Hootsuite or Agorapulse? Here’s what you need in 2025

Hootsuite and Agorapulse are often considered options for teams seeking a social media management platform to support their marketing workflows. 

In this article, I’ve tried to cover every aspect that you need to consider before making the choice.

Hootsuite is one of the oldest players in the social media management space. It's chosen for its comprehensive toolset, seamless integrations with external applications, and robust monitoring features.

The primary points of hesitation with this choice are the abrupt price increase and the clunky UI. 

Typically, it is considered by companies managing multiple profiles and executing intricate strategies.

Agorapulse is recognized for its straightforward dashboard, community management inbox, and simple, inclusive pricing.

The primary points of hesitation with this choice are limited reporting capabilities and rigid approval workflows. 

It is popular among brands that want core features like publishing and analytics without the high price tag.

As a brand, I understand you’re trying to choose a platform that aligns with your workflow, team size, budget, and KPI goals. I have covered important aspects in a quick overview before we delve into the details.

Agorapulse's Professional plan ($119/month, billed annually) aligns most closely with Hootsuite's Advanced plan ($250/month, billed annually) in terms of feature set.

While Hootsuite and Agorapulse have been popular, other tools are entering the market because they are able to adapt to modern workflow needs at an affordable price.  

Statusbrew is one such social media management tool that is being adopted for its intuitive interface and customization capabilities. 

I’m going to compare features and offerings relevant to growing teams.

Hootsuite vs Agorapulse comparison table

Let's discuss the comparison in detail.

1. Pricing 

Hootsuite

The $249/month (billed annually) Hootsuite Advanced plan is designed for enterprises that manage content across multiple channels. It allows for multiple users, up to 20 social profiles, post approval workflows, and access to extended analytics. 

The basic $99/month (billed annually) plan isn't really useful for most businesses, and I'll tell you why.

Hootsuite locks features that most social media managers expect (like shortening links and scheduling in bulk) behind their high-tier plans. 

Hootsuite bundles essential features (like ROI reporting and advanced approval workflows) into its custom enterprise-grade plans. The listening tool to track brand mentions and reviews is also absent in the Advanced plan ($249/ month, billed annually). 

This forces small and mid-sized teams to pay prices usually reserved for large, enterprise-level companies. 

The primary reason many early adopters with multiple social profiles moved away from Hootsuite is the sudden price hikes.

In 2022, the platform announced a 2x price increase (for example, the Standard Plan was hiked from $49 to $149/month), without adding any new features to the existing suite. 

Source

The price structure remains a pain point for many mid-sized businesses in 2025.

Source

With no new features added to the offering, users almost feel arm-twisted into going for advanced ($250/month, billed annually) and custom pricing enterprise plans.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse’s Advanced Plan ($149/month, billed annually) is often considered when looking for affordable Hootsuite alternatives.

Like Hootsuite, the pricing is for a single user “seat.” Additional users can be added to the plan only at the same per‑user cost.

With the Advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually), you can use a wide variety of tools such as competitor tracking, ROI reports, and campaign monitoring. 

Workflow features like multi-step content approvals, which are vital for scaling brands and agencies, are locked in Agorapulse’s Enterprise (custom pricing) tier.

If you need features like unlimited social profiles, white-labeling, SSO, or highly customizable user roles, you need to budget higher for Agorapulse’s Custom Pricing plan. 

My take:

My primary reason for moving away from Hootsuite is the jack-in-the-box pricing, which hits you with add-ons out of nowhere.

Let’s say you need an add-on analytics tool or want to add another user; you’d be talked into subscribing to the enterprise plan. 

For a legacy tool that demands a high investment, the UI/UX hasn’t evolved to ease workflows in a significant way.

To illustrate my point, a feature like brand mentions tracking isn’t part of the ‘advanced’ plan ($249/ month, billed annually). Organizations are forced to estimate the cost of expansion in the absence of clearly stated, fixed pricing for additional seats. This makes budget allocation difficult.

Agorapulse offers a "get what you pay for" proposition. Though the analytics may not be as detailed as Hootsuite’s, mid-sized companies can benefit from Agorapulse’s cost-to-capability ratio.

In terms of Pricing, I vote for Agorapulse. 

Statusbrew is becoming an affordable alternative to these legacy tools. For teams that need advanced features at a doable cost, the Standard plan, starting at $129 per month (3 users, 10 profiles), is worth looking into. There is also flexible pricing for teams or agencies that need to add social profiles and users.

2.  Customer Support

Hootsuite

Hootsuite delivers customer support in the following modes:

a. Hootsuite free resource page

Hootsuite provides a comprehensive help center with articles, guides, and troubleshooting resources available to access at any time. 

They also have a Hootsuite Academy section that educates users on using the tool. Standard plans ($79/month, billed annually) rely primarily on self-service and email.

b. Support tickets/ E-mail 

All paid plan users can submit a support request by logging into their account and submitting a query from the dashboard. They can also email their dedicated account manager if they are part of the custom enterprise plan. 

c. Chat support

Chat support is available for all paid plan members. There is no promise of the capability to provide live chat support on any of its pages.

24/7 chat support isn’t promised for even the enterprise plan members, let alone other plans. It is restricted to operational hours as per the user’s time zone. 

d. X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook support

Support is available on X and Facebook for all paid plan members.

Support options were part of Hootsuite's side-by-side feature comparison in earlier pricing charts. However, these details have been eliminated from the comparison chart in light of the recent pricing update. 

Enterprise customers have it only slightly better, as they are prioritized in the queue. 

Source

This G2 reviewer, for example, echoes the sentiment of small businesses that are unable to cope with the unresponsive customer support for a service that demands a high monetary investment. 

This G2 reviewer below highlights a deeper issue Hootsuite needs to address.

The concern isn’t simply the absence of live chat across all plans- realistically, no platform can offer 100% efficient live support at every pricing tier. The problem lies in how support is structured and delivered.

So businesses that require expeditious solutions need to keep this in mind. 

Agorapulse

The platform has human support across all plans. Chat support feature is available from the mid-tier Professional Plan onwards ($129/month, billed annually).

The Professional plan, for example, provides a 2-hour response time and access to live chat support. Here are the primary customer support methods offered by Agorapulse.

a. Email support

Customers on all plans can contact support by email to resolve queries. The response time is dependent on the pricing tier. 

b. Live chat support

Available to higher-tier plans- Professional ($119/month, billed annually), Advanced ($149/month, billed annually), and Custom plans. 

c. Help centre

Help Centre access with articles on specific issues is available to all users, including free plan users.

d. Video support

Video call support is only available to users of the enterprise (custom pricing) plan.

Response time is guaranteed to be less than 6 hours for the standard plan ($79/month, billed annually) and less than 30 mins for custom-priced plans.

Though Agorapulse’s customer service is significantly better than Hootsuite’s, it would be better if it were more hands-on.

This user on G2 has complained that the Agorapulse team continued billing them without addressing the member’s request to halt the billing until the issue was fixed. 

My take:

Although Hootsuite provides a wide range of self-service tools (help centre, academy, email ticketing, and chat), its real support experience is inadequate for companies that require quick assistance. 

Agorapulse, on the other hand, is a better option for teams and agencies that rely on prompt support because it exhibits a more robust human-centered support model with quicker response times and higher user satisfaction ratings.

In terms of Customer Support, I vote for Agorapulse. 

Statusbrew is a platform with reliable human customer support 22*6, available on live chat and Zoom calls. 

Users can rely on support teams for prompt resolutions because they are present across 5 time zones. Unlike Agorapulse, which only provides onboarding support to users of custom plans, the team also provides onboarding support for team members in all plans.

3. Reporting & Analytics

Hootsuite

Hootsuite’s reporting is oriented toward marketing performance.

With its higher-tier plans, Hootsuite offers reporting options ranging from sophisticated competitor analysis, benchmarking, and ROI analysis to basic performance tracking.

The platform offers a ‘Metrics library’ where you can select organic, earned, and owned metrics and add them to custom reports. 

For the higher-tier ‘Advanced Analytics,' you can create fully custom metrics (for example, defining engagement rate by comments and shares). Thereby, you can tie metrics to business goals. 

Hootsuite lets you create custom reports from scratch and offers several pre-built report templates (by goal: Awareness, Engagement, Conversion, etc.). You can also open a reporting view that displays your results in a tile-like format. 

Features such as in-depth sentiment analysis, granular competitor insights, and advanced analytics are available only in higher-tier plans or require third-party integrations in Hootsuite.

ROI reporting and analysis are also available only in the custom enterprise plan. 

Agorapulse

Agorapulse’s analytics capabilities build on the basics by enabling users to connect a Google Analytics account, unlocking the Social Media ROI Dashboard. 

This is designed to derive actual business value from social efforts. Because of its focus on social media ROI, it is perfect for smaller agencies that need to show their clients a definite return on investment (ROI). 

Their Advanced Plan ($149/month, billed annually) and custom plans include a customisable reports feature called ‘Power Reports.’ Users can select specific metrics, profiles, and timeframes to create a report tailored to their needs. This isn’t available on the lower-tier plans.

Cross-network reporting, ad reports, advanced analytics, and competitor benchmarking are available only in their advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually) onwards. The analytics are decent, but lack the depth offered by its competitors. 

In comparison to other platforms,  some advanced metrics and customisation options (particularly for comparative or segmented reports) are limited in Agorapulse. Pinterest analytics tracking is yet to be rolled out on the platform. 

My take:

For brands that rely on deep analytics for strategic decision-making or stakeholder reporting, Hootsuite can meet the need, an added cost.

Agorapulse, by contrast, is more affordable but falls short in comprehensive paid-campaign tracking and in-depth reporting customization.

In terms of reporting and analytics, I vote for Hootsuite. 

Statusbrew’s reporting and analytics tool is a more affordable Hootsuite alternative that has more in-depth analytics compared to Agorapulse.

Statusbrew’s Premium Plan ($229/month/6 users) provides a granular view of social media performance with over 250+ metrics and 20+ predefined reports.

5. Inbox and engagement

Hootsuite

Hootsuite’s centralized inbox offers a unified view of public comments and private messages across all networks. The interface is largely column-based, where streams are positioned vertically to one another. You can navigate across social profiles in the top left corner (just under Inbox 2.0). 

Automations like message routing, saved replies, auto-responses, and AI-powered chatbots streamline help with engagement.

Features like Saved Replies, Automated message responses, and Inbox search are only available with the Advanced Plan ($250/month, billed annually) onwards.

Agorapulse

The platform’s inbox promises ease of navigation, helping users reach ‘inbox zero’ by quickly reviewing, responding to, and clearing messages.

However, I also think it’s a bit challenging to gain a comprehensive overview when a business manages multiple social profiles.

To review all conversations, users must click into each profile individually. This creates the risk of missed messages or overlooked interactions.

The Standard plan ($79/month, billed annually) includes basic automations, such as the Automated Inbox Assistant and instant translations, offering reasonable workflow efficiency for small teams or individuals. 

The Professional plan  ($119/month, billed annually) adds Automated Moderation, allowing 1 rule per social profile with a single trigger condition, such as a keyword, mention, or link, to reduce daily administrative tasks. 

This Professional Plan tier limits users to one rule per profile, with additional rules only available by upgrading to the Custom pricing plan. 

The Advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually) offers Inbox bulk actions, advanced spam management, and Saved Replies. The custom plan offers additional flexibility in automated moderation rules. 

My take:

Hootsuite’s Inbox 2.0 is long overdue for a UI overhaul. The visual clutter doesn’t help the everyday workflow. Agorapulse could do better by having a unified inbox, in place of a social profile-based inbox. 

But in comparison, Agorapulse is more efficient for communication. Yes, the automation is limited in comparison to Hootsuite. But the simplicity of the inbox helps teams clear pending tasks efficiently.

In terms of inbox and engagement, I would vote for Agorapulse.

Statusbrew’s Engage Inbox offers an overview of all conversations across profiles, with the option to filter specific views. The unified inbox allows teams to see all conversations across multiple profiles without constantly switching accounts.

Its Rule Engine serves as a core automation feature, allowing users to create custom triggers and automated actions. In addition, the platform offers priority tagging, which automatically highlights high-importance messages based on keywords, mentions, or customer behavior.

6. Collaboration 

Hootsuite 

Hootsuite offers a solid suite of collaboration tools that support multi‑user approval workflows and cross‑team coordination for content creation.

All plans let you export your social media calendar as a .csv or .pdf to share with clients and external collaborators. 

Only with the advanced plan onwards ($249/month, billed annually) can you collaborate within the content calendar, assign roles, manage permissions, and export reports to be sent via email. 

Advanced plan onwards, Hootsuite’s automations let you streamline your workflow by adding tags to messages to capture metadata such as sentiment or message type. You can apply topics to categorize conversations. 

Members can filter conversations by channel, the user it's assigned to, and status (such as new, pending, or resolved). These features can be unlocked by users who are part of the Advanced plan ($249/month, billed annually). 

Standard plan ($99/month, billed annually) users can access DM automation and add contact notes about incoming conversations. In this basic plan, you get the content calendar and a unified inbox, but you can’t set up approval workflows or manage permissions.  

At the Enterprise level, the collaboration toolkit is the most advanced. Features such as single sign‑on (SSO) and compliance integrations become available.

The custom enterprise plan is designed for large organizations that require multi-step compliance and governance, tailored to the legal requirements of their industry. 

Agorapulse

Agorapulse's collaboration tools are tiered across its paid plans. All plans feature inbox collaboration, including private notes on conversations and contact history. 

You can keep a running log of notes and past interactions for each specific social media contact. This gives your entire team a 360-degree view of your relationship with that user.

Teams in the Standard plan ($79/month, billed annually) and Professional plan ($119/month, billed annually) have access to collision detection and the ability to manually assign inbox items.

For content publishing, the Professional Plan offers only a one-step approval process.

The built-in system that requires a manager's approval before publishing is locked in the Advanced Plan ($149/month, billed annually). You can, however, assign tasks to team members to manage conversations. 

The Advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually) has shared external content calendars and bulk approval capabilities. 

The Custom enterprise plan, among other features, introduces multi-step approval workflows for organizations requiring more complex review chains. 

For compliance or legal needs, you can build custom, sequential approval chains. A post can be routed from the creator to the manager, legal team, and then the client, ensuring full sign-off from all required reviewers before it goes live.

My take:

When comparing collaboration features between Hootsuite and Agorapulse, the choice depends on your team size, workflow complexity, and budget. Hootsuite enables complexity in organizational structures and team roles. 

Agorapulse’s UI is easy for day-to-day use and provides simplicity in collaboration workflows. 

For example, on the Professional plan ($119/month, billed annually), you get basic team-oriented features. Yes, there are fewer automation options, but this is a good starter plan for smaller firms. If your team workflow is relatively straightforward (fewer levels of approval, simple role design), Agorapulse offers adequate features at a much lower cost. 

Agorapulse does lack some of Hootsuite’s deeper controls (especially if you have multiple team members, accounts, or require complex role/permission design). If you’re operating at scale, with many users, multiple approval levels, strict permissions, and brand compliance, Hootsuite is the better choice.

In terms of collaboration, I vote for Hootsuite.

Statusbrew competes well with Hootsuite and Agorapulse in terms of collaboration features. Its standout Engage Rule Engine automates comment routing, task assignment, and multi-step approval workflows.

The Premium plan ($229/month for 6 users) provides multi-layered workflow capabilities that support scalable team operations.

Overall, the tool strikes a balance between accessibility and advanced collaboration functionality, making it ideal for teams seeking workflow and automation systems without the high enterprise-level costs.

7. Publishing and Scheduling

Hootsuite

With Hootsuite, you can plan posts using a visual content calendar, select time slots, and schedule posts at optimal times.

The content calendar supports multiple views (week, month, list) and lets you manage drafts, edits, reschedule, or delete scheduled posts. It also offers filters: by social account, by post status (scheduled, draft, published), or campaign. 

The publishing tool also lets you create multi-step approval workflows, post tagging for campaigns, and calendar filters by campaign or post status. However, these features are only available in the Advanced plan ($249/month, billed annually).

The Enterprise plan focuses on governance and scalability, offering unlimited approvals, advanced tagging options, and enhanced analytics tied to scheduled posts. This supports large teams with multiple accounts and campaigns.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse’s calendar features a clean and straightforward layout, including an optimal time for publishing.

The AI writing assistant feature is only available in Agorapulse's advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually), whereas Hootsuite offers the tool across all its plans.

The optimal time publishing feature and access to the content library are also locked behind the Advanced plan. 

The Professional plan ($119/month, billed annually) adds features such as Instagram product tagging, link-in-bio tools, team workflow publishing & ad comment monitoring.

Shared content calendars and bulk scheduling/bulk approval of posts are tied to the Advanced Plan ($149/month, billed annually). 

My take:

Hootsuite and Agorapulse cater to slightly different team needs. Hootsuite’s visual content calendar is highly versatile with multiple calendar views, advanced post tagging metrics for campaigns, and built-in recommended posting times.

Agorapulse offers a cleaner, simpler calendar interface, with optimal time publishing and bulk scheduling up to 200 posts. Many features, including the AI writing assistant, content library, and bulk approvals, are restricted to the Advanced plan ($149/month).

Hootsuite is more feature-rich, but Agorapulse is better for ease of use, support, and administration, which can matter a lot when scheduling/posts across teams. 

In terms of publishing and scheduling, I would vote for Agorapulse.

Statusbrew offers a clean interface to support teams looking for a flexible and scalable publishing solution. network-native features, including content tagging, the Best time to post, content and media editing, approval workflow, and custom calendar boards.

Verdict

Both Hootsuite and Agorapulse come with unique value propositions. It depends on the nature of your organization and business. 

1. Small Teams / Freelancers

Need: A user-friendly platform for essential social posting, engagement, and basic analytics, with minimal setup and overhead.

Recommended: Agorapulse stands out for ease of use and more budget-friendly pricing.

2. Growing Businesses / Agencies

Need: Handle more social profiles, collaboration (including approval workflows), scheduling, engagement across several accounts, moderate analytics, and team-friendly pricing. 

Recommended: Agorapulse works, but may require higher tiers for more advanced workflow features.

3. Large Enterprises

Need: Scalability across teams and brands with high volumes of social activity, extensive user licences, robust governance (permissions, collaboration), deep analytics, and integrations (CRM/BI).

Recommended: Hootsuite is better for enterprises with a budget for advanced analytics, an add-on social listening package, and a broader integration suite. 

An affordable option without compromise

If you’re unsure about Agorapulse’s capabilities and Hootsuite prices, you should look into Statusbrew’s Standard plan ($129/month, billed annually). With transparent, bundled pricing, Statusbrew eliminates the constant worry of unexpected add-on costs. 

It offers full 1:1 feature parity with Hootsuite and pairs it with responsive customer support. With 22/6 live human support via chat, email, or Zoom, teams always have assistance when needed.

Top reasons businesses switch to Statusbrew:

1. Advanced Reporting: 20+ templates, 100+ widgets, and 250+ KPIs.

2. Scalable Workflows: Unlimited workspaces, ideal for client/agency models.

3. Advanced Inbox Automation: 60+ inbox automations help you manage engagements at any scale.

4. Enterprise-Level Security: Features like SSO and granular permission controls.

5. Cost-Effective Pricing: Clear, bundle-based pricing and custom per-profile rates for large teams.

Statusbrew scales seamlessly from agencies to large enterprises, offering extensive integrations, enterprise-grade analytics, and robust collaboration tools (typically locked behind higher tiers on Hootsuite). 

FAQs

Why do people leave Hootsuite?

The most common reasons are its high pricing and the delayed customer service response time. 

Why do people leave Agorapulse?

The high per-person fee to add new users to the existing plan is one of the issues. Users are also not satisfied with the analytics and reporting customizations. 

Is there a Hootsuite free plan?

No, Hootsuite discontinued its free plan in 2023. Now, users can choose between the Standard plan ($99/month, billed annually), the Advanced Plan ($250/month, billed annually), or the custom pricing enterprise plan. 

Is there a cheaper alternative to Hootsuite?

There are cheaper alternatives to Hootsuite, and Agorapulse is among the tools recommended for small to mid-sized teams. It provides a good social media management suite at a lower cost while offering cleaner workflows. 

You will need to choose between the $119 Professional Plan or $149 Advanced Plan (both billed annually), depending on the features you need. 

If you want a tool that delivers Hootsuite-level features with a focus on automation, Statusbrew is a dependable option that offers transparent bundled pricing. The standard plan starts at $129/month (billed annually), which is ideal for most growing businesses. 

Which platform is better for small businesses or freelancers, Agorapulse or Hootsuite?

Small teams and freelancers often prefer Agorapulse due to simpler workflows, lower starting pricing, and responsive support. Hootsuite can be an overkill, unless you need enterprise-level features. 

Which tool offers better reporting and analytics?

Hootsuite provides deeper analytics overall, with customizable reports, but in-depth reports (like team productivity, custom metrics, and conversion insights) require the ‘Advanced plan’ ($250/month, billed annually) or custom Enterprise plans, depending on the extent of analytics required.

Agorapulse relies heavily on its Google Analytics-powered ROI dashboard for business impact tracking and offers easy-to-read reporting templates. 

For marketers seeking enterprise-grade reporting without additional fees, Statusbrew provides 20+ report templates, 100+ widgets, and 250+ KPIs at a more transparent price.

What are some Sprout Social alternatives?

Hootsuite is an enterprise-grade alternative, offering a more polished user interface and superior analytics for teams ready to upgrade. Agorapulse is a user-friendly alternative known for its efficient social inbox and ROI-focused reporting.

Statusbrew is a powerful alternative to Sprout Social for teams focused on engagement. The tool offers an advanced Rule Engine and automations at a reasonable cost.

What is the best tool for social listening and brand monitoring?

Hootsuite offers social listening analytics and integrations like Talkwalker. This helps with market and competitor research and tracking industry trends. 

Agorapulse offers excellent and very accessible brand monitoring, perfectly suited for tracking direct mentions, brand conversations, and competitor activity. 

Statusbrew also offers comprehensive social listening, uniquely allowing its sentiment analysis to trigger automated rules for real-time crisis management or lead routing.

What are some affordable social media tools for startups?

Agorapulse is significantly more affordable for startups. Hootsuite is a premium enterprise tool that locks many features behind paid-ons and has a steep per-user cost. 

Statusbrew is also an affordable and scalable option for startups, as its Standard plan includes multiple users and enterprise-grade automation features from the start.

How do Hootsuite and Agorapulse differ in social inbox and engagement features?

Agorapulse has a social profile-based inbox. Everything from comments to DMs to ad replies funnels into an ‘Inbox Zero’ workflow. However, oversight can happen as it's not a unified inbox, which means users have to switch between profiles to get to inbox zero. 

Hootsuite organizes mentions, messages, and comments into separate streams by network or profile. The interface can quickly get clunky, especially while managing multiple profiles.

Statusbrew’s ‘Engage Inbox’ centralizes all social conversations into a single unified inbox, making it easier to manage high volumes of messages. Statusbrew’s inbox and engagement are especially designed for large teams that need moderation rules, saved replies, and automated comment filtering.  

Which platform supports mobile management?

Both Hootsuite and Agorapulse have mobile apps for iOS and Android with posting, engagement, and analytics features.

How scalable are Hootsuite and Agorapulse for growing teams?

Agorapulse has a per-user pricing for both the Professional plan ($119/month, billed annually) and the Advanced plan ($149/month, billed annually). Users are priced per seat, so adding team members can multiply your cost. Teams have to switch to the Custom plan to scale. 

Similarly, with Hootsuite, additional user seats are charged per person, which can make scaling more expensive. Customers have to subscribe to Hootsuite’s Enterprise plan, which supports unlimited social profiles. 

Statusbrew is a practical option for collaborative teams looking for plans with multiple users. The Standard plan ($129/month, billed annually), for example, includes 3 users, with additional users at $30/month each and extra profiles at $10/month each.

The Enterprise plan (custom pricing) provides unlimited users and unlimited profiles. This tiered structure ensures teams can scale efficiently without switching plans, making Statusbrew a highly flexible option for growing social media operations.