Hootsuite is a well-known and widely-used tool for social media management and automation, but not everyone can afford it. With many alternatives on the market, it can take time to determine which solution is right for your business.
That's why we've narrowed down a list of the top 5 cost-effective Hootsuite alternatives tailored explicitly for small businesses and professionals with limited marketing budgets in 2023.
1. Agora Pulse
Agora Pulse‘s user-friendly interface makes it easy to manage all aspects of your social media presence. The social inbox streamlines communication by allowing you to reply to all social messages and mentions in one central location.
For team collaboration, messages can be assigned to specific team members who will receive email notifications. The social calendar and media library enable content publishing, and the post composer, integrated with Canva, allows for on-the-spot image creation. Additionally, the ability to edit posts for each network on the same page is a huge plus.
Agorapulse also boasts a comprehensive set of reporting and analytics tools, including the highly useful “best time to post” data. With its reasonable pricing and robust features, Agorapulse is an ideal choice for individuals, teams, and agencies.
Features:
- The ability to plan and publish updates to major social media platforms
- In-depth social media monitoring capabilities
- Automated rules for effective inbox management
- Team collaboration features with task assignment capabilities
- Effortlessly generate comprehensive reports
- Access to the comprehensive training course, “Social Media Manager School,” to enhance your social media marketing expertise
- A centralized social media inbox for monitoring and interaction with your target audience
Pricing:
- Standard – $49.00 per month
- Professional – $79.00 per month
- Advanced – $119.00 per month
- Custom – get a quote
2. SocialBee
SocialBee is my top pick for a social media scheduling tool, offering a comprehensive upgrade from Hootsuite's publishing capabilities. Its scheduling features are centered around content categories, enabling you to categorize your social media posts into different types.
You can easily set the schedule for each category, and when scheduling content, you have the option to publish it as a one-time post, set a specific date, or add it to one of your content categories. The latter option provides additional settings, such as the ability to mark the post as evergreen and has it re-added to the category once it's published. You can also choose to expire the post after a specified number of times or dates.
SocialBee also offers useful content curation features, including a Chrome extension and integrations with Quuu, Pocket, and Zapier. Additionally, it provides analytics for your social media profiles, so you can monitor the performance of your content.
Features:
- Streamlined scheduling for all your social media needs
- Effortless re-promotion of evergreen content
- Organized publishing with the categorization of content
- Efficient scheduling through bulk options and RSS feed integration
- Track performance with built-in analytics for social profiles
- Schedule TikTok videos with ease
- Seamless integration with popular platforms like Zapier, Pocket, and Quuu
- Manage multiple brands effortlessly with designated workspaces
- The tailored agency plans with additional workspaces and team accounts
- The approval process for teams with content approval workflows
Pricing:
- Bootstrap – $15.8 per month
- Accelerate – $32.5 per month
- Pro – $65.8 per month
3. Pallyy
Pallyy is a cost-effective alternative to Hootsuite that offers robust scheduling, analytics, reporting, and a user-friendly social inbox. What sets Pallyy apart is its rapid pace of innovation, being one of the earliest to introduce TikTok scheduling and one of the few with TikTok support in their social inbox.
The social inbox has a Gmail-like interface, making it intuitive and familiar to use. Pallyy's other features also boast a sleek user interface and an efficient content scheduling process.
The built-in media library in the social media calendar makes it easy to organize and store your photos and videos. Simply drag them onto the calendar to start preparing your post.
Additionally, Pallyy includes a bio link tool, which integrates its analytics into custom reports, allowing you to track bio link traffic and clicks alongside your standard social media data.
Features:
- Grid view option for Instagram posts
- Robust social inbox with broad support for popular social platforms, including TikTok
- Advanced scheduling capabilities designed for optimal sharing of visually appealing content
- User-friendly social media calendar with a visual Kanban board and share links for clients
- Advanced analytics and reporting for multiple social networks
- Streamlined bio link tool with button and grid views for increased content traffic
- Efficient team collaboration features including user account tagging and commenting for streamlined feedback
Pricing:
- Free – $0.00
- Premium – $13.5 per month
4. Sendible
Sendible allows you to connect to multiple social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.
Sendible boasts advanced scheduling features including a social media calendar, queue, content libraries, and the ability to publish from RSS feeds. You can also find and share relevant content with your audience through the content curation feature.
The reporting and analytics capabilities of Sendible are also noteworthy. You can generate custom reports for each social network to track your social media performance.
Social listening is also included, enabling you to keep track of any mentions of your brand, even if they're not directly tagged to your username.
Features:
- Effortless distribution of your social media content
- Generate personalized performance reports
- Monitor brand mentions with integrated social listening
- Interact with followers through real-time social streams or a centralized social inbox
- Collaborate with your team and manage multiple user accounts
- Stay connected and manage your social media presence from anywhere with the mobile app
- Robust scheduling features including a social media calendar, organized content libraries, automated RSS publishing, and more
Pricing:
- Creator – $25.00 per month
- Traction – $76.00 per month
- Scale – $170.00 per month
5. Metricool
Metricool stands out as a Hootsuite alternative by incorporating both social media management and ad management in a single platform. With advanced publishing capabilities, including a bio link tool that can be updated while scheduling content, Metricool is a powerful tool for managing your social media presence. The post composer allows you to preview posts on various networks with mobile and desktop views, add GIFs and images, and categorize them using “autolists.”
The content calendar of Metricool offers an IG feed preview and enables bulk import or export of posts via CSV. With a strong focus on reporting and analytics, Metricool provides insights on platforms not supported by other tools, such as Twitch and Google Ads. You can create report templates, customize which platforms to include, and export the final report as a PDF or PowerPoint.
Features:
- Effortless bulk posting via CSV and RSS feeds
- Wide range of social network scheduling, including YouTube
- Advanced social media calendar with optimized posting times
- Automated re-sharing of evergreen content through auto lists
- Streamlined engagement with followers through a comprehensive social inbox
- In-depth analytics for social networks, ad networks, and even Twitch
- Customizable reporting with the option for white-label branding
- Seamless integration with Google Data Studio, Zapier, and Canva
- Versatile bio link tool with grid and button options and accompanying analytics
- Comprehensive ad management for Google Ads and Facebook Ads
Pricing:
- Free – $0.00
- Pro 5 – $12.00 per month
- Pro 10 – $19.00 per month
- Team 15 – $35.00 per month
- Team 25 – $55.00 per month
- Enterprise – $119.00 per month
Bottom-line
Selecting the ideal social media management solution from the numerous available choices can be a challenging endeavor. We recommend trying out each tool's trial period to compare and determine which one offers the best value for your needs. If you're looking for a free option, SocialBu is a solid choice.
The tools mentioned in our article all offer top-notch features and are strong alternatives to Hootsuite. Use our article as a guide to select the tool that appeals to you the most and fits your requirements. If you're already using one of these or any other Hootsuite alternative, feel free to share why it's your favorite in the comments section.
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