Social Magnum vs Hootsuite: $24 Flat or $99 Per Seat (2026)
Hootsuite starts at $99 per user per month with no free plan; Social Magnum is $24 flat with people included. Where each one wins, priced from both vendors' pages on the same day.
Hootsuite practically invented the social media dashboard, and in 2026 it is priced like the enterprise software it became: $99 per user per month is the cheapest way in, billed annually, and there is no free plan. Social Magnum sits at the other end of the market: $24 a month flat, a free plan that stays free, and an AI agent connection Hootsuite does not offer.
The pricing gap, plainly
| Hootsuite | Social Magnum | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Standard: $99 per user / month, billed annually, 10 social accounts | Starter: $24 / month flat, 10 social accounts, 2 people |
| Mid plan | Professional: $199 per user / month, unlimited accounts | Business: $59 / month flat, 30 accounts, 6 people |
| Top listed plan | Advanced: up to $399 per user / month | Agency: $119 / month flat, 70 accounts, 10 people |
| Free plan | None (retired) | $0: 2 accounts, 15 posts a month, forever |
| Trial | 14 days, with daily posting limits of 10 to 20 posts per organisation | 14 days; paid plans also carry a 14-day money-back guarantee |
| Billing unit | Per user | Per plan, people included |
The unit is the whole story. Hootsuite charges per user, so every colleague you invite multiplies the bill. Social Magnum’s plans include the people: 2 on Starter, 6 on Business, 10 on Agency, at one flat price.
What a small team pays in a year
| Team | Hootsuite Standard | Social Magnum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person, 10 accounts | $1,188 / year | $288 / year (Starter monthly) or $228 billed yearly |
| 2 people, 10 accounts | $2,376 / year | $288 / year, same Starter plan |
| 3 people, 25 accounts | $3,564 / year | $708 / year (Business monthly) or $564 yearly |
| 6 people, 30 accounts | $7,128 / year | $708 / year, same Business plan |
Hootsuite’s column is $99 per user per month, annualised, on its cheapest plan. If anything the gap is understated, because heavier Hootsuite tiers run $199 to $399 per user and much of its best functionality lives there.
Feature by feature
| Social Magnum | Hootsuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Publishes to | Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon | The mainstream networks including X and LinkedIn; see Hootsuite’s site for its current list |
| X and LinkedIn publishing | No | Yes |
| Social listening | No | Yes, on higher tiers |
| Ads management and boosting | No | Yes |
| Scheduling, calendar, bulk CSV | Yes | Yes |
| Post approvals | All paid plans | Yes |
| Unified inbox | Yes, with comment and DM auto-replies | Yes |
| AI captions and images | Included on paid plans | AI writer included; limits vary by plan |
| AI agents (MCP) | 26 documented tools, OAuth, works with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex | No |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
Where Hootsuite wins
- Breadth an enterprise asks for. Social listening, employee advocacy, ads management, SSO and governance reviews. If procurement is in the room, Hootsuite has the paperwork.
- X and LinkedIn. Hootsuite publishes to both. Social Magnum does not, and if either is central to your work this comparison ends here, honestly.
- Fifteen years of integrations. An app directory, agency partners and trainings exist for Hootsuite at a scale a young product cannot match.
Where Social Magnum wins
- The bill. Flat plans with people included, against $99 to $399 per seat. For a two-person shop the difference is roughly a mortgage payment a year.
- A real free plan. Hootsuite retired its free tier; ours is 2 accounts and 15 posts a month, forever, and the trial does not throttle you to a handful of posts a day.
- Agent-native. An AI assistant connects over MCP with OAuth, reads the calendar, drafts, schedules and replies, under approval gates and pacing rules. Hootsuite has no equivalent connection.
- Newer networks. Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are first-class destinations alongside TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Which one to pick
The short version
- 1
Enterprise team with listening, advocacy and ads needs, and budget per seat? Hootsuite remains the establishment answer.
- 2
X or LinkedIn at the centre of your strategy? Hootsuite; Social Magnum does not publish to either.
- 3
Creator, small business or agency that mostly schedules, replies and reports? Social Magnum does that for $24 to $119 flat, people included.
- 4
Counting on AI agents this year? Social Magnum's MCP server is public and documented; Hootsuite offers none.
- 5
Cheapest honest test: Social Magnum's free plan against Hootsuite's 14-day trial, same week of content in both.
More comparisons in this series: Social Magnum vs Buffer, the best Hootsuite alternatives and the best Sprout Social alternatives.