Affordable Hootsuite alternatives in 2026

Hootsuite Standard costs one user $1,188 a year for 10 accounts ($99 × 12, hootsuite.com/plans, checked 2026-09-27). Schedchie costs €95.88 (€7.99 × 12) for unlimited accounts; Metricool, SocialPilot and Buffer also cost less.

Hootsuite sells per user. Its plans page lists Standard at $99, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399 per user per month, billed annually (checked 2026-09-27). Standard holds up to 10 social accounts. Professional removes the account cap. Team approvals start on Advanced. The plans page lists no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

For one person with a handful of accounts, that is a lot to pay for scheduling. For a team, every extra person is another seat. The tools below cost less for the same job, and each one drops something Hootsuite has. They are listed in the order of the original post, not ranked; the price table sorts them by cost.

What 10 accounts cost on each tool

The scenario is one person with 10 social accounts, the most Hootsuite Standard holds. For each tool we took the cheapest plan that holds all 10, at the cheapest billing basis the vendor prints, and multiplied it out to a year. Prices stay in the vendor's own currency and are never converted.

Sources: metricool.com/pricing, socialpilot.co/plans, buffer.com/pricing, hootsuite.com/plans, sproutsocial.com/pricing, publer.com/pricing, zoho.com/social/pricing, all checked 2026-09-27. Schedchie: schedchie.com/pricing; X (Twitter) posting on Schedchie is a separate €4.99 add-on for 30 posts.

Metricool's brand is one profile per network, so 10 accounts fit in its 5-brand tier as two brands of five networks each.

If two people need access

Hootsuite charges per user, so the gap grows with the team. Two people on Hootsuite Standard: 2 × $99 × 12 = $2,376 a year (hootsuite.com/plans, checked 2026-09-27).

Sources: socialpilot.co/plans, metricool.com/pricing, buffer.com/pricing, hootsuite.com/plans, all checked 2026-09-27.

Schedchie – unlimited scheduling for a flat price

Schedchie charges one price whatever the account count. Pro is €7.99 a month for unlimited connected accounts, unlimited scheduled posts and unlimited client groups, each client or brand in its own workspace with its own calendar. Billing is monthly; there is no annual plan. At 10 accounts it is the lowest price in the table above, and at 50 or 100 accounts the price does not move. Among the tools on this page, it is the cheapest for unlimited accounts and posts.

It publishes to twelve platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram, Google Business Profile and X. X posting is a separate add-on, €4.99 for 30 posts valid for 30 days, on any plan. One composer covers every platform, with per-platform text overrides. It handles Instagram Reels (with music), carousels and Stories, TikTok video and photo posts, LinkedIn polls and documents, and YouTube titles, thumbnails and privacy. CSV bulk import takes media and titles; recurring posts create the next occurrence when one publishes. A failed post sends an email with one-click retry.

For a team, the Team plan is €24.99 a month: 3 invited members, per-member post approvals (a held post does not publish until approved) and client review links, where a client approves or requests changes without an account. Invited members need no paid plan of their own. Hootsuite puts approvals on Advanced.

What it does not have: an inbox, listening, AI writing tools, best-time suggestions, first comment, a mobile app or a public API. Analytics cover Facebook and Instagram basic engagement, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Bluesky and TikTok, and are not as deep as Hootsuite's reports. There is no free plan; Pro and Team have a 14-day trial.

Ideal for: creators, small businesses and agencies whose Hootsuite bill pays mainly for scheduling, and anyone who has hit Standard's 10-account cap.

Buffer – a free plan and per-channel pricing

Buffer is the simplest tool here, and it prices every channel separately. The free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel. Essentials is $5 per channel per month billed yearly ($60 a year), with unlimited scheduled posts per channel under a fair-use cap of 5,000 per channel; Team is $10 per channel per month billed yearly and adds unlimited team members and approval workflows (checked 2026-09-27). Channels above 10 cost less, by an amount the page's calculator shows but does not print.

Its pricing page lists a community inbox for replying to comments, an AI Assistant, analytics, first comment scheduling, API access and iOS and Android apps. It lists no listening. Essentials includes 1 user, so a second person means Team.

Ideal for: one person with one to three accounts, who can stay on the free plan, and small teams with a few channels. For one account, Buffer is the cheapest verified paid option on this page. Per-channel pricing adds up as accounts grow: 10 channels on Essentials cost 10 × $60 = $600 a year (buffer.com/pricing, checked 2026-09-27).

SocialPilot – value for agencies and high-volume users

SocialPilot sells bundles of accounts with users included.

Source: socialpilot.co/plans, checked 2026-09-27. Extra accounts are $4 a month each.

Against Hootsuite, the difference is users: Ultimate holds 50 accounts with unlimited users for one price, where Hootsuite charges each person a seat.

Standard adds a social media inbox, analytics, team collaboration and manager approval. Premium adds bulk scheduling, client approval, white-label reports and unlimited client seats. Every plan lists an AI credit allowance, and there is a mobile app. There is a 14-day trial and no free plan on the page.

Ideal for: agencies and social media managers with many client accounts who need an inbox and client approvals. For two or three accounts it is more tool than you need.

Metricool – analytics-driven scheduling with a free plan

Metricool prices by brand, and a brand is one profile per network. The free plan covers 1 brand (without LinkedIn and X), up to 20 scheduled posts a month, 30 days of analytics and 5 competitor profiles. Starter is €16 a month for 5 brands or €29 for 10, billed annually; Advanced starts at €43 a month for 15 brands, billed annually (checked 2026-09-27). Monthly billing costs more: €20 and €37 for Starter, €54 for Advanced 15 brands (metricool.com/pricing, checked 2026-09-27).

Paid plans list unlimited publishing under a fair-use policy, analytics with unlimited history and up to 100 competitors. Advanced adds team and client management, roles, a post approval system, a Looker Studio connector and API access. The planner shows best times to post, and there is an AI assistant and an inbox. Paid plans include multiple link-in-bio pages. X is an add-on.

Ideal for: people who picked Hootsuite for its reports. Metricool puts analytics and competitor tracking first and prices the work by brand, not by person.

Sprout Social – premium features for a premium price

Sprout Social is not an affordable alternative, and it is here because people compare it with Hootsuite. It is also sold per seat: Essentials $79, Standard $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399 per seat per month, on annual billing ($99 for Essentials billed monthly). Essentials and Standard hold 5 social profiles; Professional removes the cap (checked 2026-09-27).

For that, its pricing page lists a consolidated inbox and collaboration tools, keyword and location monitoring and review management from Standard, competitor and paid insights on Professional, and the Sprout API on Advanced. Listening and Premium Analytics are add-ons. Every plan includes a mobile app and an AI agent. The trial is 30 days.

Ideal for: larger teams that need a customer-care inbox, listening and presentation-ready reports, and have budgeted for a per-seat price above Hootsuite's. For anyone trying to spend less, it is the wrong direction.

Publer – a free plan and broad network support

Publer loads its paid prices in the browser, so we could not verify a figure; see publer.com/pricing. The free plan connects 3 social accounts with 10 scheduled posts per account at a time, and cannot connect X, which Publer supports only on paid plans.

It publishes to more than social feeds: WordPress articles, Google Business Profile updates and Telegram messages sit in the same calendar. Its Business plan lists analytics and reports, best times to post, competitor analysis, post recycling and API access. Approval workflows come with added members, and the plan owner is included in the price. There is a mobile app and a link-in-bio page.

Ideal for: solo users and small teams who post to blogs and Google Business Profile as well as social networks, and want to start free.

Zoho Social – a free plan for one brand

Zoho Social also loads its paid prices in the browser, so we give no figure; see zoho.com/social/pricing. The free plan covers 1 brand of 6 channels (an X profile, an Instagram profile, a Facebook Page, a LinkedIn company page, a LinkedIn profile and a Google Business Profile) and 1 team member. Paid plans have a 15-day free trial of the full product.

Paid business plans stay at 1 brand, with more channels per brand. Professional adds bulk scheduling, repeat posting, a monitoring dashboard and Instagram first comment. Premium adds an inbox, content approvals, custom reports, 3 team members and Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk integration. Agency plans cover 10 clients and 5 team members, with a client portal and agency-branded reports.

Ideal for: a single business running one brand, and companies already on Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk.

Conclusion: choosing the right Hootsuite alternative

Hootsuite Standard costs one person $1,188 a year for 10 accounts ($99 × 12, hootsuite.com/plans, checked 2026-09-27), and each extra person adds another seat. Every alternative here with a verified price costs less for the same 10 accounts except Sprout Social.

• Schedchie is the lowest price here for unlimited accounts and posts, €7.99 a month, with approvals and client review links on the €24.99 Team plan. It has no inbox, listening or AI tools.
• Buffer is free for up to three channels and has the lowest verified paid price for a single account.
• SocialPilot fits agencies: accounts and users come in bundles, with client approval and white-label reports from Premium.
• Metricool fits people who choose a tool for its analytics.
• Sprout Social costs more than Hootsuite and brings more inbox, listening and reporting.
• Publer and Zoho Social have free plans worth trying; check their pricing pages for paid figures.

Decide on three numbers: how many accounts you run, how many people need to log in, and which Hootsuite features you open every week. If the answer to the third is only the calendar, the cheapest tool that holds your accounts is the right one.