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Head to head

Hootsuite vs Buffer

The same six questions asked of each one, side by side.

AttributeAlternativeHootsuiteOur pickBuffer
Starting pricePriced per social account and seat, and the published figures are annual-billed. Hootsuite states $99 Standard, $199 Professional and up to $399 Advanced, all 'based on annual billing'. No monthly-billed rate is published, so none is recorded here. Standard covers 10 social accounts; Professional and Advanced allow unlimited accounts.$5/mo
Free tierLimitedYes
Ease of startScored 3/5A weekend to learnScored 5/5Usable same day
Fit for solo / small teamScored 1/5Built for enterpriseScored 4/5Good for a small team
Switching costMediumLow
Best forMarketing teams that need approval workflows, social listening and reporting across many accounts, where unlimited accounts from Professional up genuinely earns the price.Individuals and small teams posting to a handful of accounts who want scheduling that works without a dashboard full of metrics.
Worth knowing side by side
Renews higherNoNo
Worst forIndividuals and small businesses. $99 a month billed annually is more than ten times what Buffer or Publer charge for scheduling that most people would find sufficient.Anyone managing many accounts. At $5 per channel, ten accounts is $50/mo for scheduling alone.
Skip it ifYou want to schedule posts and nothing more. Every cheaper tool in this category does that, and Hootsuite's price is for the workflow and reporting layer around it.You need deep analytics, social listening or approval workflows. Buffer is deliberately lighter than Hootsuite.
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Why Buffer is marked as our pick

Schedules posts reliably and does not try to be a marketing suite. It has the lowest ongoing cost of the tools compared here. We compare on the price you keep paying, not the introductory rate — a plan advertised cheaply that renews higher is ranked on its renewal price. Read the methodology.

Other matchups