Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: Which Social Media Management Tool is Better?

Hey there! So, you’re stuck between Hootsuite and Sprout Social for your social media management tool. And not all social platforms are built the same. 

Not only have I personally tried out both of these tools, but I’ve also conducted a rigorous side-by-side test of their features, pricing structures, user interface, and customer support.  

Further, I’ve advised several companies, ranging from small startups to established corporations, who must step up their game for running social media campaigns. During this journey, I’ve spent hours trying out both Hootsuite and Sprout Social, along with several other tools.

Now, what can you expect from this article? When you’re done reading, I’ll break down each platform’s unique features and how they can benefit your specific needs. 

I’ll share my experiences with their customer support and community engagement. After weighing all the pros and cons, I’ll help you pick the right tool that best fits your needs.

Keep reading to make the right decision between Hootsuite and Sprout Social! Let’s dive in!

Brief Overview: Sprout Social vs Hootsuite

First, I’ll give you a quick overview of Hootsuite and Sprout Social:

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a pioneer in social media management, catering to businesses looking to effectively streamline their social media strategy across various channels. It’s known for its robust integrations, comprehensive dashboard, and collaborative features that accommodate teams of all sizes.

Key Selling Points:

• Unified dashboard for multiple social media accounts, allowing a holistic view of all your networks in one place.
• Advanced scheduling capabilities, enabling users to plan content rollout efficiently.
• Wide range of app integrations with the Hootsuite App Directory, expanding the platform’s functionalities.
• In-depth social analytics and custom reporting help track social media performance and ROI.
• Team collaboration tools for assigning tasks and managing team activities without leaving the platform.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a dynamic, all-in-one social media management tool offering deep social media listening, enriched analytics, and enhanced team communication. Its intuitive interface and powerful insights cater to businesses wanting to forge genuine connections with their audience and make data-driven decisions.

Key Selling Points:

• Smart Inbox feature consolidates messages from all platforms, ensuring no communication falls through the cracks.
• Robust social listening tools that monitor your brand’s social presence and industry trends.
• CRM features provide detailed profiles of your social media followers to personalize interactions.
• Flexible, user-friendly content automation tools with features like ViralPost to determine the best times to post.
• Comprehensive reporting tools with presentation-ready reports and competitive insights for strategic planning.

Quick Verdict: Sprout Social vs Hootsuite

Hootsuite is the Swiss Army knife of social media management tools. It’s a versatile platform that caters to diverse business needs.

Its wide range of supported major social networks and advanced analytics make it an excellent choice for businesses that work across multiple platforms and require extensive data insights. Its free plan also makes it accessible for smaller businesses or those just starting with social media management.

Sprout Social shines when it comes to fostering engagement. It’s designed for businesses looking to build meaningful relationships with their audience.

Sprout Social’s unique selling point is its unified Smart Inbox and robust CRM features. These allow businesses to manage all their social interactions in one place and personalize their responses, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Product Overview: Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

What is it?

Hootsuite is a versatile social media management tool designed to centralize and streamline your online interactions. It allows businesses to monitor, post, and engage across multiple platforms within a single interface, simplifying the complex task of staying active and responsive in the social sphere.

Sprout Social is a comprehensive solution that not only facilitates the scheduling and posting of content across various social channels but also provides deep analytics and social listening tools. It aims to enhance a brand’s ability to understand and connect with its audience on a more personal and intuitive level.

Who is it for?

Hootsuite account is ideal for businesses, social media managers, and professionals who handle multiple social media accounts and prefer having all their channels accessible in one dashboard. It’s suitable for teams seeking collaboration as they scale their social media efforts, especially beneficial for medium to large-sized companies eyeing market expansion.

Sprout Social is tailored for brands and agencies that want to prioritize customer engagement and get detailed insights into their social media efforts. It’s perfect for those who value audience interaction and feedback, using these insights to drive their social media marketing strategies and content creation.

What makes it special?

Hootsuite stands out with its ability to integrate a wide range of apps and social networks, making it one of the most flexible platforms in terms of functionality. Thus, it is one of the best social media automation tools. Its adaptability allows it to fit into almost any social media strategy, making the user’s social media marketing efforts cohesive and consolidated.

Sprout Social distinguishes itself with robust engagement, listening, and analytics tools. Its ability to deep dive into data and trends sets it apart, providing brands with actionable insights that inform content strategy, customer service, and overall decision-making processes related to audience interactions.

What does it do?

Hootsuite offers a dashboard where you can schedule posts, engage with your audience, and monitor social media metrics. Its functionality supports team management and collaboration, making it easier to manage larger or more complex social media campaigns all from one place.

Sprout Social works by providing a platform where businesses can not only post content but also listen to their audience’s feedback and industry trends. It compiles data from various sources, offering brands unique insights that can shape more authentic and responsive social media strategies.

Quick Comparison: Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

Key Features	Hootsuite	Sprout Social
#1) Pricing	Winner
#2) Free Plan		Winner
#3) Design & Functionality		Winner
#4) Post Scheduling & Publishing Tools		Winner
#5) Social Media App Integrations	Winner
#6) Social Media Analytics		Winner
#7) AI & Automation Tools	Winner
#8) Mobile App		Winner
#9) Customer Support	Tie	Tie
Overall		Winner

Feature Comparison: Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

Let’s compare the features of Hootsuite and Sprout Social so you can make the right decision for you and your business.

#1) Pricing

Hootsuite’s pricing offers a tiered pricing model. The Professional plan starts at $99 monthly, allowing one user to manage up to 10 social accounts. For businesses requiring more users and accounts, Hootsuite also provides a Team plan and an Enterprise plan, accommodating 3-5 users and 20-50 social accounts, respectively.

On the other hand, Sprout Social’s plans start at a higher price point of $249 per month, but this covers five social profiles. They also offer a Professional Plan, an Advanced Plan, and a customizable Enterprise Plan for businesses with more complex needs.

Regarding pricing, Hootsuite is more cost-effective, especially for smaller businesses or individual users. However, Sprout Social’s pricing is justifiable because of its advanced features and capabilities, making it a valuable investment for larger businesses or those with specific social media management needs.

Verdict: For pricing, Hootsuite offers more affordable options, making it the better choice for budget-conscious businesses or individual users.

#2) Free Plan

Hootsuite offers a 30-day free trial for any plan, allowing you to test the full functionalities before committing. However, unfortunately, it requires credit card details to access the trial.

Sprout Social, on the other hand, also provides a 30-day free trial, giving you a whole month to explore their services thoroughly. The advantage of Sprout Social is that no credit card is required, making it a stress-free trial experience as there’s no risk of being charged if you forget to cancel.

For the free plan, Sprout Social does not require credit card information. With no obligation, the trial period makes it accessible and encourages a worry-free exploration of services.

Verdict: For the free plan, Sprout Social is worth giving a try!

#3) Design & Functionality

Hootsuite presents a functional dashboard that can sometimes feel cluttered, especially for new users. The design focuses on utility, supporting the integration of various social media platforms, and offers a comprehensive view of your networks. However, navigating the complexity and becoming comfortable with the system will take some time.

Sprout Social boasts a clean, intuitive interface that prioritizes user experience. The streamlined design makes it easier to navigate, and the functionality feels more integrated, particularly beneficial for teams collaborating within the platform. Sprout Social dashboard and analytics are presented clearly, making information easy to digest and act upon.

Regarding design and functionality, Sprout Social stands out because of its user-friendly interface, which reduces the time to get started and significantly enhances productivity. The sleek design and intuitive navigation make it appealing if you value efficiency and ease of use.

Verdict: For design and functionality, Sprout Social.

#4) Post Scheduling & Publishing Tools

Hootsuite offers a robust scheduling and publishing toolset. You can schedule posts in advance and auto-publish them across multiple social media platforms. Hootsuite also provides a content calendar for visual scheduling and management of posts.

Sprout Social also presents strong capabilities in post-scheduling and publishing. It provides a ‘queue’ feature that allows you to schedule posts at optimal times for each platform automatically. It also includes a ViralPost feature, which uses data to determine the best times to post for maximum engagement.

Both platforms offer robust scheduling and publishing tools. However, Sprout Social’s ViralPost feature will give it a slight edge, particularly for businesses that maximize engagement.

Verdict: Sprout Social has a slight advantage for post-scheduling and publishing tools due to its ViralPost feature.

#5) Social Media App Integrations

Hootsuite offers various social media app integrations, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube. It also integrates with other business apps like Google Analytics and Drive, Salesforce, and more. This wide array of integrations allows you to manage multiple aspects of their online presence from one platform.

Sprout Social integrates with major social media platforms and tools such as Facebook, Twitter surveys, Instagram posts, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. However, it has fewer business app integrations compared to Hootsuite. Despite this, Sprout Social focuses on providing in-depth analytics and engagement tools within these integrated platforms.

Both tools offer robust integrations with major social media platforms. However, Hootsuite’s broader range of business app integrations will provide more convenience if you wish to manage various essential functions of businesses alongside their digital marketing efforts.

Verdict: Hootsuite beats Sprout Social for social media app integrations due to its more comprehensive range of business app integrations.

#6) Social Media Analytics

Hootsuite offers comprehensive analytics that allows businesses to track their social media performance across various platforms. The social media tool provides an array of metrics and data points, including insights into content performance, audience demographics, and engagement statistics. 

However, you will need to invest in additional premium options for more in-depth data and customizable reports.

Sprout Social’s analytics are notable for their depth and clarity. You can dive into detailed performance reports that offer insights on engagement and trends, competitor data, and customer sentiment analysis. The platform integrates these insights into easily understandable reports, which can be customized and shared directly with stakeholders.

While both Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer strong analytics capabilities, Sprout Social edges forward with its in-depth, user-friendly reports and the ability to analyze customer sentiment and competitor data. These holistic insights are invaluable for businesses wanting a more strategic approach to social media, going beyond basic metrics to truly understand audience behavior and social media marketing trends.

Verdict: Sprout Social takes the lead for social media analytics due to its superior competitor analysis feature.

#7) AI & Automation Tools

Hootsuite integrates advanced AI and automation tools designed to optimize social media management. Its platform includes automated content curation using OwlyWriter and post-scheduling, powered by machine learning to identify trends and peak engagement times, ensuring that content reaches the maximum audience. 

Moreover, its AI-driven analytics provide actionable insights and forecasts on content performance, helping strategize more effective social media campaigns.

Sprout Social also incorporates AI in its system, particularly in social listening and automated customer interaction features. However, these automation features primarily focus on understanding market trends and customer engagement over content management and performance prediction.

In this round, Hootsuite comes out on top due to its comprehensive suite of AI-driven tools that automate critical aspects of social media management, from content scheduling to insightful analytics. 

Its proactive approach to leveraging AI and marketing automation allows you to stay ahead of social media trends, making it invaluable for businesses seeking to enhance their online presence through intelligent insights and automation.

Verdict: For AI and automation tools, Hootsuite takes the lead.

#8) Mobile App

Hootsuite’s mobile app provides comprehensive features that allow you to manage your social media presence on the go. It supports scheduling posts, tracking performance with quick analytics, and engaging with audiences across various social media management platforms.

Sprout Social’s mobile app also offers robust functionality. You can schedule and publish posts, monitor their feeds, and access detailed reports. An added benefit is engaging in real-time with your audience, providing a more personalized experience.

Both mobile apps offer a solid range of features, but Sprout Social’s real-time engagement feature gives it a slight edge. This feature lets businesses respond promptly to customer interactions, enhancing their social media engagement and customer service.

Verdict: Sprout Social takes the lead for mobile apps due to its real-time engagement feature.

#9) Customer Support

Hootsuite provides a comprehensive support system, including an extensive online help center, user forums, and 24/7 support via Twitter, ensuring that you can seek help regardless of the time of day. 

Higher-tier plans include access to live chat and phone support, providing direct contact for immediate assistance, which is particularly beneficial for organizations with more demanding social media operations.

On the other hand, Sprout Social maintains a strong emphasis on customer service, with a variety of support resources available. Their detailed knowledge center, with responsive email support, live chat, and phone assistance, offers multiple avenues for help. 

What sets Sprout Social apart is its dedication to personalized service for premium accounts, ensuring tailored assistance that caters directly to each client’s unique needs.

In customer support, it’s a tie between Hootsuite and Sprout Social. Both platforms go above and beyond to offer extensive, multi-channel support, ensuring that you have access to timely and helpful resources. Hootsuite’s round-the-clock assistance competes well with Sprout Social’s approach to personalized service, making them equally commendable and dependable from a support standpoint.

Verdict: For customer support, it’s a tie between Hootsuite and Sprout Social.

Final Thoughts on Hootsuite vs Sprout Social

Both Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer robust features for social media management. 

Based on my experience and analysis, Sprout Social is my pick!

Sprout Social’s real-time engagement feature, superior customer support, and comprehensive mobile app give it a slight edge over Hootsuite. It’s particularly beneficial for businesses that prioritize immediate customer interaction and require reliable, round-the-clock support.

While Hootsuite is also a strong contender with its advanced automation tools, the overall user experience and functionality of Sprout Social stand out.

Remember, the best social media tool depends on your business needs and goals.

So, if you’re looking for a well-rounded, user-friendly platform with robust customer support, Sprout Social is a solid choice. Trust me, I’ve spent hours comparing these platforms!

Choose wisely, and here’s to successful social media management with Sprout Social!