Hootsuite vs Sprout Social · Tool comparison · Social Media Management
Hootsuite vs. Sprout Social: pricing, teams and listening compared on facts
Hootsuite
9.0/ 10 Social media platform ("Hootsuite Social OS") with modules for planning and publishing (Perch), inbox and customer service (Nest), social listening (Lumen), AI assistant (Wisdom) and employee advocacy (Parliament).
- Price
- from € 99/month
- Data location
- USA
- Headquarters
- Vancouver, Canada
- Try it
- Free trial
Advantage in 2 of 8 criteria
Sprout Social
8.6/ 10 Social media management platform for publishing, Smart Inbox, reporting and review management, with social listening, employee advocacy and premium analytics as add-ons.
- Price
- from $ 79/month
- Data location
- USA
- Headquarters
- Chicago, USA
- Try it
- Free trial
Advantage in 1 of 8 criteria
The Hootsuite vs Sprout Social duel pits two North American platforms with a similar core of scheduling, inbox and reporting against each other; both charge per person, Hootsuite in euros according to its German pricing page, Sprout Social in US dollars. Take Hootsuite if your team needs a German interface or wants social listening without buying extra; according to the product page, basic listening is included in all plans. Take Sprout Social if you need approvals more cheaply and handle reviews on Google or Trustpilot, for example, in the same tool: according to the help centre, approvals start at 299 USD instead of 399 euros per person, review management from Standard (as of October 2026).
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Networks & publishing | 15 % | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Team & approvals | 10 % | 9.4 | 10.0 Advantage |
| Community & inbox | 15 % | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Analytics & reporting | 15 % | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Data protection & GDPR | 15 % | 5.0 Advantage | 3.8 |
| German language | 5 % | 6.7 Advantage | 0.0 |
| Price transparency | 5 % | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| AI connectivity & integrations | 20 % | 10.0 | 10.0 |
Where Hootsuite and Sprout Social differ
| Checkpoint | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Single sign-on (SSO)Team & approvals | ½ enterprise/custom only | + yes |
| Provider based in the EU/EEA (country with EU adequacy decision = half points)Data protection & GDPR | ½ partly | − no |
| German-language interfaceGerman language | + yes | − no |
Prices and data protection
| Item | Hootsuite | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Price | from € 99/month | from $ 79/month |
| Free trial | yes | yes |
| Free plan | no | not documented |
| German interface | yes | no |
| Data location | USA | USA |
| DPA | yes | yes |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, Canada | Chicago, USA |
Facts as of 13 October 2026. Details and sources in the reviews of Hootsuite and Sprout Social.
How do Hootsuite and Sprout Social differ?
Hootsuite and Sprout Social differ above all in language, listening and the plan from which team features start. The core is similar: according to the vendors, both schedule in a calendar, bring messages together in a shared inbox and upload up to 350 posts by CSV. According to the integration pages, both connect Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads and Bluesky.
- Language: according to its help centre, Hootsuite can be switched to German. According to its own help article, Sprout Social is available only in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese.
- Listening: Hootsuite has basic listening in all plans and, with Lumen, extended listening in the Enterprise plan. According to its pricing page, social listening is an add-on at Sprout Social.
- Reviews: according to its integration page, Sprout Social has review management from Standard; Hootsuite names review monitoring only in the Enterprise plan.
- Bulk scheduling: according to its help centre, Sprout Social offers CSV import only in Professional and Advanced and only for X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Details on modules and integrations are in the Hootsuite fact check and the Sprout Social fact check.
How much do Hootsuite and Sprout Social cost in comparison?
Sprout Social starts cheaper; from the middle plan, prices are level or higher. According to the pricing pages, both charge per person and month, Hootsuite in euros, Sprout Social in US dollars. The figures apply with annual billing and exclude taxes, as of October 2026:
| Tier | Hootsuite (per user) | Sprout Social (per seat) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Standard 99 EUR | Essentials 79 USD |
| Middle | Professional 199 EUR | Standard 199 USD, Professional 299 USD |
| Top | Advanced 399 EUR | Advanced 399 USD |
| Enterprise | on request | on request |
Sprout Social’s low entry price has limits: according to the help centre, Essentials covers up to 5 profiles and comes without Smart Inbox, review management and approvals. According to the pricing page, it costs 99 USD per seat with monthly billing. According to its plans page, Hootsuite Standard allows up to 10 social media accounts; according to the FAQ, monthly billing is possible but more expensive. For a team of 3 people the amount triples with both vendors, because every person counts separately.
Extra costs arise at Sprout Social for listening, employee advocacy and Premium Analytics, all three add-ons without a published price according to the pricing page. At Hootsuite, extended listening and employee advocacy are part of the Enterprise plan. For trials, Sprout Social gives 30 days and Hootsuite 14 days, both without a credit card.
Which tool is better for teams and approvals?
According to the plan details, approvals come earlier at Sprout Social, while message assignment is more clearly documented at Hootsuite. According to its help centre, Sprout Social has message approval workflows in Professional and Advanced, so from 299 USD per seat; external approvers are possible only in Advanced. At Hootsuite, according to its plans page, approval workflows start only with Advanced at 399 euros per user.
In the inbox, Hootsuite names message assignment and skills-based routing from Advanced. According to its release notes, Sprout Social lets you create and assign tasks directly from Smart Inbox messages; the vendor does not say which plan this applies to. The Smart Inbox itself comes from Standard.
For several brands, according to its help centre, Sprout Social bundles profiles in groups, for example by team, location or client. According to its plans page, Hootsuite works with an organisation by departments, including permissions. According to its security practices, Hootsuite has single sign-on only in the Enterprise plan. Sprout Social supports SAML 2.0, but self-service set-up is not available for trial accounts or customers without a customer success manager.
Which tool is better for social listening?
For social listening Hootsuite documents more sources, while Sprout Social documents its look back in time more precisely. According to its product page, Hootsuite includes basic listening in all plans. According to its plans page, extended listening with Lumen on Talkwalker technology, alerts and review monitoring are part of the Enterprise plan; Hootsuite names print, TV and radio in its business intelligence offer. On history Hootsuite gives different figures: 13 months on the plans page, more than 24 months on the Lumen page.
According to its pricing page, Sprout Social sells listening as an add-on from Standard; the Standard plan itself includes keyword and location monitoring. According to its help centre, the listening covers the web source with news, blogs and forums as well as Reddit and Tumblr; articles over 10 KB are missing. The standard backfill goes back 30 days, manually for X back to 2006 and for the web 3 years. Spike alerts report peaks. Sprout Social does not document print, TV, radio or podcasts, which does not mean they are definitely missing.
You can compare specialised tools in the social media monitoring tools.
What about data protection and GDPR?
According to their own statements, both vendors store data in the USA and offer a Data Processing Addendum; we give no legal assessment. According to its Trust Center, Hootsuite uses AWS data centres in the USA, third parties may process data worldwide, and the Data Processing Addendum secures transfers through standard contractual clauses. On its security page, Sprout Social names AWS in Northern Virginia as its primary and AWS in Oregon as its secondary location, with backups at Google Cloud in Iowa. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework is listed in its Trust Portal.
Company headquarters differ: according to its terms of service, Hootsuite is based in Vancouver, Canada, Sprout Social in Chicago, USA. Both are certified to SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701. According to its security practices, Hootsuite also names ISO/IEC 27017 and FedRAMP, and according to its Trust Center, Sprout Social names CSA STAR Level 1 and PCI DSS. How these points are weighted is explained in the methodology.
Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: who is each tool for?
Hootsuite suits teams in the DACH region that need a German interface and want to keep management and listening with one vendor. If you want to monitor media down to print and broadcast, according to the vendor you have to request the Enterprise or business intelligence offer. According to its plans page, agencies with many accounts get an unlimited number from Professional. If you need employee advocacy, according to its plans page you find Parliament in the Enterprise plan.
Sprout Social suits teams that can work with an English interface, need approvals from Professional and want to reply to reviews on Google, Yelp or Trustpilot in the same tool. According to its pricing page, helpdesk and CRM connections to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk or Microsoft Dynamics 365 come in the Advanced plan.
If neither fits, look at the Hootsuite alternatives or the overview of social media management tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Hootsuite and Sprout Social?
They differ above all in language, listening and the plan from which approvals start. According to its help centre, Hootsuite is available in German and includes basic listening in all plans. Sprout Social is not available in German, sells listening as an add-on and has approvals from Professional instead of Advanced. Both schedule in a calendar, bring messages together in one inbox and store data in the USA.
Hootsuite or Sprout Social: which tool is cheaper?
At entry level Sprout Social is cheaper: according to its pricing page, Essentials costs 79 USD per seat and month, Hootsuite Standard 99 euros per user according to its German pricing page, both with annual billing (as of October 2026). Essentials, however, has no Smart Inbox and no approvals. In the Advanced plan both cost 399 per person and month, Hootsuite in euros, Sprout Social in USD.
Is Sprout Social available in German?
No. According to a help article, the Sprout Social interface is available only in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. Incoming messages in the Smart Inbox can be translated with Google Translate. According to its help centre, Hootsuite can be switched to German; you choose the display language in your profile. German-language support is not documented in the sources for either vendor.
From which plan do Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer approvals?
According to its help centre, Sprout Social has approval workflows from Professional at 299 USD per seat and month, with external approvers only in Advanced; the cheapest plan, Essentials, has no approvals at all. At Hootsuite, according to its plans page, approvals start with Advanced at 399 euros per user and month. Both prices apply with annual billing and exclude taxes, as of October 2026.
Which tool has the longer trial?
According to its pricing page, Sprout Social has the longer trial, 30 days without a credit card. According to its plans page, Hootsuite offers 14 days without a credit card, with a limit of 10 to 20 posts per day and organisation and no bulk scheduling. Hootsuite has no permanent free plan, and Sprout Social's pricing page lists none. After the trial you therefore need a paid plan at Hootsuite.
Do Hootsuite or Sprout Social store data in the EU?
No, according to their own statements both store data in the USA. According to its Trust Center, Hootsuite uses AWS data centres in the USA and names no EU data residency. Sprout Social names AWS locations in Northern Virginia and Oregon and Google Cloud in Iowa for backups. Both offer a Data Processing Addendum, and Sprout Social also lists the EU-US Data Privacy Framework in its Trust Portal.
Which tool is better for agencies?
Hootsuite fits agencies with many accounts and a German-speaking team, Sprout Social rather agencies with client approvals. According to its plans page, Hootsuite allows unlimited accounts from Professional. According to its help centre, Sprout Social bundles profiles in groups by team, location or client, has unlimited profiles from Professional and allows external approvers in Advanced. Both charge per person, so large teams pay more with both.
Does Sprout Social have social listening like Hootsuite?
Yes, but only as an add-on: according to its pricing page, Sprout Social sells listening from Standard without a published price, while Hootsuite has basic listening in all plans. According to its help centre, Sprout Social's listening covers news, blogs, forums, Reddit and Tumblr and reports peaks with spike alerts. Hootsuite Enterprise adds Lumen with alerts and review monitoring. More tools are in the social media monitoring tools.
Can I manage reviews with Hootsuite or Sprout Social?
Yes. According to its integration page, Sprout Social has review management from the Standard plan; Hootsuite names review monitoring only in the Enterprise plan. Sprout Social connects Google My Business, Trustpilot, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Glassdoor, Facebook, the Apple App Store and Google Play, among others. According to its pricing page, Standard costs 199 USD per seat and month with annual billing (as of October 2026).
Can I schedule posts by CSV with Hootsuite and Sprout Social?
Yes. According to their help centres, both upload up to 350 posts by CSV, with different limits. Sprout Social offers CSV import only in Professional and Advanced and only for X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. At Hootsuite the bulk composer is locked during the trial; further limits by plan or network are not documented. If you want to schedule TikTok or YouTube in series, check this with Sprout Social first.
Which security certificates do Hootsuite and Sprout Social have?
Both are certified to SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701. According to its security practices, Hootsuite also names ISO/IEC 27017 and FedRAMP. According to its Trust Center, Sprout Social also names CSA STAR Level 1 and PCI DSS. For tenders with fixed certificate requirements, it pays to look at both trust pages; we give no legal assessment of data protection.
What alternatives are there to Hootsuite and Sprout Social?
Which alternative fits depends on why you are looking: a free plan, EU hosting, a German vendor or more listening. A selection by need is in the Hootsuite alternatives and the Sprout Social alternatives. The social media management tools overview shows all management tools with documented facts; filter them in the tool finder.
15 sources for this page in the source index · with access dates