Social media management tools let a person or team run several social accounts from one place: plan and schedule posts, publish them to each network, answer comments and messages from a shared inbox, and report on what performed. Larger teams add approval workflows, content libraries and social listening, which tracks mentions of a brand or topic across networks.
The pricing model shapes the bill more than any feature. Some tools charge per connected channel and others per user, so one person managing many accounts and a team managing a few get opposite answers. Check that the networks you rely on support direct publishing, including formats such as short video and stories, and decide whether you need analytics and an inbox or only scheduling.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
 Buffer | Best for small businesses and solo marketers publishing to a handful of social accounts | Free plan | 14 days |
 Metricool | Best for freelancers and small agencies reporting on organic and paid social for several brands | Free plan | No |
 Later | Best for Instagram- and TikTok-led brands and creators who plan posts by how the grid looks | Free plan | 14 days |
 Sprout Social | Best for in-house social teams that handle customer messages and reviews as a shared queue | $79/mo | 30 days |
 Hootsuite | Best for marketing teams that manage organic posts and social ads in the same tool | $99/mo | 14 days |
5 of 5 tools
The ranking
In order, with what each tool is for and what it costs. Use the filters above to narrow the list.
Best for small businesses and solo marketers publishing to a handful of social accounts
Buffer is a social media scheduler with analytics and a comment inbox, suited to small businesses and creators who post to a few accounts. Paid plans charge per connected channel, starting at $6 a channel each month or $5 billed yearly, and Team allows unlimited users.
Free plan
paid from $5/mo
Best for freelancers and small agencies reporting on organic and paid social for several brands
Metricool is a social media planner with analytics, competitor tracking, ad reporting and an inbox, suited to freelancers and agencies handling several brands. Plans are priced by how many brands you manage, from $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, for up to five.
Free plan
paid from $20/mo
Best for Instagram- and TikTok-led brands and creators who plan posts by how the grid looks
Later is a social media scheduler built around a visual Instagram planner and a Link in Bio page, for brands and creators that lead with Instagram and TikTok. Plans are flat monthly prices for set numbers of users and social sets, with post limits per profile.
Free plan
paid from $18.75/mo
Best for in-house social teams that handle customer messages and reviews as a shared queue
Sprout Social is a social media management platform for in-house teams, combining publishing, a shared Smart Inbox, review management and reporting. Every plan is priced per seat, from $79 a seat a month billed yearly, or $99 month to month, on Essentials.
$79/mo
30-day free trial
Best for marketing teams that manage organic posts and social ads in the same tool
Hootsuite is a social media management suite that combines publishing, a shared inbox, listening, analytics and ad management for marketing and customer care teams. Every plan is sold per user seat, from $99 a user a month billed yearly, or $149 month to month, on Standard.
$99/mo
14-day free trial
Head to head
Feature-by-feature matchups between leading Social Media Management tools, with a clear verdict.
Methodology
We compare the tools on this page using what can be checked from the outside: published pricing and plan limits, documented features, and each vendor's own security, compliance and support documentation. This is desk research, not hands-on testing. Where something can only be judged by using a product, we say so rather than imply we measured it.
What we weigh here:
How the order is set:
Buyer's guide
Each tool here bills by a different unit. Buffer charges per connected channel, with unlimited users on its Team plan. Hootsuite and Sprout Social charge per seat, so every person who logs in adds a full plan price. Later sells flat plans with set numbers of social sets and users, and Metricool prices by brand count. Count your accounts, people and brands before comparing prices, because one marketer with many accounts and a team with a few get opposite answers.
All five publish to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn, but format support differs. Buffer and Metricool turn Instagram posts with music or stickers into phone notifications, Hootsuite does the same for Instagram Creator profiles, and Sprout Social connects Instagram Business profiles only. First comments need a paid plan on Buffer and Later. If a format matters, schedule a real post with it before you commit.
All five schedule posts from a calendar; reporting is where the plans part ways. Hootsuite's Standard plan benchmarks five competitors and Metricool's paid plans track up to 100 competitor profiles, while Buffer has no benchmarking. Hootsuite shows paid and organic results together on every plan, Metricool in campaign dashboards and Later on Scale. If nobody reads your reports, don't pay for them. If a board reads them every month, budget for the plan that builds them.
Answering comments and messages is a separate job from publishing. Buffer's Community handles comments, not DMs, and Later's inbox starts on Growth. Metricool's inbox takes messages, comments and Google reviews but sends no alerts for new ones. Hootsuite adds message assignment on Advanced, and Sprout Social's Smart Inbox assigns cases from Standard. Once more than one person answers, check assignment and saved replies first.
FAQ
It depends on the billing unit. Buffer charges per connected channel, from $6 a channel a month, or $5 billed yearly. Later's plans start at $25 a month, or $18.75 billed yearly, for one user and one social set, and Metricool's at $25, or $20 billed yearly, for up to five brands. Hootsuite and Sprout Social charge per seat, from $99 and $79 per user a month billed yearly. Price your own mix of accounts and people, because the cheapest tool changes with the setup.
Yes, all five can publish Reels and TikTok videos directly, within limits the networks set for outside tools. Buffer and Metricool send posts with music or stickers to a phone notification, and Hootsuite does the same for Instagram Creator profiles and multi-image Stories. Sprout Social connects Instagram Business profiles and TikTok Business accounts, and Later auto-publishes to Instagram business and creator accounts. First comments need a paid plan on Buffer and Later.
Only if someone will act on what it finds. Listening tracks mentions and keywords beyond your own accounts. Hootsuite includes a 7-day Quick Search on Standard and 30 days from Professional, with 13 months of history on Enterprise. Sprout Social sells Listening as a quoted add-on for Standard and up, Later keeps brand mentions for its Scale plan, Metricool's Hashtag Tracker is billed by the day, and Buffer says it has none. Buy it for a named reason, such as crisis monitoring.
Yes, and it can cost little or nothing. Buffer's free plan covers three channels with 10 scheduled posts each, and Essentials costs $18 a month for three channels, or $15 a month billed yearly. Metricool's free plan allows one brand and 20 posts a month, and Later's allows 12 posts per profile a month. Per-seat tools cost more at this size: Hootsuite's Standard plan is $99 a month for one user, billed yearly.
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