Hootsuite has been the favorite tool of many for years, but it’s not the only tool in the toolbox anymore, and quite frankly, it’s not always the best tool for everyone.
Perhaps you’re sick of the cost increases. Perhaps the interface seems like it hasn’t kept pace with the way you work.
Or perhaps you simply want something that’s better suited to your expanding team, tighter budget, or changing priorities.
Whatever the cause, you’ve got choices, and good ones. In this post, we’re digging into the top 12 Hootsuite competitors to check out in 2025. Let’s find your perfect match. Stop Scheduling the Hard Way! Still jumping between spreadsheets and platforms? Social Champ makes content planning ridiculously easy. Get in now before your competitors do. While Hootsuite has long been a staple in the social media management toolkit, it’s far from perfect, and lately, more users are starting to notice. If you’ve found yourself side-eyeing your dashboard or wondering if there’s a better way to run your content calendar, you’re not alone. Here are a few common reasons people are exploring other options: Let’s be blunt. Hootsuite has become pricey. For small teams and individuals, the price points feel quite steep, particularly when key features are reserved for still more costly plans. What’s even more maddening is that the cost increase isn’t often matched with a discernible increase in functionality. When your ROI begins to seem unclear, it’s only natural to question whether another tool might provide better value for money. You’d expect a premium platform to offer premium features, but with Hootsuite, many of those are locked behind pricey upgrades. For instance, if you want in-depth analytics, you’ll need to pay more. Need team collaboration tools? Again, it’ll cost you. For smaller businesses or creators operating on a tight budget, this creates a frustrating experience where the most useful tools feel just out of reach. Previously, Hootsuite had a free plan that was ideal for small brands or individuals starting out. That’s no longer the situation. The elimination of its free plan has left many long-term users looking for alternatives that still provide simple scheduling and posting features for free. When you’re just starting out or managing a side hustle, having any kind of free option makes a big difference, and losing that can feel like getting the rug pulled out from under you. Featured Article:Best YouTube Management Tools You Should Use Here are 12 standout Hootsuite alternatives that are worth your attention. Social Champ is the new star in social media management that brings a well-balanced blend of strong features and simplicity. It suits a wide range of users, including entrepreneurs, startups, and small marketing teams looking to remain consistent with their content strategy without having to dig through a complicated interface. The platform enables scheduling and automation of posts to 11+ platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp Business, and Google Business Profile. Its AI capabilities, evergreen content recycling, and visual calendar are features that make it a compelling platform for planning content and monitoring performance. Sprout Social is one of the most professional social media management tools out there today. It’s designed to scale, so it’s a top pick for large organizations, agencies, and enterprise teams that need advanced collaboration, security, and reporting. With its sophisticated social listening features, audience CRM, and granular analytics, Sprout Social allows brands to make informed decisions. It encompasses strategic content planning, real-time engagement, and team workflows all in one smooth interface. Later is a visually-led social media platform initially intended for Instagram but currently compatible with TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Facebook. It distinguishes itself through its drag-and-drop calendar, management of media libraries, and clean design, making it well-suited for brands concerned about looks. Influencers and marketers who would like to plan their feed visually will particularly benefit from Later. It also comes with good analytics and link-in-bio capabilities to help drive traffic. Buffer is still a favorite among users who appreciate simplicity and dependability in a social media automation tool. It offers publishing, engagement, and analytics, and has just added AI-enabled capabilities for content generation. It excels in its simplicity-focused interface, responsiveness, and simplified experience for freelancers, creators, and smaller teams. It’s also among the last remaining platforms that still provides a very spacious free plan. Agorapulse is a full-featured social media management solution designed for marketers. It’s particularly useful for agencies and businesses that require managing multiple brands or client accounts. With customer interaction at its core, Agorapulse delivers an integrated inbox, in-depth performance reports, and CRM-style tagging to control audience relationships. Its clean UI, along with approval workflows, makes it ideal for collaborative work. Metricool is an analytics-driven platform that integrates content planning with wide-ranging analytics. It isn’t limited to social media platforms but can analyze website traffic, as well as paid ad performance on channels like Google, Facebook, and TikTok. Its easy-to-use dashboard enables marketers and agencies to make informed decisions based on data. Metricool is perfect for those who need a 360-degree analysis of their online performance without switching between tools. Sendible is designed for digital marketing agencies with multiple clients. The platform is extremely customizable, with a number of branding, workflow, and client-facing features. It accommodates scheduling, engagement, and monitoring on all major social sites. What sets Sendible apart is its automation through RSS feeds and its capacity to schedule content well for large teams. Loomly is an interactive social media planning tool made for organized content planning and brand alignment. It has comprehensive approval workflows and content optimization advice that keeps marketing teams coordinated. Regardless of whether you’re scheduling across channels or collaborating with several contributors, Loomly gives you a versatile workspace that keeps everything on schedule. It’s perfect for agencies, in-house departments, and content strategists. SocialPilot is a high-value choice for agencies that desire advanced features without the enterprise price level. It’s perfect for small agencies, consultants, and expanding organizations. With multi-account support, white-labeled reports, and bulk scheduling, SocialPilot provides an effortless way to handle numerous clients or brands under one dashboard. It’s also regarded as providing additional features compared to alternatives available at comparable price levels. CoSchedule is a great tool for brands that primarily deal with content management. Its Marketing Calendar allows you to plan blog posts, email campaigns, social content, and team tasks all in one place. Ideal for content-driven teams, CoSchedule allows users to simplify the entire publishing process. Its ReQueue tool is handy for keeping evergreen content flowing automatically as well. SocialBee is a multipurpose and budget-friendly social media scheduler designed for small business owners, solopreneurs, and virtual assistants. It emphasizes efficiency through content recycling and categorization, so your feeds remain active without constant human intervention. It also provides concierge services for people who wish to outsource content generation and management. SocialBee delivers great value for money, with great support and onboarding. Meltwater extends beyond general social media management with enterprise-level media monitoring, analytics, and PR tracking. It’s intended for big businesses looking for full control over their online brand presence, including news media mentions and digital channels. Meltwater is strongest in areas of social listening, influencer monitoring, and real-time campaign performance metrics. It’s ideal for teams working on reputation management and strategic insights. Each of these platforms offers something different. The right tool is based on team size, budget, and the level of depth you want to achieve in analytics, automation, or collaboration. The most important thing is finding one that feels like an extension of how you already work. Featured Article: The Best Twitter Monitoring Tools to Track Your Brand To make it easier for you, here’s a quick comparison table between Hootsuite vs its competitors: – Analytics – Social listening – Ad management – Social media calendar – Engage – Social listening – Analytics – Analytics – Content planning – Customer care – Post scheduling – Instagram link-in-bio – Analytics – Publishing – Analytics – Engagement – Collaboration – Collaboration – Engagement – Reporting – Listening – Analytics – Inbox – Integrations – CRM integration – White-label reports – Client collaboration – Collaboration – Content creation – Engagement – Reporting – Analytics – Client management – White-label reporting – Team collaboration – Social publishing – Content creation – AI tools – Analytics – AI assistant – Evergreen recycling – Concierge services – Reporting & Analytics – Team collaboration Don’t Pay More for Features You’ll Never Use Hootsuite’s pricing got you side-eyeing your budget? Social Champ gives you more of what matters, and none of the fluff. Social Champ has gradually become a viable alternative to the social media management niche, particularly for users who no longer see Hootsuite providing the value it once did. Both tools provide necessary features, such as scheduling, analytics, and multi-platform posting, but differ greatly in usability, cost, and automation capabilities. Here’s the comparison: Social Champ is built with a sleek, easy-to-use interface that’s simple for newbies to grasp but still feature-rich enough for advanced marketers. Its dashboard is light and streamlined, so day-to-day scheduling and tracking are quick and easy. Hootsuite, however, boasts a cluttered and older interface. Though it’s powerful, it can be daunting, particularly for beginners. Social Champ is also superior in terms of automation. It provides evergreen content recycling, artificial intelligence-based content suggestions, and a visual drag-and-drop calendar. These features enable users to have a consistent posting schedule with little human intervention. Hootsuite has rudimentary scheduling and bulk uploading capabilities, but lacks in-built content recycling. Instead, it relies on integrations or workarounds for advanced automations. This provides Social Champ with an evident advantage when it comes to long-term content management effectiveness. Hootsuite has one of the strongest analytics, but only available on more expensive plans. Basic plan users have limited access and have to pay extra for deeper reporting or custom dashboards. Social Champ has significant analytics even in lower-cost plans. Not as in-depth as Hootsuite’s enterprise-level, the reporting included is far more than what small businesses and emerging brands need. One of Social Champ’s greatest strengths is how it prices its plans. It has clearly defined, affordable plans that provide users with most of its top features without needing to upgrade. Starting at only $4/month, Social Champ is considered one of the most cost-effective Hootsuite competitors. Hootsuite has been faulted for its expensive pricing and frequent plan changes, even stripping its free plan. Most users end up paying more and receiving less unless they lock into enterprise pricing. Best For Your Feed’s About to Look Legendary! Better visuals. Smarter scheduling. Consistency on autopilot. All without breaking the bank. Try Social Champ now before everyone else figures it out. Ultimately, the best social media management tool is one that works for you, not necessarily the one with the most bells and whistles or the most fame. Hootsuite might have been the leader of the pack for decades, but with increasing costs, the elimination of its free option, and a UX that’s starting to feel dated, users are understandably looking elsewhere for newer, more agile options. Whether you’re a sole creator wanting ease of use, a startup pursuing value, or an agency running a dozen brands, there’s a platform out there that more accurately fits your objectives. From Social Champ’s user-friendly design to Meltwater’s enterprise-grade capability, this list presents you with a broad assortment of tools to work with, each with its own capabilities, pricing, and specialization. Seize free trials, check out demos, and consider what really counts in your process, automation? collaboration? analysis? Once you have that settled, you’ll be closer to the point where social media won’t feel like drudgery and more like a strategic asset. Afirah Shaikh is a content marketer at Social Champ who turns strategy into storytelling. With three years of experience in content marketing and an MBA to her name, she has worked with brands across the digital marketing, e-commerce, and SaaS industries worldwide to create content that performs. She is known for her ability to balance creativity with purpose to drive results.Short Summary
Why You Might Be Searching for Hootsuite Competitors
Rising Costs Without Clear Value
Limited Features on Lower Tiers
No More Free Plan
Top 12 Hootsuite Competitors to Consider for Social Media Management in 2025
Social Champ
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Sprout Social
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Later
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Buffer
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Agorapulse
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Metricool
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Sendible
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Loomly
Key Features
Pros
Cons
SocialPilot
Key Features
Pros
Cons
CoSchedule
Key Features
Pros
Cons
SocialBee
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Meltwater
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Comprehensive Comparison: Hootsuite vs Its Top Competitors
Tool
Free Plan
Starting Price (Monthly)
Notable Features
Hootsuite
❌
$99/month
– Publishing
Social Champ
✅
$4/month
– Publishing & scheduling
Sprout Social
❌
$199/month
– Engagement
Later
✅
$16.67/month
– Visual content calendar
Buffer
✅
$5/month
– Content creation
Agorapulse
✅
$79/month
– Publishing
Metricool
✅
$18/month
– Basic scheduling
Sendible
❌
$29/month
– Smart queues
Loomly
❌
Not Listed
– Publish & schedule
SocialPilot
❌
$25.50/month
– Scheduling
CoSchedule
✅
$19/month
– Calendar
SocialBee
❌
$24/month
– Content categories
Meltwater
❌
Not Listed
– Social media scheduling
How Social Champ Compares to Hootsuite: Key Features and Benefits
Ease of Use and Interface
Scheduling and Automation
Analytics and Reporting
Pricing and Value
Conclusion
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Are the Best Hootsuite Alternatives for Small Businesses?
2. Which Social Media Management Tools Are Free and Comparable to Hootsuite?
3. Is Social Champ a Good Alternative to Hootsuite?
4. What Are the Key Differences Between Hootsuite and Sprout Social?
Afirah Shaikh
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1 comment
Jaxson Martin
I found your article super informative and helpful. I am always looking for ways to improve my workflow and find the best tools to help me achieve my goals.