Hootsuite vs Sprout Social
Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 14, 2026 · Updated November 14, 2026
Hootsuite and Sprout Social sell the same job, publishing, inbox and reporting for social teams, at near-identical top-tier prices. Hootsuite leads on account limits at the entry paid plan and lists AI writing tools in its product pages. Sprout Social has the longer trial, a clearly priced AI add-on and published export and bulk scheduling details.
Side by side
 Hootsuite |  Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Long-established social dashboard with listening and integrations | Full social suite for publishing, care, listening and reporting |
| Best for | Larger teams wanting breadth | Mid-market marketing and care teams |
| Headquarters | Canada | United States |
| Pricing model | Per user / month | Per seat / month |
| Pricing | Per user per month on published tiers, Standard $99, Professional $199 and Advanced $399 on annual billing, no free plan; approvals start on Advanced and Talkwalker listening is Enterprise only. | Per seat per month on published tiers, from $79 for a five-profile Essentials plan to $399 for Advanced on annual billing, with listening, premium analytics and employee advocacy sold as add-ons. |
| Free option | Free trial | Free trial |
| List price as listed on November 14, 2026 | $99 per user per month (Standard, 10 social accounts; billing basis not stated) | $99 per seat per month billed monthly, or $79 billed annually (Essentials, 5 social profiles) |
| Place in our social media management software ranking | #8 of 16 | #7 of 16 |
| Website | hootsuite.com | sproutsocial.com |
Both are reviewed in full in Best Social Media Management Software in 2026. Vendors can pay for more visibility, and commercial relationships can affect which products we feature and how prominently. Placement disclosure.
Which one to choose
Choose Hootsuite if
you want ten social accounts on the cheapest paid plan, AI caption and post idea tools named on the product page, and monitoring across a wide range of networks.
Hootsuite, #8 in the ranking · Visit Hootsuite →
Choose Sprout Social if
you want a 30-day trial without a credit card, a clear monthly price option, and published details on CSV bulk scheduling and unlimited report exports.
Sprout Social, #7 in the ranking · Visit Sprout Social →
Where they differ
Accounts included at the entry paid plan
Hootsuite's Standard plan covers 10 social accounts, while Sprout Social's Essentials covers 5 social profiles and its Standard tier also stops at 5. A small agency or a brand with many regional channels reaches Sprout's limit quickly and has to move up to Professional for unlimited profiles. Hootsuite gives more room before the first upgrade, which matters most to multi-channel teams.
Edge: Hootsuite
Entry price and billing clarity
Sprout Social shows Essentials at $79 per seat per month on annual billing and $99 billed monthly, so a buyer can see what flexibility costs. Hootsuite lists Standard at $99 per user per month, a figure taken from its plans FAQ, and the page does not say whether that is monthly or annual billing. Sprout is cheaper at the entry and easier to read.
Edge: Sprout Social
Trial length and limits
Sprout Social offers 30 days free with no credit card required, on annual billing. Hootsuite gives 14 days on Standard, Professional and Advanced, with daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organization depending on plan, and bulk scheduling unavailable during the trial. A team that wants to test a real publishing queue and a bulk upload gets a fairer test at Sprout.
Edge: Sprout Social
AI features
Hootsuite's product page lists an AI writer, a post idea generator and AI caption generation. Sprout Social sells AI as a separate add-on, Trellis Plus, at $35 per seat per month billed monthly or $28 on the annual rate, with 1,000 AI credits per seat per month, and puts chatbots through Bot Builder on Advanced. Hootsuite lists its AI tools without a stated add-on price, but the pages we opened do not confirm what each plan includes.
Edge: even
Top-tier pricing
At the top of the list the two are close. Hootsuite's Advanced is stated at up to $399 per user per month in its FAQ, with unlimited social accounts. Sprout Social's Advanced is $399 per seat per month with unlimited profiles and 20 brand keywords per group. Both keep Enterprise as custom quotes. On list price alone there is nothing to separate them, so the choice rests on features and the entry tiers.
Edge: even
Tally: Hootsuite 1, Sprout Social 2, even 2.
When neither fits
Neither is the right buy for a solo creator or a very small business with a handful of channels. Both start at roughly $79 to $99 per seat per month, and Sprout's Essentials caps out at 5 profiles. Buffer offers a free plan for up to 3 channels, and Agorapulse lists Standard at $79 per user per month with 10 profiles.
See Buffer and Agorapulse among the 16 products in Best Social Media Management Software in 2026.
Questions and answers
Is Hootsuite cheaper than Sprout Social?
Not at the entry. Sprout Social's Essentials is $79 per seat per month billed annually or $99 monthly, and Hootsuite's Standard is $99 per user per month according to its plans FAQ. Hootsuite does not state the billing basis, so compare the figures with that caveat. At the top tier both are about $399.
Which has the longer free trial, Hootsuite or Sprout Social?
Sprout Social does. Its trial runs 30 days with no credit card required, against 14 days on Hootsuite's Standard, Professional and Advanced plans. Hootsuite's trial accounts also have daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organization, and bulk scheduling is unavailable during the trial.
Does Sprout Social include social listening?
Listening is sold as an add-on to the plans, according to Sprout Social's features page. The plans themselves include a unified inbox with Brand Keywords, with 10 keywords per group on Standard and Professional and 20 on Advanced. Hootsuite's product page mentions monitoring of 30+ networks and sentiment reporting.
How many social accounts do Hootsuite and Sprout Social allow?
Hootsuite Standard allows 10 social accounts, and Professional and Advanced allow unlimited. Sprout Social Essentials and Standard allow 5 social profiles, and Professional and Advanced allow unlimited profiles. Enterprise limits are custom at Hootsuite and not stated at Sprout.
Sources
Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on November 14, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
- Hootsuite plans: Hootsuite plan prices from the FAQ, account limits, the 14-day trial and its posting limits
- Hootsuite about page: Hootsuite founding in 2008 and that headquarters and ownership are not stated
- Hootsuite products: Hootsuite AI writer, caption and post idea tools, inbox, reporting and monitoring of 30+ networks
- Sprout Social pricing: Sprout plan prices, profile limits, brand keyword limits, the 30-day trial and the Trellis Plus AI add-on
- Sprout Social about page: Sprout Social launch in 2010 and its offices in Chicago, Dublin and Krakow
- Sprout Social features: Sprout inbox, scheduling, CSV bulk scheduling, report exports, Bot Builder and the listening add-on
- Buffer pricing: Buffer free plan for up to 3 channels and paid per-channel prices
- Agorapulse pricing: Agorapulse Standard price, 10 social profiles and the 30-day trial