profiles, and Standard, Professional and Advanced at $199, $299 and $399 per seat per month on annual billing.
Enterprise is custom, and Premium Analytics and Listening are separate add-ons. A 30-day trial without a card is offered.
Is there a free alternative to Sprout Social?
Buffer, Metricool, Publer and Zoho Social each list a free plan, with limits on channels, posts or brands. Sprout itself offers a 30-day trial rather than a free plan. Check the limits against the number of accounts you manage.
What is the best Sprout Social alternative for agencies?
Sendible gives unlimited users on every plan and a client connection feature, and Planable prices per workspace with approval built in. Metricool prices by brand. Which fits depends on whether you need client approvals, white label or reporting.
Which alternative avoids per-seat pricing?
Sendible (unlimited users), Planable (per workspace, unlimited users), Buffer (per channel), Publer (per account), Metricool (per brand) and Loomly on its higher plan (unlimited users) all price on something other than seats.
Do any alternatives include social listening?
Vista Social sells listening as a $75 add-on, Planable as an $82.50 add-on per workspace, and Hootsuite lists enhanced listening on Enterprise. Metricool lists competitor analysis, which is narrower than full listening, and we did not verify listening on the other tools.
Can I move my scheduled posts?
Not directly. Scheduled posts are tied to Sprout's own queue, so plan to republish them in the new tool. Finish or reschedule the next two weeks of content before you switch.
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Sources
Checked 8 October 2026
Sprout Social pricing: Essentials $79 annual/$99 monthly, Standard $199, Professional $299, Advanced $399 per seat, profile limits, add-ons, 30-day trial.
Hootsuite plans: Standard $99 for 10 accounts, Professional $199, Advanced $399, 14-day trial, Enterprise SSO.
Agorapulse pricing: Tiers, 10 profiles on listed plans, 30-day trial, custom plan with approvals.
Metricool pricing: Free plan 1 brand and 20 posts, brand-based paid plans, approvals on Advanced.
Buffer pricing: Free 3 channels, $5 and $10 per channel, unlimited members on Team.
Publer plans: Free plan, per social account pricing, additional members, workspaces.
Sendible pricing: Plans from $29, profiles, unlimited users, white label add-on, 14-day trial.
Planable pricing: Per workspace pricing, unlimited users, analytics, inbox and listening add-ons, 50 free posts.
Loomly pricing: Starter and Beyond prices, accounts and users, approval workflows.
SocialBee pricing: Plan prices, profiles and workspaces, add-on prices, 14-day trial.
Vista Social pricing: Plan prices, profiles, listening and advocacy add-ons, 14-day trial.
