7 Best Hootsuite Alternatives in 2026 (Free and Paid)
Hootsuite now starts at $99 per user per month and the free plan is long gone. Seven alternatives compared on prices read from their own pricing pages, from a free plan to $79.
Hootsuite’s cheapest way in is now $99 per user per month, billed annually, the free plan is long retired, and the trial caps how much you can even post while testing it. None of that makes it a bad product. It makes it an enterprise product, and most of the people searching for alternatives are not enterprises.
Why people leave Hootsuite
- Per-seat pricing. $99 per user per month on Standard means a team of three starts at $3,564 a year before anyone touches an advanced feature.
- The free plan is gone. It was retired years ago, and the 14-day trial limits posting to roughly 10 to 20 posts per organisation per day.
- Paying for unused enterprise weight. Listening, advocacy and governance are genuinely good, and genuinely wasted on a team that schedules, replies and reports.
The seven at a glance
| Tool | Starts at | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Magnum | $24 /mo flat · 10 accounts, 2 people | 2 accounts, 15 posts /mo | Small teams, agencies, AI-agent workflows |
| Buffer | $5 /channel /mo billed yearly | 3 channels | Solo creators with 1 to 3 channels |
| Metricool | $20 to $36 /mo (Starter, by brands) | 1 brand, 20 posts /mo | Analytics-first marketers |
| SocialPilot | $20 /mo ($17 yearly) · 5 accounts | Trial only | Budget agencies |
| Agorapulse | $79 /user /mo billed annually | Trial only | Inbox-heavy teams |
| Vista Social | $79 /mo · 15 profiles, 2 users | Trial only | Agencies wanting reviews and listening add-ons |
| Zoho Social | $10 /mo billed annually | 1 brand, limited | Companies already inside Zoho |
1 · Social Magnum, the flat-priced one (ours)
Social Magnum replaces Hootsuite’s per-seat maths with flat plans: $24 a month covers 10 social accounts and 2 people, $59 covers 30 and 6, $119 covers 70 and 10, with yearly billing at $19, $47 and $95. Scheduling, calendar, CSV bulk upload, RSS auto-posting, a unified inbox with comment and DM auto-replies, post approvals, analytics and AI captions and images are all in every paid plan rather than scattered across tiers.
Its unusual edge is agents: an MCP server with 26 documented tools lets Claude, ChatGPT or Codex connect by OAuth and draft, schedule and reply under approval gates and pacing rules. The free plan is 2 accounts and 15 posts a month, forever; paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Skip it if: you publish to X, LinkedIn or Google Business Profile. Social Magnum covers Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Bluesky and Mastodon, and not those three.
2 · Buffer, the safe default for small setups
Buffer charges per channel: free for 3 channels with 10 queued posts each, then Essentials at $5 per channel per month billed yearly and Team at $10 with unlimited members. For a creator with an Instagram and a TikTok that is $10 a month, which nothing flat-priced can touch, and the product is calm, reliable and fifteen years old.
Skip it if: you run many accounts. Ten channels on Essentials is $50 a month and thirty is $150, at which point flat-priced tools cost a third as much. Our full Social Magnum vs Buffer comparison walks the maths.
3 · Metricool, the analytics-first one
Metricool pairs scheduling with unusually deep analytics and competitor tracking. The free plan covers 1 brand and 20 posts a month; Starter runs $20 to $36 a month depending on brand count, and Advanced tiers reach $210. Two caveats its own pricing page states: X (Twitter) needs a paid add-on even on paid plans, and unlimited scheduling sits under a fair-use policy.
Skip it if: you want an inbox and approvals at the centre; its heart is reporting.
4 · SocialPilot, the budget agency pick
SocialPilot starts at $20 a month ($17 yearly) for 5 accounts and reaches $200 for 40 accounts with unlimited users. White-label reports on the Premium tier make it a quiet agency favourite. There is a 14-day trial but no free plan.
Skip it if: you need a free tier to start on, or an agent connection.
5 · Agorapulse, the inbox specialist
Agorapulse treats the social inbox the way others treat the calendar, with assignments, saved replies and automated moderation. Standard starts at $79 per user per month billed annually with 10 profiles; its pricing page lists coverage for Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, Google Business, Bluesky and Reddit. The 30-day trial is generous.
Skip it if: per-user pricing is what you are escaping; three seats cost Hootsuite money.
6 · Vista Social, the modern all-rounder
Vista Social covers publishing, engagement, reviews and reporting with a current feel. Professional is $79 a month for 15 profiles and 2 users; yearly billing takes 20% off; listening ($75 a month) and X publishing ($29 a month) are add-ons.
Skip it if: the add-ons you need push the real price past the flat tools.
7 · Zoho Social, for Zoho households
Zoho Social is the value pick if your company already runs on Zoho: Standard is $10 a month billed annually, Professional $30, Premium $40, with a limited free plan. CRM and Desk integration is the actual reason to choose it.
Skip it if: you are not otherwise in the Zoho ecosystem; the interface shows its age next to the newer tools.
How to choose in five minutes
The short version
- 1
Escaping per-seat pricing? Flat-priced tools first: Social Magnum, Metricool, SocialPilot, Zoho Social.
- 2
One or two channels only? Buffer's per-channel model is the rare case where it is the cheapest.
- 3
Free plan required? Social Magnum, Metricool and Zoho Social have real ones; Buffer's covers 3 channels.
- 4
Inbox and community first? Agorapulse, then Vista Social.
- 5
AI agents in your workflow? Social Magnum is the only one on this list with a documented MCP server.
- 6
Need X, LinkedIn or Google Business? Buffer, Agorapulse, Vista Social or Zoho Social; Social Magnum does not publish to them.
Related reading: Social Magnum vs Hootsuite, the best Buffer alternatives and the best Sprout Social alternatives.