Social media management has evolved far beyond simple post scheduling. Today, brands are expected to handle real-time engagement, multi-channel publishing, competitive analysis, social listening, and performance measurement, all while delivering a consistent customer experience.

Hootsuite has long been a well-known tool in this space. It pioneered multi-platform scheduling and introduced social teams to centralized dashboards. But as the digital landscape matured, so did the demands of marketers, and Hootsuite’s once cutting-edge features haven’t kept pace for everyone.

Many users now face challenges with Hootsuite’s pricing model (per seat), limited feature depth for advanced needs like competitor analysis or listening, and a dated UX that makes collaboration clunky.

If you’re looking for modern, efficient, and scalable alternatives to Hootsuite, ones that actually match your workflow without the cost creep, this guide is for you.

Let’s explore the top 7 Hootsuite alternatives together to help you find the best fit. 

Top 7 Hootsuite Alternatives

1. Sociality.io
   
2. Buffer
   
3. Metricool
   
4. Sendible
   
5. Vista Social
   
6. Loomly
   
7. Iconosquare

TL;DR: Best Hootsuite Alternatives in 2025

• Sociality.io
  Best overall for teams needing social inbox, publishing, social listening, competitor tracking, and AI-powered insights. Unlimited users on business plans, strong security, modern UX, starts at $99/month.
  
• Buffer
  Best for solo creators and simple scheduling. Easy-to-use, affordable starting at $10 per channel/month, but limited advanced features and analytics.
  
• Metricool
  Best budget choice for freelancers and small agencies managing paid ads + organic content. Starts at $18/month. Decent analytics but weaker social inbox and listening features.
  
• Sendible
  Best for client-centric agencies managing multiple brands. Great engagement inbox and collaboration tools. Pricing can be steep for smaller teams.
  
• Vista Social
  New, modern interface with strong team collaboration at a lower cost (~$79/month). Limited competitor analysis compared to Sociality.io.
  
• Loomly
  Best for content planning and brand teams. Affordable ($42/month base), easy collaboration, strong content creation tools. Limited social listening and competitor analysis.
  
• Iconosquare
  Focused on visual-first analytics and reporting for small teams and agencies. Strong data insights starting at €49/month but weaker on publishing flexibility and support.

1. Sociality.io – Best AI-Powered Social Media Management Tool for Growing Teams

If you’re managing social media across multiple platforms, collaborating with a team, and care about performance, Sociality.io is hands down the best place to start. Unlike Hootsuite, Sociality.io was built for modern teams, those juggling publishing, engagement, competitor tracking, and reporting, all in one place.

Sociality.io is one of the few platforms in the market that offers AI-powered features in all of its modules. By using Sociality.io, you’ll be able to access its AI-powered features;

AI-powered features of Sociality.io:

• Analyze social listening content with AI with multiple tags
• Reply, rephrase and rewrite with AI while engaging on social media
• Get summaries from AI for collected data
• Generate competitor reports and summarize with AI

Social Media Management Features

Sociality.io offers a unified social inbox that lets you engage with followers from every platform in real time. You can publish and schedule content across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and more. Collaboration is smooth, thanks to approval workflows and internal notes. Social media competitor analysis is powerful, providing post-level metrics and insights across all key platforms. AI-powered social listening with sentiment detection, automated alerts, and keyword tracking lets you monitor your brand’s reputation across social and the web. Reports are exportable in PowerPoint, PDF, and Excel, and can be scheduled to send automatically.

Unlike Hootsuite, Sociality.io allows unlimited users in its Business plans, eliminating per-seat pricing altogether. With deeper analytics, a modern UX, and faster, more responsive customer support, it’s built to scale with your team. Plans start at just $99/month, and users consistently rate it 5/5 on G2 for usability, onboarding, and team collaboration.

Security for Enterprise-Level Companies

Security isn’t just a checkbox, it’s a foundation, especially for enterprise teams managing multiple users, sensitive data, and customer interactions. With Sociality.io, you’re not only getting powerful social media management features, but also an environment built with protection in mind.

As part of its enterprise-ready infrastructure, Sociality.io includes essential security tools like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), user activity logs, session and password expiration, enforced strong password policies, and IP allowlists. These features help ensure only authorized users access your organization’s accounts and that all activity is monitored and controlled.

By choosing Sociality.io, you’re not just investing in smarter workflows, you’re also stepping into a secure, protected platform that takes your team’s privacy and security as seriously as you do.

2. Buffer: Best for Simple Scheduling & Solo Creators

Buffer, launched in California in 2010, has become a go-to platform for solo creators and small teams looking for a streamlined approach to social media management. It’s particularly favored for its simplicity and focus on content publishing and basic engagement, making it ideal for users who don’t need the complexity of more enterprise-heavy tools.

One of Buffer’s standout features is its AI Assistant, which helps craft engaging captions and posts. The platform also allows for unlimited scheduling and automated publishing, helping users maintain consistency without manual effort. In addition, the Engage tab consolidates direct messages, comments, and mentions across platforms, creating a more manageable space to handle conversations.

Buffer keeps reporting straightforward. With clear performance insights and automated reports, it offers just enough analytics to help teams stay informed without getting overwhelmed.

Pricing of Buffer

Pricing for Buffer is designed to scale with needs. The free plan supports up to three social accounts, while paid plans begin at $10 per channel per month. That means a team managing five channels would pay about $50/month, an affordable option for those focused on publishing and light interaction.

Pros

• AI-powered content assistant: Helps generate social media captions and ideas quickly.
  
• Affordable entry-level pricing: Free tier available; plans scale for solopreneurs and growing teams.
  
• Web page builder (Start Page): Lets users quickly create landing pages for bio links or campaigns.

Cons

• Glitches & failed posts: Users report bugs where posts don’t get published, especially on Facebook and Instagram (e.g., internal errors, link unshortening failures, Pinterest issues).
  
• Limited platform support on free/low-tier plans: Some networks (like LinkedIn or Instagram full features) are only fully supported with paid upgrades.
  
• Decreased engagement for scheduled posts: Several users feel posts perform worse via Buffer than when posted natively.
  
• Incomplete or inconsistent analytics: Not all platforms offer full insights through Buffer; analytics can lack depth.
  
• Mobile app is less powerful: Some advanced features are harder to use on mobile compared to desktop.
  
• Pricing complaints: Users on tight budgets mention the cost rising over time and some useful features being moved behind paywalls.
  
• No bulk upload or advanced scheduling for free users: Unlike tools like Canva or Blaze.ai, bulk scheduling is limited.
  
• Confusing tier structure for features: Certain expected basics (e.g., threaded tweets, carousel posting, replying to mentions) may require unexpected upgrades or aren’t supported.
  
• Limited design/customization tools: Lacks creative editing or deeper design capabilities compared to newer competitors.
  
• Occasional connectivity issues: Integrations (especially Pinterest and Instagram) may disconnect or not sync properly.
  
• Approval system can feel clunky: While helpful, the queue system may be confusing if you want precise posting times.

Lacks social listening, competitor analysis, advanced analytics comparing to Sociality.io 

3. Metricool: Best for Paid Ad Management + Organic Publishing

Metricool stands out for its dual focus: it allows you to schedule organic content and manage paid campaigns (Google Ads, Meta Ads) from a single dashboard. It also offers visual calendars, Instagram heatmaps, and post performance tracking. It’s ideal for small agencies and teams running paid campaigns. 

Pricing of Metricool

Metricool’s pricing starts at $18/month (billed annually) with the Starter plan, which includes essential features like unlimited content scheduling (except Twitter), LinkedIn publishing, competitor analysis for up to 100 profiles, downloadable reports in PDF and PPT, SmartLinks for multiple link-in-bios, access to AI-powered content assistance, and integrations with Google Drive and Canva.

However, for teams that need advanced collaboration tools, such as team and client access, role-based permissions, post approval workflows, custom report templates, Zapier and Looker Studio integrations, and enhanced AI assistant features, you’ll need to upgrade to the Advanced plan, starting from $45.

Pros

• AI features and automation: Tools like best posting time suggestions and TikTok/Instagram music support enhance planning.
  
• Frequent updates and responsive to user feedback: Users note the platform evolves quickly and integrates community suggestions.
  
• Good customer service (in many cases): Some reviewers praise their fast and helpful support through chat, social media, and email.
  
• Webinars, academy, and content resources: Helpful educational material and regular social media trend insights.

Cons

• Poor auto-renewal practices: Multiple users reported being charged without warning for inactive accounts and denied refunds despite contacting support immediately.
  
• Inconsistent and slow support: Several users experienced long response times, chat support with unqualified reps, and lack of phone support.
  
• Occasional bugs and glitches: Issues with failed post publishing (especially Reels on Facebook), calendar not displaying properly, and planner errors.
  
• Platform limitations: Posts scheduled via Metricool may underperform compared to native publishing; lacks more advanced creative post options (e.g., text overlays on Reels, Instagram Stories with links).
  
• Weak reporting customization: Reports can feel overwhelming, with no way to filter out unnecessary metrics or add inbox response history.
  
• Mobile app limitations: Mobile functionality doesn’t match the power of the desktop version.
  
• Extra costs for some features: LinkedIn access and competitor analytics for LinkedIn require additional payment.
  
• No full project or campaign planning tools: Lacks features for managing entire campaigns or editorial workflows beyond post scheduling.
  
• Limited analytics granularity: Some reports lack precision or consistency compared to native platform data.

There is no social inbox functionality, social listening and competitor tracking is available but not as deep as Sociality.io. If you’re an active company on Instagram, you might like to create Instagram competitor analysis reports easily with Sociality.io.

Sendible: Best for Client-Centric Agencies

Sendible, founded in the UK in 2009, is a social media management platform designed for teams and agencies handling multiple brands or clients. It offers a priority inbox that centralizes comments, messages, and mentions across networks to streamline engagement.

Key features include bulk scheduling, a visual calendar, approval workflows, and integrations with Google Drive and Canva. It also supports white-label reporting for client-facing deliverables.

Alongside major platforms, Sendible works with Google Business Profiles and WordPress, making it suitable for a wider range of content tasks. It’s built to scale with teams and isn’t limited by per-user pricing.

Pros

• Strong platform support (including Google Business & WordPress): Beyond the usual social platforms, Sendible supports channels like Google Business Profiles and even WordPress, making it a true all-in-one tool.
  
• Content queues and automation: Great for recurring posts like weekly promotions or seasonal campaigns, set it and forget it.
  
• White-label reporting: Agencies can deliver branded analytics and dashboards to clients without needing to cobble together third-party tools.
  
• Google Drive & Canva integrations: Built-in support for cloud storage and design tools makes it easier for content-heavy teams to stay organized.

Cons

• Pricing can be steep for small businesses or freelancers: While it delivers a lot, the cost may feel high if you’re not managing multiple accounts or clients.
  
• Limits on social profiles per plan: Users have noted that wanting to connect more than 6 profiles can require an upgrade, something to consider if you manage many clients or niche platforms.
  
• No built-in support for paid ad campaigns: Sendible is focused strictly on organic social, if you’re looking to manage paid social (ads), you’ll need to use another tool alongside it.
  
• Some UX quirks: Changing post times can be unintuitive without editing the full post; also, some users would prefer a calendar that starts on Monday, not Sunday.
  
• No direct story scheduling with stickers/links: Like many tools, Sendible is constrained by Instagram/Facebook API limits, so stories with interactive elements must be posted manually.
  
• No music or sound overlay in post scheduler: You can’t currently add audio to posts (like Reels or TikToks) directly in the platform.
  
• Basic analytics (on lower-tier plans): While reports are professional and white-labeled, deep insights and data customization are more limited unless you’re on higher tiers.
  
• Lacks post preview customization across platforms: Unlike tools like Vista Social or Loomly, Sendible doesn’t yet offer in-depth preview adjustments by channel.

Lack of social listening and competitor insights compared to Sociality.io.

5. Vista Social: New Player, Modern Interface

Vista Social is a well-rounded social media management tool that offers robust features like scheduling, inbox monitoring, messaging, social listening, a link-in-bio service, task management, and even an AI assistant, all at a fraction of the cost of competitors like Hootsuite. While the web app may feel a bit basic compared to premium platforms, Vista Social supports all major channels (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) and shines when it comes to team collaboration. For just $79/month on the Professional plan, you can add four team members to manage up to 15 accounts, saving thousands annually compared to Hootsuite, which charges upwards of $3,000/year for a team of three and even more for post approval workflows. It also integrates with Zapier, letting you automate tasks and sync Vista Social with your favorite tools, making it a cost-effective yet capable choice for teams that need core functionality without enterprise pricing.

Pros

• Canva integration: Direct integration allows quick access to visuals without leaving the platform.
  
• Employee advocacy feature: Share content internally for team members to boost reach and engagement.

Cons

• Mobile app limitations: The app lacks many features available on the desktop version, which limits on-the-go use.
  
• Onboarding complexity: First-time setup, especially account linking, can be confusing without guidance.
  
• Short free trial: The 14-day trial may feel too brief to fully evaluate all features.
  
• Limited third-party integrations: Fewer connections with external tools compared to larger platforms.
  
• Character cap for posts: Limits like 800-word max can be a challenge for long-form content.
  
• Thread creation for Twitter: No auto-splitting of long text into multiple tweets, must be done manually.
  
• Login issues via Facebook: Connecting business pages through personal Facebook logins can cause access problems.

📝 Lack of competitor analysis comparing to Sociality.io but has similar prices.

6. Loomly: Best for Content Planning & Brand Teams

Loomly is a user-friendly and budget-conscious social media management platform designed to support businesses of all sizes, from solo creators and startups to large teams. Starting at just $42/month, its Base Plan includes two users and 10 social accounts, with scalable plans that go all the way up to 50 accounts and 30 users. Each pricing tier is clearly structured (Basic, Standard, Advanced, Premium), with increasing access to features like advanced analytics, custom roles, approval workflows, and even custom branding for larger organizations.

One of Loomly’s standout strengths is its simplicity and content creation tools. It offers helpful features like post inspiration, optimization tips, unlimited post scheduling, post previews, hashtag management, link shorteners, and integrations with Google Drive and Canva. All users, regardless of tier, have access to key social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and more. Collaboration is made easy with built-in approval workflows and user roles, while Standard plans and above also include Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations for better team communication.

The platform includes an analytics dashboard that gives users real-time performance insights across every major platform. Users can track what content performs best, mimic successful posts, and even schedule regular performance reports (available on higher plans). However, more advanced features, like exporting analytics data, creating scheduled reports, and applying custom branding, are reserved for the higher-tier subscriptions.

Loomly’s mobile apps for iOS and Android ensure users can make quick edits or plan posts on the go, making it a practical choice for fast-paced social teams. The platform also includes a media library with access to over five million royalty-free images and videos, and provides branded loom.ly shortlinks for deeper insight into how, when, and where audiences engage with shared content.

Overall, Loomly is a solid option for teams seeking a streamlined, affordable social media scheduler with excellent content planning features.

Pros

• Content library feature: Lets users store visual assets for consistent branding and faster post creation.
  
• Multiple calendars support: Manage different clients or brands efficiently within the same workspace.
  
• Post previews and tips: Visual previews and post optimization suggestions help improve content quality before publishing.

Cons

• No full Instagram Story scheduling: Users still need to manually post stories via Meta Business Suite, which can affect post order.
  
• Clunky duplication features: When duplicating posts, fine-tuning (like time settings or platform-specific edits) may not carry over correctly.
  
• Basic tagging and image editing: Account tagging can be finicky, and the image cropping tool lacks precision and usability.
  
• Limited storage for post ideas: No dedicated space to store content drafts or post ideas separately per client.
  
• Interface language issues: Button labels and workflows, especially for manual Instagram publishing or approval processes, can be unclear or confusing.
  
• Lack of performance-based suggestions: No automated best-time-to-post recommendations based on analytics or engagement history.

📝 Loomly does fall short when it comes to competitor analysis and social listening, areas where platforms like Sociality.io excel.

7. Iconosquare: Visual-First Analytics

Iconosquare, founded in 2011, is a social media management platform with a strong focus on analytics and reporting. It’s designed for marketers, brands, and agencies that want in-depth visibility into performance across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Key features include audience and engagement analytics, branded hashtag and mention tracking, competitor benchmarking, and customizable dashboards. Reports can be exported in Excel or PDF and scheduled for automatic delivery.

The platform also offers content scheduling through a drag-and-drop calendar, media library management, reusable captions and hashtags, and support for first-comment scheduling. While Stories and carousel posts require manual publishing due to API limitations, most core scheduling functions are supported. An AI-powered content inspiration tool provides post suggestions based on account activity and trends.

Iconosquare includes basic social listening (such as hashtag and mention tracking), but lacks sentiment analysis and deeper monitoring capabilities found in tools like Sociality.io. For teams, it offers user roles, approval workflows, and integrations with Canva and Zapier, making it suitable for managing multiple clients or brands.

Pricing of Iconosquare

Iconosquare has three plans: Single, Team, and Custom, with pricing starting at €49/month. Each tier increases access to users, social profiles, and features like advanced analytics, scheduled exports, and team collaboration. A free trial is available for new users.

Pros

• Integrations with Canva and Zapier for workflow automation

Cons

• Support can be slow or unresponsive; email replies often delayed and chat support inconsistent or unavailable during U.S. hours
  
• Accounts occasionally disconnect or fail to post as scheduled; tagging work may randomly disappear
  
• Can’t add audio to Reels or post Reels with text overlay via desktop; must use Instagram app
  
• Metrics CSV exports include unnecessary data, with limited control over which fields are included
  
• Adding new social accounts (especially Facebook/Instagram) can be inconsistent, even with admin access
  
• Lacks some accuracy in reported metrics vs. native platforms
  
• Missing broader content/project planning tools compared to rivals like Loomly or Vista Social
  
• No publishing support for Instagram Stories with links

Overall, Iconosquare is a powerful platform for marketers and agencies that value accurate analytics, client-ready reports, and performance benchmarking. While it excels in data and scheduling, it falls short in areas like customer support, content planning, and publishing flexibility. Still, for teams focused on improving ROI through insight-driven decisions, it remains a top-tier option, with room to improve in usability and service responsiveness.

📝 Lacks consistency in data accuracy, has limited conversation analysis in social listening, and slower support, areas where Sociality.io performs more reliably.

What to Know Before Picking a Social Media Management Platform

Before we dive in, just to be clear, this isn’t AI-generated fluff. I’ve been working in social media management for over 15 years, so here are some honest thoughts to keep in mind:

1. If you’re an enterprise, support matters. Make sure the platform offers solid onboarding and customer support, it can save you a lot of headaches.
   
2. Don’t get caught up in AI hype about content creation. Many AI tools claim to create unique content, but it often feels generic. You’ll still need to produce your own branded visuals too. Instead, look for tools that use AI to help you understand your audience better, provide solid analysis, and assist in crafting responses that sound natural, not robotic.
   
3. Think about your team’s needs. Different people use the platform for different reasons, content teams publish posts, customer service reps reply to messages, analysts track competitors and engagement. You’ll want features like social listening, competitor tracking, analytics, and a social inbox. Also, be wary of platforms that charge you extra for every user.
   
4. Check how often the tool updates. Ask during demos or look at their release notes, are they adding new features regularly or just sitting still? For example, some platforms roll out multiple updates every few months, which shows they’re actively improving.
   
5. If you’re small or just need basic scheduling, keep it simple. You might not need fancy analytics or complex reply tools. For straightforward posting across multiple channels, simpler tools like Buffer often do the job.