Before writing this blog, I spoke with a marketing agency that had been using Hootsuite for multiple years and was looking for a change. I wanted to understand the challenges they encountered with the platform that pushed them to explore alternatives.
And here's what I learned:
- The plan and pricing were not transparent, which stretched their budget.
- The platform was complex, and the navigation experience was not smooth.
- Customer support left them hanging, which was the final straw.
It was surprising to hear such feedback about a popular tool like Hootsuite. Yet, it's likely not the only agency or brand that's faced these issues. There are probably others searching for social media management tools like Hootsuite.
Considering these facts, I researched and compiled a list of 16 Hootsuite Alternatives that you can try.
Statusbrew
Recommended for: Agencies, mid-size, large, and enterprise businesses
Based on conversations with 20 customers who switched from Hootsuite to Statusbrew, here's how Statusbrew compares to Hootsuite.
Maximizing efficiency is a top priority for Statusbrew in the age of AI, ChatGPTs, and automation. The platform offers powerful and customizable automation features, including AI auto-moderation, automated analytics, bots, triggers, conditions, and rules.
Hootsuite sure has some automations, but it's like paying for a gourmet meal when you only want a snack. $1000 a month? Ouch.
You will get everything in the reports from day 1 cause we will be able to backfill your 18 months of reporting data. On top of that, we have one of the most exhaustive lists of 238 metrics & KPIs.
Key features of Statusbrew:
- Network-wise post customization
- Canva, HubSpot & Salesforce Integration
- Interactive Content Calendar
- Real-time team collaboration
- BrewLink In Bio (Link-in-bio tool)
- Competitor performance analysis
- Customized approval workflow
- Automated comment moderation
- Sentiment analysis, social listening & social CRM
- 18 months of reporting data backfill
Pricing & Features Comparison
Why Choose Statusbrew Over Hootsuite?
Statusbrew matches Hootsuite's features and simplifies managing social media for you and your clients. You get an intuitive interface, a separate client workspace, a content calendar with multiple visualizations, and shareable reports that help your team operate efficiently.
Statusbrew Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. profiles & users |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | $199 per month | 15 Profiles & 8 Users |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Unlimited Profiles |
Note: Statusbrew offers a 50% discount on all plans to eligible non-profit organizations.
G2 Rating
4.7/5
Thinking of a pivot? Our team is all in to provide 1:1 onboarding support and proactive customer service. We've got your back!
Sprout Social
Recommended for: Agencies, mid-size, large, and enterprise businesses
Sprout Social provides AI suggestions to create captions for your social posts with the option to select your tone of voice. It uses 16 weeks' of your audience data to suggest 7 best times to post for you.
Its analytics help you measure your social ROI and benchmark your performance against competitors. It even integrates with CRM to give you a complete view of each of your customers' journeys.
Their social listening tool helps you stay proactive by understanding what people think about you and your competitors. It finds influencers you can work with, spots new trends early, and alerts you to potential problems with a detailed analysis of people's opinions. They even have a unified social inbox to ensure no DM or conversation falls through the cracks.
Sprout Social Features
- Unified social inbox
- Group, profile, and post-level reporting
- Customizable feed
- Spam and bot account identification
- "SproutLink" link-in-bio tool
- URL tracking to measure success in Google Analytics
Why Choose Sprout Over Hootsuite?
Sprout Social is a better alternative to Hootsuite because of its social listening, exceptional analytics features, and cleaner and more user-friendly interface.
Sprout Social Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. Of profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $249 per month | 5 Profiles |
| Professional | $399 per month | Unlimited Profiles |
| Advanced | $499 per month | Unlimited Profiles |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Unlimited Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.4/5
P.S.: If you have already tried Sprout Social but are drawn away by its higher-than-average price, check out our list of Sprout Social Alternatives
Sendible
Recommended for: Small businesses, agencies, and enterprises
Sendible is also a top competitor of Hootsuite. It provides the cross-functionality of Sprout Social (single dashboard) and Hootsuite (multi-column dashboard).
Sendible has an extremely easy-to-use and navigable interface.
It includes a built-in image editor for creating graphics, or you can integrate with Canva for more advanced designs.
To ensure you never run out of content ideas, Sendible provides suggestions via Google Alerts. It also allows bulk scheduling, so you can plan a month's content in one sitting. You can also save hashtags and saved replies for future use.
Sendible's smart posts feature allows you to customize your posts in one view as per each social platform. They offer content library and branded reports even on their lowest plan.
Sendible Features
- Customizable posts
- Built-in image editor
- Mention alerts
- Cross-posting feature
- Smart queues
- Co-branding opportunities for agencies
- Custom approval processes
Why Choose Sendible Over Hootsuite?
Sendible offers a user-friendly setup, transparent pricing & customer support through live chat to be a better Hootsuite alternative.
Sendible Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | $25/month | 1 user, 6 Profiles |
| Traction | $76/month | 4 users, 24 Profiles |
| Scale | $170/month | 7 users, 49 Profiles |
| Custom | Custom pricing | 8+ users, 50+ Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.5/5
Keyhole
Recommended for: Mid-size businesses and Enterprise
Keyhole helps you keep an eye on social media in real time, integrating with platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
It assists you in various tasks, such as keeping track of your brand's online presence, conducting market research, finding influencers for marketing purposes, and offering insights into your social media performance and how you stack up against competitors.
One of the cool things about Keyhole is that it lets you see how your social media profiles are growing and engaging with your audience. It also helps you find influencers who are relevant to your brand and keep tabs on how well your campaigns are doing.
This Hootsuite competitor analyzes the mood behind social media posts and offers other handy features like checking your posts' engagement and reach.
Keyhole Features
- Brand monitoring
- Influencer marketing
- Sentiment analysis
- Campaign monitoring
- Profile analytics
Why Choose Keyhole Over Hootsuite
Keyhole offers Stronger social listening, more affordable pricing, a user-friendly interface, and strong automation features compared to Hootsuite.
Keyhole Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Team | $189/month | 5 Profiles |
| Pro | $259/month | 10 Profiles |
| Advanced | $549/month | 25 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.3/5
eClincher
Recommended for: SMBs & Agencies
eClincher is a social media marketing tool that helps businesses maximize their social media impact. It boasts top-notch features like auto-posting, an all-in-one social inbox, a built-in social media calendar, superior monitoring and listening, and comprehensive analytics.
As a Hootsuite alternative, eClincher offers social media management tools tailored for businesses of all sizes, from small to large enterprises and franchises.
With eClincher, managing individual posts or entire social campaigns becomes effortless. Its automated posting feature intelligently reposts your top-performing content to maximize engagement.
You can manage your assets or connect to your cloud storage provider within the platform. eClincher also leverages AI to recommend content ideas, identify optimal posting times, and suggest responses.
eClincher Features
- Auto-Post with queues
- Clean layout and organized menus
- Post recycling to automatically republish evergreen content
- Integrated social media management
- Automated task assignments & progress tracking
- AI sentiment analysis
Why Choose eClincher Over Hootsuite?
eClincher emerges as an excellent alternative to Hootsuite due to its simplicity and user experience, superior analytics, and auto-posting features.
eClincher Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $65/month | 1 user, 10 profiles |
| Premier | $175/month | 3 users, 20 profiles |
| Agency | $425/month | 6 users, 40 profiles |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom users, custom profiles |
G2 Rating
4.6/5
Meet Edgar
Recommended for: Small businesses and individuals
MeetEdgar helps you engage your social media followers everyday with fresh content. Its bottomless Content Library stores & organizes your visuals & text beyond the duration of your campaign. MeetEdgar also lets you organize your content into customizable categories.
When you are too busy to prepare and upload new posts, MeetEdgar automatically generates five new variations of your existing content to keep your social accounts updated. You can also choose the "Use Once" setting for one-time postings.
MeetEdgar Features
- Automated evergreen content sourcing and republishing
- Auto-publishing from RSS feeds, websites, or podcasts
- Category-based scheduling
- Automated post-variation generation
- Built-in URL shortener and A/B testing
Why Choose MeetEdgar Over Hootsuite?
MeetEdgar stands out as the best alternative to Hootsuite for businesses that focus on evergreen content and want to maximize their reach with minimal input.
Meet Edgar Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Eddie Annual Plan | $24.91/month | 5 Profiles |
| Edgar Annual Plan | $41.58/month | 25 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.2/5
Later
Recommended for: Small businesses and individuals
Later is one of the top competitors to Hootsuite with a focus on Instagram marketing solutions & visually-oriented platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest. It is best designed to meet the needs of Instagram creators using scheduling, analytics, & smart recommendations.
Later offers a heap of features to manage your social media marketing, social commerce, & creator partnerships, all in one place. A standout feature of Later is its Linkin.bio tool designed to drive traffic and increase sales by turning your Instagram and TikTok posts into clickable images.
Later allows you to search for and share user-generated content, facilitate collaboration between creators and brands, and add hashtags as a first comment on Instagram posts, features not available in Hootsuite.
Later Features
- A visually appealing interface & publishing calendar
- Smart hashtag suggestions
- User-generated content search
- Built-in social media reporting
- Shoppable Instagram feed
- Free Linkin.bio tool
Why Choose Later Over Hootsuite?
Later comes across as an attractive alternative to Hootsuite by offering a visual Instagram scheduling tool, a link-in-bio tool, and the ability to schedule first comments with hashtags.
Later Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $18/month | 1 user, 1 Profiles |
| Growth | $40/month | 3 users, 3 Profiles |
| Advanced | $80/month | 6 users, 6 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.5/5
SocialPilot
Recommended for: Agencies
If you are working deep in the field of social media marketing along with your team, where you have a high content-sharing demand and branding need, SocialPilot is the tool for you.
SocialPilot provides an easy-to-navigate dashboard designed for simplicity and ease of use. It offers a good balance of features and affordability.
SocialPilot provides advanced scheduling tools that allow users to create dynamic posts, tag accounts, set target audiences, schedule the first comment on Instagram, and bulk-schedule posts with images. With its White Label plan, you can customize your SocialPilot dashboard to match your brand identity.
During the free trial, users can access all premium features like collaboration without additional purchases or apps.
SocialPilot Features
- RSS feed integration
- Easy team collaboration
- White label tool & reports
- Audience targeting
- Schedule Instagram's first comment
Why Choose SocialPilot Over Hootsuite?
SocialPilot positions itself as a user-friendly alternative to Hootsuite for social media management. It not only provides a white label report but also a white label tool so that you can customize the entire platform as per your brand identity.
SocialPilot Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $30/month | 1 user, 10 Profiles |
| Small Team | $50/month | 3 users, 20 Profiles |
| Agency | $100/month | 6 users, 30 Profiles |
| Agency+ | $200/month | Unlimited users, 50 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.5/5
SocialFlow
Recommended for: Enterprise
SocialFlow helps businesses post on social media at optimal times using AI to determine the best moments for engagement.
Ideal for large businesses requiring extensive management features, SocialFlow lacks some standard functions found in other social media management tools, such as message management and social listening. However, it compensates with advanced features like AI-assisted posting, enhanced security, and extensive customization options.
SocialFlow Features
- AI-assisted posting
- Advanced security
- Customizable workflow
- Superior performance tracking
- Advanced social media management
Why Choose SocialFlow Over Hootsuite?
SocialFlow is better than Hootsuite because it focuses on features like how many people sign up for your business's newsletter, how well-sponsored content performs, and how many people stay subscribed to the business's email list.
SocialFlow Pricing
SocialFlow offers customized pricing.
G2 Rating
3.9/5
CoSchedule
Recommended for: Small businesses
CoSchedule is a unique tool for marketing teams to organize all their marketing efforts at one centralized location.
CoSchedule provides a suite of marketing management tools for social media management.
A unified calendar view gives you a comprehensive overview of your social media activities. You can easily schedule and track content performance for every post.
For an additional fee, CoSchedule's Headline Studio saves you time on content creation and A/B testing. It intelligently assesses headlines, suggests improvements, and helps you choose high-performing keywords.
CoSchedule Features
- Social media post scheduling with peak time suggestions
- Copywriting optimization tips
- Single calendar view for all marketing campaigns and projects
- Shareable, read-only calendars
- Drag-and-drop task rescheduling
- Customizable calendars
Why Choose CoSchedule Over Hootsuite?
CoSchedule offers a well-organized editorial calendar, a comprehensive marketing calendar, and well-organized social media publishing features as an excellent Hootsuite alternative.
CoSchedule Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Free Calendar | $65/month | 1 user, 2 Profiles |
| Social Calendar | $175/month | 3 users, 5 Profiles |
| Content Calendar | Custom | 5 users, 10 Profiles |
| Marketing Suite | Custom | Custom users, custom profiles |
G2 Rating
4.4/5
ContentStudio
Recommended for: Small businesses, agencies, and enterprises
Finding, planning, publishing, and tracking trending content can make or break your content strategy. ContentStudio puts it all under one roof, giving you an unfair advantage in the digital marketing space.
ContentStudio is one of the perfect alternatives to Hootsuite that simplifies social media management using integrated solutions. It has all the features that Hootsuite has, plus more, but at a much lower price point.
Along with the option to publish, schedule, and analyze content across different platforms, ContentStudio even helps you find new ideas and plan your content in advance with its easy-to-use editor.
ContentStudio Features
- 24/7 customer support
- Create and publish content to blog channels
- Unified social inbox
- Workflow management with multi-stage approvals
- Team collaboration
- AI content generation
Why Choose ContentStudio Over Hootsuite?
ContentStudio stands out with its Instagram grid planner, multiple scheduling views, advanced approval workflow, & evergreen recipe to repurpose your content as an alternative to Hootsuite.
ContentStudio Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $20/month | 1 user, 5 Profiles |
| Pro | $40/month | 2 users, 10 Profiles |
| Agency | $80/month | 5 users, 25 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.6/5
Mavsocial
Recommended for: Medium-sized businesses & Enterprise
MavSocial is a social media management platform that allows you to track conversations, reply to messages, and enhance your social media presence. Moreover, you can schedule content, including tweets and Instagram posts.
You can publish social posts on multiple mainstream platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, and niche platforms like Google My Business and Tumblr, as well.
Mavsocial Features
- Social media content management & curation
- Social media reports, metrics, & analytics
- Image purchasing and payment automation
- Audience targeting & unified inbox
- RSS feed & UTM tracking
- Bit.ly integration
Why Choose Mavsocial Over Hootsuite?
Mavsocial includes features for targeting specific audiences, marketing automation, and tracking keywords. However, what really sets Mavsocial apart from Hootsuite is its digital asset management capability.
Mavsocial Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $78/month | 3 users, 30 Profiles |
| Business | $249/month | 5 users, 40 Profiles |
| Enterprise | $499/month | Fully configurable |
G2 Rating
4.7/5
Free Alternatives To Hootsuite
There are multiple free social media tools available, but only a handful of them can match the superior features of Hootsuite. We have shortlisted some of the best-known free Hootsuite alternatives in the industry.
1. Buffer
Recommended for: Small businesses and individuals
Buffer is a free Hootsuite alternative that lets you connect 3 social channels & schedule up to 30 posts (10 per channel) per month. Buffer's free plan is used by 100,000 people each month to improve their social presence.
If you want to connect more social channels, schedule more posts, and access their analytics and engagement tools, you can upgrade to a Buffer's paid.
Buffer's AI Assistant helps to generate fresh posts, repurpose existing content, and generate unlimited new content ideas for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Google Business, Pinterest, and Mastodon.
Buffer's clear user interface makes it easy to use, and its insightful analytics provide data on how your posts are performing with your audience.
Buffer is available on iOS and Android devices, and it has a browser extension for Google Chrome.
Buffer Features
- Browser extensions and mobile apps
- Drag-and-drop calendar
- Collaboration tools
- In-depth analytics
- AI Assistant
Why Choose Buffer Over Hootsuite?
Buffer stands out as a free alternative to Hootsuite by offering to schedule 30 posts every month for 3 social channels, a free content library, AI Assistant & customizable website creation to use in your link-in-bio.
Buffer Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 |
| Essentials | $5/month/profile | 1 |
| Team | $10/month/profile | Unlimited |
| Agency | $100/month for 10 Profiles | Unlimited |
G2 Rating
4.3/5
2. Agorapulse
Recommended for: Small businesses, agencies, and enterprises
Agorapulse is another Hootsuite competitor designed for ease of use. It simplifies scheduling, publishing, listening, reporting, and collaboration to streamline the process of social media management.
It eases team collaboration for agencies with features such as role assignments, shared content calendars, and a content approval workflow.
Agorapulse provides up-to-the-minute analytics and reporting, advanced monitoring and engagement tools, bulk automation, and competitive intelligence, all in a single dashboard.
It has a user-friendly and clutter-free interface that shortens the learning curve. On top of that, Agorapulse even boasts a high user satisfaction score for its support team, with a 96% rating.
Agorapulse Features
- Clean and organized interface
- Fast customer support with an average support time of > 30 minutes
- Super-clear, customizable, and detailed reports
- Real-time collaboration tools
- Color-coded calendar to know the status of each content (draft, assigned, or waiting approval)
Why Choose Agorapulse Over Hootsuite?
Agorapulse stands out as an excellent alternative to Hootsuite due to its intuitive dashboard, shared content calendars, and competitive intelligence features, all at a reasonable price.
Agorapulse Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. of users & profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 user, 3 Profiles |
| Pro | $79/month | 2 users, 10 Profiles |
| Premium | $199/month | 4 users, 20 Profiles |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | 8+ users, 40+ Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.5/5
3. Tailwind
Recommended for: Small businesses and agencies
Tailwind is a Hootsuite alternative specializing in increasing engagement and optimization of online presence.
A content management platform with a focus on professional visualization. It’s an official partner of several popular social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The tool is popularly known as “the tool that feels like a marketing team.” It turns time-consuming processes into automated workflows.
Tailwind Communities is a valuable feature that lets its users expand their audiences and collaborators by connecting with influencers in their industry.
Tailwind Features
- Social media analytics & insights
- Relevant hashtag tracking & suggestions
- Connection & growth with Tailwind Communities
- SmartSchedule feature for best posting time results
- Advanced content scheduling & social media publishing automation
- Personalized content & social media optimization
Why Choose Tailwind Over Hootsuite?
Tailwind is more user-friendly, easier to set up, and simpler to manage. Users believe that Tailwind better fulfills their business requirements compared to Hootsuite.
Tailwind Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | Ghostwriter Credits/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0 | 10 |
| Pro | $14.99/month | 50 |
| Advanced | $24.99/month | 250 |
| Max | $49.99/month | 500 |
G2 Rating
4.3/5
4. Publer
Recommended for: Individual users and small businesses
Publer is an ideal free Hootsuite alternative for individuals and small businesses, allowing the management of up to three social accounts. This includes one Twitter account, which can schedule 10 posts per account, save 25 drafts, view a 24-hour post history, and utilize a Link in Bio feature for Instagram, all within its free forever plan.
With Publer, teamwork, planning, and reviewing posts across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and WordPress are streamlined.
If manually scheduling each post differs from your preference, Publer can automate the process according to a set timetable or by selecting optimal times to repost your evergreen content.
Publer Features
- AutoScheduling
- Added Watermarks to Videos and Photos
- URL Shortener
- Instagram Link in Bio
Why Choose Publer Over Hootsuite
What really sets Publer apart from Hootsuite is its pricing, making it a much cheaper option. Publer lets you pay just for the social media platforms you actually use. Also, Publer's customer support is much quicker to respond than Hootsuite's.
Publer Pricing
| Plan | Pricing | No. Of users and profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0 | 3 Profiles |
| Professional | $14.99/month | 3 Profiles |
| Business | $21/month | 3 Profiles |
G2 Rating
4.8/5
Choosing The Best Hootsuite Alternative?
Budget Considerations
Review the cost of various plans, the number of users or accounts supported, and any extra fees.
Feature Evaluation
Assess each tool’s capabilities (like social listening, scheduling, and analytics) against your needs. Consider user-friendly interfaces, especially if previous tools like Hootsuite seemed complex.
Shareable Content Calendar
For effective teamwork and communication, ensuring alignment on your social media strategy and execution, choose tools like Statusbrew that offer easy sharing, real-time collaboration, and customization options.
Unified Inbox
For larger teams or businesses managing multiple social media accounts, prioritize tools that provide a smart inbox with intuitive team collaboration features. While Hootsuite's advanced Inbox 2.0 is limited to its enterprise plan, Statusbrew includes automation, team collaboration, and conversation tagging features in its standard plan.
Access Permissions
Seek tools that offer access permission controls and robust security features to protect sensitive data, safeguard brand reputation, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.
Multi-Channel Reporting
Choose tools that have access to comprehensive multi-channel and cross-channel reporting that provides a holistic view of social media performance across all channels.
Customer Support Service
Choose a tool with reliable customer support for hassle-free transition and ongoing assistance. Statusbrew, for instance, offers customized onboarding and active support.
Wrapping Up!
While Hootsuite is one of the oldest yet credible social media tools, the Hootsuite competiotrs stated above have their own unique selling points and features at a very competitive price.
Using the right social media tool, you can create an efficient strategy that will allow you to make wiser decisions for your business and derive the maximum value for higher profits and better customer retention. A careful check for the features you need most in a Hootsuite alternative will help you make a suitable shortlist.
Ensure that you do your own research while choosing any Hootsuite competitor available to meet your business requirements.
Statusbrew helps in running social media campaigns, managing engagement, and deriving analytical reports from a single place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which are free Hootsuite alternatives?
Buffer offers a free plan with basic scheduling features. But if you want to access advanced scheduling, engagement, and analytics features, you should try out advanced tools like Statusbrew using their free trial.
Is there a better alternative to Hootsuite?
A better alternative to Hootsuite includes Statusbrew, Sendible, Agorapulse, Buffer, & Later.
What can you use instead of Hootsuite?
Statusbrew can be used instead of Hootsuite as it offers flexible pricing for agencies and SMBs with advanced features like comments moderation, unified inbox, comprehensive reporting, and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. You can try the platform at no cost for 14 days.
Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
No, Hootsuite is not free anymore, as they ended their free plans on March 31, 2023.
What features should I look for in a Hootsuite alternative?
When evaluating Hootsuite alternatives, look for features like social media scheduling and publishing, analytics and reporting, team collaboration tools, CRM features, and integrations with other tools and platforms.
Is Statusbrew a good Hootsuite alternative, and why?
Statusbrew is an excellent Hootsuite alternative because it offers a wider range of features, better customer support, and more affordable pricing plans.
What are the competitive advantages of Statusbrew over Hootsuite?
Statusbrew has a competitive edge over Hootsuite as it offers better customer support, has more affordable pricing plans, advanced analytics and reporting dashboards with over 238 metrics, and improved CRM integration to streamline your social media and customer support workflows.
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