Sprout Social vs Hootsuite: price per seat and features

Sprout Social vs Hootsuite comes down to price per seat and to which tier gets competitor reports and listening. Hootsuite is cheaper per seat at Standard and Professional on annual billing (the two are level at Advanced), and it includes competitor benchmarking and social listening from its entry plan. Sprout Social keeps competitor reports for Professional and up and sells Listening as an add-on with no published price. In its favour, Sprout has a new $79 entry seat, a 30 day trial, and publishes its monthly prices.

Both charge per seat, so the number that decides it is your headcount times the tier you need.

Prices below were read from each vendor's own pricing page on 4 October 2026. Hootsuite's page shows annual billing only.

Sprout Social vs Hootsuite prices per seat

All prices are per seat per month. Full detail is on the Sprout Social pricing and Hootsuite pricing pages.

What a team of three pays

Our arithmetic, annual billing, three seats:

That middle row is the one to read if you want competitor reports, and it is where the two tools are furthest apart.

Social profiles

Sprout Social: 5 social profiles on Essentials and Standard, unlimited from Professional.

Hootsuite: up to 10 social accounts on Standard, unlimited from Professional.

If you run six to ten profiles (say, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok for two brands), Hootsuite's entry plan covers you and Sprout's does not.

Scheduling and the inbox

Both schedule posts and run a shared inbox. On the plan pages, the differences are in which tier gets which extra.

Hootsuite Standard includes unlimited scheduled posts and one inbox. Professional adds link tracking, automatic boosting of top posts and automated replies. Approval workflows and message routing arrive on Advanced.

Sprout Social Essentials covers scheduling with optimal send times and post-level reporting. Standard lists the consolidated inbox and collaboration tools. Advanced adds sentiment in the Smart Inbox and on reviews.

One trial catch: Hootsuite trial accounts have daily posting limits and no bulk scheduling, so test publishing volume with that in mind.

Social listening

Hootsuite includes social listening on Standard. Professional adds Quick Search across 30 days of conversations, side-by-side comparison of up to five searches, exports and 90 day trend forecasting. Full listening, with 13 months of history and alerts, is Enterprise only.

Sprout Social includes keyword and location monitoring on Standard. Full Listening is an add-on for Standard and up, with no price on the page. You book a demo to find out.

For light listening, Hootsuite gives you more without a sales call. For serious listening, both push you to a custom contract, and a dedicated tool may serve you better (see the best social listening tools). If the terms are blurring, social listening vs social monitoring separates them.

Competitor reporting

This is the clearest difference.

Hootsuite benchmarks you against five competitors on Standard and up to 20 on Professional.

Sprout Social includes Facebook, X and Instagram competitor reports on Professional, Advanced and Enterprise. Essentials and Standard have none. The Premium Analytics add-on adds custom comparisons, unpriced.

So the cheapest competitor reporting is $99 a seat on Hootsuite and $299 a seat on Sprout, both on annual billing. For a manual alternative that costs nothing, see how to monitor competitor social media.

What the pricing pages leave out

Ask about these before you sign, because neither page answers them:

• Sprout's add-on prices. Listening and Premium Analytics are both "schedule a demo". If you need either, your real Sprout price is unknown until a call.
• Hootsuite's monthly price. Its FAQ says monthly billing costs more per user. If you cannot commit for a year, get the figure in writing.
• How many competitors Sprout's reports cover. Hootsuite states five and 20. Sprout's page does not give a number.
• Hootsuite's add-ons. The comparison table has an add-ons section with no prices shown.

Pick Sprout Social if

• You are one person with five profiles or fewer and no need for competitor reports. Essentials is the cheapest seat here.
• You want a month to try it properly before paying.
• You want monthly billing at a published price.
• Sentiment in the inbox and on reviews matters to your customer care team (Advanced).

Pick Hootsuite if

• You want competitor benchmarking without paying for a top tier.
• You run six to ten profiles on a budget.
• You want basic listening included rather than quoted.
• Your team is growing and the per-seat gap at Standard and Professional adds up.

If neither fits, the Hootsuite alternatives and Sprout Social alternatives pages list other options.

When you do not need either

Both are tools for running your own social accounts. If what you actually need is to know what competitors changed each week, you do not need a scheduler. Figo checks each competitor's Instagram and Facebook posts, their Meta and TikTok ads, their pages and their reviews once a week, and sends a Monday briefing, from $49 a month. Ours, so judge accordingly. It does no scheduling, has no inbox and does not cover LinkedIn or X, so it sits next to Sprout or Hootsuite rather than replacing them.