What Agorapulse Is, and Who These Agorapulse Alternatives Are For
Agorapulse is a social media management tool built around a shared social inbox. Comments, DMs, ad comments and Google reviews from every connected profile land in one list, where a team can reply, label, assign and moderate them, and the same app schedules posts, reports on results and measures traffic through Google Analytics. Agorapulse's pricing page says more than 31,000 marketers use it, and the inbox is included on every paid plan. It is a strong product for community management, and this page says so wherever that is true.
Two things send people looking for Agorapulse alternatives. The first is price: every plan is sold per user, from $79 a month on annual billing or $99 billed monthly, so the bill grows with each teammate rather than with the work. The second is the free plan, which is gone. Agorapulse's help article on its free plan says the plan stopped on July 6, 2026 for new and current users, and the replacement is a free Archie plan that only creates posts with Archie, its AI content creator, for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
The list below has nine tools. We make Spreadcast, and it comes first because it is the only tool here that designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you. The other eight are ranked by how well they replace what Agorapulse does best, the inbox, and by what they charge a real team for it: the closest inbox suites first, then the flat priced team tools, then the cheaper and free schedulers.
Every price and limit was read on the vendor's own pricing page or help center on October 19, 2026, in US dollars before tax, and each one links to its source. If your shortlist is really Agorapulse against one big suite, our page on Hootsuite vs Sprout Social sets those two side by side.
Key Takeaways
Agorapulse Pricing Is per User
Standard is $79 per user a month billed annually or $99 billed monthly, Professional $119 or $149, Advanced $149 or $199. Three people on Professional cost $447 a month on monthly billing (3 times $149).
The Agorapulse Free Plan Ended
Since July 6, 2026 there is no free Agorapulse plan for scheduling or the inbox. The free Archie plan creates posts with AI only, and the trial is 30 days split into two 15 day parts.
Best Inbox Suites: Sprout Social and Hootsuite
Both match or exceed the Agorapulse inbox, with listening and benchmarking, and both cost more per seat. Sprout's inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat a month billed annually.
Best Flat Priced Team Tools: Vista Social and Sendible
Vista Social includes 2 users on its $99 Professional plan, and Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan from $35 a month. Both have an inbox on the entry plan.
Best Free Agorapulse Alternatives: Buffer and Metricool
Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with replies to comments. Metricool's free plan has an inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok, with 20 posts a month.
Best for App Makers: Spreadcast
Spreadcast designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you. Free drafts your posts; Pro is $29 a month and includes design, captions and publishing to every network.
Video: How the Agorapulse Social Inbox Works
Agorapulse's own walkthrough of the inbox, the feature most people need to replace before they leave.
Agorapulse Pricing in 2026: Plans, Per User Prices and Limits
Agorapulse sells four plans per user, plus a free Archie plan and two paid add ons for X. Every number below comes from Agorapulse's pricing page and its help center, read on October 19, 2026.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Social profiles | Data kept | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 per user a month | $79 per user a month (saves $240 a year) | 10 | 6 months | Unlimited scheduling, the social inbox with comments, DMs and Google reviews, 1 free moderation rule per profile, basic and branded reports, the basic ROI report, the mobile app, ChatGPT and Claude through MCP |
| Professional | $149 per user a month | $119 per user a month (saves $360 a year) | 10 | 12 months | First comment, Instagram grid preview, link in bio, calendar notes, internal comments, simple approvals, ad comment moderation, assigning messages, reply collision detection, the team performance report, Canva, live chat support |
| Advanced | $199 per user a month | $149 per user a month (saves $600 a year) | 10 | 24 months | Publishing queues, bulk CSV scheduling of up to 200 posts, saved replies, inbox labels, sentiment display, 5 shared calendars, advanced, ads and ROI reports, scheduled report emails, PowerPoint export, Zapier |
| Custom | Quoted by sales | Quoted by sales | Unlimited | 24 months | Multi step approvals, unlimited moderation rules, AI reply suggestions, SSO, custom roles, historical data import, the reports API, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack and Microsoft Teams, a customer success manager |
| Archie (free) | $0 | $0 | Up to 50, on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube | Not stated | 1 owner and up to 100 Archie only users, 10 credits a month, a publishing calendar and drafts. New posts can only be created with Archie |
| X Lite and X Plus (add ons) | $29 and $69 per X profile a month | Not stated | X profiles do not count toward the limit | Not stated | An add on is required to connect any X profile. Lite publishes only; Plus adds the inbox and reports for X |
The page shows extra social profiles at $10 and $15 a month each, in the same annual and monthly pair as the plan prices. Advanced Listening, Advocacy and Competitive Benchmarking are add ons priced by demo. Nonprofits can ask for special pricing, without a published percentage. X prices come from Agorapulse's article on the X Lite and X Plus add ons.
Is Agorapulse Free? The Free Plan, the Archie Plan and the Free Trial
Agorapulse is no longer free for scheduling or the inbox. Agorapulse's help center says the free plan was discontinued on July 6, 2026, that current free subscribers were unsubscribed that day, and that the options left are a paid plan or the free Archie plan. Archie allows up to 50 profiles on four networks and up to 100 extra users, with 10 credits a month, but a post can only be created with Archie, and the plan includes a publishing calendar and drafts rather than the inbox or reports. One detail is out of step: the FAQ on the pricing page still says you can keep using the free plan after the trial, while the help article says it has ended. We go by the help article, which is the more specific of the two.
The trial is generous. Agorapulse's free trial article describes 30 days split into two 15 day trials, with no credit card. The first 15 days start at sign up, and you can extend once at any point within 90 days of starting. During the trial you get most features of the Advanced plan with 1 seat, up to 10 social profiles and tracking for 6 competitors, without inbox sentiment analysis. A trial account with no activity for 90 days is deleted.
So the honest answer to whether Agorapulse is free is: for an AI drafting calendar on four networks, yes; for the inbox it is known for, no. The cheapest way to keep the inbox is one Standard seat on annual billing at $79 a month, which is $948 a year (12 times $79). If you need a free inbox, the free Agorapulse alternatives section below names the two tools that still have one.
What Agorapulse Pricing Costs a Real Team
Agorapulse cost is the plan price times the number of people, plus three extras that are easy to miss. The per user part is the big one. Agorapulse's pricing FAQ defines a user as someone on your team and a profile as a connected social account, and the price is set per user on every plan. One person on Standard pays $99 a month on monthly billing. Three people pay $297 (3 times $99), and five pay $495 (5 times $99), for the same 10 profiles.
Then the plan you actually need. Approvals, assigning messages to a teammate and reply collision detection all start on Professional, which is the plan most teams of two or more end up on. Three people there cost $447 a month billed monthly (3 times $149) or $357 billed annually (3 times $119), which is $4,284 a year (12 times $357). Saved replies, inbox labels and bulk CSV scheduling wait for Advanced: three people on Advanced cost $597 a month monthly (3 times $199) or $447 annually (3 times $149).
The three extras. Profiles past 10 cost $10 to $15 each a month, so a team with 25 profiles adds $150 to $225 a month (15 times $10, or 15 times $15). X is outside the plans entirely: the X Lite add on is $29 a month per X profile for publishing only, and X Plus, with the inbox and reports, is $69 per X profile. And listening beyond your own profiles is the Advanced Listening add on, priced only through a demo.
None of this is hidden; it is all on Agorapulse's own pages. It does mean that the price on the plan card is a price for one person. When you compare Agorapulse alternatives, compare what your whole team pays, which is what the cost table further down does for 1, 3 and 5 people.
Why People Switch From Agorapulse
None of these is a flaw in the product. Each is a choice Agorapulse made, stated on its own pages, that does not fit every team.
Every Teammate Is Another Seat
Per user pricing suits one community manager and gets heavy with a team. Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan and Planable sells by workspace with unlimited users, so adding a reviewer or a client costs nothing extra there.
No Free Plan for the Inbox Any More
The free plan ended on July 6, 2026. Buffer still has a free plan with replies to comments, and Metricool's free plan includes an inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok.
Approvals Start at $119 per User
Standard has no approval workflow. A team that wants a manager to sign off on posts needs Professional for every seat. SocialPilot puts manager approval on Standard at $50 a month with 3 users included.
X Costs Extra per Profile
Connecting any X profile needs an add on: $29 a month for publishing only, $69 with the inbox and reports. Hootsuite, Sendible and SocialPilot list X among their networks without a separate add on on the pages we read.
Bulk Scheduling and Saved Replies Wait for Advanced
Uploading a CSV of up to 200 posts, publishing queues and saved replies are on Advanced at $149 per user a month billed annually. Buffer includes saved replies on Essentials, and Sendible lists bulk scheduling on its $35 Core plan.
The Posts Still Have to Be Made
Agorapulse publishes and answers well. Somebody still writes and designs every post. For an app team, Spreadcast reads the App Store listing and turns each new version and rating milestone into a designed post, so the queue fills itself.
How We Picked These Agorapulse Alternatives
We started from what people search. Google's suggestions for Agorapulse on October 19, 2026 included Agorapulse alternatives, Agorapulse free alternatives, Agorapulse similar apps and Agorapulse competitors, and head to head searches against Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Later, Planable, Buffer and Metricool. Those comparisons set the field. We added the tools that other lists for this search name most often, then kept only the ones whose prices and inbox features we could confirm on the vendor's own pages that day.
Six things decided the order: whether the tool has a social inbox and on which plan, what it covers (comments, DMs, reviews), team features in the inbox such as assignment and saved replies, the price for 1, 3 and 5 people, whether there is a free plan, and who makes the post. Two tools we wanted to include, NapoleonCat and Zoho Social, load their prices in a way we could not read and confirm today, so they are left out rather than guessed at.
We make Spreadcast, so read the order with that in mind. It is first because it does something none of the others do, and it is honest about what it does not do: it is not a social inbox. The rest are ranked on the facts in the tables. We did not score ease of use, which is a matter of taste; every tool here has a trial, and Agorapulse's runs 30 days, so you can test two side by side.
Agorapulse Alternatives at a Glance
Spreadcast is first, Agorapulse is second as the baseline, and the rest follow in ranked order. Starting prices are as each vendor shows them, with the billing period stated. The last column is the one a seat count leaves out: who makes the post.
| Tool | Best for | Social inbox | Free plan | Starting price | Makes the posts for you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadcast | App makers: every post designed and published for you | No, pair it with an inbox tool | Yes: 1 app, 3 posts made for you to download | Pro is $29 a month and includes design, captions and publishing to every network | Yes. Spreadcast designs the post and publishes it for you |
| Agorapulse (baseline) | A shared inbox for a community team | Every plan | No. The free Archie plan creates AI posts only | $79 per user a month billed annually, $99 monthly | No. Archie drafts posts from your content |
| Sprout Social | A larger team that wants inbox, reviews and listening | From Standard | No, 30 day trial | $79 per seat a month billed annually for Essentials; the inbox from $199 | No. AI helps with wording |
| Hootsuite | Inbox plus monitoring and benchmarking | Every plan | No, 14 day trial | $99 per user a month, based on annual billing | No. AI drafts posts and images |
| Vista Social | A full suite with users included in the price | Every plan | No, 14 day trial | $99 a month for 15 profiles and 2 users | No. AI credits for captions and replies |
| Sendible | Agencies with many clients and reviewers | Every plan | No, 14 day trial | $35 a month for 6 profiles, unlimited users | No. AI assistant for captions |
| SocialPilot | A cheaper inbox for a small team | From Standard | No, 14 day trial | $30 a month for 7 accounts; the inbox from $50 | No. AI credits for captions |
| Metricool | Analytics and a free inbox | Every plan, Free included | Yes: 1 brand, 20 posts a month | $25 a month for up to 5 brands | No. AI assistant |
| Buffer | A simple free scheduler with comment replies | Comments only, every plan | Yes: 3 channels | $6 per channel a month | No. AI Assistant for text |
| Later | Instagram and TikTok visual planning | From Growth | No, 14 day trial | $18.75 a month billed yearly | No. AI caption credits |
Every price and limit was read on the vendor's own page on October 19, 2026, before tax. Sources are linked in each entry below.
The 9 Best Agorapulse Alternatives, Ranked With Prices, Pros and Cons
Spreadcast is ours and comes first, because it is the only tool here that designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you. The eight after it are ranked by how fully they replace the Agorapulse inbox and what they charge a team for it.
- 1
Spreadcast
Free drafts your posts; Pro is $29 a month with design, captions and publishing includedBest for app makers: it designs your app's posts and publishes them for you
Spreadcast is ours, and it does the part of social media that Agorapulse leaves to you: making the post. You paste your App Store link once at the start page. Spreadcast checks the listing every day, and when a new version ships it becomes an update post: your own screenshot in an iPhone frame, a headline and two or three points from the release notes, written in the language of the release notes. When the app reaches a rating milestone, that becomes a thank you post. Every post is designed in your icon, screenshots and colors, with the logo and fonts from your website.
Spreadcast writes a caption for each network and publishes to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and Discord, plus YouTube for video posts, with LinkedIn posts going to a personal profile and Instagram carousels publishing as real carousels. Each post waits for one tap of approval by default, or you can switch to full autopilot on a paid plan, where posts are scheduled for nine in the morning in your time zone. The calendar puts each post in the next free slot, and you drag it to move it. Review quote posts from a real 5 star review, carousels of 3 to 8 slides and plain text or picture posts are made on demand in Create, and you can upload your own pictures and video.
Compare what the money buys. Agorapulse Standard is $79 to $99 a month for one person, who then writes and designs every post. Spreadcast Free drafts your posts: 3 posts made for you to download, with a small Spreadcast mark. Pro is $29 a month or $290 a year for 1 app and 10 social accounts, and includes design, captions and publishing to every network. Studio is $79 a month for 5 apps, each with its own brand and accounts, 50 social accounts and 3 seats. There is a full refund within 7 days. The pricing page has the details.
Analytics show interactions, new followers and taps on your App Store link, plus which networks, kinds of post and days work best. Spreadcast also has an MCP server that works with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Cursor and saves drafts by default. An app team can keep an inbox tool for replies and let Spreadcast make and publish the recurring app posts; our page on promoting an app on social media shows how the two jobs split.
Pros
- Designs each post from your App Store listing, screenshots and colors
- Publishes to 8 networks, with a caption written for each
- One tap approval by default, full autopilot on paid plans
- Pro is $29 a month with design, captions and publishing included
- MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, drafts only by default
Cons
- Not a social inbox, so replies stay in the tool you use for them
- 2
Sprout Social
From $79 per seat a month billed annually; inbox from $199Best Agorapulse alternative for a larger team that wants inbox, reviews and listening
Sprout Social is one of the suites people set beside Agorapulse most often, and Agorapulse vs Sprout Social is among the comparisons Google suggests. Its Smart Inbox covers what the Agorapulse inbox does, adds review management, and the price reflects it. Sprout Social's pricing page lists Standard at $199 per seat a month billed annually ($249 billed monthly) with 5 social profiles, the consolidated inbox, keyword and location monitoring, review management and the Trellis AI agent.
Professional is $299 per seat billed annually ($399 monthly) with unlimited profiles, message tagging, the message approval workflow and competitor, tag and paid insights. Advanced is $399 ($499 monthly) and adds sentiment in the Smart Inbox and reviews, an inbox and cases rule builder, approvals for replies, the Sprout API and helpdesk integrations, and team productivity reports. Essentials, at $79 per seat billed annually or $99 monthly, connects 5 profiles for publishing and reporting; its plan card does not list the inbox, so an Agorapulse user should start the comparison at Standard.
On price per person, Sprout costs more than Agorapulse at every level. One person with an inbox and 5 profiles pays $199 a month billed annually on Sprout Standard against $79 on Agorapulse Standard, $120 more. A team that needs more than 5 profiles moves to Professional at $299 per seat. Listening and Premium Analytics are separate add ons from Standard up, priced through sales, and each seat includes 100 Trellis AI credits a month.
Why pay more: Sprout's inbox has deeper reply tooling on Advanced, review management from Standard and an add on listening product that covers far more than your own profiles. The trial is 30 days with no card, the same length as Agorapulse's. Our list of the best Sprout Social alternatives covers the tools around it.
Pros
- Smart Inbox with review management from Standard
- Sentiment, a rule builder and reply approvals on Advanced
- Unlimited profiles from Professional
- A 30 day trial with no card
Cons
- The inbox starts at $199 per seat a month billed annually
- Standard stops at 5 profiles
- Listening is a separate add on priced by sales
- 3
Hootsuite
From $99 per user a month, based on annual billingBest Agorapulse alternative when you also want monitoring and benchmarking
Hootsuite is the other big suite people weigh against Agorapulse, and Agorapulse vs Hootsuite appears in Google's suggestions for the brand. Hootsuite's plans page lists Standard from $99 per user a month, with prices displayed based on annual billing, for up to 10 social accounts, with one inbox for messages, AI that drafts posts and images, and monitoring of your brand and competitors.
Professional, from $199 per user, adds unlimited social accounts, automated inbox replies and workflows, trend forecasts up to 90 days ahead and custom reports. Advanced, up to $399 per user, adds content approval and messages that are assigned and auto routed to the right teammate. The plans page FAQ says Standard includes competitive benchmarking and social listening, which Agorapulse sells as add ons. Hootsuite's integrations page lists Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest and Bluesky, plus WhatsApp messages in the inbox.
On price the two meet at one seat: Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user and Agorapulse Standard is $99 billed monthly or $79 billed annually. They split once approvals matter. Agorapulse puts simple approvals on Professional at $119 per user billed annually; Hootsuite puts them on Advanced at $399. For three people with approvals, that is $357 a month on Agorapulse (3 times $119) against $1,197 on Hootsuite (3 times $399), a gap of $840 a month.
Hootsuite's trial is 14 days without a card, and you are not charged when it ends. Read our Hootsuite comparison or the best Hootsuite alternatives if it ends up on your shortlist.
Pros
- Inbox, brand monitoring and competitor benchmarking on Standard
- Automated inbox replies from Professional
- Auto routing of messages on Advanced
- X and WhatsApp in the same place
Cons
- Priced per user, from $99 a month
- Approvals start at $399 per user
- A 14 day trial against Agorapulse's 30
- 4
Vista Social
From $99 a month for 15 profiles and 2 usersBest Agorapulse alternative with an inbox and users included in a flat price
Vista Social is the closest feature match to Agorapulse at a flat price instead of a price per person. Vista Social's pricing page lists Professional at $99 a month or $950 a year (about $79.17 a month) with 15 social profiles and 2 users, and the social inbox, saved replies, internal notes, DM automations and replies to reviews are on every plan.
Advanced is $199 a month or $1,910 a year for 30 profiles and 3 users, and adds sophisticated approval workflows for internal teams and clients, custom reports and Zapier and Make. Scale is $449 a month or $4,310 a year for 70 profiles and 4 users, with white label reports and client profile connect. Listening across social, web and news is an add on from $75 a month, while listening on your own profiles is free. Sentiment detection is on Enterprise. The plan card and the FAQ disagree on users (the FAQ says 3 on Professional and 6 on Advanced), so confirm the count in the trial.
Set it against Agorapulse for three people. Vista Advanced is $199 a month for 3 users and 30 profiles. Agorapulse Professional is $447 a month on monthly billing for the same 3 people and 10 profiles, so Vista costs $248 less ($447 minus $199) with three times the profiles. One detail matters to app makers: from Advanced, Vista's review monitoring covers App Store and Google Play reviews, alongside Yelp, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot.
There is no free plan, and the trial is 14 days without a card. Employee advocacy is free for 3 advocates.
Pros
- Inbox, saved replies and DM automations on every plan
- 2 users and 15 profiles for $99 a month
- App Store and Google Play review monitoring from Advanced
- Listening on your own profiles at no extra cost
Cons
- No free plan
- Sentiment detection only on Enterprise
- The pricing page gives two different user counts
- 5
Sendible
From $35 a month for 6 profilesBest Agorapulse alternative for agencies, with unlimited users
Sendible removes the cost that drives most agencies away from Agorapulse: seats. Sendible's pricing page says unlimited users are included on all plans, team members, freelancers and clients alike. Core is $35 a month, or $29.75 billed yearly, for 1 workspace with 6 social profiles, unlimited scheduling, unlimited AI credits, bulk scheduling, monitoring and replying from one inbox, and standard reports.
Plus is $99 a month ($84.15 yearly) for 3 workspaces and 18 profiles and adds assignment and approvals. Premium is $199 ($169.15) for 7 workspaces and 42 profiles, Elite is $299 ($254.15) for 15 workspaces and 90 profiles, and Enterprise is $750 ($637.50) for 50 workspaces and 300 profiles. An extra workspace adds 6 profiles, priced on the page's stepper at $35 a month on Core and $30 on Plus. White label is a paid add on on Elite and Enterprise, and Client Connect lets clients link their own profiles without sharing logins.
The arithmetic for a team is simple because people are free. Three people with approvals on Sendible Plus cost $99 a month. On Agorapulse Professional the same three cost $447 a month billed monthly, or $348 more ($447 minus $99). Sendible's Priority Inbox gathers engagement that likely needs a reply; its own description says it updates periodically, so for real time comments and DMs you work in each profile's stream. That is a lighter inbox than Agorapulse's, and the trade is worth testing.
The trial is 14 days without a card, annual billing saves 15%, and nonprofits get 15% off monthly or 25% off annual plans. Our page for agencies covers how Spreadcast fits an agency with app clients.
Pros
- Unlimited users on every plan
- Inbox, bulk scheduling and unlimited AI on the $35 Core plan
- Approvals and assignment on Plus
- Client Connect for client profiles
Cons
- Profiles come in workspaces of 6
- The Priority Inbox updates periodically
- White label is a paid add on
- 6
SocialPilot
From $30 a month; inbox from $50 with 3 usersBest cheaper Agorapulse alternative for a small team with an inbox
SocialPilot is the low cost route to a team inbox. SocialPilot's plans page lists Standard at $50 a month billed monthly, or $42.50 billed annually, with 15 social accounts, 3 users, 1,000 AI credits, the social media inbox, analytics, team collaboration and manager approval.
Essentials, at $30 a month or $25.50 annually, gives one person 7 accounts and 500 AI credits, without the inbox. Premium is $100 a month ($85 annually) for 25 accounts and 6 users and adds bulk scheduling, advanced analytics, client approval and white label reports. Ultimate is $200 ($170) for 50 accounts and unlimited users. Extra accounts are $4 a month each on every plan and extra users $5.
Three people with an inbox and approvals cost $50 a month on SocialPilot Standard. The same three on Agorapulse Standard cost $297 a month billed monthly, without approvals, and $447 on Professional with them. At five people and 25 accounts, SocialPilot Premium is $100 a month and Agorapulse Professional is $970 with 15 extra profiles at $15 each (5 times $149, plus 15 times $15).
What you give up is depth in the inbox: SocialPilot's plans page lists the inbox but none of the moderation rules, collision detection or saved replies that Agorapulse lists by plan. The trial is 14 days without a card. Our list of the best SocialPilot alternatives covers its neighbours.
Pros
- Inbox, analytics and approvals with 3 users for $50 a month
- Extra accounts at $4 a month
- 25 accounts and 6 users for $100 a month
- A 14 day trial with no card
Cons
- No inbox on the $30 Essentials plan
- Fewer inbox tools listed than Agorapulse
- No free plan
- 7
Metricool
Free, then from $25 a monthBest free Agorapulse alternative with an inbox and analytics
Metricool is the free Agorapulse alternative that still has an inbox. Metricool's pricing page lists a Free plan for 1 brand with 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics and an AI assistant, and its feature table shows the inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok on every plan, Free included. LinkedIn and X are not on the free plan.
Starter is $25 a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually, for up to 5 brands, with unlimited publishing, LinkedIn, unlimited analytics history, PDF and PPT reports and up to 100 competitors; 10 brands cost $45. Advanced is $67 a month ($53 annually) for up to 15 brands and adds team and client management, roles, a post approval system, the Metricool API and customizable report templates. X needs a paid add on, much as it does on Agorapulse.
Metricool prices per brand, not per person, and a brand holds one profile on each network. Agorapulse's Standard plan keeps 6 months of data; Metricool Starter keeps the full history for $25. Where Agorapulse is ahead is the inbox itself: assignment, collision detection, moderation rules and saved replies are listed by plan there, while Metricool's page lists the networks the inbox covers. See the best Metricool alternatives for more.
Pros
- A free plan with an inbox and competitor tracking
- Full analytics history and reports from $25 a month
- Approvals and roles on Advanced for $67
- Priced per brand, not per person
Cons
- The free plan has no LinkedIn or X and 20 posts a month
- X is a paid add on
- A lighter inbox than Agorapulse
- 8
Buffer
Free for 3 channels, then $6 per channel a monthBest free and simple Agorapulse alternative for comment replies
Buffer is the simplest step down from Agorapulse. Buffer's pricing page lists a Free plan with up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, the AI Assistant, 30 days of insights, API access and a community inbox for managing and replying to comments.
Paid plans are priced per channel, not per user. Buffer's machine readable pricing lists Essentials at $6 per channel a month billed monthly ($5 yearly) and Team at $12 ($10 yearly), with the per channel rate falling past 10 channels: 25 channels on Team cost $180 a month. Team adds unlimited team members, approval workflows and access levels. Essentials adds first comment scheduling, the hashtag manager and unlimited saved replies and AI replies.
For a team, Buffer is far cheaper. Ten channels and unlimited people on Team cost $120 a month ($100 yearly). Three people on Agorapulse Professional cost $447 monthly. The catch is the inbox itself: Buffer's community inbox is for comments, and its pricing does not list DMs, review replies, assignment or moderation rules. If DMs are most of your inbox, Buffer will not replace Agorapulse. Our list of the best Buffer alternatives covers the rest.
Pros
- A free plan for 3 channels with comment replies
- Unlimited team members and approvals on Team
- API access on every plan
- Saved replies and AI replies from Essentials
Cons
- The inbox handles comments, not DMs
- No review replies or moderation rules listed
- The price grows with every channel
- 9
Later
From $18.75 a month billed yearlyBest Agorapulse alternative for Instagram and TikTok visual planning
Later is built around how the feed looks rather than around the inbox. Later's pricing page lists Starter at $18.75 a month billed yearly for 1 social set (8 profiles, one of each network) and 1 user. Growth, at $37.50 a month billed yearly, has 2 social sets, 2 users, internal and external approvals, the social inbox for comments and DMs and up to 180 posts per profile.
Scale is $82.50 a month billed yearly for 6 social sets and 4 users. On Growth and Scale an extra social set is $11.25 a month and an extra user $3.75, which is cheap next to an Agorapulse seat. Later's networks are Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and Snapchat, so Bluesky, X and Google Business Profile, which Agorapulse covers, are missing.
Later fits a brand whose marketing lives on Instagram and TikTok. It is a weaker fit if the inbox and community management are why you used Agorapulse. Compare the visual planners in the best Later alternatives.
Pros
- A visual planner for Instagram and TikTok
- Inbox and approvals on Growth for $37.50 a month billed yearly
- Extra users at $3.75 a month
Cons
- No inbox on Starter
- No Bluesky, X or Google Business Profile
- A cap on posts per profile
Video: Sprout Social's Smart Inbox, the Closest Agorapulse Alternative
Sprout Social's own short tour, useful for comparing against the Agorapulse inbox video above.
Social Inbox Features Compared: Agorapulse and Each Alternative
The inbox is why most teams chose Agorapulse, so it gets its own table. Each cell comes from the vendor's pricing page or help center on October 19, 2026. Not listed means the page we read did not say, which is different from a no. Spreadcast is not an inbox tool, so it is not in this table.
| Tool | Inbox on which plan | What it covers | Team tools in the inbox | Saved replies and automation | Sentiment and reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agorapulse (baseline) | Every plan, from $79 per user billed annually | Comments, DMs and reviews from all networks; ad comments from Professional | Assigning, collision detection and custom views from Professional | 1 free moderation rule per profile on every plan; saved replies on Advanced; unlimited rules and AI reply suggestions on Custom | Sentiment shown on Advanced, filtered on Custom; Google reviews on every plan |
| Sprout Social | Standard, from $199 per seat billed annually | A consolidated inbox for messages | Message tagging from Professional; reply approvals on Advanced | Inbox and cases rule builder on Advanced | Sentiment on Advanced; review management from Standard |
| Hootsuite | Every plan, from $99 per user | Messages from one inbox, WhatsApp included | Assign and auto route messages on Advanced | Automated inbox replies from Professional | Not listed |
| Vista Social | Every plan, from $99 a month | Messages, comments and reviews | Internal notes and message labels on every plan | Saved replies and DM automations on every plan | Sentiment on Enterprise; App Store and Google Play reviews from Advanced |
| Sendible | Every plan, from $35 a month | Mentions, comments and messages, with a periodically updated Priority Inbox | Assignment and approvals from Plus | Not listed | Not listed |
| SocialPilot | Standard, from $50 a month | A social media inbox | Team collaboration from Standard | Not listed | Not listed |
| Metricool | Every plan, Free included | Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok; X with its add on | Team management on Advanced | Not listed | Not listed |
| Buffer | Every plan, Free included | Replies to comments | Unlimited team members on Team | Saved replies and AI replies, limited on Free | A comment score on every plan |
| Later | Growth, from $37.50 billed yearly | Comments and DMs together | Approvals and custom roles on Growth | Not listed | Not listed |
| Planable (add on) | Any paid plan, $9 per workspace a month | Comments and DMs across connected pages | Status for each conversation | AI reply suggestions | Sort comments by sentiment |
Sources: the pricing pages linked in each roundup entry, plus Planable's machine readable pricing for its inbox add on.
Video: Agorapulse's Automated Inbox Moderation Rules
What Agorapulse and Each Alternative Cost for 3 Team Sizes
Three setups, each with an inbox: one person with 8 profiles; 3 people with 10 profiles who need approvals; and 5 people with 25 profiles who need approvals. Prices are monthly billing in US dollars before tax, with the annual figure in the last column. Each row uses the cheapest plan on the vendor's page that covers the setup. Spreadcast is in the first row because it does a different job: it makes and publishes the posts, and it is not an inbox.
| Tool | 1 person, 8 profiles | 3 people, 10 profiles, approvals | 5 people, 25 profiles, approvals | How the numbers are worked out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadcast | $29 on Pro, with design, captions and publishing included | $79 on Studio, 3 seats | Not built for it: Studio stops at 3 seats | Pro is $290 a year and Studio $790 a year. No inbox, so pair it with one of the rows below for replies |
| Agorapulse (baseline) | $99 | $447 | $970 | Standard 1 times $99; Professional 3 times $149; Professional 5 times $149 plus 15 extra profiles at $15. Annually: $79, $357 and $745 |
| Sprout Social | $399 | $1,197 | $1,995 | Standard stops at 5 profiles, so Professional at $399 a seat throughout. Annually $299 a seat: $299, $897 and $1,495 |
| Hootsuite | $99 | $1,197 | $1,995 | Prices shown are based on annual billing. Standard 1 times $99; approvals need Advanced, 3 or 5 times $399 |
| Vista Social | $99 | $199 | From $449 | Professional; Advanced for 3 users; Scale has 4 users and Vista prices a fifth on request. Annually $79.17, $159.17 and $359.17 |
| Sendible | $70 | $99 | $159 | Core plus a second workspace ($35 plus $35); Plus; Plus plus 2 workspaces ($99 plus 2 times $30). Annually $59.75, $84.15 and $135.15 |
| SocialPilot | $50 | $50 | $100 | Standard, the first plan with the inbox, covers both of the first two; Premium covers 25 accounts and 6 users. Annually $42.50, $42.50 and $85 |
| Metricool | $25 | $67 | $67 | Starter for one person; Advanced for approvals and roles. Annually $20, $53 and $53 |
| Buffer (comments only) | $48 | $120 | $180 | Essentials 8 times $6; Team 10 times $12; Team for 25 channels from Buffer's own table. Annually $40, $100 and $150 |
For 3 people with approvals, Agorapulse at $447 a month costs $348 more than Sendible Plus ($447 minus $99), $397 more than SocialPilot Standard ($447 minus $50) and $750 less than Hootsuite Advanced ($1,197 minus $447). The inbox tools differ in depth, so price is where the comparison starts, not where it ends.
Agorapulse vs Hootsuite: Which Is Better for an Inbox Team?
Agorapulse is better value for a team that lives in the inbox and needs approvals; Hootsuite is better when monitoring, benchmarking and listening matter as much as replies. Both sell per user, and both start at $99 a seat, Agorapulse on monthly billing and Hootsuite on the annual price its page displays. On annual billing Agorapulse Standard drops to $79.
The plans split on two features. Approvals sit on Agorapulse Professional at $119 per user billed annually and on Hootsuite Advanced at $399, so three people with approvals cost $357 a month on Agorapulse and $1,197 on Hootsuite. Monitoring goes the other way: Hootsuite's plans page FAQ puts competitive benchmarking and social listening on Standard, and Agorapulse sells Advanced Listening and Competitive Benchmarking as add ons through a demo.
Inbox depth is close. Agorapulse lists moderation rules on every plan, assignment and collision detection on Professional, and saved replies and labels on Advanced. Hootsuite lists automated replies on Professional and auto routing on Advanced, plus WhatsApp messages. X is an add on at $29 to $69 per profile on Agorapulse and part of the network list on Hootsuite. Trials differ too: 30 days on Agorapulse, 14 on Hootsuite.
Agorapulse vs Later: Short Answer
Choose Agorapulse for community management, Later for planning a visual Instagram and TikTok feed. Agorapulse includes the inbox on every plan, with comments, DMs and Google reviews in one list and moderation rules from day one. Later has no inbox on Starter; it starts on Growth at $37.50 a month billed yearly, with 2 users and 2 social sets.
Pricing is built differently. Later charges per social set, one profile on each of its networks, with extra users at $3.75 a month; Agorapulse charges per user with 10 profiles. Three people with an inbox and approvals cost $41.25 a month on Later Growth billed yearly ($37.50 plus one extra user at $3.75) and $357 on Agorapulse Professional billed annually. Later does not cover Bluesky, X or Google Business Profile, which Agorapulse does, and Agorapulse's grid preview and link in bio page start on Professional, where Later puts its visual planner at the center of every plan.
Agorapulse vs Planable: Short Answer
Choose Planable for content approval with many reviewers, Agorapulse for a full inbox. Planable's pricing page sells by workspace with unlimited users: Basic is $39 per workspace a month ($33 billed yearly) for 4 pages and 60 posts a month, and Pro is $59 ($49 yearly) for 10 pages, 150 posts and required approvals. The first 50 posts are free with no time limit.
Planable's inbox is an add on at $9 per workspace a month ($7.50 yearly) for comments and DMs, with AI reply suggestions and sorting by sentiment. A team of three with 10 pages and the inbox pays $68 a month on Planable Pro ($59 plus $9) against $447 on Agorapulse Professional, $379 less. The limits are the trade: Planable caps posts per workspace each month and sells analytics ($14) and listening ($99) separately, while Agorapulse schedules without a post cap and includes reports. Our list of the best Planable alternatives covers more.
Agorapulse vs Sprout Social, Buffer, Metricool and Others: Short Answers
These are the head to head searches people run before they switch. Each row gives the short answer with the deciding fact.
| Comparison | Agorapulse is stronger on | The other tool is stronger on | Choose the other tool if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agorapulse vs Spreadcast | A full inbox, any kind of post, X and Google Business Profile | Spreadcast designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it on 8 networks | You ship an app and nobody has time to make posts. Paste your link at the start page |
| Agorapulse vs Sprout Social | Price: $79 against $199 per seat billed annually for an inbox, and 10 profiles against 5 | Review management from Standard, sentiment and reply approvals on Advanced, a listening add on | A larger team needs deeper care tools and has the budget |
| Agorapulse vs Hootsuite | Approvals at $119 per user instead of $399, a 30 day trial | Monitoring, benchmarking and listening on Standard, WhatsApp, auto routing | Monitoring matters as much as replies |
| Agorapulse vs Buffer | DMs, reviews, moderation rules and assignment in the inbox | A free plan, $6 per channel, unlimited team members on Team | Your inbox is mostly comments and you want to cut cost |
| Agorapulse vs Metricool | Inbox depth, approvals from Professional | A free plan with an inbox, full analytics history from $25, pricing per brand | Reports matter and the inbox is light |
| Agorapulse vs Later | An inbox on every plan, Bluesky and Google Business Profile | A visual planner, extra users at $3.75 | Instagram and TikTok carry your marketing |
| Agorapulse vs Planable | An inbox included, no monthly post cap | Unlimited users per workspace, required and multi level approvals | Many people review content before it goes out |
| Agorapulse vs SocialPilot | Inbox tools listed by plan, a 30 day trial | An inbox with 3 users for $50 a month | A small team wants an inbox at the lowest price |
Agorapulse Alternatives by Need: Which Tool for Which Job
The best Agorapulse alternative depends on why you are leaving. Find your case and start there.
Best for App Makers: Spreadcast
If you ship an app, Spreadcast turns each App Store update and rating milestone into a designed post and publishes it on 8 networks. Free drafts your posts; Pro is $29 a month and includes design, captions and publishing to every network. See our page for mobile apps.
Best Inbox First Alternative: Sprout Social
The Smart Inbox with review management from $199 per seat billed annually, and sentiment, reply approvals and a rule builder on Advanced. Hootsuite is the pick if monitoring and benchmarking come first.
Best Cheaper Alternative: SocialPilot
An inbox, analytics and manager approval with 3 users and 15 accounts for $50 a month. Vista Social is the richer choice at $99 for 2 users with saved replies and DM automations.
Best Free Alternatives: Metricool and Buffer
Metricool's free plan has an inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok, with 20 posts a month. Buffer's covers 3 channels with replies to comments.
Best for Agencies: Sendible
Unlimited users on every plan, workspaces per client, Client Connect and approvals from $99 a month on Plus. White label is an add on on Elite and Enterprise.
Best for Small Businesses: Vista Social
One flat price with the inbox, review replies, saved replies and DM automations on the $99 Professional plan, and listening on your own profiles at no extra cost.
Free Agorapulse Alternatives and Similar Apps
Agorapulse similar apps with a real free plan are now few. Metricool is the closest: its free plan schedules 20 posts a month for 1 brand, tracks 5 competitors, keeps 30 days of analytics and includes the inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok. Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, the AI Assistant and replies to comments.
Planable gives the first 50 posts free with no time limit, which is a trial by volume rather than a plan; its inbox add on cannot be tested until a paid plan is active. Agorapulse's own free Archie plan is free too, but it only creates posts with Archie on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, without the inbox.
For an app founder, Spreadcast's free plan makes 3 posts for you from your App Store listing, ready to download with a small Spreadcast mark. It is a fair way to judge the designs before paying, and the free iPhone mockup generator is there if you only need a screenshot framed.
What Spreadcast Does Not Do
Spreadcast is not a social inbox. It does not collect comments, DMs or reviews, and it has no social listening, so a team that replies to customers every day should keep Agorapulse, or one of the inbox tools above, for that work. It is also built for apps on the Apple App Store only; Google Play links are not supported yet.
What it does is the other half of the job. Agorapulse, Sprout Social and the rest publish and answer well, and every one of them waits for someone to make the post. Spreadcast reads your listing every day, designs the post, writes a caption for each network and publishes it after one tap or on full autopilot. An app team can use both: an inbox tool for replies, Spreadcast for the posts. If you want an AI assistant to drive it, our social media MCP server page shows how.
How to Switch From Agorapulse to Another Tool
Moving takes an afternoon if you do it in this order. Keep Agorapulse running until the new tool has published and answered for a week.
- Step 1
Export the Reports You Want to Keep
Agorapulse's guide to exporting reports covers PDF, CSV and, on Advanced or Custom, PowerPoint exports for each profile. CSV and PowerPoint exports arrive by email. Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads reports cannot be exported, so save screenshots of those.
- Step 2
Write Down Your Inbox Setup
Moderation rules, labels, saved replies and who answers which profile do not move between tools. List each rule's trigger and action, and each saved reply's text, so you can rebuild them in the new inbox.
- Step 3
Count Seats, Profiles and X Accounts
Note how many people answer messages, how many profiles you connect and whether you use X through the add on. Those three numbers decide the plan you need in the tool you move to, as the cost table above shows.
- Step 4
Start the New Tool's Trial and Reconnect Profiles
Connections never transfer: you sign in to each network again and approve access. Rebuild the rules and saved replies, then run both inboxes side by side for a week so nothing is missed.
- Step 5
Cancel Agorapulse at the Right Time
Agorapulse's cancellation guide says only the organization owner can cancel, from the bottom of the subscription settings page, and the plan stays active until the end of the billing cycle. Custom plans go through the customer success manager or support.
- Step 6
Moving to Spreadcast Needs No Import
Paste your App Store link at the start page, connect your networks and choose one tap approval or full autopilot. The posts come from your listing, so there is nothing to carry over.
When Agorapulse Is Still the Right Choice
Plenty of teams reading this should stay. Agorapulse is the best value on this page for one or two community managers who answer comments, DMs and reviews all day. The inbox, a moderation rule per profile, Google review replies, branded reports and the basic ROI report all come with Standard at $79 a month billed annually, and the help center and plan table are unusually clear about what each plan includes.
It also wins against the big suites once approvals matter: Professional at $119 per user billed annually against Sprout Social's $299 and Hootsuite's $399. And the mobile app, the ChatGPT and Claude connection through MCP and the 24/7 support with stated first response times are on every plan.
Switch when a real limit bites: the team grows and seats add up (Sendible, Vista Social or SocialPilot), you need a free plan (Metricool or Buffer), you want deeper care and listening (Sprout Social or Hootsuite), or nobody has time to make the posts. For an app team the last case does not mean leaving: keep Agorapulse for the inbox and let Spreadcast design and publish the app posts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Agorapulse alternative?
For an inbox team, Sprout Social matches the Agorapulse inbox and adds review management and listening, at a higher price per seat. For a lower team price, Sendible includes unlimited users and SocialPilot gives 3 users an inbox for $50 a month. For an app on the App Store, Spreadcast designs the posts and publishes them for you.
How much does Agorapulse cost?
Standard is $79 per user a month billed annually or $99 billed monthly, Professional $119 or $149, and Advanced $149 or $199, each with 10 social profiles, per Agorapulse's pricing page. Custom is quoted by sales. Extra profiles cost $10 to $15 a month each.
Is Agorapulse free?
Not for scheduling or the inbox. The free plan ended on July 6, 2026. The free Archie plan remains, but it only creates posts with Archie on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. The trial runs 30 days in two parts, with no credit card.
Are there free Agorapulse alternatives?
Yes. Metricool's free plan includes an inbox for Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile and TikTok with 20 posts a month, and Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with replies to comments. Spreadcast's free plan makes 3 posts for an app, ready to download.
Agorapulse vs Hootsuite: which is cheaper?
For one person they are close: $99 a seat on both, or $79 on Agorapulse with annual billing. With approvals Agorapulse is much cheaper: $119 per user billed annually against $399 on Hootsuite Advanced.
Agorapulse vs Sprout Social: what is the difference?
Both are inbox first tools sold per seat. Sprout's inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat billed annually for 5 profiles; Agorapulse's starts at $79 for 10 profiles. Sprout adds review management from Standard and deeper care tools on Advanced.
Agorapulse vs Later: which should I choose?
Agorapulse for the inbox and community management, Later for planning an Instagram and TikTok feed. Later's inbox starts on Growth at $37.50 a month billed yearly, and Later does not cover Bluesky, X or Google Business Profile.
Agorapulse vs Planable: which is better for approvals?
Planable, for teams with many reviewers: it sells by workspace with unlimited users and required approvals on Pro at $59 a month. Agorapulse is better if the inbox is the main job, since Planable's inbox is a $9 add on per workspace.
Does Agorapulse charge extra for X (Twitter)?
Yes. An add on is required to connect any X profile: X Lite is $29 per X profile a month for publishing only, and X Plus is $69 with the inbox and reports. X profiles do not count toward the plan's profile limit.
Does Agorapulse offer nonprofit pricing?
Agorapulse's pricing FAQ says it offers special pricing for nonprofits and asks you to contact the team, without a published discount. Sendible publishes one: 15% off monthly or 25% off annual plans for nonprofits.
What is Agorapulse Archie?
Archie is Agorapulse's AI content creator, which turns articles, webinars and videos into posts guided by a playbook of your strategy and voice. It is also the name of the free plan that replaced the old free plan in July 2026.
Prices, plans and features change. This comparison describes each product as its own site described it on the date shown under Sources. Check the vendor's site before you decide. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Where These Facts Come From
Every outside number, rule and price on this page links to the page it was taken from.
- Agorapulse pricing, plans, limits and add onsAgorapulse
- Agorapulse free plan explained, with its end date and the Archie planAgorapulse Help Center
- Agorapulse free trial explainedAgorapulse Help Center
- X Lite and X Plus add ons, prices and limitsAgorapulse Help Center
- How to export Agorapulse reportsAgorapulse Help Center
- How to cancel an Agorapulse subscriptionAgorapulse Help Center
- Sprout Social pricing and plan featuresSprout Social
- Hootsuite plans and pricesHootsuite
- Hootsuite integrations and supported networksHootsuite
- Vista Social pricing and plan comparisonVista Social
- Sendible pricing and plansSendible
- SocialPilot plans and pricingSocialPilot
- Metricool pricing and plan featuresMetricool
- Buffer pricingBuffer
- Buffer machine readable pricing with prices per channelBuffer
- Later pricingLater
- Planable pricingPlanable
- Planable machine readable pricing with add on pricesPlanable
- Video: mastering your social inbox with AgorapulseAgorapulse on YouTube
- Video: Agorapulse inbox moderation rulesAgorapulse on YouTube
- Video: working in the Smart InboxSprout Social on YouTube
Researched and written by Spreadcast. Last checked on October 19, 2026.