Sprout Social alternatives

Sprout Social Alternatives

Sprout Social’s Standard plan is $199 per seat a month billed annually, and Listening costs extra. These five alternatives cost less per seat, include listening, or write the posts for you.

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TL;DR

Overall assessment: Agorapulse is the closest Sprout Social alternative for inbox-led teams, Hootsuite if you want listening included, Buffer if price decides it, and Sprites Social Studio when you want the posts planned and written for you.

Price: Sprout Social runs $199 to $399 per seat a month billed annually above its $79 Essentials plan. Buffer starts at $5 per channel, Later at $25, Agorapulse at $79 per user and Hootsuite at $99 per user.
Inbox and listening: Hootsuite includes inbox and listening on every plan. Sprout sells Listening as an add-on. Sprites has no inbox or listening.
Networks: Buffer, Later and Agorapulse publish to Facebook, Pinterest and Threads. Sprites publishes to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and not to Facebook Pages or Pinterest.
Writing the posts: Sprites generates the ideas and content plan, writes each post and attaches media. Every post arrives as an approval card, and nothing publishes until you approve it.

The short version

Tool	Price	Best for
Sprites Social Studio	See pricing	Posts planned, written and scheduled for you
Sprout Social	$79 to $399/mo	Inbox-led social teams
Hootsuite	From $99/user/mo	Inbox and listening included
Buffer	From $5/channel/mo	Low-cost scheduling
Later	From $25/mo	Visual planning and Link in Bio
Agorapulse	From $79/user/mo	Publishing plus engagement

Top 5 Sprout Social alternatives

Ranked by fit for teams currently evaluating Sprout Social.

#1
Sprites Social Studio
The AI marketing agent that plans, writes and schedules your posts to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Pros
- + Generates post ideas and a content plan for you
- + Writes the posts and attaches media
- + Schedules and publishes to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok
- + Runs paid ads and SEO from the same agent
Cons
- – No Facebook Page, Pinterest or Threads publishing
- – No social inbox or social listening
Best for: Small teams that want posts drafted and scheduled for them rather than a seat-priced suite.
Pricing: See pricing
#2
Hootsuite
Social media management with publishing, a unified inbox and social listening on every plan.
Pros
- + Inbox and social listening included on all plans
- + Bulk scheduler for up to 350 posts at once
- + Wisdom AI assistant for posts and images
Cons
- – Priced per user
- – Standard caps you at 10 social accounts
Best for: Teams that want listening without a separate add-on.
Pricing: From $99 per user/mo billed annually
#3
Buffer
Simple scheduling where you only pay for the channels you use.
Pros
- + No-cost plan for 3 channels and 10 scheduled posts per channel
- + Supports Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky and more
- + Unlimited team members on the Team plan
Cons
- – Billed per channel, so cost grows with every account
- – No social listening
Best for: Solo creators and small businesses that want low-cost scheduling.
Pricing: From $5/mo per channel
#4
Later
Visual planner and scheduler with Link in Bio on every plan.
Pros
- + Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and Snapchat
- + Competitive benchmarking and Meta Ads analytics on Scale
- + 14-day trial
Cons
- – Social inbox starts on Growth
- – Starter includes 1 user and 5 AI credits a month
Best for: Creators and brands planning visual content.
Pricing: From $25/mo ($18.75 billed annually)
#5
Agorapulse
Social media management for growing teams, with publishing, inbox and reporting.
Pros
- + Covers 11 networks including Reddit, Google Business and Bluesky
- + Competitor benchmarking on Advanced
- + 30-day trial
Cons
- – Priced per user
- – 10 social profiles on every self-serve plan
Best for: Agencies and teams that need publishing plus engagement for less than Sprout.
Pricing: From $79 per user/mo

Where Sprites fits

Sprites is an AI marketing agent: it reads your Meta, Google and LinkedIn ad accounts, proposes each change and makes it once you approve it. The research side is free. The Sprites ads library shows the live creative of named brands with run dates and destinations, and the Meta, Google and LinkedIn ads libraries slice the same creative by platform.

Sprout Social alternatives FAQ

Sprout Social Essentials costs $79 a month billed annually or $99 billed monthly, for up to 5 social profiles. Standard is $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399 per seat a month billed annually, and Enterprise is custom. Listening is a paid add-on, and there is a 30-day trial.

Agorapulse is the closest Sprout Social alternative for teams that need publishing, an inbox and reporting at a lower per-user price. Hootsuite suits teams that want listening included. Buffer is the cheapest, and Sprites Social Studio suits small teams that want posts planned and written for them.

Yes. Buffer starts at $5 a month per channel, Later at $25 a month or $18.75 billed annually, and Agorapulse at $79 per user a month, against Sprout Social Standard at $199 per seat a month billed annually.

For publishing to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, yes: Sprites generates ideas, writes the posts, attaches media and schedules them, with every post approved by you first. It does not publish to Facebook Pages or Pinterest and has no social inbox or listening, so inbox-led teams should stay on Sprout, Hootsuite or Agorapulse.

Hootsuite includes an inbox and social listening on all of its plans, starting at $99 per user a month billed annually. Later adds brand health monitoring on its Scale plan. Buffer and Sprites do not offer social listening.

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Sprout Social Alternatives

The short version

Top 5 Sprout Social alternatives

Sprites Social Studio

Hootsuite

Buffer

Later

Agorapulse

Where Sprites fits

Sprout Social alternatives FAQ

How much does Sprout Social cost?

What is the best Sprout Social alternative?

Is there a cheaper alternative to Sprout Social?

Does Sprites Social Studio replace Sprout Social?

Which Sprout Social alternative includes social listening?

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