The best Sprout Social alternatives in 2026

Sprout Social is one of the most complete social media management platforms you can buy. It is also one of the most expensive per person. Every seat on the Standard plan costs $199 a month billed annually, and the plans most teams grow into, Professional and Advanced, cost $299 and $399 per seat. Pay monthly and those numbers rise to $249, $399 and $499. For a team of five on Professional, that is $1,495 a month before any listening or analytics add-ons.

That is why most teams that look for Sprout Social alternatives are not unhappy with the product. They are unhappy with the bill as the team grows. This guide compares six alternatives on the things that decide whether a switch works: what each one charges per user (or whether it charges per user at all), the social inbox, listening, reporting, approval workflows and features for agencies and clients.

All prices are in USD and come from each vendor's own pricing page, checked in October 2026. Where a vendor only quotes through sales, we say so. We have not run hands-on tests of these tools; features below are what each vendor documents.

Comparison Table

Why teams leave Sprout Social

The main reason is how the price scales. Sprout charges for every seat, and the features that matter to growing teams sit on the higher tiers:

• Inbox: the consolidated Smart Inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat per month billed annually.
• Approvals: the message approval workflow starts on Professional at $299 per seat. Approval by people outside your team (the external approval workflow) and approvals for replies need Advanced at $399 per seat.
• Profiles: Essentials and Standard cap you at 5 social profiles. Unlimited profiles start on Professional.
• Listening: Standard includes keyword and location monitoring with 10 brand keywords per group. Full Listening, with AI topics, sentiment and spike alerts, is an add-on you buy through sales.
• Billing: the headline prices are annual. Sprout's FAQ says annual billing is one upfront payment for the term, and month-to-month customers pay more per seat.

At three seats on Professional, annual billing, Sprout costs $897 a month. At ten seats, it is $2,990 a month. The alternatives below either charge much less per user or do not charge per user at all.

Sprout Social review

Before you switch, it helps to know exactly what you would be leaving. Sprout Social is a full suite: publishing, a deep customer care inbox, reporting, review management and optional listening, employee advocacy and influencer marketing.

Key features

• Smart Inbox with case management, contact history, reply collision detection, custom views and comment moderation (Standard and up)
• Review management, with Yelp, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot and Glassdoor integrations, plus WhatsApp, from Standard
• Message tagging, saved replies, bulk scheduling, Instagram grid planning and a content library from Professional
• Advanced adds case routing, chatbots, sentiment classification, approvals for replies, CSAT and NPS surveys, and team productivity reports
• Reporting at profile, post and group level on every plan; competitor, paid and tag reports and custom report branding from Professional; scheduled report delivery on Advanced
• HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Marketo and Microsoft Dynamics integrations and the Sprout API on Advanced
• Publishing to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business, Reddit and Snapchat

Pricing

• Essentials: $79 per seat/month billed annually, $99 monthly. 5 profiles, publishing, optimal send times and reporting. Brand keyword monitoring is not included.
• Standard: $199 per seat/month annually, $249 monthly. 5 profiles, Smart Inbox, keyword and location monitoring, review management.
• Professional: $299 per seat/month annually, $399 monthly. Unlimited profiles, approvals, competitor reports.
• Advanced: $399 per seat/month annually, $499 monthly. External approvals, sentiment, automation and CRM integrations.
• Enterprise: custom pricing.

Every seat includes 100 Trellis AI credits a month. Trellis Plus costs $28 per user/month billed annually or $35 monthly. Sprout offers a 30-day trial with no credit card, and nonprofit pricing on Professional and Advanced for US nonprofits.

Pros

• One of the broadest inbox and customer care toolsets in this category
• Unlimited profiles from Professional
• 24/5 live phone and chat support on every plan
• Published per-seat prices and a detailed feature table

Cons

• Per-seat pricing makes every new teammate a $199 to $399 monthly decision on the inbox plans
• Approvals need Professional and external approvals need Advanced
• Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are extra, priced by sales

Who it's for: customer care heavy teams that use most of the inbox automation, CRM integrations and reporting, and have the budget for it.

Who should skip it: small teams, agencies with many part-time users or clients, and anyone who mainly needs publishing and approvals.

Hootsuite review

Hootsuite is the alternative closest to Sprout Social in scope. It also charges per user, but it starts at half the price and includes some listening on every plan.

Key features

• All-in-one inbox on every plan; DM automations, automated responses and AI smart replies from Professional; assignment and routing on Advanced
• Quick Search listening: 7 days of results on Standard, 30 days plus trend forecasting on Professional and up
• Reporting on every plan: post performance, multi-network reports, industry benchmarking and best times to post
• Competitor benchmarking for 5 competitors on Standard and 20 on Professional and up
• Custom reports, export and report scheduling from Professional; branded reports from Advanced
• Wisdom AI with 100 AI credits a month on self-serve plans, plus Hootbio link-in-bio on every plan
• Publishing to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Google Business Profile, plus WhatsApp in the inbox

Pricing

• Standard: $99 per user/month billed annually, 10 social accounts.
• Professional: $199 per user/month billed annually, unlimited accounts.
• Advanced: $399 per user/month billed annually, with post approvals and internal comments.
• Enterprise: custom.

Hootsuite's FAQ says monthly billing costs more per user, but the plans page does not show that price. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card; trial accounts are limited to 10 to 20 posts per organization per day and cannot bulk schedule. There is no free plan.

Pros

• Standard at $99 per user is half of Sprout's Standard seat
• Listening and competitor benchmarking are built in, not add-ons
• Unlimited social accounts from Professional

Cons

• Still per user, so a growing team still grows the bill
• Post approval workflows are only on Advanced and Enterprise, at the same $399 per user as Sprout Advanced
• Standard caps you at 10 social accounts

Who it's for: teams that want an all-in-one suite with listening and benchmarking included, and that work without formal approvals.

Who should skip it: teams that need approvals on a budget. On Hootsuite they cost as much as on Sprout.

Buffer review

Buffer takes the opposite approach to Sprout. It charges per connected channel, and its Team plan includes unlimited team members. If you have a big team posting to a handful of accounts, the savings are large.

Key features

• Publishing to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, YouTube Shorts, Threads, Bluesky, Google Business Profile and Mastodon
• Content approval workflows and access levels on Team
• Community inbox for replying to comments on every plan, with AI reply suggestions
• Analytics with unlimited history, custom analytics and reports on Essentials; branded reports on Team
• First comment scheduling and a hashtag manager on paid plans
• Integrations with Canva, Dropbox, Google Drive, Zapier, Make and more on every plan

Pricing

• Free: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, 1 user.
• Essentials: $5 per channel/month billed yearly or $6 monthly for channels 1 to 10, with lower rates from the 11th channel. 1 user.
• Team: $10 per channel/month billed yearly or $12 monthly for channels 1 to 10, with lower rates after that. Unlimited team members, access levels and approvals.

Once you pay, every connected channel is billed, including the first 3. Paid plans have a 14-day trial, and nonprofits get 50% off. Ten channels on Team cost $100 a month billed yearly, for any number of users.

Pros

• Unlimited users on Team, so seats never drive the bill
• Approvals for $10 per channel per month, far below Sprout's Professional tier
• A real free plan to test the workflow

Cons

• The inbox handles comments; Buffer's Instagram page says it does not cover DMs or Story replies
• No listening, competitor reports or review management
• Costs rise with every channel you connect

Who it's for: content teams whose main work is planning, approving and publishing, and who handle DMs elsewhere.

Who should skip it: customer care teams that live in the inbox, and anyone who needs listening.

Agorapulse review

Agorapulse is the most direct Sprout Social replacement in this list. It covers the same core areas, inbox, publishing, approvals and reporting, and it still charges per user, but at a much lower rate.

Key features

• All-in-one inbox for comments, DMs and reviews on every plan, with comment moderation, Google reviews moderation, inline translation and contact notes
• Professional adds post and inbox assignment, reply collision detection, ad comment moderation, first comments, Instagram grid preview, calendar notes and PulseLink in bio
• Simple approval workflows that route content to teammates or clients, from Professional
• Advanced adds saved replies, labels, bulk inbox actions, bulk scheduling of up to 200 posts by CSV, publishing queues and up to 5 shared calendars for external review
• White-label reporting on every plan; scheduled report emails, PowerPoint export, ads reporting and advanced ROI reports on Advanced
• Profile Connector on Advanced, so clients can connect their own profiles without sharing passwords
• Custom plan: unlimited profiles, multi-step approvals, SSO, custom roles, AI reply suggestions and API access

Pricing

• Standard: $79 per user/month billed annually, $99 monthly.
• Professional: $119 per user/month billed annually, $149 monthly.
• Advanced: $149 per user/month billed annually, $199 monthly.
• Custom: priced by demo.

Standard, Professional and Advanced include 10 social profiles. Extra profiles cost $10/month each billed annually or $15 monthly. Annual billing saves up to 20%. Every plan has a 30-day trial with no credit card. Agorapulse ended its free plan on July 6, 2026. Advanced Listening and Competitive Benchmarking are add-ons priced by demo.

Pros

• Approvals from $119 per user per month, compared with $299 per seat on Sprout Professional
• White-label reports on every plan, useful for agencies
• Clients can approve posts and review shared calendars
• 24/7 support on every plan

Cons

• Still priced per user, so large teams still pay a lot
• 10 profiles per plan below Custom, with extra profiles billed each month
• Saved replies, bulk scheduling and shared calendars need Advanced

Who it's for: teams and agencies that rely on Sprout's inbox and approvals and want the same workflow at roughly half the per-seat cost.

Who should skip it: teams with many occasional users, who will save more with an unlimited-user tool.

Later review

Later is built around visual planning for Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest. It is not a full Sprout replacement, but small brand teams often find its Growth plan covers what they used Sprout for.

Key features

• Visual planner with Instagram feed preview and drag and drop
• Auto publishing for Instagram posts, Stories and Reels, plus TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Threads and Snapchat
• Social inbox on Growth and Scale for Instagram DMs, comments and mentions, Facebook DMs and comments, and TikTok comments
• Internal and external approvals and post comments on Growth and Scale
• Analytics with 3 months of history on Starter, 1 year on Growth and 2 years on Scale; shareable reports on Scale
• Competitive benchmarking for up to 20 competitors, trends, brand health and brand mentions on Scale
• Link in Bio on every plan

Pricing

• Starter: $25/month, or $18.75 billed yearly. 1 Social Set, 1 user, 30 posts per profile per month.
• Growth: $50/month, or $37.50 billed yearly. 2 Social Sets, 2 users, 180 posts per profile per month, inbox and approvals.
• Scale: $110/month, or $82.50 billed yearly. 6 Social Sets, 4 users, unlimited posts, listening tools.

A Social Set is one profile each of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads and Snapchat. On Growth, extra users cost $5/month ($3.75 billed yearly) and extra Social Sets $15/month ($11.25 yearly). There is a 14-day trial with no credit card and no free plan.

Pros

• Growth gives an inbox and approvals, including external approvals, for $37.50 a month billed yearly
• Low cost per extra user
• Strong tools for Instagram feeds, Reels and link in bio

Cons

• No X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile in Later's supported networks
• Listening and benchmarking only on Scale
• Post caps per profile on Starter and Growth

Who it's for: small brand and creator teams that publish mostly on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

Who should skip it: teams that need X or Google Business Profile, or a customer care inbox at scale.

Sendible review

Sendible is designed for agencies and multi-location brands, and it removes the per-seat problem completely. Every plan includes unlimited users, including team members, freelancers, stakeholders and clients. You pay for workspaces, and each workspace includes 6 social profiles.

Key features

• Workspaces that keep each client, brand or location's profiles, content, calendar and reports separate
• Client Connect, so clients can connect profiles without sharing passwords, and client dashboards on every plan
• Assign posts for approval from Plus; custom approval workflows from Premium; permission groups from Elite
• Priority Inbox, real-time comment monitoring and replies, Instagram comment monitoring and Facebook ad comment replies on every plan
• Standard reports and quick reports with Google Analytics on every plan; custom reports, PDF reports, automatically emailed reports, live report sharing and campaigns from Premium
• Custom branded reports from Premium; white label for the dashboard, domain, reports and emails as a paid add-on on Elite and Enterprise
• Bulk scheduler and CSV uploads, smart queues, RSS auto-poster and a Canva integration
• Publishing to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and WordPress

Pricing

All plans include unlimited users. Prices per month:

• Core: $35 monthly, about $30 billed yearly. 1 workspace, 6 profiles.
• Plus: $99 monthly, about $84 yearly. 3 workspaces, 18 profiles, approvals.
• Premium: $199 monthly, about $169 yearly. 7 workspaces, 42 profiles, custom approval workflows and branded reports.
• Elite: $299 monthly, about $254 yearly. 15 workspaces, 90 profiles, permission groups.
• Enterprise: $750 monthly, about $638 yearly. 50 workspaces, 300 profiles, SSO.

Yearly billing saves 15%. Extra workspaces can be added, from $35 a month on Core down to $15 a month on Enterprise (monthly billing). There is a 14-day trial with no card required and no contract.

Pros

• No per-seat charge on any plan, so you can invite every teammate and client
• Client approvals, client access and separate workspaces built for agency work
• Premium covers 7 clients with branded reports for $199 a month

Cons

• No keyword listening tool listed on the pricing page; monitoring covers your own profiles
• Approvals start on Plus, and custom approval workflows need Premium
• Live chat support runs 9am to 10pm GMT

Who it's for: agencies, franchises and multi-location brands with many users and many client accounts.

Who should skip it: brands that need listening, sentiment or Sprout-level customer care automation.

Metricool review

Metricool started as an analytics tool and still leans that way. It prices by the number of brands you manage, which makes it inexpensive for small agencies that mainly need publishing and reports.

Key features

• Analytics with unlimited history on paid plans (X limited to 30 days), competitor analysis for up to 100 profiles and Reels and Stories analytics
• PDF and PPT reports and automated monthly reports; custom report templates and a Looker Studio connector on Advanced
• Inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn (X with the add-on)
• Team and client management, role management and a post approval system on Advanced
• Publishing to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Google Business Profile, with X as a paid add-on
• Ads analytics for Facebook, Google and TikTok Ads

Pricing

• Free: 1 brand, all networks except LinkedIn and X, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days of analytics.
• Starter: $20/month billed annually or $25 monthly for up to 5 brands; $36 annually or $45 monthly for up to 10.
• Advanced: $53/month billed annually or $67 monthly for 15 brands, rising to $159 annually or $210 monthly for 50 brands.
• Custom: contact sales, with white label.

A brand is one business with one profile per social network. Annual billing saves up to 24%. X requires a paid add-on on paid plans.

Pros

• 15 brands with approvals and client management from $53 a month billed annually
• Reporting depth well above its price
• A free plan for one brand

Cons

• X costs extra on paid plans
• Approvals and roles only on Advanced
• No keyword listening; competitor tracking only

Who it's for: small agencies and analytics-focused teams that want client-ready reports at a low price.

Who should skip it: teams that need customer care workflows or social listening.

What a team really pays: per-user cost compared

Here is what the plans that include an inbox and approvals cost for a team of three and a team of ten, using annual billing prices from each vendor's page:

Two patterns stand out. First, if you want to keep a per-user tool with a deep inbox, Agorapulse cuts the cost of approvals by more than half compared with Sprout Professional. Hootsuite only saves money if you can live without its Advanced tier. Second, if your team has many people who log in occasionally, such as clients, freelancers or regional staff, the tools without per-seat pricing (Sendible, Buffer and Metricool) change the math completely.

The catch is that cheaper tools also do less. Buffer and Later have lighter inboxes, and none of the flat-priced tools offer listening comparable to Sprout's add-on.

Inbox and engagement

If your team uses Sprout's Smart Inbox all day, this is the area to check most carefully.

• Agorapulse is the closest match. Every plan has an all-in-one inbox for comments, DMs and reviews. Assignment and reply collision detection start on Professional, saved replies and bulk actions on Advanced, and AI reply suggestions on Custom.
• Hootsuite includes an inbox on every plan, adds DM automations and AI smart replies on Professional, and saves assignment and routing for Advanced.
• Sendible includes Priority Inbox and real-time comment monitoring on every plan, with comment replies listed for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, Instagram DMs, YouTube comments and Facebook ad comments.
• Metricool has an inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.
• Later adds an inbox on Growth and Scale for Instagram DMs, comments and mentions, Facebook messages and TikTok comments.
• Buffer handles comment replies only.

Sprout still leads on customer care automation: case routing, chatbots, CSAT and NPS surveys and helpdesk integrations on Advanced. If you use those, plan the move carefully.

Social listening

Sprout's Standard plan includes keyword and location monitoring, but its full Listening product is an add-on sold through sales. Among the alternatives:

• Hootsuite includes Quick Search on every plan: 7 days on Standard and 30 days with trend forecasting on Professional and up.
• Agorapulse sells Advanced Listening as an add-on, priced by demo, covering mentions across social accounts, news, blogs and forums.
• Later includes brand mentions, trends and brand health on Scale.
• Metricool offers competitor analysis, not keyword listening.
• Buffer and Sendible do not list a listening tool.

If listening is a must and you want it priced in, Hootsuite is the only option here that includes it on its entry plan.

Reporting

• Sprout Social: profile, post and group reports on every plan; competitor, paid and tag reports and custom report branding from Professional; scheduled delivery on Advanced.
• Agorapulse: white-label reporting on every plan; scheduled report emails, PowerPoint export, ads reports and ROI reports on Advanced.
• Hootsuite: benchmarking and multi-network reports on every plan; custom and scheduled reports from Professional; branded reports on Advanced.
• Sendible: standard reports on every plan; custom, emailed, branded and live-shared reports from Premium.
• Metricool: unlimited history, PDF and PPT reports and automated monthly reports on paid plans; custom templates and Looker Studio on Advanced.
• Buffer: reports on Essentials, branded reports on Team.
• Later: analytics on every plan; shareable reports and cross-profile analytics on Scale.

For agencies that send branded reports to clients, Agorapulse (every plan) and Metricool are the cheapest ways to get them.

Approvals, agencies and client access

Approval workflows are often what pushes a team onto Sprout's Professional tier. Here is where each alternative puts them:

• Sprout Social: message approvals on Professional ($299 per seat); external approvals on Advanced ($399).
• Hootsuite: approvals only on Advanced ($399 per user) and Enterprise.
• Agorapulse: simple approvals for teammates or clients on Professional ($119 per user); shared calendars for external review on Advanced; multi-step approvals on Custom.
• Sendible: assign posts for approval on Plus; custom approval workflows on Premium; Client Connect and client dashboards on every plan.
• Buffer: approvals and access levels on Team.
• Later: internal and external approvals on Growth and Scale.
• Metricool: post approvals, roles and client management on Advanced.

For agencies, Sendible is the strongest fit: unlimited users means clients can log in to approve without costing a seat, and workspaces keep each client separate. Agorapulse is the better choice for agencies that also need a heavy inbox and are fine paying per user.

How to choose

1. Count who actually logs in. If many people log in only to approve or check reports, an unlimited-user tool (Sendible, Buffer Team) will save the most. If a few full-time managers do everything, a cheaper per-user tool (Agorapulse) keeps the workflow closest to Sprout.
2. List the inbox features you use every day. Assignment, saved replies, DMs on every network and review management narrow the list to Agorapulse, Hootsuite and Sendible.
3. Decide whether listening is required. If yes, Hootsuite includes it; Agorapulse and Sprout sell it separately.
4. Check networks. Later does not support X, Bluesky or Google Business Profile. Metricool charges extra for X.
5. Check profile limits. Hootsuite Standard and Agorapulse's paid plans include 10 profiles; Sendible includes 6 per workspace; Buffer bills per channel.
6. Use the trials. Agorapulse offers 30 days, Hootsuite, Buffer, Later and Sendible 14 days, and Metricool and Buffer have free plans.

Final recommendations

• Best overall Sprout Social alternative: Agorapulse, for a similar inbox, approvals and white-label reporting at $79 to $149 per user per month billed annually.
• Best for agencies and teams with many users: Sendible, for unlimited users on every plan, client approvals and client workspaces.
• Best for built-in listening: Hootsuite, with Quick Search and competitor benchmarking from $99 per user.
• Best for publishing and approvals on a budget: Buffer Team, with unlimited users at $10 per channel per month billed yearly.
• Best for Instagram and TikTok brands: Later Growth, with an inbox and approvals for $37.50 a month billed yearly.
• Best for analytics and client reports: Metricool, from a free plan to 15 brands with approvals at $53 a month billed annually.

Conclusion

Sprout Social is a strong product, but its per-seat pricing makes each new teammate expensive, and the features growing teams need most, approvals, unlimited profiles and listening, sit on its higher tiers or in add-ons. Agorapulse is the closest like-for-like replacement at roughly half the per-user cost. Sendible removes seat costs entirely and suits agencies best. Hootsuite makes sense if you want listening included and can skip formal approvals. Buffer, Later and Metricool are much cheaper options for teams whose work is mostly publishing and reporting. Run your real workflow, including one approval and one busy inbox day, through a trial before you move.