Sprout Social vs Buffer
Which social media tool is right for you? Compare features, pricing, and user reviews to make the best choice.
Sprout Social
Brands and teams that put engagement, customer care and reporting first and can pay premium per-seat prices.
Buffer
Solo creators, small businesses and agencies that mainly need simple, affordable scheduling across many channels.
Side by side
| Sprout Social | Buffer | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $79/seat/month billed annually ($99 monthly); no free plan | Free plan (3 channels); paid from $5/channel/month billed yearly ($6 monthly) |
| G2 Rating | 4.4 (6,882 reviews) | 4.3 (1,041 reviews) |
| Best For | Brands and teams that put engagement, customer care and reporting first and can pay premium per-seat prices. | Solo creators, small businesses and agencies that mainly need simple, affordable scheduling across many channels. |
Pros and cons
Sprout Social
Pros
- Smart Inbox with comments, DMs and reviews, collision detection and case management
- Reporting on every plan, including Essentials
- All self-serve prices published, monthly and annual
- 30-day free trial without a credit card
- 24/5 live phone and chat support on every plan
Cons
- Expensive per seat: Standard is $199/seat/month billed annually
- Essentials and Standard include only 5 social profiles; extra profiles cost extra at an unpublished price
- Approval workflows start at Professional ($299/seat/month annual)
- Listening and Premium Analytics are add-ons with no public price
- Essentials has no inbox
Buffer
Pros
- Real free plan (3 channels) and low entry price ($5 to $6 per channel)
- Team plan includes unlimited users, so cost does not grow with headcount
- Volume discounts make many channels cheaper per channel
- Simple to understand pricing published in full, including a machine-readable page
Cons
- Essentials is single-user; approvals and access levels need Team
- Free plan limits you to 10 scheduled posts per channel and 30 days of insights
- Community inbox handles comments; Buffer does not list DMs or social listening
- Some channels have limited support (for example Instagram personal profiles and Facebook groups are notification-publishing only)
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