Hootsuite Alternatives: What You Are Replacing
The short version: if you have an app and the feed is empty because nobody makes the posts, use Spreadcast. It designs each post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you. If you want a cheaper scheduler, use Buffer. If you want analytics and reports on a small budget, use Metricool. If your team lives in the inbox, use Agorapulse.
For the longer answer, write down which parts of Hootsuite you open each week. Hootsuite's plans page lists Standard at $99, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399 per user per month on annual billing, as of October 2026. That money buys five things: a publishing calendar, an inbox for comments and messages, brand and competitor monitoring, analytics, and team controls such as approvals.
If you use all five, the real Hootsuite competitors are other suites, and only some of them cost less. If you use the calendar and the reports, a scheduler at a quarter of the price does the same work. If you are one person with three accounts, a free plan may be enough.
The nine tools like Hootsuite on this page fall into four groups: other full suites, cheaper schedulers, an open source option you host yourself, and Spreadcast, which we make. It comes first because it is the only tool here that designs your posts from your App Store listing and publishes them, where the other eight publish the posts you create in them. Those eight are ranked by how much of Hootsuite they replace for the money.
Hootsuite Alternatives Compared: Price, Free Plan and Main Limit
Hootsuite is included as the baseline. Spreadcast is ours and comes first, for the reason given above. Starting prices are for the lowest paid plan on monthly billing unless the vendor shows only an annual rate.
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite, for reference | Teams that use inbox, listening and approvals | $99 per user per month, billed annually | No, 14 day trial | Priced per user |
| Spreadcast | App founders: every post designed and published for you | $29 a month flat, with design, captions and publishing to 8 networks included | Yes, every post drafted for you | Built for apps on the App Store. Keep a suite beside it for an inbox or listening |
| Buffer | One person or a small team that needs a scheduler | $6 a month per channel, $5 on yearly billing | Yes, 3 channels | Free plan holds 10 scheduled posts per channel |
| Metricool | Scheduling with analytics and reports | $25 a month for up to 5 brands | Yes, 1 brand | X is a paid add on, team features need Advanced |
| Agorapulse | Teams that live in the inbox | $99 per user per month, $79 on annual billing | A free AI content plan only | 10 social profiles on all three self serve plans |
| Sprout Social | A full suite with a large budget | $99 per seat per month, $79 on annual billing | No, 30 day trial | Listening is a paid add on |
| SocialPilot | Small agencies with several users | $30 a month, $25.50 on annual billing | No, 14 day trial | Lowest plan has no inbox and no detailed analytics |
| Publer | A few accounts, paid per account | $5 a month for one account | Yes, 3 accounts | Free plan cannot connect X |
| Zoho Social | One brand, or teams on Zoho CRM | €10 a month, billed annually | Yes, 1 brand and 6 channels | One brand per plan, extra brands cost more |
| Postiz | Developers who want open source | $29 a month hosted, free to self host | Self hosted only | You run the server |
Checked on October 11, 2026. Zoho shows prices in the visitor's local currency, and we saw euros. Follow the links in each entry below for the current figures.
The 9 Best Hootsuite Alternatives in 2026
Spreadcast is ours and comes first, because it is the only one that designs the posts from your App Store listing and publishes them for you. The eight tools after it are ranked by how much of Hootsuite they replace for the money. Each entry says who the tool is for, what it costs today and where it stops.
- 1
Spreadcast
Free, then $29 a month with publishing includedBest if you have an app: it designs the posts and publishes them for you
Spreadcast designs the post for you. The eight tools below publish what you create in them. Paste your App Store link at the start page and Spreadcast checks the public listing every day. A new version becomes an update announcement, a new 5 star review or a rating milestone becomes a post, and a quiet week gets a post about one feature.
Each post is a finished 1080 by 1350 image designed from your icon, your screenshots and your colors, with a caption written for each network. On Pro it publishes to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and Discord, plus YouTube for video posts, after one tap of approval or on full autopilot. The page for mobile apps shows what it publishes.
On price, one Hootsuite Standard seat is $99 a month on annual billing and every post is still yours to make. Spreadcast Pro is $29 a month flat with the design, the captions and the publishing done, which is $70 a month less. Studio is $79 a month for 5 apps and 3 seats, where three Standard seats cost $297. The free plan drafts every post for one app, so you can judge the designs before paying. Spreadcast also has an MCP server, so Claude or ChatGPT can design posts and carousels in your app's brand, write captions, schedule and read analytics in your account, drafts only by default.
It suits app founders, indie developers and small studios who ship often and rarely post. It is built for apps on the App Store and makes still image posts. Keep a suite for a shared inbox or social listening, and if you do not have an app, pick one of the eight below.
Pros
- Designs each post from your App Store listing
- Publishes to 8 networks with a caption for each
- Starts from one App Store link, with no SDK
- Free plan drafts every post
- Flat $29 a month, design and publishing included
- MCP server so Claude or ChatGPT can design posts, write captions and schedule them, drafts only by default
Cons
- Built for apps on the App Store
- Still image posts, so keep an editor for video
- 2
Buffer
Free for 3 channels, then $6 a month per channelBest cheaper scheduler for one person or a small team
Buffer is the usual first stop for people leaving Hootsuite over price. Buffer's pricing page charges by channel: Essentials is $6 a month per channel billed monthly ($5 billed yearly) and Team is $12 ($10 billed yearly), with a free plan for up to 3 channels. Ten channels on Essentials cost $60 a month, or $50 on yearly billing, about half of one Hootsuite Standard seat.
It publishes to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, Bluesky, Mastodon and Substack. Every plan, the free one included, has the AI Assistant for writing and rewriting posts and a community inbox for replying to comments. Essentials adds advanced analytics, reports, a hashtag manager and first comment scheduling for one user. Team adds unlimited users, approval workflows, access levels and branded reports.
Channels 11 to 25 cost $4 each on monthly billing, so 25 channels on Essentials come to $120 a month, and paid plans start with a 14 day trial. On Hootsuite vs Buffer, Buffer wins on price and simplicity, and Hootsuite wins on listening and competitor benchmarking, which Buffer's pricing page does not list. The Buffer comparison goes deeper.
Pros
- Free plan for up to 3 channels
- From $5 a channel on yearly billing
- AI Assistant on every plan, Free included
- Unlimited users on Team
Cons
- Free plan holds 10 scheduled posts per channel
- Approval workflows need the Team plan
- No social listening on its pricing page
- 3
Metricool
Free for 1 brand, then from $25 a monthBest low cost option when you want analytics and reports
Metricool gives you a planner, an inbox, competitor tracking and reports for less than a third of a Hootsuite seat. Metricool's pricing page lists Starter at $25 a month for 5 brands or $45 for 10, or $20 and $36 on annual billing, with unlimited analytics history and PDF and PPT reports. The free plan covers 1 brand and 20 published posts a month.
A brand in Metricool holds one profile on each network, so 5 brands can mean dozens of connected profiles. Advanced starts at $67 a month for 15 brands ($53 on annual billing) and adds team and client management, roles, post approval, report templates, a Data Studio connector and the API. The AI assistant runs on credits: 5 per brand a month on Free, 20 on Starter and 35 on Advanced.
The free plan cannot connect LinkedIn or X and keeps 30 days of analytics. X is an add on at $10 a month per account, per Metricool's guide to the X add on. Metricool tracks competitor profiles, 5 on Free and up to 100 on Starter, which is narrower than Hootsuite's listening. It suits freelancers and small agencies who send clients a report each month. See the Metricool comparison.
Pros
- Free plan for 1 brand with 30 days of analytics
- Up to 5 brands for $25 a month
- PDF and PPT reports from Starter
- Tracks up to 100 competitor profiles on Starter
Cons
- X costs $10 a month per account
- Free plan cannot connect LinkedIn or X
- Team roles and approvals need Advanced
- 4
Agorapulse
From $99 per user per month, or $79 on annual billingClosest to Hootsuite for inbox work, at a lower price per user
Agorapulse is a suite built around its inbox. Agorapulse's pricing page lists Standard at $79 per user per month on annual billing, or $99 billed monthly, with 10 social profiles, unlimited scheduling and one inbox for comments, messages and reviews. Professional, at $119, adds post and inbox assignments and team performance reports. Advanced, at $149, adds saved replies, automated moderation rules, competitor benchmarking and return on investment analysis.
Every plan includes the AI writing assistant, a unified content calendar and basic reports that export as PDF or CSV. Advanced also has bulk scheduling of up to 200 posts from one CSV file. The trial runs 30 days with no credit card. Compared with Hootsuite, the top self serve plan costs $149 a seat where Hootsuite Advanced costs $399.
The limits: Standard, Professional and Advanced all stop at 10 social profiles, and extra profiles are listed at $10 a month each on annual billing, or $15 billed monthly. Listening is sold as an add on. One step approvals start on Professional, and multi step approval workflows sit on the Custom plan. The old free plan ended on July 6, 2026. Its replacement is a free plan for Archie, Agorapulse's AI content tool, described in Agorapulse's help article on the change. It suits teams that answer comments and messages all day.
Pros
- One inbox for comments, messages and reviews on every plan
- AI writing assistant on every plan
- 30 day trial without a credit card
- Top self serve plan is $149 a seat on annual billing
Cons
- Priced per user
- 10 social profiles on every self serve plan
- Listening is a paid add on
- 5
Sprout Social
From $99 per seat per month, or $79 on annual billingBest full suite when budget is not the constraint
Sprout Social is the other large suite, and switching to it will not save much. Sprout Social's pricing page shows a new Essentials plan at $79 per seat per month on annual billing, or $99 billed monthly, with 5 social profiles, publishing and reporting. Standard is $199 with a consolidated inbox and keyword monitoring. Professional is $299 with unlimited profiles, and Advanced is $399.
On Hootsuite vs Sprout Social, compare plans that include an inbox. Hootsuite Standard is $99 a seat with 10 social accounts. Sprout's first plan with an inbox is Standard at $199 a seat with 5 profiles, so three seats cost $597 a month against $297. Professional adds competitor and paid insights, and Advanced adds the API, helpdesk integrations and team productivity reports. Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are add ons from Standard up.
The trial is 30 days with no credit card, more than twice the length of Hootsuite's, and there is no free plan. US nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status can get Professional at $239 and Advanced at $299 per seat on annual billing with at least two seats, according to Sprout Social's nonprofit pricing page. Choose Sprout for the product, since the price is no lower.
Pros
- 30 day trial without a credit card
- Essentials seat from $79 on annual billing
- Unlimited profiles from Professional
- Keyword monitoring and review management on Standard
Cons
- The inbox starts at $199 a seat
- 5 profiles on Essentials and Standard
- Listening is a paid add on
- 6
SocialPilot
From $30 a month, or $25.50 on annual billingBest for small agencies that need several users on one bill
SocialPilot charges a flat price per plan, with users included. On SocialPilot's plans page, Standard is $50 a month for 15 social accounts and 3 users, with an inbox, analytics and manager approval. Premium is $100 a month for 25 accounts and 6 users and adds client approval and white label reports. Ultimate is $200 for 50 accounts and unlimited users.
Annual billing takes 15 percent off, which puts Standard at $42.50 and Premium at $85 a month. Three people on Standard pay $50 a month where three Hootsuite Standard seats come to $297. An extra account is $4 a month, and an extra user is $5 a month on Standard and Premium. Each plan carries AI credits for writing posts: 500 on Essentials, 1,000 on Standard and 5,000 on Premium. It publishes to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, Pinterest and Google Business Profile.
The limits: Essentials, the $30 plan, has 1 user and 7 accounts and leaves out the inbox and detailed analytics. Bulk scheduling and CSV uploads start on Premium. There is no free plan, only a 14 day trial without a credit card. Among Hootsuite alternatives for agencies, it is the natural pick.
Pros
- Users are included in the plan price
- Standard has an inbox, analytics and 3 users for $50 a month
- White label reports and client approval on Premium
- Extra accounts for $4 a month each
Cons
- No free plan
- Essentials has no inbox or detailed analytics
- Bulk scheduling starts on Premium
- 7
Publer
Free for 3 accounts, then from $5 a monthBest when you have a few accounts and want to pay per account
Publer prices by the number of social accounts and extra members. According to Publer's plans and pricing article, Professional starts at $5 a month and Business at $10 a month for one social account, with 20 percent off on yearly billing. The free plan covers 1 user and 3 accounts.
Professional adds X, unlimited scheduling and drafts, unlimited workspaces, bulk scheduling and RSS feed automations, with a 7 day trial. Business is the plan with analytics reports, competitor analysis, best times to post, AI Assist without a prompt cap, post recycling and approval workflows, with a 14 day trial. For every 9 social accounts or members you pay for, the 10th is free. Bulk scheduling accepts up to 500 posts from one CSV file, per Publer's bulk scheduling guide.
The limits: the free plan cannot connect X, it holds 10 scheduled posts per account at a time, and it keeps published posts in your history for 24 hours. Charities and nonprofits get 50 percent off, per Publer's article on its nonprofit discount. Publer suits one person or a small business that wants to pay only for the accounts it connects. The Publer comparison has the full breakdown.
Pros
- Free plan for 3 accounts
- Paid plans from $5 a month for one account
- Unlimited workspaces on paid plans
- 50 percent off for nonprofits
Cons
- Free plan cannot connect X
- Analytics and approval workflows need Business
- Free plan keeps 24 hours of post history
- 8
Zoho Social
Free for 1 brand, paid from €10 a month billed annuallyBest free plan for one brand, and a natural pick on Zoho CRM
Zoho Social is priced per brand. Zoho Social's pricing page has a free plan with 1 brand, 6 channels and 1 team member. When we checked from Europe, Standard was €10, Professional €30 and Premium €40 a month on annual billing. Zoho shows local currency, so your figures may differ.
Standard widens the brand to 14 channels, adding YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon among others, with a publishing calendar and summary reports. Professional adds bulk scheduling, RSS feeds and a monitoring dashboard for mentions and keyword searches. Premium is the plan with the inbox, content approvals, custom reports and the Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk integrations, and it includes 3 team members. Separate agency plans cover 10 or 20 clients.
The limit is the single brand: Standard, Professional and Premium each cover one. Extra brands are an add on from Professional, at €14.50 a month there and €19.50 on Premium, and an extra team member is €10 a month. The trial runs 15 days without a credit card. It suits a business with one brand, above all one already on Zoho CRM.
Pros
- Free plan with 1 brand and 6 channels
- Paid plans from €10 a month on annual billing
- Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk integrations on Premium
- Monitoring dashboard from Professional
Cons
- One brand per plan
- Inbox and approvals only on Premium
- Prices are shown in local currency
- 9
Postiz
Free to self host, hosted from $29 a monthBest open source Hootsuite alternative
Postiz is a scheduler whose code is public. The Postiz repository is licensed under AGPL 3.0 and says you can deploy the open source edition on your own infrastructure. If you would rather not run a server, Postiz's pricing page lists hosted plans: Standard at $29 a month for 5 channels, Team at $39 for 10 channels with unlimited team members, Pro at $49 for 30 channels and Ultimate at $99 for 100.
Yearly billing brings those to $23, $31, $39 and $79 a month. Every hosted plan has a 7 day trial and includes scheduling without a monthly post cap, an AI copilot, analytics, RSS auto posting, the API, webhooks and an MCP server, so an AI agent can schedule posts for you. Standard has no team support, so a team starts on the $39 plan.
The limits: there is no free hosted plan, and the pricing page lists no shared inbox and no listening. Self hosting means you handle updates and uptime and register your own developer app with most networks, as Postiz's guide to provider keys explains. Postiz suits developers who want control of the code or one flat bill for many channels.
Pros
- Open source under AGPL 3.0
- Unlimited team members from $39 a month
- API, webhooks and MCP server on every hosted plan
- 100 channels for $99 a month
Cons
- No free hosted plan
- Self hosting needs your own server and developer apps
- No inbox or listening on its pricing page
Hootsuite Alternatives Feature by Feature: Inbox, Listening, Reports and Approvals
Each cell comes from the vendor's own pricing or plans page as read on October 11, 2026. Not stated means the page did not confirm the feature, which is not the same as the tool lacking it.
| Tool | Publishing | Unified inbox | Social listening | Analytics and reports | Approval workflow | AI writing | Free plan and price model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite, for reference | 10 social accounts on Standard, unlimited above | On every plan | Monitoring on every plan, 13 months of history on Enterprise | On every plan, custom reports from Professional | From Advanced | Posts and images on every plan | No free plan. Per user |
| Spreadcast | Spreadcast designs each post and publishes it to 8 networks | Keep a suite beside it for replies | Keep a suite beside it for listening | Pair it with Metricool for reports | One tap approval or full autopilot | Spreadcast writes the caption for each network | Free plan drafts every post. Flat price per plan |
| Buffer | 12 kinds of channel, paid per channel | Community inbox for comments on every plan | Not stated | 30 days on Free, advanced analytics and reports on paid plans | On Team | AI Assistant on every plan | Free for 3 channels. Per channel |
| Metricool | 20 posts a month on Free, no post cap from Starter | On every plan | Not stated. Tracks competitor profiles | On every plan, PDF and PPT reports from Starter | On Advanced | AI assistant with monthly credits | Free for 1 brand. Flat price by number of brands |
| Agorapulse | Unlimited scheduling, 10 profiles | On every plan | Paid add on | Basic on every plan, advanced reports on Advanced | One step approvals from Professional, multi step on Custom | AI writing assistant on every plan | Free plan for its AI content tool only. Per user |
| Sprout Social | 5 profiles on Essentials and Standard, unlimited above | From Standard | Paid add on | On every plan | Not stated | Trellis AI on every plan | No free plan. Per seat |
| SocialPilot | 7 to 50 accounts by plan | From Standard | Not stated | From Standard, white label reports on Premium | Manager approval from Standard, client approval on Premium | AI credits on every plan | No free plan. Flat price with users included |
| Publer | Paid per connected account, X on paid plans | Not stated | Not stated | On Business | On Business | AI Assist, with no prompt cap on Business | Free for 3 accounts. Per account and member |
| Zoho Social | 1 brand with 6 to 16 channels by plan | On Premium | Monitoring dashboard from Professional | Summary reports from Standard, custom on Premium | On Premium | AI credits on every plan | Free for 1 brand. Per brand |
| Postiz | 5 to 100 channels by plan | Not stated | Not stated | On every hosted plan | Not stated | AI copilot on every hosted plan | Free only if you self host. Flat price by channel count |
For Hootsuite vs Buffer vs Sprout Social, three columns decide it: the inbox, listening and the price model.
Hootsuite Alternatives by Team Size and Need
The right pick changes with who is asking. These are the short answers for the six groups that search most.
App Founders With Nothing to Schedule
If you ship every few weeks and never announce it, the missing piece is the post. Spreadcast designs the post from your App Store listing, writes a caption for each network and publishes it. The free plan drafts every post, and Pro is $29 a month flat against $99 for one Hootsuite Standard seat. The guide on how to promote an app on social media explains what to publish and how often.
Hootsuite Alternatives for Individuals and Beginners
A creator, a freelancer or a beginner with two or three accounts should start on a free plan. Buffer allows 3 channels, Publer allows 3 accounts, and Metricool allows 1 brand with 20 posts a month. Upgrade only when you hit the limit on scheduled posts.
Hootsuite Alternatives for Small Business
A small business or a startup with one brand and three to five profiles needs a calendar and a monthly report. Buffer from $5 a month per channel on yearly billing or Metricool Starter at $25 a month covers that. If customers message you on social networks every day, look at SocialPilot Standard, which includes an inbox and 3 users for $50 a month.
Hootsuite Alternatives for Agencies
Per user pricing punishes agencies and marketing teams. SocialPilot Premium includes 6 users, 25 accounts, client approval and white label reports for $100 a month. Metricool Advanced covers up to 15 brands from $67 a month with client roles and approvals. Postiz Ultimate holds 100 channels for $99 a month. The page for agencies covers the case where your clients are apps.
Hootsuite Alternatives for Nonprofits
Check the discounts before you leave. Hootsuite's nonprofit discount lists Standard at $39 per user per month on annual billing, which may be reason enough to stay. Buffer's nonprofit page and Publer both give 50 percent off. Sprout Social discounts Professional and Advanced for US nonprofits. SocialPilot's help article on nonprofit discounts, Agorapulse's pricing page and Metricool's page for nonprofits each promise a discount on request without publishing the amount.
Enterprises That Need Social Listening
If listening is why you pay for Hootsuite, most cheaper tools will not replace it. Hootsuite Enterprise includes 13 months of listening history. Sprout Social and Agorapulse both sell listening as a paid add on, with the price given on a demo. Zoho Social has a monitoring dashboard for mentions and keyword searches from Professional. The pricing pages of Buffer, SocialPilot, Publer and Postiz list no listening.
What Hootsuite Is and What It Costs in 2026
Hootsuite is a social media management suite: one login to schedule posts, answer comments and messages, watch mentions of your brand and report on results. It is sold per user, in four plans.
Hootsuite is not free. Hootsuite's plans page offers a 14 day trial without a credit card and nothing is charged unless you then choose a plan. The free plan ended on March 31, 2023, according to BetaKit's report on the end of the free plan. Trial accounts are capped at 10 to 20 posts a day and cannot bulk schedule.
The Hootsuite cost per month starts at $99 for one user on Standard, billed annually, which is $1,188 a year. Monthly billing exists at a higher rate that the page does not show. The bill climbs for two reasons. Every person who logs in needs a seat, and content approval workflows sit on Advanced at $399 a seat. Three people on Advanced pay $1,197 a month, or $14,364 a year.
Hootsuite is worth it when you use the inbox, the listening and the approvals every week. If you open only the calendar, the cheaper alternatives to Hootsuite above do that job for a fraction of the cost.
Hootsuite Pricing Plans: Price per User and Accounts Included
Hootsuite pricing as listed in October 2026. Each plan includes everything in the plan above it.
| Plan | Price per user | Social accounts | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 a month, or $1,188 a year | 10 | Unlimited scheduling, AI posts and images, one inbox, brand and competitor monitoring, benchmarking against 5 competitors |
| Professional | $199 a month, or $2,388 a year | Unlimited | Automated inbox replies, AI smart replies, 30 day Quick Search, trend forecasts up to 90 days ahead, custom and scheduled reports, benchmarking against 20 competitors |
| Advanced | $399 a month, or $4,788 a year | Unlimited | Content approval workflows, message assignment and skill based routing, customer satisfaction surveys, team productivity reports |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Unlimited | Single sign on, 13 months of listening history, Salesforce integration, employee advocacy, return on investment reporting |
Prices are in US dollars per user on annual billing, before tax, from Hootsuite's plans page on October 11, 2026. Yearly figures are the monthly price times 12. Hootsuite nonprofit pricing is up to 60 percent lower: Standard $39, Professional $79 and Advanced $159 per user per month.
What Three People Pay for a Year on Each Hootsuite Alternative
Seat pricing hurts most when the team grows. Each row is three people sharing about 10 social accounts for 12 months, on annual billing where the vendor offers it. Spreadcast is ours: its row covers 8 networks for each of 5 apps and includes designing and publishing the posts.
| Tool and plan | Per month | Per year | What that covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite Standard | $297 | $3,564 | 3 seats, 10 social accounts. You make every post |
| Spreadcast Studio | $79 | $948 | 3 seats, 5 apps, 8 networks. Spreadcast designs and publishes the posts |
| Agorapulse Standard | $237 | $2,844 | 3 seats, 10 social profiles, inbox |
| Sprout Social Essentials | $237 | $2,844 | 3 seats, 5 social profiles. The inbox starts on Standard |
| Buffer Team | $100 | $1,200 | 10 channels, unlimited users, approval workflows |
| Metricool Advanced | $53 | $636 | Up to 15 brands, team roles and approvals |
| SocialPilot Standard | $42.50 | $510 | 15 accounts, 3 users, inbox |
| Postiz Team | $31 | $372 | 10 channels, unlimited team members |
The arithmetic, from list prices on October 11, 2026, before tax and add ons. Hootsuite: 3 seats × $99 × 12 = $3,564. Agorapulse and Sprout Social: 3 × $79 × 12 = $2,844. Buffer: 10 channels × $10 × 12 = $1,200. Spreadcast: $79 × 12 = $948 on monthly billing, which is $2,616 a year less than three Hootsuite seats. Metricool: $53 × 12 = $636. SocialPilot: $42.50 × 12 = $510. Postiz: $31 × 12 = $372. Zoho Social Premium, with 1 brand and 3 team members, was €40 × 12 = €480 in the euros shown to us. Publer is left out because its price per extra member appears only in its site's calculator.
Free Hootsuite Alternatives: What Each Free Plan Allows
Hootsuite has had no free plan since March 2023, so a free Hootsuite alternative means one of these plans, as they stand in October 2026.
| Tool | Free plan covers | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadcast | 1 app, with a post designed for every update, 5 star review and rating milestone, ready to download | Small Spreadcast mark on each post. Publishing for you starts on Pro |
| Buffer | Up to 3 channels, 1 user | 10 scheduled posts per channel |
| Metricool | 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month | No LinkedIn, no X, 30 days of analytics |
| Publer | 3 social accounts, 1 user, 1 workspace | No X, 10 scheduled posts per account at a time |
| Zoho Social | 1 brand, 6 channels, 1 team member | Core publishing only |
| Agorapulse | A free plan for its AI content tool | The classic free plan ended on July 6, 2026 |
| Postiz | The open source edition, on your own server | No free hosted plan |
| Mixpost Lite | Free self hosted edition, per Mixpost's pricing page | Publishes to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon only |
| Sprout Social and SocialPilot | No free plan | Trials of 30 days and 14 days |
A free plan is enough when you post a few times a week to three accounts. Check the cap on scheduled posts first, since it is the tightest limit on most of these plans.
Open Source Hootsuite Alternative: Postiz and Mixpost
Two open source projects are active enough to consider. Postiz is the broader one. Its code is under AGPL 3.0, and the Postiz repository lists Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, Threads, X, Mastodon and Bluesky among the networks it posts to.
Mixpost splits its product. The Mixpost repository holds the Lite edition under the MIT license, and Lite publishes to Facebook Pages, X and Mastodon. On Mixpost's pricing page, the Pro license is a single payment of $299 and adds Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads and Bluesky, an inbox and an approval flow. Nonprofits get 30 percent off Pro.
Open source removes the subscription. The work stays. You need a server, and for most networks you register a developer app and paste its keys into your install. Some networks then review that app. TikTok, for example, keeps posts private until the app passes its audit, according to Postiz's TikTok setup guide. A developer can absorb that. A marketing team usually should not.
Neither project replaces Hootsuite's listening or its reporting. Treat them as replacements for the calendar.
Hootsuite Alternatives in Germany and the EU: Where Each Company Is Based
Searches for a Hootsuite alternative from Germany usually come down to two questions: is the company in Europe, and where does the data sit. These rows use only what each company states on its own pages, read on October 17, 2026. It is no legal advice, so ask for the data processing agreement before you sign.
| Tool | Company base | What it says about data | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swat.io | Vienna, Austria, per Swat.io's pricing page | Lists servers located in Germany and two factor sign in, and sells to businesses only | A German speaking team that wants a suite: Small has 3 channels and 2 users, Medium 5 channels, 5 users and approvals, Large 8 channels and 8 users |
| Agorapulse | Paris, France, as Agorapulse SAS, per Agorapulse's terms of service | The terms say that as a matter of principle it does not transfer the personal data it processes outside the European Union, and French law governs the contract | The closest European match for Hootsuite's inbox, from $79 per user a month on annual billing |
| Metricool | Madrid, Spain, as Metricool Software SL, per Metricool's legal notice | Not stated on the pages we read | Scheduling and reports for a small team, from $25 a month |
| Postiz and Mixpost, self hosted | Open source, run by you | The data stays on the server you pick, in Germany if you like, which is the firmest answer to the data question | Developers who can run a server, as the open source section above explains |
| Buffer, for reference | United States | Buffer's legal page says it is based in the US and moves data from Europe under the EU to US Data Privacy Framework | A low cost scheduler when a US vendor under that framework is acceptable |
| Hootsuite, for reference | Vancouver, Canada, per Hootsuite's privacy policy | Hootsuite's Trust Center lists GDPR, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II among its compliance items | Teams that need its listening and approvals and accept a vendor outside the EU |
Spreadcast, which we make, answers a different question from this table: it designs and publishes the posts for an app on the App Store, so a European team can pair it with any of the suites above for the inbox.
How to Switch From Hootsuite Without Losing Your Calendar
Most of a Hootsuite account does not move by itself. What you can carry out is a file of posts and a set of reports, so export first and cancel last.
- Step 1
Export Your Content Calendar as a CSV
In Hootsuite, open Perch, select Calendar, then Export. Hootsuite's guide to exporting the content calendar says a CSV export covers up to 365 days back or forward and lists each post with its author, the type of media, links to the attached media, approval history and internal comments. A PDF export covers one week. Post targeting details, Instagram location tags, ads and unscheduled drafts are not in the file.
- Step 2
Download the Reports You Will Want Later
Every plan can export overview reports to PDF and PPTX. CSV and XLSX exports of overview, custom and post performance reports are limited to the Advanced, Business and Enterprise plans, according to Hootsuite's guide to exporting an Analytics report. Pick the longest date range you may need, because the numbers do not move with you.
- Step 3
Start the Replacement on Its Trial
Run the new tool beside Hootsuite before you cancel. Agorapulse and Sprout Social give 30 days, Buffer and SocialPilot give 14, and Postiz gives 7. Buffer, Metricool, Publer and Zoho Social have free plans with no deadline. If you have an app, the start page needs only your App Store link.
- Step 4
Reconnect Every Social Account
Connections do not transfer between tools. Sign in to each network from inside the new tool and approve its access. Ask whoever manages each company page to do theirs.
- Step 5
Move the Scheduled Posts
Rebuild the queue from the CSV. Publer imports up to 500 posts from one file, per Publer's bulk scheduling guide, Agorapulse takes 200 posts per file on Advanced, and SocialPilot has CSV uploads from Premium. Copy the text, the date and the media link into the new tool's template within a week, because Hootsuite's media links expire one week after the export.
- Step 6
Cancel the Subscription, Keep the Account
Remove nothing until the new queue is publishing. Removing a social account deletes its scheduled content, streams and analytics data, per Hootsuite's article on removing a social account. Canceling takes effect at the end of the paid period and Hootsuite restores your data if you come back, while deleting the account is immediate and cannot be undone, per Hootsuite's guide to managing a plan and account.
- Step 7
Know What Stays Behind
Streams, inbox conversations and analytics history stay in Hootsuite. Inbox data can be exported as CSV for up to 18 months, though only by Enterprise inbox admins with Advanced Inbox, per Hootsuite's guide to exporting Inbox data. Keep the exported reports as your baseline for the first months on the new tool.
Hootsuite Competitors We Left Out, and Why
Seven other Hootsuite competitors come up often in lists of social media management tools. These are the starting prices on their own pricing pages, read on October 11, 2026 and on October 17 for RecurPost and Meta Business Suite, and the reason each one missed the nine.
| Tool | Starting price | Why it is not in the nine |
|---|---|---|
| Sendible | $35 a month billed monthly for Core, per Sendible's pricing page: 1 workspace with 6 social profiles and unlimited users | Built for agencies, with unlimited users on every plan. A workspace holds 6 profiles and the next plan is $99 a month, so SocialPilot Standard, with 15 accounts for $50, covers the same case for less. |
| Loomly | $65 a month billed monthly, or $49 billed yearly, per Loomly's pricing page: 12 social accounts and 3 users | Approval workflows are in the entry plan, which is its strength. The next plan, Beyond, is $332 a month billed monthly, a steep step for a growing team. |
| Later | $25 a month billed monthly, or $18.75 billed yearly, per Later's pricing page: 1 user, 8 profiles and 30 posts per profile a month | The page lists Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Snapchat, with no X. The Later alternatives roundup covers it. |
| CoSchedule | $39 a month billed monthly, or $29 billed annually, per CoSchedule's pricing page: 1 user and 3 social profiles. A free plan schedules 15 posts at a time on 1 profile | X profiles are billed separately and each extra profile is $5 a month, so the bill grows quickly past three accounts. Nonprofits get 30 percent off paid plans. |
| Planable | $33 per workspace a month for Basic, per Planable's pricing page: 4 social pages, 60 posts a month and unlimited users | Built for content approval. Analytics, a social inbox and listening are paid add ons per workspace, so it replaces Hootsuite's calendar and approvals only. |
| RecurPost | $9 a month for 2 social accounts and 1 user, $25 for 5 accounts and $79 for 20 accounts with 3 users, per RecurPost's pricing page. A 14 day trial with no card | It appears in many searches for free Hootsuite alternatives, yet it has no permanent free plan. Its evergreen libraries recycle posts on every plan, and extra teammates cost a flat $20 a month instead of a full seat, but its listening and reports do not reach Hootsuite's level. |
| Meta Business Suite | Free, per Meta's overview of Business Suite, on desktop and in its phone app | The best of the apps like Hootsuite but free if Facebook and Instagram are your whole plan: it schedules both, cross posts to Threads and Facebook Groups and has an inbox for Meta's apps. It reaches nothing outside Meta. Our Buffer vs Hootsuite comparison sets it side by side with both. |
How We Ranked These Hootsuite Alternatives
We make Spreadcast, so read this list knowing that. It is first because it is the only tool here that designs the posts and publishes them, and it is the right pick only if you have an app. The other eight are ranked by how much of Hootsuite they replace for the money.
We compared each tool on five things: the price for one person and for three, what the free plan or the trial allows, which plan holds the inbox, the reports and the approvals, how many accounts the entry plan covers, and how plainly the vendor publishes its limits. Where a page did not confirm a feature, the tables say Not stated.
Every price and limit was read on the vendor's own pricing or help page on October 11, 2026, in US dollars unless stated, and each one is linked. We did not take facts from review sites or from other lists of the best social media management software. This is a comparison of what vendors publish. It does not measure uptime or support, so use a trial for that, and follow the links before you buy.
When the Best Hootsuite Alternative Is Not a Scheduler
A cheaper scheduler will not make you post more often if the calendar was never the problem. Somebody still has to decide what to say, write it and design the image, and for a founder that job loses to shipping every week.
App teams have an advantage here: the news already exists. Each release has notes. Each good review is a customer saying why the app is worth installing. Each rating milestone is proof. The work is turning those into posts, and the app update announcement examples show how little copy a good one needs.
Spreadcast does that step for you: it designs the post, writes a caption for each network and publishes it. On price, a scheduler looks cheaper until you count your own hours. Buffer Essentials at $6 a channel comes to $48 a month for 8 channels, and one Hootsuite Standard seat is $99. Both still leave every post for you to write and design. Spreadcast Pro is $29 a month flat for 8 networks with the posts made.
Time your next post to see what that is worth. If writing and designing one takes you half an hour, three posts a week add up to 78 hours a year, and no scheduler on this page gives those hours back.
A team that answers a lot of comments and messages can keep one of the suites above beside it for the inbox. For everyone else with an app, the free plan is a fair test: paste the link, wait for the next update, and see whether the draft is something you would post. Plans are on the pricing page.
For inbox heavy teams, the best Agorapulse alternatives and the best Sprout Social alternatives go deeper on seat prices, and Hootsuite vs Sprout Social compares those two directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is better than Hootsuite?
If you have an app on the App Store and nobody has time to make posts, Spreadcast: it designs the posts and publishes them for $29 a month flat, against $99 per user. Otherwise Buffer for price, Metricool for reports, Agorapulse for inbox work and Sprout Social for a comparable full suite.
What are the best Hootsuite alternatives that are free?
If you have an app, the free Spreadcast plan designs a post for every update, 5 star review and rating milestone, ready to download. For scheduling posts you make yourself, Buffer, Metricool, Publer and Zoho Social all have permanent free plans as of October 2026, and Buffer's pricing page allows 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each.
Is there an open source Hootsuite alternative?
Yes. Postiz is open source under AGPL 3.0 and can be self hosted, and Mixpost has a free Lite edition under the MIT license. Both replace the scheduling calendar, and neither has social listening on the level of Hootsuite.
What are good Hootsuite alternatives for nonprofits?
Buffer and Publer give nonprofits 50 percent off. Hootsuite has its own program with Standard at $39 per user per month on annual billing, listed on Hootsuite's nonprofit discount page, so compare that price before you move.
What are good Hootsuite alternatives for small business?
Buffer, Metricool and SocialPilot are the three most small businesses should compare. Buffer is the simplest to price, Metricool Starter includes reports and competitor tracking for $25 a month, and SocialPilot Standard includes an inbox and 3 users for $50 a month.
Which Hootsuite similar apps work for individuals?
Start with a free plan: Buffer for 3 channels, Publer for 3 accounts or Metricool for 1 brand. If you later pay, Buffer and Publer both charge from $5 a month for a single channel or account.
Is Buffer cheaper than Hootsuite?
Yes, by a wide margin for small setups. Buffer Essentials is $5 a month per channel on yearly billing, so 10 channels cost $50 a month, and Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user per month on annual billing for 10 social accounts.
Does Hootsuite still have a free plan?
No. The free plan ended on March 31, 2023, and Hootsuite's plans page lists only paid plans with a 14 day free trial as of October 2026.
Is there a German or European alternative to Hootsuite?
Yes. Swat.io is based in Vienna and lists servers in Germany, Agorapulse is a French company whose terms say it does not, as a principle, move personal data outside the EU, and Metricool is based in Madrid. Self hosted Postiz or Mixpost keeps the data on a server you choose. The table above has the details.
Is RecurPost a free Hootsuite alternative?
No. RecurPost's pricing page offers a 14 day trial and no permanent free plan, with paid plans from $9 a month for 2 social accounts. Buffer, Metricool, Publer and Zoho Social are the tools here with free plans.
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.
- Hootsuite plans and pricingHootsuite
- Hootsuite discount for nonprofitsHootsuite
- Export your content calendarHootsuite Help Center
- Export an Analytics reportHootsuite Help Center
- Export your Inbox dataHootsuite Help Center
- Remove a social account from HootsuiteHootsuite Help Center
- Manage your Hootsuite plan and accountHootsuite Help Center
- Report on the end of Hootsuite's free planBetaKit
- Buffer pricingBuffer
- Buffer discount for nonprofitsBuffer
- Metricool plans and pricingMetricool
- Guide to the Metricool add on for XMetricool Help Center
- Metricool for nonprofitsMetricool
- Agorapulse pricingAgorapulse
- Agorapulse free plan change explainedAgorapulse Help Center
- Sprout Social pricingSprout Social
- Sprout Social pricing for nonprofitsSprout Social
- SocialPilot plans and pricingSocialPilot
- SocialPilot discounts for nonprofit organizationsSocialPilot Help
- What are Publer's plans and pricingPubler Help Center
- How to schedule in bulk with PublerPubler Help Center
- Publer discount for charities and nonprofit organizationsPubler Help Center
- Zoho Social plans and pricingZoho
- Postiz pricingPostiz
- Postiz source code and licenseGitHub
- Provider API keys for self hosted PostizPostiz Documentation
- TikTok setup for self hosted PostizPostiz Documentation
- Mixpost pricing and editionsMixpost
- Mixpost Lite source code and licenseGitHub
- Sendible pricingSendible
- Loomly pricingLoomly
- Later pricingLater
- CoSchedule pricingCoSchedule
- Planable pricingPlanable
- RecurPost pricing and plansRecurPost
- How Meta Business Suite worksMeta Business Help Center
- Swat.io pricing and plansSwat.io
- Agorapulse terms of serviceAgorapulse
- Metricool legal noticeMetricool
- Buffer terms, privacy policy and security programBuffer
- Hootsuite privacy policyHootsuite
- Hootsuite Trust CenterHootsuite
Researched and written by Spreadcast. Last checked on October 17, 2026.