3 Best Sprout Social Alternatives in 2025
Last updated: February 2026 • 10 min read
Sprout Social is a popular tool for mid-market brands wanting premium social management with crm. With pricing starting at $249/mo, it can be expensive for many teams. Whether you're looking for a cheaper option, better features, or an open-source solution, we've compiled the 3 best Sprout Social alternatives to help you find the right fit.
📋 Quick Summary
- Total alternatives: 3
- Free alternatives: 2 (Buffer, Later)
- Best overall: Hootsuite
- Best free: Buffer
Why Look for Sprout Social Alternatives?
People commonly look for Sprout Social alternatives for several reasons:
- Cost: At $249/mo, Sprout Social isn't cheap, especially for small teams and startups.
- Feature gaps: Very expensive and per-user pricing adds up are common complaints.
- Simplicity: Some users find Sprout Social overly complex for their needs and prefer simpler solutions.
- Data ownership: Organizations wanting data sovereignty prefer open-source, self-hosted alternatives.
- Better fit: Different tools excel at different use cases — you may find a tool that's specifically built for your workflow.
📊 Quick Comparison Table
| Tool | Free Tier | Starting Price | Rating | Open Source | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social | ✗ No | $249/mo | ⭐ 4.4 | No | Mid-market brands wanting premium social management with CRM |
| Hootsuite | ✗ No | $99/mo | ⭐ 4.1 | No | Enterprises and agencies managing multiple social accounts at scale |
| Buffer | ✓ 3 channels, 10 posts/channel | $6/channel/mo | ⭐ 4.3 | No | Small businesses and solopreneurs wanting simple social scheduling |
| Later | ✓ 5 posts/profile/mo | $25/mo | ⭐ 4.3 | No | Instagram-focused creators and visual brands |
Detailed Reviews of Each Alternative
Hootsuite
Enterprise social media management platform with scheduling, monitoring, analytics, and team collaboration.
Hootsuite is the most established social media management platform, used by enterprises and agencies worldwide. It supports every major social network and offers comprehensive features including bulk scheduling, social listening, ad management, and detailed analytics. The unified inbox lets you manage all social conversations in one place. Hootsuite's strength is scale — managing dozens of accounts and large teams with approval workflows.
Pros
- ✓ Most comprehensive platform
- ✓ Excellent for large teams
- ✓ Strong social listening
- ✓ Wide platform support
Cons
- ✗ Expensive entry point
- ✗ UI feels cluttered
- ✗ Removed free plan
- ✗ Steep learning curve
Buffer
Simple, affordable social media scheduling and analytics tool for small businesses and creators.
Buffer is one of the original social media management tools, known for its clean interface and focus on simplicity. It lets you schedule posts across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and Mastodon. Buffer's analytics show you which posts perform best and when your audience is most active. The Start Page feature lets you create a simple landing page for your social bio links.
Pros
- ✓ Extremely simple to use
- ✓ Affordable per-channel pricing
- ✓ Great free tier
- ✓ Clean analytics
Cons
- ✗ Limited compared to Hootsuite/Sprout
- ✗ No social listening
- ✗ Basic reporting
- ✗ No inbox management on free
Later
Visual-first social media scheduler built for Instagram, with a drag-and-drop content calendar.
Later started as an Instagram scheduling tool and has grown into a full social media management platform while keeping its visual-first approach. Its drag-and-drop calendar makes planning visual content intuitive. Later includes a link-in-bio tool (Linkin.bio), user-generated content collection, and the ability to schedule Instagram Stories and Reels. It also supports TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Pros
- ✓ Best visual planning UI
- ✓ Great Instagram features
- ✓ Linkin.bio included
- ✓ Easy to use
Cons
- ✗ Instagram-centric
- ✗ Limited analytics on lower plans
- ✗ No social listening
- ✗ Fewer platforms than Hootsuite
🏆 Our Recommendations
❓ FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Sprout Social?
The best free alternative to Sprout Social is Buffer, which offers 3 channels, 10 posts/channel.
Is there an open-source alternative to Sprout Social?
There are no widely-used open-source alternatives to Sprout Social at this time, but several affordable options exist.
What is the cheapest alternative to Sprout Social?
The cheapest alternatives are the free options: Buffer, Later. For paid alternatives, prices start from as low as $6/mo.
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