Why People Look for Sprout Social Alternatives in 2026
The best Sprout Social alternatives in 2026 are Agorapulse for a team inbox at a lower price per seat, Vista Social and SocialPilot for flat team plans, Sendible for agencies with unlimited users, Buffer and Metricool for free plans, and Postiz for open source. Spreadcast comes first on this list because it is the only tool here that designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you.
The reason people search for a Sprout Social cheaper alternative is the bill. Sprout Social's pricing page sells every plan per seat: Essentials is $79 per seat a month, Standard $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399, all on annual billing, with a 30 day trial and no free plan. The same page lists monthly billing at $99, $249, $399 and $499 per seat. Three people on Standard pay $597 a month on annual billing, which is $7,164 a year, before any add on.
That price buys a lot. Sprout Social is a mature suite: a Smart Inbox for messages and reviews, publishing, reporting, competitor insights, a Listening add on, an AI agent called Trellis, employee advocacy and an influencer platform. Large teams that use most of it often get their money's worth. A small business, a two person marketing team or an agency on a tight margin often uses a fraction of it and pays for every seat anyway.
This page lists what you are leaving first, with Sprout Social's own numbers, then ten alternatives ranked with prices, pros and cons. Every price and limit below was read on the vendor's own pricing page or help center on October 19, 2026, in US dollars before tax, and each fact links to its source. Where a page did not state something, we say so instead of guessing.
Key Takeaways
Sprout Social Is Priced per Seat
Standard is $199 per seat a month on annual billing and $249 on monthly billing, per Sprout Social's pricing page. Five people on Standard pay $995 a month, or $11,940 a year.
There Is No Free Plan
Sprout Social offers a 30 day trial with no credit card, then a paid plan. For a free Sprout Social alternative, Buffer, Metricool and Zoho Social keep free plans, and Postiz is free to self host.
Agorapulse Is the Closest Match
An inbox on every plan, reports and approvals from $119 per user a month on annual billing, with 10 social profiles shared by the team. It is the usual pick when the Smart Inbox is what you need to replace.
Flat Team Plans Cost Far Less
SocialPilot Standard covers 3 users and 15 accounts for $50 a month, Vista Social Advanced covers 3 users and 30 profiles for $199, and Sendible includes unlimited users on every plan.
Postiz Is the Open Source Pick
Postiz is licensed under AGPL 3.0 and free to self host, with hosted plans from $29 a month that include an API, webhooks and an MCP server.
For App Makers, Spreadcast Makes the Posts
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.
How Much Does Sprout Social Cost in 2026? Plans and Prices per Seat
Sprout Social has four plans with public prices and an Enterprise plan sold through sales. Every number below comes from Sprout Social's pricing page, read on October 19, 2026. Prices are per seat, which means per person who logs in.
| Plan | Annual billing, per seat | Monthly billing, per seat | Social profiles | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $79 a month | $99 a month | 5 | Publishing, optimal send times, profile and post reports, 100 Trellis AI credits per seat a month. No brand keywords |
| Standard | $199 a month | $249 a month | 5 | Consolidated inbox, collaboration tools, keyword and location monitoring with 10 brand keywords, review management |
| Professional | $299 a month | $399 a month | Unlimited | Message approval workflow, message tagging, competitor, tag and paid insights, bulk scheduling, Enhance Post by AI Assist |
| Advanced | $399 a month | $499 a month | Unlimited | The Sprout API, helpdesk integrations, sentiment in the inbox, external approvals, team productivity reports, 20 brand keywords |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Not stated | Onboarding, a tailored plan, SSO setup and priority support |
| Trellis Plus (AI add on) | $28 per user a month | $35 per user a month | Not applicable | More AI capacity than the 100 monthly credits every seat gets |
| Listening, Premium Analytics, Employee Advocacy | Price on request | Price on request | Not applicable | Each is an add on from Standard up, sold after a demo |
Annual billing is paid up front for the whole term, per the billing FAQ on the same page. Prices exclude tax. Read on October 19, 2026.
Sprout Social Cost per Month for 1, 3 and 5 People
Because every plan is sold per seat, the bill grows with each person you add. Here is the true arithmetic for teams of 1, 3 and 5, from the per seat prices on Sprout Social's pricing page. The last column is a full year for 5 people.
| Plan and billing | 1 person | 3 people | 5 people | 5 people for a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials, annual billing | $79 | $237 | $395 | $4,740 |
| Essentials, monthly billing | $99 | $297 | $495 | $5,940 |
| Standard, annual billing | $199 | $597 | $995 | $11,940 |
| Standard, monthly billing | $249 | $747 | $1,245 | $14,940 |
| Professional, annual billing | $299 | $897 | $1,495 | $17,940 |
| Professional, monthly billing | $399 | $1,197 | $1,995 | $23,940 |
| Advanced, annual billing | $399 | $1,197 | $1,995 | $23,940 |
| Advanced, monthly billing | $499 | $1,497 | $2,495 | $29,940 |
Each cell is the per seat price times the number of people; the yearly column is the 5 person figure times 12. Add ons such as Listening are extra and priced after a demo.
Is Sprout Social Free? The Trial, Nonprofit Pricing and the Fine Print
Sprout Social is not free. Sprout Social's FAQ offers a free 30 day trial to everyone, and the pricing page says no credit card is needed to start it. After 30 days you pick a plan and enter payment details. There is no free plan to fall back on, which is the main reason searches like "Sprout Social free alternative" and "Sprout Social but free" exist.
Nonprofits get a discount on two plans. Sprout Social's nonprofit pricing page lists Professional at $239 instead of $299 and Advanced at $299 instead of $399 per seat a month, billed annually, for 501(c)(3) organizations in the US that commit to at least two seats on an annual subscription. Two seats on discounted Professional come to $478 a month, or $5,736 a year.
Three lines in Sprout Social's terms of service matter if you are thinking of leaving. On monthly and annual plans paid in the app, cancelling during a term keeps access until the next pay date, with no refund or credit for the unused part. Annual plans billed monthly and invoiced plans are cancelled by email to your customer success manager or the success team, and only the Account Owner can cancel. And an annual plan's price can rise by up to 7% at renewal, or more with 60 days' notice.
The terms also allow Sprout Social to remove your account information, settings and content within 30 days after a plan ends. So export the reports you need before the last day of your term, not after. The switching steps further down cover this in order.
Video: How Publishing Works in Sprout Social
Sprout Social's own short tutorial, useful for seeing what a replacement has to match before you decide what you can live without.
How We Picked These Sprout Social Alternatives
We started from what people type. Google's suggestions for Sprout Social alternatives on October 19, 2026 included a cheaper alternative, a free alternative, an open source alternative, a Reddit search, and head to head searches against Hootsuite, Agorapulse, Buffer, Metricool, SocialPilot, Zoho Social and others. Each of those needs became a test, and every tool here had to pass at least one.
Then we read each vendor's own pricing page and help center on the same day and kept only facts we could confirm there. Seven things decided the order: whether the price grows per seat or stays flat for a team, the real cost for 1, 3 and 5 people, whether there is a free plan, whether an inbox for comments and messages is included and on which plan, whether listening or monitoring exists, which plan adds approvals, and how AI is sold.
We make Spreadcast, so read the ranking with that in mind. It is first because it is the only tool here that makes the post itself, and this page states where it stops. The nine after it are ranked by how directly they replace what a Sprout Social customer uses most: the inbox and reports first (Agorapulse), then flat team plans (Vista Social, SocialPilot, Sendible), then free and low cost schedulers (Buffer, Metricool), then the suite that sits at the same price level (Hootsuite), then open source (Postiz) and a free plan with a broad network list (Zoho Social).
We did not score ease of use or support quality, and we do not repeat star ratings from review sites. Both are real but hard to verify, and every tool here has a free trial or a free plan you can use to judge them yourself.
Sprout Social Alternatives at a Glance
Spreadcast is the first row, and Sprout Social is the last row as the baseline. Starting prices are in US dollars before tax, read on October 19, 2026. The fourth column is the one that decides most bills: whether the price is per person.
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | How the price grows | Inbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadcast | App makers: posts designed and published for you | Yes: 3 posts drafted for 1 app | Free drafts your posts; Pro is $29 a month with design, captions and publishing to 8 networks | Flat: Studio is $79 for 5 apps and 3 seats | No, keep a tool for replies |
| Agorapulse | A team inbox and reports at a lower seat price | No; a free Archie AI plan | $79 per user a month, annual billing | Per user, 10 profiles shared | Every plan |
| Vista Social | Small teams and agencies on flat plans | Not on the pricing page | $99 a month for 15 profiles and 2 users | Flat by plan | Listed on Professional |
| SocialPilot | Small businesses that count accounts | No, 14 day trial | $30 a month for 7 accounts | Flat by plan | From Standard at $50 |
| Sendible | Agencies with many users | No, 14 day trial | $35 a month for 6 profiles | By workspace, unlimited users | Every plan |
| Buffer | A free plan and a simple queue | Yes: 3 channels | $6 per channel a month | Per channel | Comment replies on every plan |
| Metricool | Analytics and competitors on a budget | Yes: 1 brand, 20 posts a month | $25 a month for up to 5 brands | By number of brands | Listed on the pricing page |
| Hootsuite | A suite with listening at a lower seat price | No, 14 day trial | $99 per user a month, annual billing | Per user | Every plan |
| Postiz | Open source code, an API and agents | Self hosted only | $29 a month for 5 channels | By number of channels | None listed |
| Zoho Social | A free plan across many networks | Yes: 1 brand, 6 channels | Shown in your local currency | By brand and team member | From Premium |
| Sprout Social (baseline) | Large teams that use the whole suite | No, 30 day trial | $79 per seat a month, annual billing | Per seat | From Standard at $199 per seat |
Sources are linked in each entry below. Inbox means replies to comments or messages inside the tool; what each inbox covers differs, so read the entry before you decide.
The 10 Best Sprout Social Alternatives, With Prices, Pros and Cons
Spreadcast comes first, because it is the only tool here that designs the post from your App Store listing and publishes it for you. The nine after it are ranked by how closely they replace what Sprout Social customers use most, from the inbox and reports to flat team plans, free plans and open source.
- 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 solves a different problem from Sprout Social. Sprout gives a team a place to schedule, answer and measure posts that somebody still has to make. Spreadcast makes the posts. You paste your App Store link once at the start page, and Spreadcast checks the listing every day. A new version 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. A rating milestone becomes a thank you post. Every post is designed in your icon, screenshots and colors, with the logo and fonts from your website.
Spreadcast designs the post and publishes it for you on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and Discord, plus YouTube for video posts, with a caption written for each network. LinkedIn posts go to a personal profile, and Instagram carousels publish as real carousels. Each post goes into the next free slot on the calendar and you can drag it to another day. By default each post waits for one tap of approval; on paid plans you can switch to full autopilot, which schedules posts for nine in the morning in your time zone. Review quote posts from a real 5 star review, carousels of 3 to 8 slides, and text or picture posts are made on demand in Create, and you can upload your own pictures and video.
Analytics show interactions, new followers and taps on your App Store link, plus which networks, kinds of post and days work best. An MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Cursor design and schedule posts, saving drafts by default. ChatGPT write actions need a Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace.
Now the money, framed by what each price buys. Free drafts 3 posts for 1 app to download, with a small Spreadcast mark and no publishing. Pro is $29 a month or $290 a year for 1 app and 10 social accounts, with clean posts published for you on every network. Studio is $79 a month or $790 a year for 5 apps, each with its own brand and accounts, 50 social accounts and 3 seats, which works out to about $26.33 a seat ($79 divided by 3). One seat on Sprout Social Standard is $199 a month on annual billing, per Sprout Social's pricing page, and it schedules posts you still design yourself. There is a full refund within 7 days. See the plans on Spreadcast pricing.
Pros
- Designs each post from your App Store listing, icon, screenshots and colors
- Publishes to 8 networks with a caption written for each one
- One tap approval by default, full autopilot on paid plans
- Flat prices: Studio covers 3 seats and 5 apps for $79 a month
- MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Cursor
Cons
- Built for apps on the Apple App Store
- No inbox or listening, so keep a tool for replies
- 2
Agorapulse
From $79 per user a month on annual billingBest Sprout Social alternative for a team inbox and reports
Agorapulse is the tool most often set beside Sprout Social, and the one that replaces its Smart Inbox most directly. Agorapulse's pricing page puts an all in one inbox for comments, DMs and reviews on every plan, with comment moderation, Google review replies, inbox search, inline translation and contact history. Standard is $79 per user a month on annual billing or $99 monthly, Professional $119 or $149, and Advanced $149 or $199, each with 10 social profiles.
Approvals arrive on Professional as simple one step workflows, along with first comments, a link in bio page, post and inbox assignments, and team performance reports. Advanced adds publishing queues, bulk scheduling of up to 200 posts from a CSV file, saved replies, sentiment detection, ads reports, ROI analysis, competitor benchmarking and 24 months of data. Multi step approvals, AI reply suggestions and the reports API sit on the Custom plan. Advanced Listening and a fuller Competitive Benchmarking module are add ons sold after a demo. Connecting ChatGPT or Claude through Agorapulse's MCP is listed on every plan.
The seat math is where Agorapulse beats Sprout. Agorapulse's guide to pricing per user says each extra user costs the same as the first and that the 10 profile slots are shared by everyone on the plan; more profiles are $10 each a month on annual billing or $15 monthly, per the pricing page. For 3 people with approvals, Professional costs $357 a month on annual billing (3 times $119). Sprout Social Professional, where approvals start, costs $897 (3 times $299), so the gap is $540 a month, or $6,480 a year.
There is no longer a free plan. Agorapulse's help article on its plans says the Free plan ended on July 6, 2026 and was replaced by a free Archie plan, an AI content tool for up to 50 Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube profiles with 10 credits a month, where new posts can only be created with Archie. The free trial article gives 30 days in two parts of 15 days, with no credit card, on the Advanced plan with up to 10 profiles. For a deeper look, see the best Agorapulse alternatives.
Pros
- Inbox for comments, DMs and reviews on every plan
- Approvals from $119 per user, against $299 on Sprout
- 10 profiles shared by the whole team
- 30 day trial in two parts, no credit card
Cons
- Still priced per user
- Listening and benchmarking are add ons sold by demo
- Multi step approvals only on the Custom plan
- 3
Vista Social
From $99 a month for 15 profiles and 2 usersBest flat priced plan for a small team
Vista Social sells plans by size instead of by seat. Vista Social's pricing page lists Professional at $99 a month or $950 a year for 15 social profiles and 2 users, Advanced at $199 or $1,910 a year for 30 profiles and 3 users, and Scale at $449 or $4,310 a year for 70 profiles and 4 users. Yearly billing saves 20%, and every plan starts with a 14 day trial.
Professional already covers the Sprout Social basics: planning and scheduling with bulk uploads, an engagement area for messages, comments and reviews, reports that can be scheduled, a link in bio page, DM automations and AI credits for captions and replies (1,000 a month on Professional, 2,000 on Advanced, 3,500 on Scale). The page says Professional can send content through approval stages, and Advanced adds approval workflows for internal and outside teams and clients, custom reports, Zapier and Make, and training the AI on your own knowledge. It also lists an MCP connection under Ask Vista.
Listening is priced in public, which Sprout's is not. Listening to content on your own profiles is free, and listening across social, web and news starts at $75 a month. Employee advocacy is free for 3 advocates and $199 a month for 25 employees. One catch for X users: X costs $29 a month extra on every plan for publishing, boosting, automations and analytics.
Do the Sprout Social cheaper alternative math for 3 people. Vista Social Advanced is $199 a month for all three, or about $159.17 on yearly billing ($1,910 divided by 12). Sprout Social Standard for three is $597 on annual billing, so Vista is $398 a month less with 25 more profiles. For a fourth person, Scale includes 4 users; past that, extra users are listed as customizable without a public price.
Pros
- Flat plans: 3 users and 30 profiles for $199 a month
- Inbox, reviews and reports from the first plan
- Listening priced in public from $75 a month
- 14 day trial on every plan
Cons
- X is a $29 a month add on
- Extra users past the plan have no public price
- No free plan on the pricing page
- 4
SocialPilot
From $30 a month for 7 accountsBest Sprout Social alternative for small businesses
SocialPilot gives a small business the core of Sprout Social for a fraction of one seat. SocialPilot's plans page and its pricing file for AI agents list Essentials at $30 a month ($25.50 on annual billing) for 7 accounts and 1 user, Standard at $50 ($42.50) for 15 accounts and 3 users, Premium at $100 ($85) for 25 accounts and 6 users, and Ultimate at $200 ($170) for 50 accounts and unlimited users.
The plan to look at is Standard. For $50 a month it adds the social inbox, inbox automation, analytics, PDF and scheduled reports, and manager approval, which is the Sprout Social Standard set without listening, for 3 people. Premium adds bulk scheduling and CSV upload, competitor reports, white label reports, client management and client approval workflows. Extra accounts are $4 a month and extra users $5 a month. AI credits rise from 500 on Essentials to 1,000, 5,000 and unlimited.
The gap with Sprout is large at every size. Three people on SocialPilot Standard pay $50 a month; three on Sprout Social Standard pay $597 on annual billing, which is $547 more each month and $6,564 more a year. Five people with 25 accounts fit in SocialPilot Premium at $100; on Sprout they need Professional for unlimited profiles, which costs $1,495 a month on annual billing.
What you give up: Essentials has no analytics, no inbox and no approvals, so a team should start on Standard. Listening is not on the plan list, and API access and SSO are on Enterprise only. The pricing file lists Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Threads, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Google Business Profile and Bluesky. The trial is 14 days without a card.
Pros
- Inbox, analytics and approvals for 3 people at $50 a month
- Extra accounts at $4 and extra users at $5 a month
- Client approvals and white label reports on Premium
- 14 day trial with no credit card
Cons
- No inbox, analytics or approvals on Essentials
- No listening on the plan list
- API access only on Enterprise
- 5
Sendible
From $35 a month for 6 profiles, unlimited usersBest Sprout Social alternative for agencies with many users
Sendible is the plainest answer to per seat pricing: Sendible's pricing page includes unlimited users on every plan, so team members, freelancers and clients cost nothing extra. Plans are sized by workspace, and each workspace holds 6 social profiles. Core is $35 a month for 1 workspace, Plus $99 for 3, Premium $199 for 7, Elite $299 for 15 and Enterprise $750 for 50, with 15% off on yearly billing and a 14 day trial with no card.
Core already has unlimited scheduling, unlimited AI credits, bulk scheduling, and monitoring of mentions, comments and messages with replies from one inbox. Plus adds assignment and approvals, and the feature list includes client dashboards where a client only sees their own work, custom approval workflows and permission groups. Premium adds content libraries, fully branded reports, campaigns and a dedicated account manager. Elite adds dynamic fields for bulk posting and role based permissions, and white label is a paid add on.
Agency math is where Sendible shines. An agency of 5 people running 25 client profiles needs 5 workspaces, so Premium at $199 a month, with room for 42 profiles. On Sprout Social, the same team on Professional costs $1,495 a month on annual billing, and every client who logs in to review posts would need a seat or an external approval workflow, which Sprout lists on Advanced.
Sendible's network list is narrower than Sprout's. It publishes to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, YouTube, WordPress, Threads and Bluesky; Pinterest is not on that list. The engage and reply feature is listed for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, so check the inbox against your own networks during the trial. For more agency options see our page on Spreadcast for agencies.
Pros
- Unlimited users on every plan
- Approvals and client dashboards from $99 a month
- Unlimited AI credits and bulk scheduling on Core
- 14 day trial with no card
Cons
- Pinterest is not on the network list
- Inbox replies cover fewer networks than publishing
- White label is a paid add on
- 6
Buffer
Free for 3 channels, then $6 per channel a monthBest free Sprout Social alternative for scheduling
Buffer answers the Sprout Social alternative free search better than any tool here. Buffer's pricing page lists a Free plan for up to 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel at a time, an AI Assistant, comment replies, 30 days of insights and API access. Paid plans are priced per channel: Essentials is $6 per channel a month and Team $12, with about 2 months saved on yearly billing.
Buffer's pricing file spells out the rest. Essentials adds unlimited scheduled posts, advanced analytics, reports, a hashtag manager and first comment scheduling, for 1 user. Team adds unlimited team members, access levels, approval workflows and branded reports. Above 10 channels the rate drops: channels 11 to 25 cost $4 each on both plans. There is a 14 day trial of the paid plans, and nonprofits get 50% off.
Price it against Sprout for a team. Ten channels on Buffer Team cost $120 a month ($100 on yearly billing) with unlimited users and approvals. Sprout Social Professional, where approvals start, is $897 a month for 3 people on annual billing. What you give up is the depth of the suite: Buffer's community inbox replies to comments and has no private message inbox on the pricing page, and there is no listening, competitor reporting or review management.
Buffer fits a small business that mostly publishes and wants to stop paying for an inbox it rarely opens. If Buffer is close but not quite right, our list of the best Buffer alternatives compares what else is in that price range.
Pros
- Free plan for 3 channels with no end date
- Unlimited users and approvals on Team
- AI Assistant and API on every plan, the free one included
- 50% off for nonprofits
Cons
- No listening or competitor reports
- Comment replies only, no message inbox on the pricing page
- The price climbs with every channel
- 7
Metricool
Free, then from $25 a month for up to 5 brandsBest cheap Sprout Social alternative for analytics and competitors
Metricool started as an analytics tool, and that is what it replaces best. Metricool's pricing page lists a Free plan for 1 brand with 20 posts a month, 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics, an AI assistant and Metricool's MCP, with LinkedIn and X left out. Starter is $25 a month for up to 5 brands or $45 for up to 10, and Advanced is $67 for up to 15 brands, $107 for 25 and $210 for 50.
Pricing is per brand, not per seat. The pricing page says each brand stands for one business or customer and holds one profile on each social network or ad platform. Starter adds unlimited publishing, up to 100 competitors, LinkedIn, PDF and PPT reports, unlimited analytics history and link in bio pages. Advanced adds team and client management, roles, the post approval system, full X analytics, report templates, a Data Studio connector and the Metricool API, with unlimited team members.
Against Sprout, Metricool covers competitor reports for far less. Sprout lists competitor reports for Facebook, X and Instagram from Professional, at $299 per seat on annual billing. Metricool analyzes up to 100 competitors from Starter at $25 a month for everyone. A team of 5 with approvals fits in Metricool Advanced at $67 a month; on Sprout Professional that is $1,495.
The limits: X costs $10 a month per connected account as an add on, AI is 5, 20 or 35 credits per brand a month, and the pricing page does not list social listening beyond its Hashtag Tracker add on. The inbox section lists Instagram, Facebook, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn messages, with X through the add on.
Pros
- Free plan with competitor analysis and 30 days of analytics
- Priced per brand with unlimited team members on Advanced
- PDF and PPT reports from $25 a month
- Approvals for a whole team at $67 a month
Cons
- X is $10 a month per account
- Free plan leaves out LinkedIn and X
- No listening beyond a hashtag add on
- 8
Hootsuite
From $99 per user a month, annual billingBest suite with listening at a lower price per seat
Hootsuite is the alternative for teams that want to stay in a full suite and pay less per person. Hootsuite's plans page lists Standard at $99 per user a month on annual billing for up to 10 social accounts, Professional at $199 with unlimited accounts, and Advanced at $399. Every plan has a 14 day trial without a credit card and runs on Wisdom, Hootsuite's AI assistant with MCP connectors.
The plans page says Standard includes a unified inbox, analytics and reporting, competitive benchmarking and social listening. That is the closest any tool here comes to Sprout's Standard plan, at $100 less per seat on annual billing ($199 minus $99). Professional adds automated inbox replies and DM workflows, custom and scheduled reports, 30 day Quick Search in listening and trend forecasting up to 90 days ahead. Advanced adds approval workflows, message assignment with routing, customer satisfaction surveys and team productivity reports.
The weakness is the same as Sprout's: the price is per seat, and approvals sit high. Three people with approvals on Hootsuite Advanced cost $1,197 a month, the same as three on Sprout Social Advanced and $300 more than three on Sprout Professional. For approvals alone, Sprout's Professional plan is the cheaper suite. For listening on a small budget, Hootsuite Standard is.
Our Hootsuite vs Sprout Social comparison goes through the two plan by plan, including inbox, listening and reports.
Pros
- Inbox, benchmarking and listening on Standard
- $99 per seat against $199 for Sprout Standard
- Unlimited accounts from Professional
- 14 day trial with no credit card
Cons
- Priced per user
- Approvals only on Advanced at $399 per user
- No free plan
- 9
Postiz
Free to self host, hosted from $29 a monthBest Sprout Social open source alternative
Postiz is the answer to the Sprout Social open source alternative search. The Postiz repository is licensed under AGPL 3.0 and showed 37,389 stars on GitHub on October 19, 2026. You can run it on your own server with no license fee, or pay for the hosted version.
Postiz's pricing page lists 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 channels, or $23, $31, $39 and $79 a month on annual billing. Standard is marked as having no team support. Every plan includes the hosted MCP server, a CLI, the public API and webhooks, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other agents can schedule posts. Repeated posts republish evergreen content daily, weekly or monthly, and there is a 7 day trial.
Postiz is a scheduler, not a suite. The pricing page lists no inbox, no listening and no approval workflow, so it replaces Sprout's publishing and calendar but not its Smart Inbox or reports. Self hosting is free in license terms but needs a server, and on most networks a developer app of your own that the network has to approve; Postiz sells that approval work as an optional paid service.
If you are weighing open source schedulers, see the best Postiz alternatives, which covers Mixpost and the other self hosted options.
Pros
- Open source under AGPL 3.0, free to self host
- API, webhooks and MCP server on every plan
- Unlimited team members from $39 a month
- 30 channels for $49 a month
Cons
- No inbox, listening or approvals listed
- No team support on the $29 plan
- Self hosting needs a server and your own developer apps
- 10
Zoho Social
Free plan; paid prices shown in your local currencyBest free plan across many networks
Zoho Social is the other Sprout Social free alternative with a real free plan. Zoho Social's pricing page lists Free for 1 brand of 6 channels (one each of X, Instagram, a Facebook Page, a LinkedIn Company Page, a LinkedIn profile and Google Business Profile) and 1 team member, with 5 AI credits. Paid plans are Standard, Professional and Premium, with a 15 day trial of every feature and no credit card.
Paid brands get a wide network list. Standard and Professional cover up to 14 channels per brand, adding YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, Snapchat and Arattai, and Premium covers up to 16 by adding WhatsApp Business and Telegram Business. Professional adds a monitoring dashboard, bulk scheduling, repeat posting and RSS feeds. Premium adds the inbox, content approvals and workflow, and 3 team members.
We cannot give you a dollar figure. The pricing page loads prices for your region, and its FAQ says the prices adjust to your region and the data center you are mapped to, so the number you see may differ from ours. Check it in your own currency before you compare it with Sprout's per seat prices.
Pros
- Free plan for 6 channels with no end date
- Up to 16 channels per brand on Premium, Telegram included
- Monitoring dashboard from Professional
- 15 day trial with no credit card
Cons
- Inbox and approvals only on Premium
- 1 team member below Premium
- Prices depend on your region
Video: Agorapulse's Social Inbox, the Closest Match to Sprout's Smart Inbox
If the inbox is what keeps you on Sprout Social, watch this before you trial anything else.
Sprout Social Alternatives Compared Feature by Feature
Five features decide most moves away from Sprout Social: the inbox, listening, reports, approvals and AI. Each cell names the plan where the feature starts, read on the vendor's own page on October 19, 2026. Not listed means the page we read did not mention it, which is not always a no.
| Tool | Inbox | Listening | Reports | Approvals | AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social (baseline) | Smart Inbox from Standard | Keyword monitoring from Standard; full Listening is an add on | Profile and post reports on every plan; competitor reports from Professional | From Professional; external approvals on Advanced | Trellis, 100 credits per seat a month; Trellis Plus $28 per user |
| Spreadcast | None; keep a tool for replies | None | Interactions, new followers, App Store taps, best day and time | One tap on every post, or full autopilot | Designs the post and writes a caption for each network |
| Agorapulse | Every plan | Advanced Listening add on | Every plan; ROI, ads and benchmarking from Advanced | From Professional; multi step on Custom | Writing assistant on every plan; reply suggestions on Custom |
| Vista Social | From Professional | Own profiles free; web and news from $75 a month | Every plan; custom reports from Advanced | Approval stages on Professional; client workflows on Advanced | 1,000 to 3,500 credits a month by plan |
| SocialPilot | From Standard | Not listed | From Standard; competitor and white label from Premium | Manager approval from Standard; client approval from Premium | 500 to unlimited credits by plan |
| Sendible | Monitoring and replies on every plan | Not listed | Standard reports on every plan; branded reports from Premium | From Plus | Unlimited credits on every plan |
| Buffer | Comment replies on every plan | Not listed | 30 days on Free; reports on paid plans; branded on Team | Team plan | AI Assistant on every plan |
| Metricool | Listed for 6 networks, plus X by add on | Hashtag Tracker add on | 30 days on Free; PDF and PPT reports from Starter | Advanced plan | 5 to 35 credits per brand a month |
| Hootsuite | Every plan | On Standard; deeper search from Professional | Every plan; custom reports from Professional | Advanced plan | Wisdom on every plan |
| Postiz | Not listed | Not listed | Analytics listed | Not listed | AI copilot, agents and MCP on every plan |
| Zoho Social | From Premium | Monitoring dashboard from Professional | Summary reports from Standard | From Premium | 5 to 80 credits by plan |
Sources are the pricing pages linked in each roundup entry. If a Not listed cell decides your choice, ask the vendor during the trial.
What Three Real Team Sizes Pay on Sprout Social and Each Alternative
Three setups we see most: one person running 5 profiles, a team of 3 running 10 profiles with approvals, and an agency of 5 running 25 profiles with approvals. Each cell is the cheapest plan on the vendor's own page that fits, per month in US dollars before tax, read on October 19, 2026. Annual billing is used where a vendor shows only that.
| Tool | 1 person, 5 profiles | 3 people, 10 profiles, approvals | 5 people, 25 profiles, approvals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social (baseline) | Essentials $79, or Standard $199 with the inbox (annual billing) | Professional: $897 (3 × $299, annual billing) | Professional: $1,495 (5 × $299, annual billing) |
| Spreadcast | Pro: $29 for 1 app and up to 10 accounts, posts designed and published for you | Studio: $79 with 3 seats and 5 apps | Studio: $79 covers 3 of the 5 people |
| Agorapulse | Standard: $79 annual or $99 monthly, with the inbox | Professional: $357 annual (3 × $119) or $447 monthly | Professional plus 15 extra profiles: $745 annual (5 × $119 + 15 × $10) or $970 monthly |
| Vista Social | Professional: $99, or $79.17 on yearly billing | Advanced: $199, or $159.17 on yearly billing | Scale: $449 for 4 users, plus a fifth user at a price the page does not list |
| SocialPilot | Essentials $30, or Standard $50 with the inbox | Standard: $50, or $42.50 annual | Premium: $100, or $85 annual, with 6 users |
| Sendible | Core: $35, or $29.75 on yearly billing | Plus: $99 for 18 profiles, or $84.15 yearly | Premium: $199 for 42 profiles, or $169.15 yearly |
| Buffer | Essentials: $30 (5 × $6), or $25 yearly | Team: $120 (10 × $12), or $100 yearly | Team: $180, or $150 yearly |
| Metricool | Starter: $25, if the profiles fit in 5 brands | Advanced: $67 for up to 15 brands | Advanced: $67 for up to 15 brands |
| Hootsuite | Standard: $99 (annual billing) | Advanced: $1,197 (3 × $399, annual billing) | Advanced: $1,995 (5 × $399, annual billing) |
| Postiz | Standard: $29, or $23 annual | Team: $39 (approvals not listed) | Pro: $49 for 30 channels (approvals not listed) |
Buffer at 25 channels: 10 × $12 plus 15 × $4 = $180. Agorapulse monthly: 5 × $149 plus 15 × $15 = $970. Vista and Sendible yearly figures are the yearly price divided by 12. The scheduler prices buy publishing for posts you make; the Spreadcast price includes making them.
Cheaper and Free Sprout Social Alternatives
The cheapest way off Sprout Social depends on what you used it for. If it was mostly publishing and basic reports, Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with no end date, and Metricool's free plan covers 1 brand with 20 posts a month and 5 competitor profiles. Zoho Social's free plan covers 6 channels for 1 team member. None of the three has an inbox for private messages on the free plan, so they replace Sprout Social Essentials, not Standard.
If you need the inbox, the cheapest paid routes are SocialPilot Standard at $50 a month for 3 users and 15 accounts, Sendible Core at $35 for 6 profiles and unlimited users, and Agorapulse Standard at $79 per user on annual billing. All three cost less for a whole small team than one seat of Sprout Social Standard at $199.
If you need listening, which is the hardest thing to replace for little money, Hootsuite Standard includes social listening and competitive benchmarking at $99 per seat on annual billing, and Vista Social prices listening across social, web and news from $75 a month on top of a $99 plan. Sprout Social sells Listening as an add on from Standard with the price given after a demo, so ask for a quote before you decide it is cheaper to stay.
And if you are an app founder who used Sprout mostly to post update news, Spreadcast's free plan drafts your posts from the App Store listing, and Pro is $29 a month with design, captions and publishing to every network included. Paste your link at the start page and judge the first posts before you pay anything.
Sprout Social Alternatives by Need
The best Sprout Social alternative is a different tool for each job. Find your case and start with that trial.
For App Makers: Spreadcast
Every App Store update and rating milestone becomes a designed post, published on 8 networks after one tap. Studio covers 3 seats and 5 apps for $79 a month. See how it works for mobile apps.
Best for Small Business: SocialPilot
Inbox, analytics, PDF reports and manager approval for 3 people and 15 accounts at $50 a month. A small business that paid for two Sprout Standard seats on annual billing saves $348 a month ($398 minus $50).
Best for a Team Inbox: Agorapulse
The inbox, comment moderation and review replies on every plan, with approvals from $119 per user on annual billing and 10 shared profiles.
Best for Agencies: Sendible
Unlimited users on every plan, client dashboards and approvals from $99 a month, and Premium at $199 for 42 profiles. SocialPilot Premium and Vista Social are the runners up for agencies.
Best Free Plan: Buffer
Three channels, 10 scheduled posts each, AI Assistant, comment replies and API access for $0. Metricool's free plan is the pick if you want competitor analysis instead.
Best for Analytics on a Budget: Metricool
Up to 100 competitors, unlimited history and PDF and PPT reports from $25 a month, priced per brand rather than per seat.
Best Suite With Listening: Hootsuite
Inbox, benchmarking and listening on Standard at $99 per seat on annual billing, about half the price of a Sprout Standard seat at $199.
Best Open Source: Postiz
AGPL 3.0, free to self host, or hosted from $29 a month with an API, webhooks and an MCP server on every plan.
Sprout Social Alternatives for Small Businesses
On Sprout Social's pricing page, Standard is described as perfect for small teams managing a few profiles. The problem for a small business is not the features, it is the multiplication. A shop owner and one helper on Standard pay $398 a month on annual billing, which is $4,776 a year, for 5 social profiles.
For that budget, a small business can buy more than it needs elsewhere. SocialPilot Standard at $50 a month gives the same two people an inbox, analytics, manager approval and 15 accounts, with room for a third person. Vista Social Professional at $99 covers 15 profiles and 2 users with reviews in the same place as messages, which matters for restaurants, clinics and shops that live on Google reviews. Agorapulse Standard at $79 per user is the pick when replies are most of the work, since its inbox also handles Google Business Profile reviews.
Two questions settle it. First, how many people need to log in? If the answer is one, almost any plan here is cheaper, and Buffer or Metricool may be free. Second, do you answer private messages every day? If not, a scheduler with comment replies is enough and you can skip the inbox plans entirely.
Sprout Social Alternatives for Agencies
Agencies feel per seat pricing twice: once for their own staff and again whenever a client wants to log in and approve posts. Sprout Social's pricing page lists external approvals, where stakeholders review posts without logging in, on its Advanced plan at $399 per seat on annual billing. A five person agency on Advanced pays $1,995 a month before any add on.
Sendible was built for this case. Every plan includes unlimited users, client dashboards let a client see only their own work, and approvals start on Plus at $99 a month. SocialPilot Premium at $100 a month adds unlimited client seats, client approval workflows, client management and white label reports for 25 accounts and 6 users. Vista Social Advanced and Scale add approval workflows for outside teams and clients, and Metricool Advanced adds team and client management for up to 15 brands at $67 a month.
One more agency question is reporting. Agorapulse includes white label reporting on every plan, SocialPilot has white label reports from Premium, Sendible has fully branded reports from Premium, and Sprout Social lists custom report branding from Professional. Run one client's monthly report in each trial before you move every client.
If your agency runs social for app clients, Spreadcast Studio gives each of 5 apps its own brand and accounts, up to 50 social accounts and 3 seats for $79 a month, and makes the posts from each App Store listing. Keep your agency tool for the inbox and the clients who are not apps.
Sprout Social Open Source Alternative: What Postiz Replaces and What It Does Not
If you search for a Sprout Social open source alternative, you will find one serious answer in this list: Postiz. Its code is public under AGPL 3.0, it can run on your own server, and the hosted version starts at $29 a month. It suits teams with a developer who want posting to be scriptable, since every plan includes a REST API, webhooks, a CLI and an MCP server for AI agents.
Be clear about the scope. Postiz replaces Sprout's publishing calendar and cross posting. Its pricing page lists no inbox, no listening and no approvals, so a team that answers customers through Sprout's Smart Inbox would still need another tool for that.
For other self hosted options and the tradeoffs of running one, read our Postiz vs Mixpost comparison.
How to Switch From Sprout Social to Another Tool
Sprout Social keeps charging until the term you paid for ends, and gives no refund for the unused part, so plan the move around that date. Do it in this order.
- Step 1
Find Your Renewal Date and Who Can Cancel
Sprout Social's terms of service say only the current Account Owner can cancel. Plans paid in the app are cancelled on the billing page; Sprout Social's FAQ gives the path as Settings, then Billing and Plan, then Deactivate my Account. Annual plans billed monthly and invoiced plans are cancelled by email to your customer success manager or the success team.
- Step 2
Use the Time You Already Paid For
Cancelling mid term keeps access until the next pay date and refunds nothing, so there is no saving in leaving early. Start the new tool's trial so that it overlaps the last weeks of your Sprout term.
- Step 3
Export Reports and Lists Before the Term Ends
The terms let Sprout Social remove account information, settings and content within 30 days after the plan ends. Download every report you will need for the year, your list of connected profiles, and your saved replies and tags while you still have access.
- Step 4
Pick the Replacement by the Feature You Used Most
Inbox first: Agorapulse. Flat team price: SocialPilot, Vista Social or Sendible. Free: Buffer, Metricool or Zoho Social. Listening on a budget: Hootsuite. Open source: Postiz. Trials run 30 days on Agorapulse in two parts, 15 days on Zoho Social, 14 days on Hootsuite, Vista Social, SocialPilot, Sendible and Buffer, and 7 days on Postiz.
- Step 5
Reconnect Every Profile and Rebuild Approvals
Connections never move between tools: each person signs in to each network again in the new tool. Then rebuild what lived in Sprout: approval rules, user roles, inbox labels or tags, saved replies and report schedules.
- Step 6
Run Both Until the Old Term Ends
Schedule the next two weeks of posts in the new tool and keep Sprout for the inbox until its access ends. Compare one weekly report from each before you switch the inbox off.
- Step 7
Moving App Posts 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. Plans are on the pricing page.
When Sprout Social Is Still Worth the Price
Plenty of teams reading a list like this should stay. Sprout Social is strongest when many people share one Smart Inbox across many networks and reviews, when customer care is measured with team productivity and care reports, and when the Sprout API, helpdesk integrations or a Salesforce, HubSpot or Zendesk connection on Advanced matter to the business. None of the cheaper tools here matches that whole set in one place.
Its network list is broad too: Sprout Social's integrations page covers Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Company Pages, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube, with WhatsApp messages in the Smart Inbox. Its 30 day trial ties with Agorapulse's two part trial as the longest on this page.
Switch when the seat count, not the feature list, drives the decision: when you pay for people who mostly schedule posts, when listening is the only reason you upgraded, or when clients need logins. And if you make an app, you do not need to leave to fix an empty feed. Keep Sprout for the inbox and let Spreadcast make and publish the app posts.
One limit to know before you try Spreadcast: it works only for apps on the Apple App Store, and it has no inbox, listening or X publishing. If your product is not an App Store app, or replies are the main job, choose one of the other nine tools here and see our list of Hootsuite alternatives for more suites in the same range.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to Sprout Social?
For a team inbox at a lower seat price, Agorapulse. For a flat team price, SocialPilot or Vista Social. For agencies, Sendible with unlimited users. For free, Buffer. For open source, Postiz. If you make an app, Spreadcast designs and publishes the posts from your App Store listing, with Pro at $29 a month including design, captions and publishing.
What is a cheaper alternative to Sprout Social?
SocialPilot Standard gives 3 users an inbox, analytics and approvals for $50 a month, against $597 for three seats of Sprout Social Standard on annual billing. Sendible starts at $35 a month with unlimited users, and Agorapulse starts at $79 per user on annual billing.
Is there a free alternative to Sprout Social?
Yes. Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels, Metricool's covers 1 brand with 20 posts a month, and Zoho Social's covers 6 channels for 1 team member. Postiz is free to self host. For app makers, Spreadcast's free plan drafts your posts from the App Store listing.
Does Sprout Social have a free plan?
No. Sprout Social offers a 30 day free trial without a credit card, then a paid plan from $79 per seat a month on annual billing or $99 on monthly billing, per Sprout Social's pricing page.
How much does Sprout Social cost per month?
Per seat on annual billing: Essentials $79, Standard $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399. On monthly billing: $99, $249, $399 and $499. Three people on Standard pay $597 a month on annual billing.
Is there an open source alternative to Sprout Social?
Postiz is open source under AGPL 3.0 and free to self host, with hosted plans from $29 a month. It replaces publishing and scheduling; its pricing page lists no inbox, listening or approvals.
Why do people look for Sprout Social alternatives on Reddit?
We do not quote forum threads because we cannot verify them, but the arithmetic behind the search is plain: Sprout Social is priced per seat, so five people on Standard pay $995 a month on annual billing. Most of the cheaper tools on this page price by plan, channel or brand instead.
Sprout Social vs Hootsuite: which is cheaper?
Per seat, Hootsuite Standard is $99 a month on annual billing against $199 for Sprout Social Standard, and it includes listening and benchmarking. For approvals, Sprout Professional at $299 per seat is cheaper than Hootsuite Advanced at $399.
Sprout Social vs Agorapulse: what is the difference?
Both are priced per user with an inbox. Agorapulse puts the inbox on every plan from $79 per user and approvals from $119 on annual billing, with 10 shared profiles. Sprout puts the inbox on Standard at $199 and approvals on Professional at $299.
Sprout Social vs Buffer: which should a small team choose?
Choose Buffer if you mostly publish: its free plan covers 3 channels and Team adds unlimited users and approvals at $12 per channel. Choose Sprout Social if you need a message inbox, listening and review management, which Buffer's pricing page does not list.
Does every Sprout Social plan include social listening?
No. Standard and up include keyword and location monitoring, while full Listening is an add on from Standard up with the price given after a demo. Essentials has no brand keywords.
Can I get a refund if I cancel Sprout Social?
Not for the unused part of a term. Sprout Social's terms of service say you keep access until the next pay date after cancelling, with no refund or credit for prepaid fees.
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.
- Sprout Social pricing, plans per seat and billing FAQSprout Social
- Sprout Social pricing for nonprofitsSprout Social
- Sprout Social FAQ, trial and cancellationSprout Social
- Sprout Social integrations and supported networksSprout Social
- Sprout Social terms of service, billing and cancellationSprout Social
- Agorapulse pricing and plan comparisonAgorapulse
- Agorapulse Archie plan, after the end of the free planAgorapulse Help Centre
- Agorapulse free trial explainedAgorapulse Help Centre
- Agorapulse pricing per user explainedAgorapulse Help Centre
- Hootsuite plans and pricesHootsuite
- Vista Social pricing and plan featuresVista Social
- SocialPilot plans and pricingSocialPilot
- SocialPilot pricing file for AI agentsSocialPilot
- Sendible pricing and featuresSendible
- Buffer pricingBuffer
- Buffer machine readable pricing with channel ratesBuffer
- Metricool pricing and plan featuresMetricool
- Postiz pricing and plan featuresPostiz
- Postiz source code repository and licenseGitHub
- Zoho Social plans and pricingZoho
- Video: how to publish and customize a post in Sprout SocialSprout Social on YouTube
- Video: mastering your social inbox with AgorapulseAgorapulse on YouTube
Researched and written by Spreadcast. Last checked on October 19, 2026.