Standard
Save ~20% with annual billing
What's included:
- 5 social profiles
- All-in-one inbox
- Review management
Complete pricing breakdown for Sprout Social. Compare plans, features, and find the best value.
Sprout Social starts at $199/month for the Standard plan. 4 plans available.
💰 Prices last verified: March 9, 2026
Save ~20% with annual billing
Save ~20% with annual billing
Save ~20% with annual billing
| Tool | Starting Price | Free Tier | Best For | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S Sprout Social Current | $199/mo | Enterprise | ||
| Ag Agorapulse | $69/mo | Growing social media teams needing streamlined content planning and scheduling | Compare | |
| B Buffer | Free | Small businesses | Compare | |
| SB SocialBee | $29/mo | Solopreneurs and small businesses maintaining consistent posting | Compare | |
| H Hootsuite | $99/mo | Agencies | Compare | |
| Se Sendible | $29/mo | Social media agencies managing multiple clients with white-label dashboards | Compare |
Sprout Social's pricing structure reflects its enterprise positioning, with four tiers that scale significantly in both features and cost. All plans are priced per user per month, which can make costs escalate quickly as your team grows.
The entry-level Standard plan includes 5 social profiles, basic publishing and scheduling, keyword monitoring, and group reporting. You get the Smart Inbox for customer service and review management across platforms. However, at nearly $2,400 annually for a single user, this plan is expensive for what many small businesses actually need. The 5-profile limitation can be restrictive if you manage multiple brands or maintain separate profiles for different business units.
This is Sprout Social's most popular tier, offering unlimited social profiles, competitive reporting, optimal send times, and message tagging. You gain access to paid social insights and more detailed analytics. For agencies or businesses managing numerous profiles, the unlimited profile feature makes this plan more cost-effective than Standard. However, you're still paying $3,588 annually per user, which is substantially more than most competitors' highest tiers.
The Advanced plan adds sentiment analysis, chatbots, enhanced AI features, and message spike alerts. This tier includes team productivity reports and social customer care analytics. At $4,788 per user annually, this plan is justified primarily for organizations with sophisticated social customer service operations or those requiring advanced sentiment monitoring for reputation management.
Enterprise customers receive custom implementations, dedicated support, and tailored features. Pricing varies based on requirements but typically starts around $6,000+ annually per user. This tier includes white-glove onboarding and priority support, making it suitable for large organizations with complex needs.
Hidden costs include the per-user scaling model, which can become expensive quickly. A 5-person team on Professional plans costs $17,940 annually. Additionally, some advanced features like premium analytics are available as add-ons, potentially increasing costs further. When compared to competitors like Hootsuite ($99/month) or Buffer ($6/month), Sprout Social's pricing is significantly higher, though it includes features those platforms charge extra for or don't offer at all.
| Feature | Standard | Professional | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | ||||
| Analytics | ||||
| Content Calendar | ||||
| Team Collaboration | ||||
| Social Listening | ||||
| Engagement Tools | ||||
| Mobile App | ||||
| Ads Management |
Sprout Social offers solid value for its feature set. It's best suited for Enterprise and Agencies. At $199/mo, it's a premium option but justifies the cost with powerful analytics.
Sprout Social earns a 4.4/5 rating for delivering exceptional enterprise-grade social media management capabilities, but with significant cost considerations that limit its appeal to larger organizations. The platform excels in areas that matter most to enterprise users: sophisticated social listening, comprehensive customer service features, and boardroom-ready analytics. If your organization handles high-volume social customer service or requires detailed competitive intelligence, Sprout Social provides capabilities that are difficult to find elsewhere.
However, the per-user pricing model starting at $249 monthly makes it prohibitively expensive for small-to-medium businesses. Many organizations will find they're paying for advanced features they don't fully utilize, while missing modern capabilities like AI content generation that newer, more affordable tools provide. The learning curve is also steeper than simpler alternatives, requiring 2-4 weeks for team members to become proficient.
Choose Sprout Social if you're an enterprise organization with dedicated social media teams, handle 100+ daily social inquiries, need advanced social listening for reputation management, or require executive-level reporting that justifies the premium cost. Marketing agencies serving Fortune 500 clients may also find it necessary due to client expectations.
Consider alternatives if you're a small business, have budget constraints under $500 monthly, primarily need scheduling and basic analytics, or want AI-powered content creation. Tools like Hootsuite offer similar core features at lower costs, while SocialRails provides AI content generation and modern features at $29-99 monthly. For most businesses under 50 employees, the value proposition doesn't justify the premium pricing, but for the right enterprise use cases, Sprout Social remains the gold standard in social media management.
Sprout Social costs $199/month for the Standard plan. 4 plans available ranging up to $399/month.
No, Sprout Social doesn't offer a permanent free plan. Pricing starts at $199/month for the Standard plan. However, they may offer a free trial period.
The Standard plan ($199/mo) includes: 5 social profiles; All-in-one inbox; Review management. Higher tiers add more advanced features.
Sprout Social is positioned as a premium option at $199/mo. Best for: Enterprise and Agencies. Rated 4.4/5.
Sprout Social starts at $199/mo vs Agorapulse at $69/mo. Agorapulse is cheaper. Compare features side-by-side to decide.
Yes, most social media tools including Sprout Social offer 10-20% discounts when you pay annually instead of monthly. This can save you approximately $478 per year depending on your plan.
Sprout Social's main competitors include **Hootsuite**, **Agorapulse**, **Zoho Social**, **Brandwatch**, **Khoros**, **Metricool**, **Statusbrew**, **SocialPilot**, and **Planable**. These platforms offer similar social media management features like scheduling, analytics, engagement, and reporting, often at lower costs—Zoho Social saves up to 93.98% with no audience limits. Hootsuite stands out for large teams with robust publishing and monitoring, while Agorapulse excels in user-friendly inboxes and custom reports.
Sprout Social appears expensive due to its per-user, per-month pricing model starting at $199/seat for the Standard plan (5 profiles), rising to $299 for Professional (unlimited profiles) and $399 for Advanced, which multiplies quickly for teams—for example, a 3-person team pays $597–$1,197 monthly on annual billing. This premium structure funds enterprise-grade features like advanced social listening, AI tools (e.g., Enhance Post/Reply), competitor insights, API integrations, and robust reporting, targeting growing businesses and large organizations rather than small teams or basic scheduling needs. No free plan exists, only a 30-day trial, positioning it as a high-end investment best suited for those leveraging its full capabilities.
Whether Planable is better than Sprout Social depends on your specific needs. Planable excels for agencies and teams prioritizing visual collaboration and multi-level approval workflows, with more affordable pricing at $33/user/month versus Sprout Social's $249/month, plus support for non-social content like blogs and newsletters. However, Sprout Social offers more comprehensive features including social listening and competitor analysis, stronger customer support, and higher overall user satisfaction ratings. Choose Planable for cost-effective content collaboration across teams; choose Sprout Social for advanced analytics and deeper social media management capabilities.
Neither Hootsuite nor Sprout Social is universally better; the choice depends on your needs. Hootsuite excels for small to mid-sized teams with its lower pricing (free plan available, cheaper paid tiers), 150+ integrations, and strong multi-platform publishing, but its interface feels clunky. Sprout Social is superior for larger teams or enterprises needing advanced analytics, deeper AI integration, structured approval workflows, social listening (G2 score 8.1 vs. Hootsuite's 7.8), and better collaboration, though it's pricier.