Alternatives

Best Hootsuite alternatives in 2026

Hootsuite is social media suite for publishing, inbox and social listening. These 9 alternatives come from the same rankings, ordered by editorial score. Connected products carry a small, disclosed lift.

9 alternatives From best social media management tools How we rank Share

Ranked alternatives

  1. Sprout Social

    Deep inbox, approval and reporting tools for teams that manage many profiles, with a Smart Inbox and post approvals on the higher tiers. Seats add up quickly for large teams, and the Essentials tier covers only five profiles.

    Best for Mid-size and enterprise teams with many profiles

    WebiOSAndroidSubscription

  2. Buffer

    Has a free option. The simplest route into multi-channel scheduling, with a free plan for three channels and a clean calendar. Approval workflows need the Team plan, and the free plan caps scheduled posts per channel.

    Best for Solo creators and small brands starting out

    WebiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades

  3. Agorapulse

    A shared inbox with bulk scheduling of up to 200 posts from a CSV file and the Archie post builder. Plans are priced per user, and multi-step approvals sit on the higher tiers.

    Best for Agencies and teams that handle many replies

    WebSubscription

  4. Later

    Visual planning, scheduling, analytics and an inbox in one product, with approvals and competitor benchmarking. Creator and influencer tools are separate products, so pick the scheduler plan for brand work.

    Best for Brands and social managers planning visual feeds

    WebiOSAndroidSubscription

  5. Metricool

    Has a free option. The best free plan here for analytics, with one brand and 20 scheduled posts a month, and a post approval system on the Advanced plan. The free plan does not manage LinkedIn or X, and paid plans are priced by brand.

    Best for Solo users who want analytics without paying

    WebFree plan, paid upgrades

  6. Loomly

    Approval workflows, roles and unlimited calendars on every plan, with Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations. The Starter plan is limited to three users, and AI usage has a monthly cap.

    Best for Marketing teams that need approval workflows

    WebiOSAndroidSubscription

  7. SocialBee

    Content creation, an AI assistant, an engagement inbox and PDF reports, with a 14-day trial and yearly billing 16 percent cheaper. It has no free plan, and its tiers rise with the number of profiles.

    Best for Freelancers and small teams managing a few profiles

    WebSubscription

  8. Mixpost

    Has a free option; is open source. Self-hosted scheduling with an MIT-licensed Lite edition and an AI content assistant. You run your own server, and some features may sit only in the commercial Pro edition.

    Best for Agencies that want to own their data and servers

    Self-hostedWebFree plan, paid upgradesOpen source

  9. Postiz

    Has a free option; is open source. Open-source scheduling under AGPL-3.0 with a large public codebase and a hosted option. Self-hosting needs your own developer apps for each platform, and no approval step is listed in its documentation.

    Best for Developers who want self-hosted scheduling with public code

    WebSelf-hostedFree and open sourceOpen source

About Hootsuite alternatives

What is the best alternative to Hootsuite?
On listme.name the highest-scored alternative is Sprout Social, followed by Buffer. The right choice depends on price, platform and whether you need open source.
Is there a free alternative to Hootsuite?
Yes. Free options include Buffer, Metricool, Mixpost.