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

Hey there! So, you’re stuck between Later and Sprout Social for social media management!

As someone who has spent significant time using and reviewing various social media platforms, I understand the features that make a tool valuable. I’ve tested out Later and Sprout Social and am here to share my insights.

In this article, I’ll compare Later and Sprout Social. I’ll discuss everything, including their features, pricing structures, and user experiences. I’ve also researched the latest reviews and feedback from other users to get a well-rounded perspective.

Whether you’re a small business owner looking for the most cost-effective solution or a marketing professional needing a robust toolset for social media, I am here to help.

By the end of this Later vs Sprout Social article, I’ll help you pick the right tool for your specific needs and budget.

Let’s dive in and get your social media on autopilot!

Brief Overview: Later vs Sprout Social

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

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a comprehensive solution empowering brands to manage social channels, engage with audiences, and analyze performance effectively. Sprout Social is designed for businesses seeking robust analytics and the ability to communicate seamlessly across various software with their audience.

Key Selling Points:

• Comprehensive social analytics and monitoring
• Unified smart inbox for all social interactions
• Advanced publishing features with post-scheduling
• Allows teams to work together on content with approval workflows and task assignments.
• Integrations with major social media software, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and similar products
• Efficient content planning with scheduling features, including post previews
• Keep track of past interactions and notes on customers, helping to personalize responses and campaigns

Later

Later, it focuses on visual content scheduling and marketing, particularly for platforms like Instagram, making it ideal for brands that rely heavily on image-centric platforms. It’s user-friendly, offers streamlined scheduling solutions, and provides essential analytics for straightforward social media strategies.

Key Selling Points:

• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature for planning and arranging visual content
• Instagram-focused features: Visual planners, hashtag suggestions, and the Linkin.bio feature to drive traffic from Instagram posts
• Media library for storing and organizing content
• Auto-publishing to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
• Allows brands to easily find and share user content, perfect for interactive campaigns.
• Easy-to-use interface, perfect for beginners

Quick Verdict: Later vs Sprout Social

Sprout Social is the Swiss Army knife of social media management. If you’re looking for an all-in-one platform with deep analytics, diverse integration options, and sophisticated audience engagement features, Sprout Social is your pick. 

It goes beyond standard posting and monitoring, offering a suite of solutions designed for businesses serious about social media. The platform’s detailed analytics drive strategic decision-making by helping you understand and grow your online presence. Its CRM features maintain audience engagement at a personal level, fostering loyalty and repeat interactions. 

Later is the go-to platform for brands where visual content is king. If you focus on creating a visually stunning narrative, especially on Instagram, and desire an easy-to-use interface with straightforward analytics, Later will serve you brilliantly. Hence, Later is dubbed as the best visual social media automation tool.

This platform understands that sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially for influencers, small businesses, or startups prioritizing visual content. It’s not just about posting; it’s about crafting a compelling visual story.

Later’s, intuitive, visually driven scheduling tools, such as the drag-and-drop calendar and the Linkin.bio feature, make planning an attractive content grid a breeze. While its analytics are simpler, they provide clear insights into what content types work, aiding you in honing your visual strategy. 

Product Overview: Sprout Social vs Later

What is it?

Sprout Social is a holistic social media management tool designed to help businesses grow their online presence. Sprout Social combines the power of social listening, publishing, engaging, and detailed analytics in one platform. The software bridges brands and their audiences, facilitating a seamless communication flow and insightful engagement.

Later is a marketing platform for an Instagram feed that prioritizes visual content, with extended functionalities for other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. It emphasizes content automation, scheduling, visual planning, and basic analytics, making it an essential tool for brands looking to enhance their visual storytelling without getting entangled in complex analytics.

Who is it for?

Sprout Social is tailored for businesses and agencies that require an in-depth, analytical approach to social media management. Sprout Social is ideal for medium to large businesses seeking to consolidate their social media initiatives, from customer engagement and multi-user collaboration to comprehensive analytics and reporting.

Later is perfect for influencers, content creators, small businesses and agencies, and startups with a strong focus on visual content, particularly those looking to grow their brand visually on platforms like Instagram. Its simplicity and ease of use suit those who prefer a more straightforward approach to social media strategy.

What makes it special?

Sprout Social stands out with its ability to dive deep into analytics while maintaining a user-friendly experience. It’s not just about numbers; Sprout Social helps brands understand the stories behind their engagement rates, allowing for an emotionally intelligent approach to strategy. Its all-in-one dashboard, custom post-level reporting, and social listening capabilities set it apart from competitors.

Later differentiates itself with a commitment to visual content management. Its visually intuitive platform, including a content calendar and easy-to-navigate scheduling features, caters to creative minds. The unique Linkin.bio feature helps businesses turn Instagram feed engagement into traffic and sales, demonstrating a clear understanding of e-commerce and marketing needs.

What does it do?

Sprout Social operates as an extension of a brand’s digital marketing team. It handles post-scheduling, monitors brand mentions, measures engagement, and analyzes results for actionable insights. Through advanced listening features, Sprout Social can also capture broader industry trends, allowing brands to stay ahead of the curve.

Later focuses on scheduling visual content, allowing you to plan their posts with a drag-and-drop feature, visualize their grid, and schedule content, ensuring consistent and attractive branding. Its functionality extends to tracking basic post-performance and audience engagement metrics, giving you enough data to tweak their strategies effectively.

Quick Comparison: Sprout Social vs Later

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

Feature Comparison: Sprout Social vs Later

Let’s compare the features of these social media software tools so you can make the right decision for you and your business.

#1) Pricing

Sprout Social offers a robust suite of social media management tools at a higher price. Their paid plans start at $249 monthly for five social profiles, which may be steep for smaller businesses or individuals.

On the other hand, Later offers more affordable paid plans for social media management. Its monthly paid plans start at $25 for one social set and one user. They also offer a Growth Plan and Advanced Plan for an additional cost, allowing for more social sets and users. 

Regarding pricing, Later takes the lead due to its affordability and customizable plans. However, if budget isn’t a constraint and you’re looking for extensive features, Sprout Social could be worth the investment.

Verdict: For pricing, Later stands out as the more budget-friendly option.

#2) Free Plan

Sprout Social offers a generous 30-day free trial that can be canceled immediately. This allows you to fully explore the platform and its features before committing.

In comparison, Later provides a 14-day free trial without needing a card, allowing you to test its features and user interface.

Both products offer valuable opportunities for testing, but Sprout Social edges out Later with a longer trial period. This gives you more time to evaluate the platform’s features and determine if it fits their needs.

Verdict: For the free plan, Sprout Social takes the lead. 

#3) Design & Functionality

Sprout Social is known for its user-friendly design and intuitive interface. It provides a comprehensive social media management platform with features like robust analytics, engagement, and publishing capabilities. 

Later offers a more visually oriented interface. It’s particularly well-received for its drag-and-drop feature, making scheduling and planning posts incredibly easy and interactive. 

While both software tools offer great design and functionality, Later takes the lead due to its drag-and-drop feature and visually comprehensive interface. This makes planning and visualizing their social media content easier, especially for visual platforms like Instagram.

Verdict:  For design and functionality, Later is the winner. 

#4) Content Planning, Scheduling & Publishing

Sprout Social offers a sophisticated content planning, scheduling, and publishing approach. You can bulk-schedule posts, queue user-generated content for optimal times, and dive deep into performance analytics. Its comprehensive dashboard allows for a panoramic view of your content strategy, ensuring that everything from creation to analysis is cohesive and streamlined. Moreover, it facilitates multi-user collaboration, allowing multiple members to review, edit, and approve posts before publishing.

Later, alternatively, prioritizes user-generated content planning with a visually intuitive calendar and easy drag-and-drop functionality, making it a favorite among influencers and brands heavily reliant on imagery and aesthetics. You can plan their visual content with a ‘Visual Instagram Planner’ that ensures the feed maintains a consistent, appealing theme. Its simplistic functionality, however, doesn’t compromise its effectiveness, allowing users to schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Comparing the two, Sprout Social stands out for businesses or professionals needing detailed, collaborative content strategies with comprehensive analytics. Later excels for those who create a visually consistent and appealing social media presence, especially on platforms like Instagram.

Verdict:  For user-generated content planning, scheduling, and publishing, it’s a tie between Sprout Social and Later. 

#5) Social Media Channels & Integrations

Sprout Social can integrate with a wide range of social networks, including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, thereby covering most of the digital marketing landscape. Beyond that, Sprout Social integrates with Google Analytics and various CRM systems, enhancing your ability to seamlessly track customer interactions and overall performance.

Later seamlessly integrates with popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. With Later, users can schedule and publish posts across multiple platforms simultaneously. Integrations don’t stop with social media platforms either; Later also integrates with apps like Canva, which allows users to create stunning images for their posts.

Regarding broad social media channel support and third-party integrations, Sprout Social has the upper hand due to its extensive compatibility and deep integration features, which are vital for businesses looking for an all-encompassing tool.

Verdict: Sprout Social takes the lead for social media channels and integrations. 

#6) Social Media Analytics

Sprout Social offers a highly data-driven social media analytics platform. Their features allow you to track, measure, and benchmark your top posts, providing valuable information about your audience and their engagement with your content. They also offer unlimited, presentation-ready reports, offering a comprehensive view of your social media performance.

Later, meanwhile, provides analytics to measure success that are more focused on visual content. Its analytics tools provide visions for post-performance, audience growth, and engagement. While not as comprehensive as Sprout Social’s analytics, Later’s tools are optimized for businesses that focus heavily on visual content, particularly on an Instagram feed.

While both tools offer valuable analytics capabilities, Sprout Social’s platform is more comprehensive, making it ideal for businesses that need in-depth, data-driven feedback and monitoring. However, for businesses prioritizing visual content, particularly on an Instagram feed, Later’s analytics may be more relevant and valuable.

Verdict: For analytics, Sprout Social.

#7) AI & Automation Tools

Sprout Social integrates AI in several features, offering smart search functions, optimized posting times, and more to enhance user experience. Its automation capabilities, while functional, focus on streamlining conversations and routing messages based on preset rules. This serves larger teams well but can seem robust for smaller brands or those new to social media automation.

Later, however, stands out with its innovative use of AI and automation, particularly with features. The ‘Content Suggestions’ feature is a game-changer, providing users with continuous, high-quality content recommendations. Its hashtag suggestion tool helps identify and leverage trending topics, ensuring content remains relevant and engaging. The media library’s sophisticated use of @mentions and tags for sorting makes asset management intuitive and efficient, saving significant time for users.

In this aspect, Later clearly has the upper hand. The platform makes routine tasks more manageable and empowers brands to keep their content strategies ahead of the curve. By simplifying content discovery, optimizing engagement through smart hashtag use, and streamlining media organization, Later provides a more advanced, user-centric approach to social media management.

Verdict:  For AI & automation tools, Later is the winner. 

#8) Mobile App

Sprout Social boasts a highly intuitive mobile app that mirrors the functionality of its desktop counterpart. Users have on-the-go access to critical features such as publishing, monitoring, and analytics. The app’s seamless design ensures you can respond to messages, collaborate with your team, and manage your posts from your smartphone.

Later is known for its visually appealing and user-friendly mobile app available in both iOS and Android Mobile. What makes it stand out is the ‘Visual Instagram Posts Planner’ that allows you and your team to see how your Instagram grid will look post-upload and make changes accordingly. Its functionality extends to scheduled publishing, media storage, and straightforward analytics that keep you updated on post-performance.

When it comes to mobile management, Later takes the lead. While both apps provide robust functionality, Later’s app offers a unique, visually-oriented user experience tailored for Instagram posts that’s perfect for influencers, business owners, and marketers alike. Its design-forward, intuitive approach makes social media scheduling and aesthetic planning a breeze – ideal for those who need to maintain a strong, cohesive visual presence online.

Verdict: For mobile apps, Later wins.

#9) Customer Support

Sprout Social offers a robust support network, including 24/7 live chat, a detailed FAQ section, and ongoing webinars for continued learning. Their dedicated support portal is rich with instructional content, promoting a sense of community and comprehensive assistance. 

In contrast, Later prioritizes straightforward, no-fuss support options. It provides email support, a comprehensive blog filled with insightful articles, and a help center addressing common queries and procedural guidance. While it lacks round-the-clock live chat and live rep, its support approach is more accessible for users who prefer direct, uncomplicated assistance without extensive engagement.

When it comes to customer support, Later takes the lead. Its approach to support, focusing on simplicity and ease of access, resonates with users who prefer not to navigate through extensive portals or join lengthy webinars. The direct email support and well-maintained blog offer quick solutions and valuable insights, catering efficiently to the immediate needs of busy social media managers.

Verdict:  For customer support, Later emerges as the winner. 

Final Thoughts on Sprout Social vs Later

Both Sprout Social and Later have made a significant impact when it comes to social media management, each appealing to different market segments.

With its comprehensive toolset, advanced analytics, and robust customer engagement features, Sprout Social is ideal for larger businesses or agencies that require depth in their social media initiatives. Its higher price point is justified by its extensive capabilities, particularly suited for teams seeking an all-encompassing platform for sophisticated campaign management.

Later, in contrast, it caters exceptionally well to influencers, small to medium businesses, and content creators who prioritize visual content and streamlined planning. Its user-friendly interface, innovative content suggestion capabilities, and affordable pricing make it accessible and practical, particularly for those in the early stages of brand building or those managing a single business.

Overall, I recommend Later for those who need an intuitive, efficient, and cost-effective tool for social media management, mainly focused on content planning and visual posts.

Its ease of use does not compromise its effectiveness, making it an excellent option for growing your digital presence without overwhelming your budget or time.

Give Later a try today!

While your decision rests on your specific needs for affordability, user experience, and innovative content management, I hope this Later vs Sprout Social post helps you make the right choice.