Buying guideSprout Social alternatives for reporting, customer care and publishing
Agorapulse and Hootsuite cover customer messages; Metricool focuses on brand reports. Influence suits publishing. Sprout Essentials is also an option for up to five profiles.
Facts checked:
Sprout Social: The short answer
Agorapulse and Hootsuite are the closest choices here for a team managing customer messages. Metricool is worth considering for brand reports. For writing and scheduling posts, Sprout Essentials covers up to five profiles, while Influence offers plans based on monthly publications.
Reasons to keep your current tool
Keep Sprout when an established report, message-handling process or integration is worth the cost to your team. A cheaper scheduler is not a saving if someone then rebuilds those functions by hand.
Our recommendations
The required job is content preparation and publishing
Influence is an option for drafting and publishing. Sprout Essentials also covers a publishing-only setup with up to five profiles.
Compare matched costsInbox assignments matter every day
Agorapulse, Sprout Standard and the relevant Hootsuite tier are the closer options for inbox assignments.
Compare inbox workflowsClient reports are the main deliverable
Metricool is worth considering for brand reports; Sprout may be worth keeping when its report history and integrations are essential.
Compare reporting needsAn inbox and a reporting suite cover more than scheduling
A monthly client report may need paid and organic results, historical comparisons and exports. Those requirements determine the reporting tier; a basic post summary may leave gaps.
Customer service adds other requirements: assigning conversations, measuring response time and connecting a helpdesk. Agorapulse, Hootsuite and Sprout’s care plans address this kind of work. A shared publishing calendar covers a different need.
Essentials starts at $99 per user each month
Sprout Essentials costs $99 per seat with monthly billing, or $948 for a year, for up to five profiles. Standard is a separate, broader plan.
For one person, five accounts and sixty monthly publications, Influence Growth is $39 and Sprout Essentials is $99 at US monthly prices. Sprout Standard and paid add-ons cost more but cover additional work, such as customer care and reporting.
Sprout Social: Which tool suits you?
| Tool | Best suited to | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social | Teams that depend on Sprout’s reports or customer-care features. | Each person has a seat cost. Premium Analytics and Listening are separate add-ons on eligible plans. |
| Agorapulse | Shared customer messages, publishing and reporting. | Ten included profile slots are shared across the team; buying more seats does not add ten profiles per person. |
| Hootsuite | Publishing alongside an inbox and social monitoring. | Approvals and reports differ by plan. |
| Metricool | Brand analytics and client reports. | Brand slots, X costs and team features have their own limits and tiers. |
| Influence | Preparing and publishing posts without a full customer-care suite. | Moving posts does not transfer customer-care routing, listening history or Sprout report templates. |
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
- Sprout Social$99Essentials
- Agorapulse$99Standard
- HootsuitePrice unavailable
- MetricoolPrice unavailable
- Influence$39Growth
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| AgorapulseStandard | $99billed each month | Accounts in base plan: 10 · People in base plan: 1 US price calculation: $99 × 1 = $99 Plan source |
| Hootsuite | Price unavailable | Public pricing does not cover this combination of accounts, people and posts. A provider quote is needed.Plan source |
| Metricool | 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 |
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
- 60
- People using the tool
- 3
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social | $99Essentials | $297Essentials | $399Professional |
| Agorapulse | $99Standard | $297Standard | $99Standard |
| Hootsuite | Price unavailable | Price unavailable | Price unavailable |
| Metricool | Price unavailable | Price unavailable | Price unavailable |
| Influence | $39Growth | Price unavailable | $39Growth |
Sprout Social / Influence: The differences that matter
| What you need to do | Sprout Social | Influence |
|---|---|---|
| Five-profile publishing | Essentials and Standard each include five profiles. | Choose a plan by monthly destination publications. |
| People using the tool | Published suite prices are per seat, so three operators cost three seat prices. | The price examples cover one person managing one business. |
| Customer care | Standard includes an inbox and collaboration; higher tiers add care capabilities. | Existing customer conversations stay in your inbox tool. |
| Reports | Essentials has profile and post reports; more specialized reports need their eligible tier. | Account and post insights depend on the connected provider. |
| Listening | Listening is a separately priced add-on for Standard and higher. | Existing listening queries and history stay in their original tool. |
| Developer integration | The pricing page lists the Sprout API on Advanced. | API and assistant connections use review and confirmation before publishing. |
Prices and plan details were checked on the date above. The linked sources list each provider’s current terms. Sources and pricing
Example: publish an event reminder without losing the report
The reminder uses a confirmed event date, registration link and workshop photo. Existing client reporting continues separately.
- 1
Confirm the event details
Check the time zone, capacity and live registration page. Decide which accounts should carry the reminder.
Riverside Studio confirms a ceramics workshop on 24 October at 14:00 in Bangkok. Registration closes 23 October at 18:00. An approved workshop photo is supplied.
- 2
Prepare separate versions
Draft a concise reminder for each destination, retaining the same confirmed date and link.
Facebook
Join Riverside Studio’s ceramics workshop on 24 October at 14:00 in Bangkok. Registration closes on 23 October at 18:00.
LinkedIn
Riverside Studio’s next ceramics workshop takes place on 24 October at 14:00, Bangkok time. Book by 23 October at 18:00.
- 3
Review the details
Check the image crop and wording. Complete any required team approval before scheduling.
Verify the event and registration times, authorized photo and booking destination. Keep the existing client-reporting process separate.
- 4
Save the schedule
Choose each publication time and inspect the saved items. Avoid leaving the same reminder scheduled in both tools.
Scheduled for 22 October 2026, 09:00 Asia/Bangkok (02:00 UTC), with one post for each selected account.
- 5
Verify delivery and reporting
Inspect the later status and destination. Separately confirm that the report you depend on still has the needed data.
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.
See 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?
Reports and customer conversations need their own handover when you move the publishing calendar.
- Export reports that must be retained.
- Document unresolved conversations and their owners.
- Recreate one upcoming post in the candidate tool.
- Verify account, format and time zone, then assign that item to one scheduler.
- Check delivery and the next reporting cycle before canceling an essential function.
Historical reports, listening queries, care assignments and helpdesk configuration do not automatically transfer.
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
Does Sprout still start at $199?
The checked pricing page offers Essentials at $99 per seat with monthly billing, or $79 per seat per month billed annually. Standard is a different plan.
Is social listening included in Essentials?
The current pricing page offers Listening as an add-on for Standard and higher, not as an Essentials inclusion.
Is a cheaper publishing plan enough for a care team?
Only when another tool or process covers customer messages, assignments, reports and integrations. Those costs remain alongside the publishing subscription.
Sprout Social: Sources and pricing
Prices and plan details were checked on the date above. The linked sources list each provider’s current terms.
- Sprout Social: Pricing and plan details ·
- Agorapulse: Pricing and plan details ·
- Hootsuite: Pricing and plan details ·
- Metricool: Pricing and plan details ·
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