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Social Media Management

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: Which Social Media Tool Fits Your Team in 2026?

Both are all-in-one platforms priced per user. Sprout Social has a cheaper $79 entry plan without an inbox, and puts approvals and bulk scheduling on Professional. Hootsuite includes listening and ads on every plan.

By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 19, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
Hootsuite logoStandard $99/user/mo (annual; 10 social accounts)

Hootsuite

VS
Sprout Social logoEssentials $79/seat/mo (annual; 5 profiles)

Sprout Social

Run the cost calculator Compare pricing tiers
Hootsuite vs Sprout SocialVerified Sep 19, 2026
Bottom line Editorial assessment

Which is better, Hootsuite or Sprout Social?

Choose Hootsuite for an inbox, listening and ads on its $99 entry plan and unlimited accounts at $199 a user; choose Sprout Social for approvals at a lower tier ($299 against Hootsuite’s $399), published monthly prices and a 30-day trial. Both charge per user.

Quick verdict: These are close rivals priced per seat. Sprout Social starts lower, at $79 a seat a month on annual billing for Essentials, but that plan has no inbox and a 5-profile cap; its Standard plan ($199) adds the inbox, and Professional ($299) adds unlimited profiles, bulk scheduling and approvals. Hootsuite’s Standard ($99) includes an inbox, basic listening and ads for up to 10 accounts, Professional ($199) is unlimited, and approvals need Advanced ($399). So for approvals Sprout is cheaper ($299 against $399); for an inbox on a budget Hootsuite is ($99 against $199). Sprout publishes monthly prices and offers a 30-day trial; Hootsuite’s trial is 14 days.
Verified data

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: quick facts

At a glanceHootsuiteSprout Social
CategorySocial Media Management
Entry priceStandard $99/user/mo (annual; 10 social accounts)Essentials $79/seat/mo (annual; 5 profiles)
Free planNo — 14-day free trialNo — 30-day free trial

Is Hootsuite cheaper than Sprout Social?

It depends on the feature you need. For publishing only, Sprout Essentials is cheapest at $79 a seat (annual). For an inbox, Hootsuite Standard ($99) undercuts Sprout Standard ($199). For approvals, Sprout Professional ($299) undercuts Hootsuite Advanced ($399). Sprout’s monthly billing is $99 to $499 a seat; Hootsuite does not publish monthly prices.

Verified data

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social at a glance

CategoryHootsuiteSprout Social
Entry planStandard — $99/user/mo annual; 10 accounts; inbox includedEssentials — $79/seat/mo annual ($99 monthly); 5 profiles; no inbox
Next planProfessional — $199; unlimited accountsStandard — $199 ($249 monthly); 5 profiles; inbox
ApprovalsAdvanced — $399Professional — $299 ($399 monthly)
Top self-serve planAdvanced — $399Advanced — $399 ($499 monthly)
Unlimited profilesProfessional and upProfessional and up
Bulk schedulingAll paid plans (350 posts per CSV)Professional and up (350 per CSV)
Social listeningBasic on all plans; advanced on EnterprisePaid add-on from Standard (price not published)
AI100 AI credits a month100 Trellis AI credits per seat a month; Trellis Plus $28/user/mo (annual)
Single sign-onEnterpriseSAML SSO supported; plan not stated
Free trial14 days, no card30 days, no card
G2 rating4.3 (7,452 reviews)4.4 (6,874 reviews)

Verified September 19, 2026Prices recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page. See sources

Prices in USD from hootsuite.com/plans and sproutsocial.com/pricing (monthly rates from Sprout’s billing FAQ); G2 ratings from each G2 product page. All checked September 19, 2026.

Editorial assessment

How they actually differ

Both cover publishing, engagement, analytics and team workflows, and both charge per user. The difference is which features sit in which tier, so price the plan that contains the feature you need, not the entry plan.

Where the key features sit

Hootsuite includes the inbox, basic listening and ads on every plan and saves approvals and message routing for Advanced. Sprout’s new Essentials plan is publishing-only with no inbox; Standard adds the inbox with 90 days of history, Professional adds unlimited profiles, bulk scheduling and approvals, and Advanced adds the API, sentiment and reply approvals.

Add-ons

Sprout sells Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy as add-ons without published prices, and Trellis AI Plus at $28 a user a month on annual billing ($35 monthly). Hootsuite puts advanced listening (Talkwalker) and employee advocacy on Enterprise, also without published prices.

Security

Hootsuite lists single sign-on on Enterprise. Sprout supports SAML SSO and, from September 14, 2026, SCIM for Okta and Microsoft Entra ID, but does not say which plan includes them; it lists IP allowlisting on Advanced.

Editorial assessment

Pros & cons

Hootsuite

Pros

  • Inbox, listening and ads from the $99 entry plan
  • Unlimited accounts from Professional ($199)
  • Bulk scheduling on every paid plan
  • Paid ads publishing on all plans

Cons

  • Approvals only on Advanced ($399)
  • Monthly prices not published
  • 14-day trial with posting limits
  • SSO only on Enterprise

Sprout Social

Pros

  • Cheapest entry seat here ($79 annual)
  • Approvals from Professional ($299)
  • Monthly prices published
  • 30-day trial

Cons

  • Essentials has no inbox
  • 5-profile cap below Professional
  • Listening is a separately priced add-on
  • Bulk scheduling needs Professional
Verified data

Cost calculator: what does your team actually pay?

Hootsuite

 
$0/mo

Sprout Social

 
$0/mo
 

List prices checked September 19, 2026, annual billing unless marked. Both charge per user seat. Hootsuite’s monthly prices are not published. Add-ons (Sprout Listening, Premium Analytics, Trellis Plus; Hootsuite Enterprise features) and taxes are not included.

Choose Hootsuite if…

You want an inbox, listening and ads on a lower-priced plan, need unlimited accounts at $199 a user, or run paid social from the same tool.

Choose Sprout Social if…

You need approvals at the lowest per-seat price, want monthly billing with published prices, or only need publishing on the $79 Essentials plan.

Total cost over time

Uses your selections above. Estimate excludes add-ons, overages, and negotiated discounts.

Ready to pick your social media tool?

Sprout’s 30-day trial and Hootsuite’s 14-day trial both need no card. Trial the tier that has the feature you need.

See Hootsuite pricing See Sprout Social pricing
Verified data

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: security, offline & remote work

How Hootsuite and Sprout Social compare on compliance reports, sign-in controls, offline access and the setup details that matter for remote, hybrid and in-office teams. Every value links to the vendor page it came from.

What we checkedHootsuiteSprout Social
Security & compliance
SOC 2 reportSOC 2 Type IIsourceSOC 2 Type IIsource
ISO/IEC 27001CertifiedsourceCertifiedsource
Other certificationsISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, ISO/IEC 27701, FedRAMP Li-SaaS, CSA STAR Level 1, UK Cyber Essentials, TX-RAMP, SOC 3sourceISO/IEC 27701, CSA STAR Level 1, PCI DSSsource
HIPAA (BAA)Not publishedBAA availableGuardian (add-on) for PHI collection via Secure Formssource
GDPR data processing agreementDPA offeredsourceDPA offeredsource
Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)YesEnterprisesourceYessource
SCIM user provisioningNot publishedYessource
Two-factor authenticationYessourceYesEnforcement: All plans (email two-step verification is enforced by default)source
Admin audit logNot publishedYessource
Data residency choicesNot publishedUS onlysource
EncryptionCustomer information encrypted at rest and in transit; TLS 1.2 or abovesourceAES-256 or greater at rest (including backups); TLS 1.2+ in transitsource
Self-hosting optionNot publishedNot published
Offline access
Offline modeNot documentedNot documented
Desktop appsNot publishedNot published
Mobile appsiOS, AndroidsourceiOS, Androidsource
Remote, hybrid & in-office
IP allowlistingNot publishedYesAdvancedsource
Device & session controlsNot publishedNot published
Editorial assessment

What this means for your team

  • Audit reports: both publish a SOC 2 report, and Hootsuite and Sprout Social also hold ISO/IEC 27001. Ask each vendor for the report under NDA before you sign; security reviews usually want the latest one.
  • Single sign-on: Hootsuite includes it on Enterprise; Sprout Social includes it. If your team signs in through Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or Google, price the plan that includes SSO, not the entry plan.
  • Health data: Sprout Social will sign a HIPAA business associate agreement (Sprout Social: Guardian (add-on) for PHI collection via Secure Forms). We found no BAA offer for Hootsuite, so keep protected health information out of it.
  • Working offline: Hootsuite and Sprout Social don’t document an offline mode. Details are in the Offline mode row above.
  • Office-only access: Sprout Social can restrict sign-ins to approved IP ranges on Advanced. That suits an office network or a company VPN; fully remote teams need a VPN for it to work.

Hootsuite: worth knowing

  • RemoteStandard, Professional and Advanced customers get support via help center tickets and X/Facebook, Monday to Friday business hours in several regional time zones; languages are English, Spanish and French. source

Sprout Social: worth knowing

  • RemoteLive phone and live chat support run 24/5 on every plan, which covers teams working across time zones on weekdays. source
  • SecurityAdmins can restrict app and API access to specific IP ranges, such as an office or VPN. source
  • RemoteIn a crisis, one button pauses all scheduled and queued messages, and it works from both the web and mobile apps. source
  • SecurityAll data is hosted in the US (AWS us-east-1 primary, us-west-2 secondary, GCP us-central1 for disaster recovery); no other region is offered. source

Checked September 19, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site — it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sprout Social more expensive than Hootsuite?

Not at every tier. Sprout Essentials ($79 a seat, annual) is cheaper than Hootsuite Standard ($99), and Sprout Professional ($299) is cheaper than Hootsuite Advanced ($399). Sprout Standard ($199) costs more than Hootsuite Standard for an inbox. Prices checked September 19, 2026.

Which plan includes approval workflows?

Sprout Professional ($299 a seat, annual) or Hootsuite Advanced ($399 a user, annual).

Does Sprout Social Essentials include an inbox?

No. Sprout’s Essentials plan does not include the all-in-one social inbox; Standard and above do.

Does either have a free plan?

No. Hootsuite offers a 14-day trial and Sprout a 30-day trial, both without a card.

Can I move from Hootsuite to Sprout?

Sprout documents no Hootsuite importer. Export Hootsuite’s content calendar to CSV and use Sprout’s bulk scheduling (Professional and Advanced, up to 350 messages per import).

Migration Guides

Already decided? Here’s how to actually switch.

Step-by-step migration guides covering what transfers automatically, what doesn’t, and how to handle the gap — in both directions.

Switching from Hootsuite to Sprout Social Switching from Sprout Social to Hootsuite
Editorial assessment

When to Buy — and When to Walk Away

Every “best social media tool” listicle tells you why to buy. Here’s the other half: the specific conditions under which Hootsuite or Sprout Social is the wrong purchase for your team.

Hootsuite

Buy Hootsuite if:

  • You need inbox, listening and ads on a mid-priced plan
  • You manage more than 5 profiles on a budget
  • You run paid social

Do NOT buy Hootsuite if:

  • You need approvals without paying $399 a user
  • You want monthly prices published
  • You want a long trial

Sprout Social

Buy Sprout Social if:

  • You need approvals at a lower tier
  • You want published monthly pricing
  • You want a 30-day trial

Do NOT buy Sprout Social if:

  • You need an inbox on the cheapest plan
  • You need more than 5 profiles below Professional
  • You need listening without an add-on quote

Canonical data for the tools on this page

Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page — with the date each figure was last verified.

HootsuitePricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›Sprout SocialPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›
Buffer vs Sprout SocialHead-to-head comparisonHootsuite vs BufferHead-to-head comparison

Sources

Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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01 · CompareWhich tool fits your team, side by side.75 comparisons 02 · Price & approveSourced, dated pricing and a one-page brief for sign-off.Decision brief 03 · SwitchWhat moves, what you rebuild, what it costs.150 guides 04 · ShareDownload and cite the data. CC BY 4.0.Open data
Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
About the author

Bill Belcamino

Founder and author, HelpCompare

Bill has worked in software and digital marketing for more than 20 years. He spent nine years as an engineer at HP, served as COO scaling a platform past 200,000 users, and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 19, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.

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