Hootsuite Alternatives for Small Businesses

The picks that stand out

Closest replacement for an agency

Vista Social

Publishing, a shared inbox, reports, listening and review management sit in one tool, as they do in Hootsuite. The entry plan, Professional, is 99 USD a month on monthly billing for 15 social profiles and 2 users, so the price does not grow with each person the way a per-user plan does. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, X (Twitter) is a paid add-on, and Zapier and Make integrations start at the Advanced plan.

Best when the work is visual and needs approval

Later

The visual planner shows the grid as followers will see it, with approvals and comments built into the flow. Starter is 25 USD a month on monthly billing. Like Hootsuite it has no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and its entry tier allows one user, so a review loop starts at the second tier.

Best free start for client reporting

Metricool

Metricool prices by brand, the unit a freelancer bills in, and includes PDF and PPT client reports from the entry paid plan, Starter at 20 EUR a month on monthly billing for up to 5 brands. The free plan schedules 20 posts a month for one brand. The catch: the free plan cannot connect LinkedIn or X, and X stays a paid add-on.

Best free start for a few channels

Buffer

Buffer charges per channel, 6 USD a month each on Essentials with monthly billing, so dropping a client removes one line rather than a tier. The free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each. Its analytics stop well short of what a reporting-heavy agency needs, and the entry paid plan has one user.

At a glance

Criterion	Vista Social	Later	Metricool	Buffer	SocialBee
Used mainly for	Scheduling posts across networks, shared social inbox	Visual content planning, scheduling posts	Scheduling posts across networks, client reporting	Scheduling posts, queueing a content calendar	Scheduling posts across networks, recycling evergreen content
Entry price	$99.00/mo · Professional	$25.00/mo · Starter	€20.00/mo · Starter	$6.00/mo · Essentials	$29.00/mo · Bootstrap
Free plan	✕No	✕No	✓Yes	✓Yes	✕No
Free trial	✓Yes	✓Yes	✕No	✓Yes	✓Yes
Works on	Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android	Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension	Web
Documented integrations	Zapier, Make, MCP	Canva, Shopify, Google Analytics, API	Google Drive, Canva, MCP, API	Zapier, Canva, Shopify, API	Canva, Unsplash, GIPHY
Setup	Moderate: 1-2 h	Easy: 30-60 min	Easy: 30-60 min	Easy: 30 min	Easy: 30-60 min
Main limitation	No free plan, only a 14-day trial	No free plan at all, only a 14-day trial	The free plan cannot connect LinkedIn or X	Cost climbs quickly once you publish to six or more channels	No free plan, only a 14-day trial
Our evidence level	Vendor documented	Vendor documented	Vendor documented	Vendor documented	Vendor documented
Try it	Try Vista Social ↗Partner link	Try Later ↗Partner link	Try Metricool ↗	Try Buffer ↗	Try SocialBee ↗Partner link

Every cell comes from the tool's record, built from its official documentation and pricing page. The integrations listed are the ones the vendor documents, not tested by us.

Why small teams leave Hootsuite

Two reasons come up on the record. The price is per user and published on annual billing only, so a team of three commits to a year for three seats before anyone has tried it at length. And the product is built for a social media function: listening, inbox and approvals at a scale a one- or two-person business rarely uses.

Compare the unit, not the headline

Hootsuite counts people. Vista Social and Later count accounts, Metricool counts brands, Buffer counts channels. The same workload lands very differently on each: a freelancer with four clients on three networks each is one Metricool tier, twelve Buffer channels, one Vista Social plan, or four Hootsuite seats if four people need access. Write down people, clients and networks before comparing prices, and compare figures only within the same currency.

If your posts are mostly evergreen: SocialBee

Part of what Hootsuite schedules is the same content coming back: tips, testimonials, reminders. SocialBee is built for that case. Posts are sorted by theme, each profile gets a posting cadence, and posts can be recycled or given an expiry date. Bootstrap is $29 a month month to month for 5 profiles and one user, or $290 a year billed yearly. It has no listening and no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and a second user costs $10 a month more.

What you give up by leaving

Listening across the web, news and social is included in Hootsuite's product; at Vista Social it is free for your own profiles and a 75 USD a month add-on beyond that, and the other three do not offer it. If you rely on brand monitoring, price that add-on in, or stay.

Four setups and what a year costs

Yearly billing, each tool in its own currency.

1. A freelancer posting to three channels for their own brand: Buffer's free plan covers three channels; Essentials is $180 a year for three.
2. A freelancer with five client brands: Metricool Starter, about 192 € a year.
3. A small agency with 15 profiles and two users: Vista Social Professional is $950 a year; Hootsuite Standard for two users is 2,376 € a year.
4. An Instagram-first brand with one person posting: Later Starter, $225 a year.

Two free plans worth starting with

Metricool and Buffer both have permanent free plans, and neither pays this site a commission. If budget is the constraint, start there: Buffer for a few channels, Metricool for one client brand with reporting. Move to a paid tool when the free plan's limit, not a feature list, is what stops you.

Pricing side by side

Frequently asked questions