11 Cutting-Edge Hootsuite Alternatives in 2023

Are you looking for Hootsuite alternatives to manage your organic social media campaigns?

Social media has rapidly become one of the best organic channels for growing brand awareness. 91% of marketers will use social media to distribute content in 2021, which is more than used their own company blog (79%). in 2013, this number was 86.2%.

But with this increased focus on social media, you need some way to manage and measure the results of your activities.

Hootsuite was one of the first social media management platforms on the market, but its pricing model is starting to lose favor. Many small companies don’t want to pay over $700 per month for a business account limited to five users.

In this post, we’ll show you all the other options out there. We’ll cover 11 paid and free Hootsuite alternatives that can help you grow your social media presence in 2023 and beyond.

Why You Should Consider Alternatives to Hootsuite in 2023

Ten years ago, Hootsuite was just one of a handful of options to help you manage your social media more effectively. In 2022, there are 290+ social media management software tools listed on G2.

It’s not that Hootsuite doesn’t get the job done as a social media management tool anymore — it still works in 2023.

But there are probably other options better suited to your budget, industry, preferred channels (like Instagram), or other unique needs.

While Hootsuite supports most social media platforms, it’s not necessarily tailored to help you create the perfect content and strategy for a specific one, which could benefit some companies.

It’s also not the easiest tool to learn for new team members, which can become a pain point for growing companies. Hoosuite did also have a free plan option (albeit it is very small) but that small free offering was sunset on March 31st, 2023.

Below, we highlight 11 options that just might prove to be better for your team and company.

How To Find the Best Social Media Management Tool for Your Company

Before we get into the list, let’s quickly cover aspects of a software tool you should consider before making your final decision.

You must consider not just the price or reputation but explore individual features and your company’s unique needs.

This includes:

• Platform support: Does it support all the social media channels that you use?
• Price: How much would it cost for your entire team?
• Features: Does it include analytics, or do you need to go somewhere else for that?

It doesn’t matter if it’s cheaper for a single user, if the pricing model is per-user, and you’ve got a team of eight people. Consider all factors before deciding on a new social media platform.

Hootsuite Alternatives

1. Buffer: A Better Alternative to Hootsuite for Small Teams

Another OG in the social media management industry, Buffer, has been around since November 2010.

With advanced features available for a much lower price, it’s a better Hootsuite alternative for smaller businesses and teams.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Includes a free plan for individual users with basic needs (three social accounts, one user, bare-bones scheduling features)
• More affordable than Hootsuite, a full-featured agency plan costs $100 per month for unlimited users and 10 social channels
• Includes visual editing tools for planning and creating Instagram stories
• Support for Instagram shop grid
• Advanced collaboration tools

Cons:

• Buffer analytics is billed separately at $35 or $50 per month (certain plans)

Recommended for:

• SMBs
• Freelancers
• Small social media marketing teams or agencies

Pricing: Offers a limited free plan for one user and up to ten social media posts. The lowest tier of paid plans starts at $5 per month. The analytics suite is offered as a separate package starting at $35 per month.

Buffer vs Hootsuite

Let’s see how the features and pricing stack up against Hootsuite.

Both Buffer and Hootsuite have it covered in terms of the features you’d expect, like social scheduling and listening. But only Buffer has advanced Instagram marketing tools like a visual story builder and shop grid support.

Also, Buffer is a lot cheaper, even with the added Buffer Analytics product. It even offers a free plan.

The advanced analytics product is powerful enough for enterprise and SaaS marketing, not just small businesses.

2. Agorapulse: A Hootsuite Alternative for Established Brands

Agorapulse is a complete social media management platform that offers extensive social planning, publishing, monitoring, and analytics tools.

You can plan a campaign, schedule it, find people likely to engage with it, and check the results, all within the same tool.

Pros:

• Includes a free plan for individual users with basic needs (three social accounts, one user, 40 monthly posts)
• Complete package with social listening, social ads management, analytics, and more
• Advanced collaboration tools
• Easy-to-use interface (ranks higher for usability than Hootsuite on G2 Crowd)

Cons:

• Pro plans start at $79 per month, which is more expensive than Hootsuite and many alternatives.

Recommended for:

Pricing: Agorapulse has a limited free plan for one user, three social media profiles, and up to 40 posts per month. The pro plan starts at $79 per month, which is more expensive than Hootsuite.

Agorapulse vs Hootsuite

Agorapulse offers everything you’d want in a social media management platform and even lets you get started for free.

Plus, unlike Hootsuite, bulk scheduling is built into the platform, even on the cheapest “pro” plan that starts at $79 per month.

3. Sprout Social: A Hootsuite Alternative for Enterprises

If you’re working for an enterprise and you’re looking for an even more powerful social media management platform than Hootsuite, Sprout Social may be right for you.

Beyond an integrated social inbox, in-depth analytics tools, and advanced tools for managing an editorial workflow, it offers employee advocacy tools to make it easier to create a living, breathing social enterprise.

Pros:

• Perfect for enterprise needs with social listening, advanced analytics, editorial controls, and much more
• Employee advocacy tools make it easy to scale social campaigns.
• Chatbot built into the platform

Cons:

• Standard plans start at $89 per month, which is slightly more expensive than Hootsuite and other options.

Recommended for:

• Enterprises
• Large agencies

Pricing: The Standard plan starts at $89 per month, which is more expensive than Hootsuite. The all-features-included Advanced plan costs $249 per month.

Sprout Social vs Hootsuite

Sprout Social stacks up well against Hootsuite in terms of features, usability, and price. But with per-user pricing, it could become a lot more expensive if you have a large social media marketing team.

It also offers unique, enterprise-friendly features like employee advocacy tools and truly in-depth analytics and reporting that are perfect for quarterly performance reports.

All things considered, it’s a great alternative for enterprises and large agencies.

4. SocialPilot: A More Affordable Hootsuite Alternative

SocialPilot is a slightly more basic social media marketing tool. It doesn’t offer social listening or other advanced features.

It still offers all the tools you need for planning and publishing content, like a social media calendar, bulk scheduling, and a post-approval workflow.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Affordable — plans start at $25.50 per month (billed annually)
• Complete social publishing toolbox, including bulk scheduling, approval workflows, RSS feeds, and more

Cons:

• Lacks social listening and truly in-depth analytics.

Recommended for:

• SMBs
• Freelancers
• Agencies

Pricing: When billed yearly, the professional plan starts at just $25.50 per month, which is less than half of what the cheapest HootSuite plan costs. Even the full-featured agency plan is significantly cheaper while offering more users.

SocialPilot vs Hootsuite

The biggest advantage SocialPilot has over Hootsuite is its price. It offers full features for up to ten users at 1/4th of the price of Hootsuite’s five-user business plan.

The only negative with SocialPilot is that it doesn’t offer social listening or engagement capabilities beyond comments to your social media posts.

5. Sendible: A Great Alternative for Agencies

If your agency is currently using Hootsuite to manage every social media account for your clients, Sendible could be a great alternative.

Not only does it offer the same advanced features like social listening, advanced performance analytics, and approval workflows for social media posts, it offers a co-branding option.

By having your own branded solution, you can position your agency as a true market leader in the industry without developing anything from scratch.

Pros:

• Integrated dashboard for an overview of multiple clients
• Advanced collaboration tools, including approval workflows tailored to a specific social media account
• Schedule posts in bulk for months in advance, including pictures

Cons:

• A bit pricey for advanced features, similar to Hootsuite.

Recommended for:

• SMBs
• Freelancers
• Agencies

Pricing: Sendible is also more affordable than Hootsuite, starting at $25 per month and offering a full-featured agency plan at $199 per month for up to 7 users. The co-branding feature is limited to an exclusive Agency partner program, not a specific pricing tier.

Sendible vs Hootsuite

As an Agency, the most attractive feature might be co-branding, but Sendible is also evenly matched with Hootsuite on every key feature.

To top it off, it’s noticeably more affordable, especially if you have a sizable team.

6. Radaar.io: A Hootsuite Alternative for Small Teams and Companies

Radaar.io is an up-and-coming Hootsuite competitor that offers many of the same features at a much lower price point.

It offers social monitoring and listening, an integrated social inbox, approval workflows, and everything else you’d expect from a social media tool.

Pros:

• Affordable — starts at $9.99 per month
• An easy-to-use integrated dashboard boosts your social engagement

Cons:

• The analytics dashboard is somewhat limited compared to other alternatives.

Recommended for:

• SMBs
• Freelancers
• Agencies

Pricing: Radaar.io is significantly cheaper than Hootsuite, with its cheapest paid plan starting at just $9.99 per month.

Radaar.io vs Hootsuite

Radaar.io offers most of the same features — from team collaboration and scheduling to analytics — that Hootsuite does but at a drastically different price point.

At just $59.99 per month, you get full access for a team of up to ten users.

7. Brandwatch: An Alternative for Serious Content Marketers

Brandwatch is a marketing platform that goes beyond social media and also offers content marketing and audience management tools.

But even on the social media front, it offers a fully-featured platform with social listening, analytics, and more. You can schedule posts, boost engagement, and review the impact of your strategy.

Pros:

• Complete platform with advanced inbound marketing tools
• Social support platform included

Cons:

• Advanced features locked behind a custom “Full Suite” plan with no public pricing information.
• Per-user pricing.

Recommended for:

Pricing: Brandwatch may be the most aggressively priced Hootsuite alternative on this list — the cheapest option starts at $108 per user per month. Many more advanced features are locked behind the custom “Full Suite” plan, which has no official price.

Brandwatch vs Hootsuite

With Brandwatch, you get a social media tool and access to crucial content marketing features, like audience management.

But it comes at a cost with a per-user price of $108 per month for the limited Essentials plan. Brandwatch is a more expensive alternative.

8. Later: A Hootsuite Alternative for Instagram-Focused Brands

Originally an Instagram-only social media management tool, Later has evolved into a full-fledged platform for every major social media channel, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.

Still, it offers unique tools in terms of planning, designing, scheduling, and measuring the impact of Instagram Stories that other alternatives don’t.

Pros:

• Great features for building a social media presence, especially Instagram.
• Offers a free plan
• Affordable — starting at $18 per month

Cons:

• Lacks some advanced features like in-depth analytics across multiple channels, an integrated inbox, and social listening.

Recommended for:

Pricing: The free plan allows one set of social media profiles and 30 posts per month with basic features. The cheapest paid plan starts at $18 and offers limited features and support.

Later vs Hootsuite

Later is a great and affordable social media platform for brands that want to focus more on Instagram than other channels. If you’re wondering why you would do that, check out the latest Instagram stats.

For $40 per month, you get access to a more advanced set of Instagram marketing tools than Hootsuite’s most advanced plans offer, but the overall suite isn’t as powerful.

9. Publer: A Hootsuite Alternative for SMBs

Despite the superhero gimmick, Publer is a serious social media management platform with great features and a legitimate alternative to Hootsuite.

It offers publishing, analytics, and collaboration tools for everything from Facebook to Google My Business.

Pros:

• Manage your entire online presence from a single dashboard
• Start by trying out the free plan. That even includes advanced features like trackable links.

Cons:

• Lacks some advanced features like in-depth analytics across multiple channels and social listening.

Recommended for:

Pricing: The free plan allows three social accounts and up to 50 scheduled posts per month. The paid business plan starts with Silver at $28 per month and $3 extra per additional team member.

Publer vs Hootsuite

Publer is a great, affordable alternative to Hootsuite for SMBs. If you have a social media management team of six users, you can access all its features for a total of $28 per month.

If you’re looking for more affordable tools to help you with marketing, billing, and more, check out our list of the best tools for freelancers.

10. Crowdfire: A Hootsuite Alternative that Gives You New Ideas

Crowdfire is a social media management app with a twist, its main focus is on curating relevant images and content for you to share with your audience.

It also offers standard publishing, analytics, and collaboration tools for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more.

Pros:

• Find engaging images in seconds with smart recommendations
• Build your audience auto-tailored posts for each platform
• Learn from your competitors with competitor analysis

Cons:

• No social listening beyond mentions, comments, and messages

Recommended for:

Pricing: The free plan allows three social accounts and up to ten scheduled posts per account. The premium plan starts at $49.99 per month.

Crowdfire vs Hootsuite

What sets Crowdfire apart is its smart content curation and recommendation engine that helps you find posts and images to share for easy engagement with your followers.

11. ContentStudio: A Hootsuite Alternative for Creative Teams

ContentStudio is another social media management platform that focuses on the curation of content as well as publishing and analytics.

The target here is more toward agencies and startups as well as creative teams in larger companies.

Pros:

• Find engaging images in seconds with smart recommendations
• Build your audience auto-tailored posts for each platform
• Learn from your competitors with competitor analysis

Cons:

• No social listening tools
• No free or cheap plans are available to test the platform

Recommended for:

• SMBs
• Agencies
• Creative teams

Pricing: The basic pro plan starts at $49 per month for up to ten social media accounts in a single workspace.

ContentStudio vs Hootsuite

ContentStudio is a great tool for large creative teams that want a better way to plan out their content calendars.

It also offers many of the same scheduling and analytics features as Hootsuite, but not a full-fledged social listening tool.

ContentStudio also offers a unique feature called “workspaces,” which helps you separate different clients or brands from each other.

Summary

The point of this article isn’t to force you to use something other than Hootsuite. It’s to consider the other options out there.

For some companies, sticking with what’s familiar might be worth it, but for others, switching to a new alternative with tools that better suit their needs and goals can help them build their social presence faster.

Hopefully, we helped you get some perspective on the options out there and aided you in choosing a new tool of the trade for your next social media marketing campaign.