Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: What Happens After You Post
Hootsuite is the cheaper of the two for most teams and the only one with Instagram comment-to-DM. Sprout Social has the deeper reports and puts approvals on a lower plan. Both charge for every person: on monthly billing Hootsuite costs $149 to $499 a person and Sprout $99 to $499. Choose Hootsuite for an inbox and DMs on a budget, Sprout when reports and approvals decide it.
We make Kadenzo, a third option that bills per account instead of per person. On October 19, 2026 we ran the same four tasks in all three: a comment-to-DM rule, a brand search, last month’s report and a second person.
Which one fits
If you want an inbox and DMs for less
Hootsuite
An inbox from $149 a person a month, and Instagram comment-to-DM from $299. Sprout has no comment-to-DM at any price.
If reports and approvals decide it
Sprout Social
The deeper report library, with PDF and CSV export, and approvals on Professional at $399: a tier below where Hootsuite puts them.
If you’d rather not pay per person
Kadenzo
Comment-to-DM, listening and an inbox on every plan, from $19 a month for the whole account. Approvers join free.
Watch the short version
2:40
Our test
The day after you hit publish
Most comparisons test the composer. We tested what comes next, on Hootsuite Standard, Sprout Professional and Kadenzo. The two tools ran on different plans, so each result names the plan it needs.
1. Turn a comment into a DM
Only Hootsuite and Kadenzo can do it at all.
Hootsuite
Yes, from Professional ($299)
DM automations answer an Instagram comment that contains your keyword and send a DM. The builder’s first step asks you to pick a scheduled post or reel; with nothing in our queue, there was nothing to pick.
Sprout Social
Not offered
Inbox automations tag, complete or hide messages. Sprout’s chatbots (Advanced) answer inside DMs, but nothing in Sprout starts a DM from a comment.
Kadenzo
Every plan
A template asks for the keyword and the link. The rule can watch all posts, posts you choose, or the next one you publish, and the preview shows the reply and the DM before you turn it on.
2. Track a brand name
Neither tool caught everything. We searched for PostSyncer, a scheduling app that gets more mentions than we do.
Hootsuite
7 days back on Standard
Quick Search headlined 124 results for the week and listed 7: one X post from an account with 214K followers, and accounts sharing it. Topic Insights, Alerts and Reports are greyed out, and 30 days of search needs Professional.
Sprout Social
A paid add-on
Listening isn’t part of any Sprout plan. Every topic on the Professional plan carried the premium mark, and Sprout doesn’t publish what the add-on costs.
Kadenzo
30 days, every plan
31 mentions over 30 days from X, Bluesky and Reddit, each scored for relevance and tone. It missed that 214K-follower post and its shares, which Hootsuite found.
3. Send last month’s report
Sprout wins this one clearly.
Hootsuite
No export on Standard
Four preset reports, with more on higher plans. Every export format sits under “Unlock exporting”: PDF needs Professional, Excel and CSV need Advanced.
Sprout Social
PDF, CSV or email
A full library: cross-network, per-network, competitor and tag reports. Profile Performance already showed September’s numbers for the accounts we had just connected.
Kadenzo
Branded PDF from Professional
Reports carry your logo, a draft appears on the 1st of each month, and each one downloads as a PDF. Analytics export to CSV on every plan.
4. Add a second person
Hootsuite and Sprout sell a seat; Kadenzo invites an approver.
Hootsuite
+$99 a month
Inviting a teammate opens a checkout: each additional user on Standard is $99 a month on yearly billing, $149 on monthly.
Sprout Social
+$399 a month
Every person is a seat at the plan price. On Professional with monthly billing that’s $399 a month each, or $249 on Standard.
Kadenzo
No charge
On Enterprise you invite approvers by email and choose which clients they see. They approve or send back posts; they don’t get their own posting login.
Plan by plan
Which plan each job needs, per person
The cheapest plan that does each job, on monthly billing, read from each pricing page and checkout in October 2026. Between Hootsuite and Sprout, the cheaper one is marked.
Hootsuite
Standard
$149a person
$99 billed yearly
Sprout Social
EssentialsCheaper
$99a person
$79 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Starter, $19Hootsuite
StandardCheaper
$149a person
$99 billed yearly
Sprout Social
Standard
$249a person
$199 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Starter, $19Hootsuite
ProfessionalCheaper
$299a person
$199 billed yearly
Sprout Social
Not offered
Kadenzo
Starter, $19Hootsuite
ProfessionalCheaper
$299a person
$199 billed yearly
Sprout Social
Professional
$399a person
$299 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Enterprise, $49Hootsuite
Advanced
$499a person
$399 billed yearly
Sprout Social
ProfessionalCheaper
$399a person
$299 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Enterprise, $49Hootsuite
ProfessionalCheaper
$299a person
$199 billed yearly
Sprout Social
Listening add-on, price on request
Kadenzo
Starter, $19Hootsuite and Sprout prices are per person; Kadenzo’s cover the account. Kadenzo Starter connects 5 accounts and Enterprise unlimited.
Growing the team
Approvals for one to five people, per month
Each tool’s cheapest plan with an approval step: Hootsuite Advanced, Sprout Professional and Kadenzo Enterprise, on monthly billing.
Hover to compare · USD before tax
People on the plan, from 1 to 5. Kadenzo’s extra people are approvers, who review posts but don’t post under their own login.
Side by side
Hootsuite vs Sprout Social, feature by feature
Read from both companies’ pricing pages and help centers, plus our own tests, in October 2026. The third column is Kadenzo, the tool we build.
What it costs
Four teams, three monthly bills
Every setup is priced on the lowest plan that fits it. The cheapest column gets the badge, and the last setup is one Kadenzo doesn’t fit.
Just you: posting and an inbox
One person, up to 5 profiles
Hootsuite
$149
- Standard, monthly
- $99 billed yearly
Sprout Social
$249
- Standard, monthly
- $199 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Cheapest$19
- Starter, monthly
- $15.83 billed yearly
Just you, plus comment-to-DM
One person, Instagram keyword replies
Hootsuite
$299
- Professional, monthly
- $199 billed yearly
Sprout Social
Not offered
- No comment-to-DM on any plan
Kadenzo
Cheapest$19
- Starter, monthly
- 500 people a month
A trio with a sign-off step
The cheapest plan with an approval step, monthly
Hootsuite
$1,497
- 3 × Advanced at $499
- $1,197 billed yearly
Sprout Social
$1,197
- 3 × Professional at $399
- $897 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Cheapest$49
- Enterprise: you plus 2 approvers
- $40.83 billed yearly
Not like for like: on Kadenzo the two extra people approve posts but can’t post under their own login. Between the other two, Sprout is cheaper here because it puts approvals a tier lower.
A team of five, all posting as themselves
An inbox shared by a team, monthly
Hootsuite
Cheapest$745
- 5 × Standard at $149
- $495 billed yearly
Sprout Social
$1,245
- 5 × Standard at $249
- $995 billed yearly
Kadenzo
Not a fit
- One owner login plus approvers
- No per-person roles
When everyone needs to post and reply as themselves, you need seats, and Hootsuite’s are the cheaper seats.
Which to pick
Pick Hootsuite, Sprout, or neither
Pick Hootsuite if
- You want Instagram comment-to-DM inside your scheduler
- Several people need their own login at the lowest seat price
- You publish to WhatsApp or Google Business Profile
- Industry benchmarks are enough for reporting
Pick Sprout Social if
- Reports go to clients or leadership every month
- You need approvals and can skip comment-to-DM
- You publish to Reddit or Snapchat, or manage review sites
- You’ll buy listening as an add-on anyway
Pick Kadenzo if
- You’re a creator, a small brand or a lean agency
- You want comment-to-DM and listening without per-person pricing
- Teammates only need to approve, not post
- You post X threads or to Mastodon and Telegram
Leaning toward one of the two but put off by the per-person price? Our Hootsuite alternatives and Sprout Social alternatives pages price other tools, and Kadenzo’s DM automation and social listening show what our plans include.
Before you sign
Ratings, refunds and renewals
Both tools rate well with the people using them and badly with the people who left. The low scores are mostly about billing.
Review sites
| Hootsuite | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.3 (7,439) | 4.4 (6,873) |
| Trustpilot | 1.3 (556) | 1.8 (88) |
On G2, price is the most-tagged complaint for both once “Expensive” and “High pricing” are counted together, often from small teams adding people. Most recent Trustpilot reviews of both describe renewals people didn’t expect and slow support.
Counts in brackets. Read in August to October 2026 from each site or its latest archived copy.
Leaving each tool
- Hootsuite
- Its terms say you pay to the end of the term after cancelling or downgrading, and yearly payments aren’t refunded. Export your calendar as a CSV first; report export needs Professional. Deleting the account is immediate and removes scheduled posts.
- Sprout Social
- Yearly plans renew unless you email notice at least 30 days before the term ends, and unused time isn’t refunded. Renewal prices can rise up to 7% without extra notice. Export reports as PDF or CSV before you go.
- Kadenzo
- Cancel from your account settings and you keep access until the paid period ends. A refund of the first plan charge is open for 14 days.
Trials end differently too. Sprout’s 30-day trial simply expires if you never add a card. Hootsuite’s 14-day trial needs no card either, but in October 2026 it was set to renew on a yearly plan, so check the billing page before day 14.
Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: common questions
Is Hootsuite cheaper than Sprout Social?
For an inbox, yes: Hootsuite Standard is $149 a person a month and Sprout’s cheapest plan with an inbox, Standard, is $249. For posting only, Sprout Essentials is cheaper at $99. For approvals Sprout is cheaper too: $399 on Professional against $499 for Hootsuite Advanced. All prices are per person on monthly billing.
Does Sprout Social have comment-to-DM like Hootsuite?
No. Hootsuite’s DM automations send a DM when someone comments a keyword on an Instagram post or reel, from the Professional plan. Sprout’s inbox automations only tag, complete or hide messages, and its chatbots on Advanced work inside DMs. Kadenzo has comment-to-DM on every plan, from $19 a month.
Which has better reporting, Hootsuite or Sprout Social?
Sprout, in our test. Its Professional plan came with cross-network, competitor and tag reports, already filled with the previous month’s data, and exports to PDF and CSV. Hootsuite Standard has four preset reports and no export; PDF export starts on Professional and spreadsheet export on Advanced.
Which is better for social listening?
Neither includes full listening in a self-serve plan. Hootsuite’s Quick Search covers 7 days on Standard and 30 on Professional, with alerts and more sources on Enterprise. Sprout sells Listening as an add-on and doesn’t publish the price. In our test, Hootsuite’s 7-day search found a popular X post that Kadenzo missed, while Kadenzo kept a month of smaller mentions.
Can you cancel Hootsuite or Sprout Social at any time?
You can stop renewal, but neither refunds the time you’ve paid for. Hootsuite’s terms say you keep paying to the end of the term after you cancel or downgrade. Sprout’s yearly plans renew unless you give written notice at least 30 days before the term ends.
Can Hootsuite or Sprout Social post X threads?
No. Neither composer has a thread option for X; Sprout’s help center says threads must be created in X. Kadenzo schedules X threads on Professional and Enterprise.
Is there a cheaper alternative to both?
For a creator or a small team, Kadenzo covers scheduling to 11 networks, an inbox, comment-to-DM and listening from $19 a month for the account, with free approvers on Enterprise. It doesn’t give each person their own login with roles, so larger teams are better served by one of the two.
Comments, DMs and mentions in one plan
Kadenzo schedules to 11 networks, turns comments into DMs and tracks your brand from $19 a month, with no charge per person.
