Best Sprout Social Alternatives
Sprout Social starts at $79 a month and its Professional plan is $299, with no permanent free tier. It is built for mid-market and enterprise social teams, and most people who end up on a page like this are paying enterprise prices for a job that does not need them. So the question worth answering is not which tool is best, it is which part of Sprout you actually use. Everything below is a tool we have reviewed, with pricing from the vendor's own page.
If you only need scheduling
Publishing to several accounts on a calendar is the part most people use, and it is available for the price of a coffee.
$5/mo with a free plan. The cheapest credible scheduler we review.
$6/mo for one channel, and a free plan covering up to three channels and ten scheduled posts. Named by Sprout as a competitor.
$15/mo with a Free Forever plan for one brand. Aimed at solo creators rather than teams.
If you need approvals and a team workflow
The reason teams pay for Sprout is usually review and sign-off rather than posting. These do that at a fraction of $299.
$35/mo and built around agencies managing client accounts, which is Sprout's own core market.
$39/mo, and the approval workflow is the product rather than an add-on. First 50 posts are free.
$65/mo. The closest to Sprout's workflow feel, and still well under its $299 Professional tier.
The direct competitors
Sprout's own materials name Hootsuite and Buffer, and Buffer is above. These are the tools sold into the same deals.
$99/mo and the name most often weighed against Sprout. No permanent free plan either.
$79/mo, the same entry price as Sprout, so this is a features decision rather than a cost one.
$25/mo with a genuine free plan, and it names Sprout as a competitor. The biggest price drop on this page that is still a full tool.
Every AI Social Media we've reviewed
Brand24
Vista Social
Hootsuite
Metricool
Sendible
Typefully
ContentStudio
Publer
SocialBee
Buffer
FeedHive
KreadoAI
Later
Planable
Predis.ai
Plann
Loomly
Ocoya
Taplio
Circleboom
Flick
TubeBuddy
Frequently asked
Is there a free alternative to Sprout Social?
Yes. Buffer's free plan covers up to three channels and ten scheduled posts, Publer and Typefully have free tiers, and Plann has a Free Forever plan for one brand. Sprout itself has no permanent free tier, only a 30-day trial.
What is the cheapest Sprout Social alternative?
Publer at $5/mo, then Buffer at $6/mo. Both are schedulers rather than full social suites, so compare them against what you actually use Sprout for rather than against its feature list.
Who are Sprout Social's competitors?
Sprout names Hootsuite, Buffer, Brandwatch, Khoros and Sprinklr. Of those we review Hootsuite at $99/mo and Buffer at $6/mo, which between them cover both ends of the market Sprout sits in.
Is Hootsuite cheaper than Sprout Social?
Yes at the entry point, $99/mo against Sprout's $79 Essentials, but the comparison that matters is Sprout's $299 Professional tier, which is where most teams end up. Neither has a permanent free plan.