Buying guideHootsuite alternatives for publishing, inboxes and reporting
Buffer and Influence suit simpler publishing needs. Agorapulse and Sprout Social offer broader inbox and reporting tools. Here is how their costs and features differ.
Facts checked:
Hootsuite: The short answer
Buffer and Influence are worth considering if you mainly write and schedule posts. Agorapulse and Sprout Social are closer alternatives for teams that also manage customer messages and reports. Hootsuite remains useful when you rely on its inbox, monitoring or approval controls.
Reasons to keep your current tool
Hootsuite can be worth keeping when your team uses its inbox, monitoring and reports every day. Standard includes ten accounts. Advanced approvals and governance require other tiers, so the right comparison depends on which features you use.
Our recommendations
One operator mainly prepares and schedules posts
Buffer suits a few channels and a light queue. Influence is an option for assistant-led drafting and publishing across more accounts.
Compare the same workloadMessages and service reports drive the team's day
Agorapulse and Sprout Social are closer alternatives for customer messages and reporting.
Compare inbox-led choicesYou want to see the publishing handover
Influence lets you prepare a draft, review it and save a schedule. The example below shows those steps.
See how publishing worksFive accounts posting twelve times each need sixty publications
One person posting twelve times a month to five accounts uses sixty publications. Sending the same announcement to all five accounts counts as five publications.
Influence Starter includes fifty publications, so this example needs Growth. Hootsuite Standard has enough account capacity; a higher Hootsuite tier is only relevant if you need its additional features.
Your inbox and reports need a separate handover
On the publishing side, you can recreate the upcoming text, media and scheduled times. On the service side, identify who answers unresolved messages, which alerts matter and where required reports will be produced. These are different handovers.
Before canceling a suite, export the reports you need to retain and finish or assign outstanding conversations. If those functions still need Hootsuite, compare a publishing tool as a supplement first. Paying for two tools only makes sense if the saved work justifies the combined bill.
Hootsuite: Which tool suits you?
| Tool | Best suited to | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | Teams already using Hootsuite’s shared calendar and inbox. | The price depends on the plan and number of people. Confirm which reports and approval controls your subscription includes. |
| Influence | One business drafting, reviewing and scheduling posts across its accounts. | Moving scheduled posts does not transfer customer-care assignments, listening history or enterprise controls. |
| Agorapulse | Teams combining a shared inbox with publishing and reports. | Seat counts and required reporting features can change the suitable plan. |
| Sprout Social | Customer service teams with detailed reporting needs. | Its lower-priced Essentials plan is not equivalent to the wider care suite. Listening and Premium Analytics are separate add-ons. |
| Buffer | Solo publishers managing a few channels. | A channel is one connected account. More accounts change the bill, and team approvals require the appropriate plan. |
Publishing prices for your accounts
One account means one profile or Page. Posting an announcement to five accounts counts as five publications.
These plans cover publishing. Inbox, reporting and approval features differ by plan.
Some plans charge per account, person, brand or social set. A social set can limit how many accounts you can connect on each network. Posts are split evenly across accounts in these examples. Posting more often to one account may require a higher plan.
Standard US prices, excluding taxes, promotions and optional extras. Required extras are included where their prices are available.
Amounts use your selected currency, fixed comparison exchange rates and rounded local prices. Annual totals are the full-year bill.
Publishing price comparison: 5 connected accounts · 60 publications each month · Monthly billing
- HootsuitePrice unavailable
- Influence$39Growth
- Agorapulse$99Standard
- Sprout Social$99Essentials
- Buffer$30Essentials
The table shows priced plans with enough publishing capacity for these accounts and posts. Features such as team approvals may require a higher tier. Free plans are covered below.
This estimate puts all of the month’s posts in the queue at once. Refilling slots after posts go live can fit more posts on a smaller plan.
| Matching plan | Total for the billing period | What the plan includes |
|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | Price unavailable | Public pricing does not cover this combination of accounts, people and posts. A provider quote is needed.Plan source |
| InfluenceGrowth | $39billed each month | Monthly publications included: 150Plan source |
| AgorapulseStandard | $99billed each month | Accounts in base plan: 10 · People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: $99 × 1 = $99 Plan source |
| Sprout SocialEssentials | $99billed each month | Accounts in base plan: 5 · People in base plan: 1 · 10,000 posts waiting in the queue at one time US price calculation: $99 × 1 = $99 Plan source |
| BufferEssentials | $30billed each month | People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: 5 × $6 = $30 Plan source |
Prices for three common setups
US monthly prices. Each column uses the same accounts, people and number of posts for every tool.
Example 1
- Connected accounts
- 5
- Publications each month
- 60
- People using the tool
- 1
- Businesses or brands
- 1
- Most accounts on one network
- 1
- X accounts within that total
- 0
Example 2
- Connected accounts
- 5
- Publications each month
- 150
- People using the tool
- 1
- Businesses or brands
- 1
- Most accounts on one network
- 1
- X accounts within that total
- 0
Example 3
- Connected accounts
- 10
- Publications each month
- 120
- People using the tool
- 1
- Businesses or brands
- 1
- Most accounts on one network
- 2
- X accounts within that total
- 0
| Matching plan | Example 1 · USD | Example 2 · USD | Example 3 · USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | Price unavailable | Price unavailable | Price unavailable |
| Influence | $39Growth | $39Growth | $39Growth |
| Agorapulse | $99Standard | $99Standard | $99Standard |
| Sprout Social | $99Essentials | $99Essentials | $399Professional |
| Buffer | $30Essentials | $30Essentials | $60Essentials |
Hootsuite / Influence: The differences that matter
| What you need to do | Hootsuite | Influence |
|---|---|---|
| Connected accounts | Standard includes ten social accounts. Higher account needs change the plan. | Connect the accounts needed for one business; monthly destination publications determine the suitable plan. |
| Preparing content | AI text and image creation are included in the current suite. | Work from your own product facts and media, then review the drafts for each destination. |
| Calendar and scheduling | The shared calendar supports scheduling. Verify any recurring or bulk workflow you use. | Drafts can be reviewed and scheduled. Delivery status is available after the scheduled time. |
| Customer messages | Standard includes an inbox; routing and automation depend on the tier. | Existing customer conversations stay in your inbox tool. |
| Reports and monitoring | Current plans include monitoring; custom reports and wider listening have specific tier requirements. | Insights depend on the connected provider. Existing Hootsuite reports stay with Hootsuite. |
| Team controls | Advanced adds team content approvals; enterprise governance needs its own evaluation. | The author reviews the post before publishing; this is not a multi-person approval chain. |
Prices and plan details were checked on the date above. The linked sources list each provider’s current terms. Sources and pricing
Example: announce new opening hours
This example uses opening hours, a storefront photo and the business’s contact page.
- 1
Gather the source material
Record the effective date, opening hours, photo rights and destination accounts. Resolve any uncertainty before generating text.
Cedar Repairs changes its hours on 26 October: weekdays 08:00–18:00; Saturday stays 09:00–13:00. The business supplies an approved storefront photo.
- 2
Prepare destination drafts
Create an image-led Instagram post and a LinkedIn update with the useful details. Read each version in its own context.
Instagram
From 26 October, Cedar Repairs opens 08:00–18:00 on weekdays. Saturday hours stay 09:00–13:00.
LinkedIn
Our weekday opening hours change on 26 October: 08:00–18:00, Monday–Friday. Saturday remains 09:00–13:00.
- 3
Review before scheduling
Check the hours, date, image crop and link. Remove wording that implies a service or location you do not offer.
Check the effective date, both sets of hours, storefront photo, Instagram professional account and LinkedIn Page.
- 4
Save the schedule
Choose the intended account and local time for each draft. Confirm the saved schedule rather than relying on a chat response alone.
Scheduled for 22 October 2026, 09:00 Asia/Bangkok (02:00 UTC), with one post for each selected account.
- 5
Check the later result
After the scheduled time, read the delivery status and inspect the destination link when available. A failed or uncertain result needs review, not an automatic second send.
At 09:05, the first account shows Published and the second shows Needs review. Check the second account’s existing result before sending again to avoid a duplicate.
InstagramSee the steps in Influence
Screenshots from an example workspace with fictional data. The interface is shown in English.
1. Edit the text and check the preview
Edit the text beside the selected account’s preview. Saving a draft leaves it available for more changes.
Open full-size screenshot (new tab)
2. Review before approving
The review brings the account, post, date, time and time zone together. Confirm schedule saves this version for the chosen time.
Open full-size screenshot (new tab)
3. Find the scheduled post
The calendar shows when each post is due. Its status changes as publishing progresses; Activity shows the later delivery result.
Open full-size screenshot (new tab)
What carries over when you switch?
Move one upcoming post first and check its delivery before moving the rest of the calendar.
- List upcoming posts and export permitted media and reports.
- Connect an account you are authorized to manage and recreate one ordinary draft.
- Check its format, destination, permission and time zone.
- Choose one scheduler to own that future post; remove the duplicate schedule from the other tool.
- Check delivery, then move the remaining suitable publishing work.
Historical reports, inbox conversations, assignments and monitoring configuration do not automatically transfer with a recreated post. Keep the records and tools you still need.
See the publishing workflow
The current signup requires a card before the seven-day trial. Charging starts after the trial under the selected plan's terms.
Questions before you switch
Is Influence a complete Hootsuite replacement?
Influence handles preparing, reviewing and publishing posts. Moving those posts does not transfer Hootsuite’s inbox, listening history or advanced team controls.
Should I compare with the most expensive Hootsuite plan?
For one person and five accounts, Hootsuite Standard has enough account capacity. A more expensive plan is relevant only if you need its additional features.
Can I move all my scheduled posts automatically?
Scheduled posts need to be recreated and checked. Remove each old schedule as you move it so that the same post is not sent twice.
Hootsuite: Sources and pricing
Prices and plan details were checked on the date above. The linked sources list each provider’s current terms.
- Hootsuite: Pricing and plan details ·
- Agorapulse: Pricing and plan details ·
- Sprout Social: Pricing and plan details ·
- Buffer: Pricing and plan details ·
Compare other tools
Related alternatives and their prices, features and switching considerations.