Sprout Social Alternatives Without Per-Seat Pricing
Sprout Social charges per person: $249, $399 or $499 a month for each seat on monthly billing, and listening is sold on top. If you’re a creator or a small team, an alternative with flat pricing covers scheduling, an inbox and listening for far less, and adds comment-to-DM, which Sprout doesn’t offer. If many people need their own seats and roles, Sprout is still the stronger tool.
We build Kadenzo, and it’s one of the options on this page, so allow for our bias. We wrote the same post in Sprout and in Kadenzo, and took every price from Sprout’s own checkout.
The short answer
If you’re a creator, small brand or lean team
Kadenzo
Scheduling, an inbox, comment-to-DM and listening from $19 a month, with no charge per person.
If many people need their own seats and roles
Stay on Sprout
Sprout’s collaboration, case management and reporting are built for larger teams, and it publishes to LinkedIn Pages, Reddit and Snapchat.
If you want another full suite, billed per user
Agorapulse or Hootsuite
Both cost less per seat than Sprout and keep the team inbox and roles.
The video version
2:08
The monthly prices
The prices Sprout’s plan cards leave out
Sprout’s plans page shows yearly prices. The month-to-month prices sit in its FAQ and at checkout, and every price is per person.
| Plan, per person | Plans page | Monthly billing |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials5 profiles · no inbox | $79billed yearly | $99 |
| Standard5 profiles | $199billed yearly | $249 |
| ProfessionalUnlimited profiles | $299billed yearly | $399 |
| AdvancedUnlimited profiles | $399billed yearly | $499 |
| KadenzoWhole plan, not per person | $15.83–$40.83billed yearly | $19–$49 |
Sprout prices from its checkout and sproutsocial.com/pricing, October 19, 2026, USD before tax.
The seat math
What a team pays as it grows
On Sprout, each person adds a full seat. Kadenzo’s price doesn’t change with headcount; the line below uses Enterprise, the plan with approvals, so the comparison is generous to Sprout’s smaller plans.
Hover to compare · monthly billing, USD before tax
The chart runs from a team of 1 to a team of 5. On Kadenzo, extra people join as approvers, not as seats with their own posting login.
Paid extras
What costs extra, or isn’t there at all
Sprout’s seat price covers publishing, the inbox and reporting. These are the pieces social teams usually ask about next.
Social listening
Sprout’s help center says listening is “not included in any standard plan and must be purchased separately”. On the Professional plan, every topic carried the premium mark.
Kadenzo: 2, 5 or 15 keywords on every plan: X, Reddit, Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, Hacker News and review pages.
Comment-to-DM
Sprout’s chatbots answer inside DMs only, on Advanced. Its inbox automations tag or complete messages; one marks DMs “handled by third-party platforms” as done.
Kadenzo: Comment a keyword, get the link by DM, on every plan (500 people a month on Starter).
Approvals
Internal approval workflows start at Professional ($399 a seat monthly); approvers outside Sprout need Advanced.
Kadenzo: Enterprise ($49); approvers you invite need no subscription.
A second person
Every invited team member is billed at the plan’s seat price. Sprout’s checkout listed “User Seats: $399 per user/month” on Professional.
Kadenzo: No seats. One owner login, plus approvers at no cost.
Our test
A post for Instagram and X, built in both
On October 19, 2026 we connected X and Instagram to Sprout Social and wrote the same caption in both tools, stopping before Schedule. Both took about six steps. Sprout opens every new post as a draft, so it can’t go out by accident.
The Instagram version
Sprout Social
Kadenzo
Posting to X
Sprout Social
Kadenzo
Picking a time
Sprout Social
Kadenzo
Job by job
Sprout Social vs Kadenzo, job by job
Sprout details from its checkout, plans page, help center, terms and our hands-on test; the Kadenzo figures are for the tool we make ourselves.
Publishing
Essentials, Sprout’s cheapest plan since March 2026, is publishing only: no inbox, approvals or chatbots.
- Social profiles
Sprout Social5 on Essentials and Standard; unlimited from Professional
Kadenzo5, 15 or unlimited by plan
- X threads
Sprout SocialNot supported (create them in X)
KadenzoProfessional and up, with split-from-long-text
- Where only one tool can post
Sprout SocialLinkedIn Pages, Reddit, Snapchat, Google Business Profile
KadenzoMastodon, Telegram
- Bulk upload
Sprout SocialProfessional and up; no video
KadenzoCSV of text; attach media after import
Engagement and the inbox
Sprout’s Smart Inbox starts on Standard. Kadenzo’s inbox takes comments from Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube and Telegram, and DMs from Instagram and Facebook.
- Comment-to-DM
Sprout SocialNot offered; DM chatbots on Advanced
KadenzoInstagram and Facebook, every plan
- Social listening
Sprout SocialPaid add-on, price on request
KadenzoIncluded on every plan
- Reviews and customer care
Sprout SocialReview inbox, CSAT surveys, CRM integrations (Advanced)
KadenzoComments and DMs inbox; no review management
Reporting and data
Deep reporting is one of the places Sprout wins, and its G2 reviewers single out the analytics.
- Reports
Sprout SocialProfile, post and cross-network reports on every plan; competitor reports and custom branding from Professional; scheduled delivery on Advanced
KadenzoAnalytics CSV; branded PDF reports from Professional, with share links and monthly auto-drafts
- API
Sprout SocialAdvanced only
KadenzoProfessional and up
Team and approvals
On Sprout every person is a seat at the plan price. Kadenzo’s approvers can be limited to specific clients.
- Team
Sprout SocialSeats with roles, cases and tasks
KadenzoOne owner login plus invited approvers
- Approvals
Sprout SocialProfessional and up; external approvers on Advanced
KadenzoEnterprise; approvers need no subscription
Price and terms
Sprout’s terms cap renewal increases at 7% unless it gives 60 days’ notice of different pricing.
- How you pay
Sprout SocialPer person, per month
KadenzoOne price per plan
- Cheapest plan with an inbox, monthly
Sprout SocialStandard, $249 per person
KadenzoStarter, $19
- Trial
Sprout Social30 days, no card
Kadenzo7 days for $1
- Cancelling and refunds
Sprout SocialAnnual terms renew unless you give 30 days’ notice; no refunds
KadenzoCancel any time, no notice period; 14-day money-back on the first charge
Priced teams
Four setups, priced on monthly billing
Each setup gets the cheapest Sprout plan that covers it, multiplied by the people involved, next to the Kadenzo plan that does the same work.
One person, posting to 5 profiles
Scheduling and calendar only
Sprout Social
$99
- Essentials: no inbox, no approvals
- $79/mo billed yearly
Kadenzo
$19
- Starter: inbox and comment-to-DM included
- $15.83/mo billed yearly
One person who answers comments and DMs
Up to 5 profiles
Sprout Social
$249
- Standard is the first plan with the inbox
- $199/mo billed yearly
Kadenzo
$19
- Starter
- $15.83/mo billed yearly
A creator with 10 profiles
More than Standard’s 5
Sprout Social
$399
- Professional for unlimited profiles
- $299/mo billed yearly
Kadenzo
$29
- Professional: up to 15 accounts
- $24.17/mo billed yearly
A team of three that signs off on posts
Unlimited profiles, sign-off before posting
Sprout Social
$1,197
- 3 × Professional at $399
- $897/mo billed yearly
Kadenzo
$49
- Enterprise: approvals, approvers free
- $40.83/mo billed yearly
Not like for like: Sprout gives each person a seat with roles; Kadenzo has one owner login plus approvers.
What reviewers say
Users rate the product; leavers write about contracts
Sprout’s G2 reviewers, many of them invited, score it highly. On Trustpilot, most recent reviews describe renewals and cancellations.
6,873 reviews
88 reviews, 70% one star
What G2 reviewers complain about most
- Missing features749 mentions
- Limited features548 mentions
- Expensive470 mentions
- Improvement needed470 mentions
- High pricing415 mentions
Praise centres on ease of use, scheduling and analytics. The newest Trustpilot reviews mostly describe annual contracts that renewed after the reviewer tried to cancel, and slow replies from support.
G2 from an archived copy (July 26, 2026); Trustpilot read October 19, 2026.
What you’d miss
What you’d miss from Sprout, and who else has it
We haven’t tested these hands-on. Starting prices were read on October 19, 2026, from the vendors that list them publicly.
If you’d miss
The inbox
Agorapulse has the inbox closest to Sprout’s, at $99 a user on monthly billing with 10 profiles; Vista Social includes DM automations on every plan, with 15 profiles for $99 a month.
- AgorapulsePer user
Good fit for: Team inbox like Sprout’s
Paid from $99/user ($79 yearly)
Free tier: After the trial
- Vista SocialFlat tiers
Good fit for: DM automation included
Paid from $99/mo
Free tier: Trial only
If you’d miss
The reports
Metricool is built analytics-first and bills per brand, with a free plan for one brand and $25 a month on monthly billing after that.
- MetricoolPer brand
Good fit for: Analytics-first
Paid from $25/mo ($20 yearly)
Free tier: 1 brand
If you’d miss
Listening at scale
Brandwatch sells enterprise listening alongside publishing and shows no public prices; Emplifi starts at $1,249 a month, with the next tier at $2,499. Vista Social, above, sells listening from $75 a month.
- EmplifiTiers, through sales
Good fit for: Enterprise social suite
Paid from From $1,249/mo
Free tier: Trial only
- BrandwatchCustom quote
Good fit for: Listening plus publishing
Paid from Quote
Free tier: Trial only
If you’d miss
A big-team setup
Hootsuite bills per user like Sprout, $149 a month each on monthly billing, and keeps approvals for Advanced; Sendible includes unlimited users, and Loomly’s Starter plan includes 3 users and 12 accounts.
- HootsuitePer user
Good fit for: LinkedIn Pages, large teams
Paid from $149/user ($99 yearly)
Free tier: Trial only
- SendiblePer profile, users unlimited
Good fit for: Client workspaces
Paid from $35/mo ($29.75 yearly)
Free tier: Trial only
- LoomlyFlat tiers, users included
Good fit for: Approval-led teams
Paid from $65/mo ($49 yearly)
Free tier: Trial only
If you’d miss
Not much: you mostly post
Buffer has no DM inbox or listening and keeps a free plan for 3 channels; SocialPilot’s entry plan covers 7 accounts for one user, with extra accounts at $4 a month.
- BufferPer channel
Good fit for: Simple posting
Paid from $6/channel ($5 yearly)
Free tier: 3 channels
- SocialPilotFlat tiers
Good fit for: Agencies on a budget
Paid from $30/mo ($25.50 yearly)
Free tier: Trial only
Leaving Sprout
How to leave Sprout without an unwanted renewal
The export is quick. The notice period is the part that catches people out.
- 1
Check your contract type and renewal date
Sprout’s terms treat plans differently. Annual terms paid monthly, and invoiced plans, need written notice by email at least 30 days before the term ends. Cancelling in the app may not be enough on its own, so send the email too and keep the reply.
- 2
Export before the term ends
Download reports as PDF or CSV, export Smart Inbox messages to CSV, and save the publishing calendar as a PDF. Sprout’s retention policy deletes a closed account’s data after 90 days.
- 3
Link your profiles to Kadenzo
Kadenzo connects 11 networks. LinkedIn connects as a personal profile; Company Pages, Reddit and Snapchat aren’t supported.
- 4
Rebuild the queue and your keywords
Bulk-upload future posts from a CSV and attach media after the import. Add your brand and competitors as listening keywords; collection starts with a 30-day backfill.
- 5
Turn on comment-to-DM
There’s nothing to migrate here, since Sprout has no comment-to-DM. Pick a template, set the keyword and the link.
See how listening, comment-to-DM and publishing work in Kadenzo, or compare plans on the pricing page.
Stay or move
Which teams belong on Sprout, and which should move
Pick Sprout Social if
- Several people need their own logins, roles and case assignments.
- You publish to LinkedIn Pages, Reddit, Snapchat or Google Business Profile.
- Customer care runs through social: reviews, CSAT surveys, CRM integrations.
- You need deep reporting, competitor reports and scheduled report delivery.
- You’ll buy enterprise listening anyway and want it next to publishing.
Pick Kadenzo if
- You’re one person or a small team, and per-seat pricing doesn’t fit.
- You want comment-to-DM, which Sprout doesn’t offer.
- You want listening included rather than quoted separately.
- You post threads to X, Threads or Bluesky, or post to Mastodon or Telegram.
- You want to cancel without a notice period.
Sprout Social alternatives: common questions
How much does Sprout Social cost per month?
Per person: Essentials $99, Standard $249, Professional $399, Advanced $499 on monthly billing, or $79, $199, $299, $399 a month billed yearly. Each plan includes one user, and every extra person costs the same seat price.
Does Sprout Social have a free plan?
No. There’s a 30-day trial with no card. If you don’t add a payment method, it expires and scheduled posts stop.
Is social listening included in Sprout Social?
No. Sprout sells listening as a separate add-on on Standard and up, priced through its sales team. Its help center says it isn’t included in any standard plan.
Can Sprout Social send a DM when someone comments?
Not as far as we could find. Sprout’s chatbots work inside DMs on the Advanced plan, and its automated rules tag, complete or hide messages. Kadenzo sends a DM to people who comment a keyword, on every plan.
How do I cancel Sprout Social?
Start in Settings → Billing. If your plan is an annual term paid monthly or invoiced, Sprout’s terms also require an email to your customer success manager or successteam@sproutsocial.com at least 30 days before the term ends. Fees already paid aren’t refunded.
Can Sprout raise my price at renewal?
Its terms cap renewal increases at 7% unless Sprout gives notice of different pricing at least 60 days before the renewal.
Can a team use Kadenzo?
Kadenzo has one owner login per plan plus approvers you invite, who review and approve posts without a subscription. There are no per-person seats with separate roles. Teams where several people each post under their own login fit Sprout’s model better.
Your whole team on a single bill
Post to 11 networks, reply to commenters by DM and follow brand mentions, starting at $19 a month. No seats to buy.
