Hootsuite alternatives for 2026
Weekbird is a Hootsuite alternative for small teams: $24, $49 or $149 a month per plan, with unlimited posts and approval links from $49. Hootsuite bills per user, from $99 a month billed yearly, and puts approvals on Advanced at $399. Sprout Social, Buffer, Metricool and Publer follow, with prices checked on each vendor's page on 10 October 2026.
| Tool | Best for | How it bills | Cheapest paid plan | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WeekbirdHootsuite vs Weekbird: price, approvals and fit | small teams and agencies that schedule and approve posts and do not need listening. See Weekbird pricing. | Per plan | $19 / monthbilled annually | No |
| Sprout SocialSprout Social pricing in 2026: plans and costs | Teams that need listening and mobile apps | per user | $79 / monthbilled annually | No |
| BufferBuffer pricing in 2026: plans and costs | A few channels, with a free plan for 3 | per channel | $5 / monthbilled annually | Yes |
| MetricoolMetricool pricing in 2026: plans and costs | Many brands, with ads reporting | per brand | $20 / monthbilled annually | Yes |
| Publer | The lowest price per account | Per plan / per channel | $4 / monthbilled annually | Yes |
Prices from sproutsocial.com/pricing, checked 10 Oct 2026; buffer.com/pricing, checked 10 Oct 2026; metricool.com/pricing, checked 10 Oct 2026; publer.com/pricing, checked 10 Oct 2026
Product prices from weekbird.app, updated 11 Oct 2026
1. Weekbird: a Hootsuite alternative priced per plan
Weekbird costs $24, $49 or $149 a month ($228, $468 or $1,428 a year), with unlimited posts on every plan and no charge per user on Team. You write one post and adjust a version for each channel; Weekbird checks each version against that network's limits before you schedule it. Team and Agency add approval links that reviewers open without an account, and an Inbox for comments, replies and Google Business Profile reviews.
Hootsuite does more. Weekbird has no social listening, no competitor monitoring, no mobile app and no direct messages in the Inbox.
Best for: small teams and agencies that schedule and approve posts and do not need listening. See Weekbird pricing.
2. Sprout Social: listening, mobile apps and reviews
Sprout Social charges per seat: Essentials $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) for 5 profiles, Professional $299 billed yearly with no cap. Listening is an add-on with sentiment tracking and spike alerts. iOS and Android apps come with every plan.
Best for: teams that work from phones and handle reviews and support next to social.
3. Buffer: priced per channel, with a free plan
Buffer charges $6 per channel a month on Essentials and $12 on Team ($5 and $10 billed yearly). Team adds unlimited users and approval workflows. The free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each.
Best for: a handful of channels and a tight budget.
4. Metricool: priced by brand, with ads reporting
Metricool sells tiers of brands. Advanced costs $67 a month for up to 15 brands ($53 billed yearly) and adds team management and post approvals. It reports on Facebook, Google and TikTok ads next to organic posts. X costs extra.
Best for: marketers who report on organic and paid results together.
5. Publer: priced per account
Publer charges $5 per account a month on Professional and $10 on Business ($4 and $8 billed yearly), with every tenth account free. Business adds approvals, an API and MCP access; extra members cost more.
Best for: one owner with many accounts.
Hootsuite plans
| Plan | Price | Brands / seats | Channels | Users | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | 10 social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited scheduled posts; AI: Wisdom AI included (no credit counts published); Approvals: No; Inbox: Single inbox |
| Professional | $199 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | Unlimited social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited; AI: Wisdom AI; Approvals: No; Inbox: Inbox with automated replies and workflows; Custom performance reports, trend forecasting to 90 days |
| Advanced | $399 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | Unlimited social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited; AI: Wisdom AI; Approvals: Yes (review and approve content); Inbox: Assignment and auto-routing |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | custom | Unlimited | Custom | Approvals: Yes; SSO, advanced listening, advanced analytics |
| Plan | Price | Brands / seats | Channels | Users | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | Contact sales | custom | Unlimited | Custom | Approvals: Yes; SSO, advanced listening, advanced analytics |
| Plan | Price | Brands / seats | Channels | Users | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | 10 social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited scheduled posts; AI: Wisdom AI included (no credit counts published); Approvals: No; Inbox: Single inbox |
| Professional | $199 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | Unlimited social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited; AI: Wisdom AI; Approvals: No; Inbox: Inbox with automated replies and workflows; Custom performance reports, trend forecasting to 90 days |
| Advanced | $399 per user / monthbilled annually | n/a | Unlimited social accounts | 1+ (buy seats) | Posts: Unlimited; AI: Wisdom AI; Approvals: Yes (review and approve content); Inbox: Assignment and auto-routing |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | custom | Unlimited | Custom | Approvals: Yes; SSO, advanced listening, advanced analytics |
Prices from hootsuite.com/plans, checked 10 Oct 2026
- Social listening and competitor monitoring are in the product; advanced listening on Enterprise.
- Unlimited accounts from Professional.
- Purchase as many user seats as needed with SSO and compliance on Enterprise.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Hootsuite | Weekbird |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox for comments, replies and reviews | Inbox (Standard): Single inbox | Comments and replies from Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and X, and Google Business Profile reviews, in one list. |
| Approvals from a link | Approvals (Advanced): Yes (review and approve content) | Send a reviewer a link to approve or request changes. Reviewers need no account. Links last 30 days and can be revoked. |
Reasons to switch
- Hootsuite retired its free plan, and small businesses that relied on it report being priced out of every remaining paid tier.
- Plans are billed per user seat, so reviewers say the cost becomes hard to justify as a team adds members or add-ons.
- Content approval workflows sit only in the Advanced plan and advanced analytics require higher tiers, so teams pay top-tier seat prices for collaboration basics.
- Reviewers describe slow customer support when an account is locked or a cancellation and refund needs resolving.
- Some network-specific publishing is limited, such as long posts for X Premium, files over 5 MB and scheduled LinkedIn PDF uploads.
- Users find the interface cluttered and complex, with a learning curve that smaller teams may not have time for.
- Reviewers report occasional bugs in streams and integrations and individual channels intermittently disconnecting.
Who should stay
Teams that use social listening and competitor monitoring every week, manage many accounts per person, or need SSO and compliance on Enterprise.
Moving your workflow
- List your channels and the posts scheduled in Hootsuite for the next two weeks.
- Connect the same channels in Weekbird.
- Schedule next week's posts again in Weekbird; it has no import from Hootsuite or any other tool.
- On Team or Agency, send approval links to the people who sign off.
- Let Hootsuite publish its last scheduled post, then cancel.