# Sprout Social Alternatives 2027: 13 Paid, Free & Open-Source

Source: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/sprout-social/
Prices checked: 2026-11-10 (Zekai Price Ledger)

The best Sprout Social alternatives in 2027 are Hootsuite (best overall, $99/user/mo), Buffer (best free plan) and Postiz (best open source, AGPL-3.0). Sprout Social itself starts at $79/seat/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 10 Nov 2026; 10 more are compared below, including 1 with a free plan and 4 open source.

| Tool | Type | Starting price | Free plan limit | Licence | Best for | Price checked | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social (the tool being replaced) | — | $79/seat/mo billed yearly | No | — | — | 2026-11-10 | [pricing](https://sproutsocial.com/pricing/) |
| Hootsuite | Paid | $99/user/mo | No free plan | — | Teams wanting unlimited accounts at higher tiers | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://www.hootsuite.com) [pricing](https://www.hootsuite.com/plans) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/hootsuite/) |
| Buffer | Free plan + paid | $5/channel/mo | Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user | — | Small brands starting without budget | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://buffer.com) [pricing](https://buffer.com/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/buffer/) |
| SocialPilot | Paid | $20/mo | No free plan | — | Agencies wanting low cost per account | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://www.socialpilot.co) [pricing](https://www.socialpilot.co/pricing) |
| Agorapulse | Paid | $79/user/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Teams prioritising inbox and review handling | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://www.agorapulse.com) [pricing](https://www.agorapulse.com/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/agorapulse/) |
| Later | Paid | $18.75/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Visual content calendars for Instagram and TikTok | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://later.com) [pricing](https://later.com/pricing/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/later/) |
| Publer | Free | Free plan; paid price not published | 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 25 drafts | — | Freelancers needing a free scheduling tier | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://publer.com) [pricing](https://publer.com/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/publer/) |
| ContentStudio | Paid | $19/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Agencies running many client workspaces | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://contentstudio.io) [pricing](https://contentstudio.io/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/contentstudio/) |
| FeedHive | Paid | $15/mo billed yearly | No free plan | — | Creators who want AI-assisted drafting | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://www.feedhive.com) [pricing](https://www.feedhive.com/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/feedhive/) |
| Postiz | Open source | $29/mo (hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Self-hosted scheduling with agent integrations | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://postiz.com) [pricing](https://postiz.com/pricing) [code](https://github.com/gitroomhq/postiz-app) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/postiz-app/) |
| Mixpost | Open source | $299 one-time (hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | MIT (Lite edition) | Self-hosted Laravel publishing app | 2026-11-10 | [site](https://mixpost.app) [pricing](https://mixpost.app/pricing) [code](https://github.com/inovector/mixpost) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/mixpost/) |
| TryPost | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Self-hosted scheduler driven by AI agents |  | [site](https://trypost.it) [code](https://github.com/trypostit/trypost) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/trypost/) |
| OpenPost | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Scheduling plus image and video editing |  | [site](https://openpo.st) [code](https://github.com/getopenpost/openpost) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/openpost/) |
| Socioboard | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | GPL-3.0-or-later | Older open GPL multi-network social platform |  | [site](https://socioboard.com) [code](https://github.com/socioboard/Socioboard-5.0) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/socioboard/) |

## How each alternative compares with Sprout Social

- **Hootsuite** (Paid, $99/user/mo, checked 2026-11-10): Standard starts at $99 per user with 10 accounts and a 14-day trial; Professional and Advanced list unlimited social accounts, and an AI assistant called Wisdom sits in every plan. Switch if you want unlimited accounts at the Professional tier and one AI assistant across all plans. Stay with Sprout Social if you prefer Sprout's 30-day no-card trial and its seat-based Essentials plan at $79 billed yearly.
- **Buffer** (Free plan + paid, $5/channel/mo, checked 2026-11-10): Bills $5 per channel monthly rather than per seat, and its free plan allows 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel and 1 user. Switch if you want to pay per channel and begin on a free plan before upgrading. Stay with Sprout Social if you need a unified smart inbox, listening and reports built for multi-person teams.
- **SocialPilot** (Paid, $20/mo, checked 2026-11-10): Plans start at $20 monthly for 5 accounts and 1 user; Standard raises that to 10 accounts and 3 users for $40, with a 14-day no-card trial. Switch if you need several users on a flat plan and cannot justify per-seat pricing. Stay with Sprout Social if you rely on Sprout's premium analytics and listening add-ons or enterprise support.
- **Agorapulse** (Paid, $79/user/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-10): Offers Standard, Professional and Advanced at $79, $119 and $149 per user billed yearly, each capped at 10 social profiles per user. Switch if you want a social inbox with a lower per-user entry price than Sprout's higher tiers. Stay with Sprout Social if you need unlimited social profiles, which Sprout lists from the Professional plan.
- **Later** (Paid, $18.75/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-10): Starter costs $18.75 monthly billed yearly for 1 social set of 8 profiles and 30 posts per profile each month, with a 14-day trial. Switch if you are a small brand scheduling visually and can stay under 30 posts per profile. Stay with Sprout Social if you need team workflows, listening and deep analytics beyond a calendar tool.
- **Publer** (Free, Free plan; paid price not published): Its free plan keeps 3 accounts (X excluded), 10 scheduled posts per account and 25 drafts; paid tiers scale through an account slider with each 10th account free. Switch if you have very few accounts and want a free-forever tier that excludes X. Stay with Sprout Social if you require X support, unlimited scheduling and a vendor with enterprise reporting.
- **ContentStudio** (Paid, $19/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-10): Standard gives 5 social accounts in 1 workspace for $19 billed yearly; Agency Unlimited removes workspace and user limits and starts at 25 accounts. Switch if you manage multiple client workspaces and want content discovery next to publishing. Stay with Sprout Social if you want a 30-day trial, per-seat roles and Sprout's reporting packages.
- **FeedHive** (Paid, $15/mo billed yearly, checked 2026-11-10): Creator costs $15 monthly billed yearly for 4 social accounts, while Agency reaches 500 accounts and 100 workspaces for $239 on yearly billing. Switch if you are a creator or small brand wanting a much lower monthly price. Stay with Sprout Social if you need enterprise permissions, social customer care and advanced listening.
- **Postiz** (Open source, $29/mo (hosted), checked 2026-11-10): Schedules to many networks from one AGPL codebase with a calendar, AI helpers and agent integrations; running it yourself needs Postgres, Redis and a developer app for each network you connect. Switch if you want unlimited-post scheduling on your own server instead of seat-based enterprise pricing. Stay with Sprout Social if you need social listening, a smart inbox and reporting from one vendor.
- **Mixpost** (Open source, $299 one-time (hosted), checked 2026-11-10): Lite is MIT and free, built on Laravel; the inbox, extra networks and team features are in Pro, a $299 one-time licence per domain, so it is open core rather than fully free. Switch if you want a self-hosted publisher with a one-time Pro licence and no per-seat charges. Stay with Sprout Social if you rely on CRM and case-style inbox workflows across many profiles.
- **TryPost** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): Exposes an MCP server with 80+ tools and a REST API so AI agents can draft, queue and publish posts, and its self-hosted build carries every feature of the cloud product. Switch if you want an approval-ready calendar that agents can also drive through MCP, on your servers. Stay with Sprout Social if you need analytics breadth and customer-care tools from a single vendor.
- **OpenPost** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): Bundles an image editor, video editor and workflow canvas with scheduling, and runs from a single Docker container with SQLite by default; it lists 16 networks including Mastodon, Bluesky and PeerTube. Switch if you want a self-hosted scheduler with built-in editors and a small single-container setup. Stay with Sprout Social if you need enterprise reporting and role controls backed by a support contract.
- **Socioboard** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): Older codebase that supports nine networks with analytics and reporting, but needs Node.js microservices, a PHP front end, MongoDB and MySQL, and its licence header dates from 2014-2021. Switch if you want to modify an open GPL platform and can maintain Node, PHP and databases. Stay with Sprout Social if you want current integrations and reporting maintained for you.

## Open-source options in detail

- **Postiz** (https://github.com/gitroomhq/postiz-app): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Commercial use: Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.; Runs on: Docker host with Postgres, Redis and media storage.; Setup: moderate: Docker plus a developer app and keys for each network.; Last commit: 2026-11-13; Last release: 2026-11-13; GitHub stars: 41,530 (2026-11-13)
- **Mixpost** (https://github.com/inovector/mixpost): Licence: MIT (Lite edition); Commercial use: Yes for Lite (MIT); Pro and Enterprise need paid licences.; Runs on: A PHP or Docker server with a public domain.; Setup: moderate: Docker, manual PHP or Laravel install; networks need their own app keys.; Last commit: 2026-03-16; Last release: 2026-03-16; GitHub stars: 3,930 (2026-11-13)
- **TryPost** (https://github.com/trypostit/trypost): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Commercial use: Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.; Runs on: A web server running PHP 8.2 or newer with Laravel 13.; Setup: moderate: Laravel application; follow its documentation to set up and connect networks.; Last commit: 2026-11-13; Last release: 2026-11-01; GitHub stars: 860 (2026-11-13)
- **OpenPost** (https://github.com/getopenpost/openpost): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Commercial use: Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.; Runs on: Docker Compose; the default setup is one container with SQLite.; Setup: moderate: One container, but each network needs its own app credentials.; Last commit: 2026-11-13; Last release: 2026-11-13; GitHub stars: 907 (2026-11-13)
- **Socioboard** (https://github.com/socioboard/Socioboard-5.0): Licence: GPL-3.0-or-later; Commercial use: Yes; GPL-3.0 means sharing source if you distribute modified versions.; Runs on: Server with Node.js 14+, PHP front end, MongoDB, MySQL and PM2.; Setup: hard: Several Node microservices plus PHP, MongoDB and MySQL, per its install guide.; Last commit: 2026-08-17; Last release: 2024-01-16; GitHub stars: 1,530 (2026-11-13)

## Questions

### What is the best alternative to Sprout Social in 2027?
Hootsuite is the best overall Sprout Social alternative on this page ($99/user/mo). For no cost, Buffer has a free plan (Up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel, 1 user). To self-host, Postiz is open source (AGPL-3.0).

### Is there a free version of Sprout Social?
No. Sprout Social has no free plan; paid plans start at $79/seat/mo billed yearly, checked on 10 Nov 2026.

### Is there a 100% free alternative to Sprout Social?
Yes. Postiz, Mixpost, TryPost, OpenPost, Socioboard are open source and free to self-host. Buffer, Publer have a free plan with limits, shown in the table.

### What is cheaper than Sprout Social?
SocialPilot starts at $20/mo, against $79/seat/mo billed yearly for Sprout Social, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 10 Nov 2026.

### How much do Sprout Social alternatives cost for a team of 5?
If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 10 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Buffer $25/mo, FeedHive $75/mo, Later $93.75/mo, against Sprout Social $395/mo for Sprout Social. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size.

### Which is better, Hootsuite or Sprout Social?
Standard starts at $99 per user with 10 accounts and a 14-day trial; Professional and Advanced list unlimited social accounts, and an AI assistant called Wisdom sits in every plan. Choose Hootsuite if you want unlimited accounts at the Professional tier and one AI assistant across all plans. Stay with Sprout Social if you prefer Sprout's 30-day no-card trial and its seat-based Essentials plan at $79 billed yearly.

### Why are people leaving Sprout Social?
The documented reasons are: Essentials is $79 per seat a month billed yearly or $99 billed monthly; Standard, Professional and Advanced are listed only on annual billing at $199, $299 and $399 per seat (10 Nov 2026); Trellis Plus, the larger AI credit pack (1,000 credits per seat), is a paid add-on at $28 per seat monthly on annual billing or $35 billed monthly; 100 credits are included on all plans (10 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above.

### What is better than Sprout Social?
No single tool is better for every team. Hootsuite lists unlimited accounts at higher tiers, Agorapulse focuses on the inbox, and Buffer suits simple scheduling.

## Related on Zekai

- [Hootsuite alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/hootsuite/)
- [Buffer alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/buffer/)
- [Later alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/later/)
- [Metricool alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/metricool/)
- [Taplio alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/taplio/)
- [AI for Marketing & Content Creation](https://zekaiwork.com/professions/ai-marketing-content-creation-automation/)

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Live table, team cost finder and price alerts: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/sprout-social/