Hootsuite vs Sprout Social
Hootsuite and Sprout Social are both sold per user, with approvals, reporting and listening on each side. The differences are in the packaging: Hootsuite puts unlimited social accounts and basic listening into cheaper plans, while Sprout Social sells listening and premium analytics as add-ons and gives a 30-day trial. Headcount and the features you need decide the bill.
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Choose Hootsuite ifyou want unlimited social accounts at the lower per-user price, basic listening included in the plan, and at the top end single sign-on and compliance tooling.
Choose Sprout Social ifthe output that matters is a report for senior management, you are willing to pay for listening or premium analytics as add-ons, and you want 30 days to test before committing.
Hootsuite and Sprout Social side by side
| Hootsuite | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Our social media management rank | #12 of 16 | #13 of 16 |
| Established in | Canada | United States |
| Pricing | Per user per month, published; from $99 on annual billing | Per user per month, published; from $79 per seat on annual billing |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Standard: $99 per user a month, based on annual billing | Essentials: $79 per seat a month billed annually, or $99 billed monthly |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A team where posts need sign-off before they go out | An in-house team that must justify the channel to a board |
| Not for | One person scheduling a few posts a week | A two-person marketing team on a budget |
Both are reviewed in full in our social media management ranking: Hootsuite and Sprout Social.
Where they differ
Hootsuite 2 · Sprout Social 1 · open 2- 01
Sign-off before anything is published
Both have approval workflows. Hootsuite places team review and approval of content in its Advanced plan, listed at $399 per user a month, and reserves single sign-on and custom compliance solutions for Enterprise. Sprout Social describes workflows that take internal and external approvers through signing off messages. Hootsuite suits a compliance-led organisation; Sprout Social suits agencies with outside approvers.
Depends on the buyer
- 02
Reports that reach the boardroom
Sprout Social offers network, cross-network, competitor, paid and tag reports, and sells Premium Analytics as an add-on from its Standard plan. Hootsuite provides report templates, exports to csv, xlsx, pdf and ppt, benchmarks up to 20 competitors, and adds custom reports from Professional. Both can put a finished report in front of management, so the choice depends on which metrics you need.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
How the bill grows
Both charge per user. Hootsuite lists Standard at $99 with 10 social accounts, Professional at $199 with unlimited accounts and Advanced at $399, based on annual billing. Sprout Social lists Essentials at $79 and Standard at $199, each with five profiles, Professional at $299 with unlimited profiles and Advanced at $399. For unlimited accounts, Hootsuite costs $100 less per seat.
Edge: Hootsuite
- 04
Listening and customer context
Hootsuite includes basic listening in every plan, covering sources such as Facebook, X, YouTube, news sites, blogs and forums, with the full source list and 13 months of history on Enterprise; the engine comes from Talkwalker. Sprout Social sells Listening as an add-on to Standard and above. For listening without an extra line on the invoice, Hootsuite is ahead.
Edge: Hootsuite
- 05
Trying before buying
Sprout Social gives a 30-day free trial on its self-serve plans, and its new Essentials plan can be paid monthly at $99 per seat instead of $79 on annual billing. Hootsuite's trial runs 14 days and its listed prices assume annual billing, with a higher month-to-month rate. Sprout Social gives a team twice as long to evaluate.
Edge: Sprout Social
When neither fits
If you are one or two people scheduling a modest number of posts, both are more product and more cost than the job needs. Buffer charges per channel, from $5 a month each on yearly billing, and keeps to clean scheduling, while Metricool adds paid and organic reporting at a far lower price than either suite.
Hootsuite or Sprout Social: questions
4 answersIs Hootsuite or Sprout Social cheaper for a growing team?
Both charge per user, so every added seat raises the bill on either. Sprout Social's Essentials starts lower, at $79 a seat on annual billing against Hootsuite's $99 Standard. Once you need unlimited social accounts, Hootsuite Professional at $199 undercuts Sprout Social Professional at $299.
Which is better for approval workflows, Hootsuite or Sprout Social?
Both offer them. Hootsuite includes content review and approval from its Advanced plan at $399 per user a month, with single sign-on and compliance solutions on Enterprise.
Sprout Social provides message approval workflows for internal and external approvers, which suits agencies that need a client to sign off.
Does Sprout Social report better than Hootsuite?
Both report in depth. Sprout Social has network, cross-network, competitor, paid and tag reports, with Premium Analytics as a paid add-on.
Hootsuite has templates, exports to pdf, ppt, xlsx and csv, and benchmarking against up to 20 competitors. Compare a sample report from each during the trial.
Is social listening included in Hootsuite and Sprout Social?
Hootsuite includes basic listening in all plans and keeps the full set of sources and 13 months of historical data for Enterprise.
Sprout Social sells Listening as a separate add-on available from its Standard plan upwards, so budget for it on top of the seat price.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Hootsuite plans page: Hootsuite per-user prices, account limits, the plan with approvals, Enterprise SSO and compliance, trial length.
- Hootsuite listening page: basic listening in all plans, full sources and history on Enterprise, Talkwalker engine.
- Hootsuite analytics page: report templates, export formats and competitor benchmarking.
- Sprout Social pricing page: Sprout Social per-seat prices, profile limits, add-ons and 30-day trial.
- Sprout Social publishing page: approval workflows for internal and external approvers.
- Sprout Social analytics page: report types and the Premium Analytics add-on.
- Buffer pricing page: Buffer's per-channel price.