The best Sprout Social alternative on price is Schedchie: €7.99 a month flat for unlimited accounts and posts, against Sprout's $79 per seat for 5 profiles. Start free trial.
This guide prices Sprout Social against eight alternatives at the footprints teams actually bring when they leave: 5 profiles and 10 profiles for one brand, and one seat against three. The alternatives are Schedchie, Hootsuite, Agorapulse, Buffer, Metricool, SocialPilot and Later, with Radaar and Pallyy as the reference points for the cheap end of the market. Sprout was read on its own pricing page on October 8, 2026, and every other figure carries the date it was verified.
Sprout Social pricing in 2026: the ladder on the page today
As of October 2026, Sprout sells five plans, and every self-serve price is per seat, per month. A seat is one person with a login. The profile allowance belongs to the plan, so the plan you need is set by how many accounts you run, and the bill is set by how many people touch them. The annual rate is the headline; the monthly rate sits beside it in the page's billing FAQ.
| Plan | Social profiles | Priced per | Annual billing | Monthly billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social Essentials | Up to 5 | Seat | $79/seat/mo | $99/seat/mo |
| Sprout Social Standard | 5 | Seat | $199/seat/mo | $249/seat/mo |
| Sprout Social Professional | Unlimited | Seat | $299/seat/mo | $399/seat/mo |
| Sprout Social Advanced | Unlimited | Seat | $399/seat/mo | $499/seat/mo |
| Sprout Social Enterprise | Unlimited | Custom | Contact sales | Contact sales |
| Schedchie Pro | Unlimited | Flat, whole workspace | €95.88 over 12 months, no commitment | €7.99/mo |
| Schedchie Team | Unlimited | Flat, owner plus 3 invited members | €299.88 over 12 months, no commitment | €24.99/mo |
Prices verified on October 8, 2026 on sproutsocial.com/pricing, in US dollars per seat per month as the page states. Sprout runs a 30-day trial on its self-serve plans and publishes no price for an extra profile. Add-ons such as Premium Analytics and Listening are priced on request. Schedchie bills in euro and offers no annual tier, so the annual column is twelve monthly payments.
Read the ladder from the profile column, because that is where the price jumps. Essentials and Standard both stop at 5 profiles. The sixth profile does not cost a little more; it moves you to Professional at $299 a seat on annual billing, $399 on monthly. That is the step most teams hit first.
Schedchie prices the same work at €7.99 a month, flat, unlimited accounts and unlimited posts. No seat meter on the base plan, no profile ceiling, no post counter that resets on the first of the month.
Why Sprout Social is too expensive for most teams: the price per seat
Sprout's headline is $79. That is one seat, five profiles, paid a year up front. Run the bill the way a real account list grows.
- Five profiles, one person. Essentials covers it: $79 a month billed annually, $948 paid up front, or $99 on monthly billing. Schedchie is €7.99 a month.
- Ten profiles, one person. Essentials and Standard both stop at 5, so the plan is Professional: $299 a month billed annually ($3,588 a year), or $399 monthly. Schedchie is still €7.99.
- Ten profiles, three people. Professional times three seats: $897 a month billed annually, $1,197 monthly. Schedchie's Team plan covers the owner plus three invited members for €24.99 a month, €299.88 over twelve months.
- Adding a freelancer for a month. On Sprout, a seat is a seat: another full seat at the Professional rate, for as long as they keep the login. On Schedchie's Team plan, invited members need no paid plan of their own.
- Posting to X. Schedchie prices X posting as a separate €4.99 add-on per 30 posts, so the cost of X stays visible and optional.
The Sprout Social price per seat is the whole problem. Every person and every step past 5 profiles multiplies a number that is already the highest on the table. A flat plan has nothing to multiply.
What 5 and 10 profiles cost across Sprout Social alternatives
The table prices one person at both footprints, on the cheapest plan of each tool that covers the profile count. Where a vendor shows annual and monthly rates, both are listed, because the annual rate is the one on the plan card and the monthly rate is what a month-to-month buyer pays.
| Tool | 5 profiles | 10 profiles | First cap you hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedchie Pro | €7.99/mo | €7.99/mo | None, accounts and posts are both uncapped |
| Sprout Social | $79/seat billed annually (Essentials), $99 monthly | $299/seat billed annually, $399 monthly (Professional) | The 6th profile, then the next seat |
| Hootsuite | $99/user billed annually (Standard) | $99/user billed annually (Standard) | The 11th account, then the Professional tier |
| Agorapulse | $79/user billed annually, $99 monthly (Standard) | $79/user billed annually, $99 monthly (Standard) | The 11th profile on one user, then the next user |
| Buffer | $30/mo monthly, $25 billed yearly (Essentials) | $60/mo monthly, $50 billed yearly (Essentials) | The per-channel rate, every profile adds a line to the bill |
| Metricool | €20/mo monthly, €16 billed annually (Starter, 5 brands) | €37/mo monthly, €29 billed annually (Starter, 10 brands) | The brand band, which steps at 5, 10 and 15 |
| SocialPilot | $30/mo, $25.50 billed annually (Essentials, 7 accounts) | $50/mo, $42.50 billed annually (Standard, 15 accounts) | The 8th account and the single seat on Essentials |
| Later | $25/mo monthly, $18.75 billed yearly (Starter, 8 profiles) | $50/mo monthly, $37.50 billed yearly (Growth, 16 profiles) | 30 posts per profile per month on Starter |
Prices verified on October 8, 2026 for Sprout Social (sproutsocial.com/pricing) and Buffer (buffer.com/pricing). Hootsuite, Later and Metricool read on their official pricing pages on October 6, 2026; SocialPilot on socialpilot.co/plans on September 25; Agorapulse from our pricing index, verified September 13 on its official pricing page. Hootsuite publishes annual-billing rates only, so no monthly figure is quoted. Currency as each vendor displays it; no conversion applied.
At 5 profiles, Sprout costs $99 a seat on monthly billing against Schedchie's €7.99. At 10 profiles, it is $399 against the same €7.99. Every other tool on the table sits between those two numbers, and every one of them has a meter that moves.
The full-market view, 25 vendors on one table with the census rules, lives in our social media scheduler pricing index. It is also where the superlative comes from: Schedchie is the cheapest unlimited social media scheduler we track, the only plan that leaves both accounts and posts uncapped. Radaar caps profiles at 6 on its Standard plan, and Pallyy caps a social set at 11 accounts.
Sprout Social price per seat: one seat against three
Sprout, Hootsuite and Agorapulse all bill per user. Buffer bills per channel, SocialPilot and Later bundle users into tiers, and Schedchie bills a flat rate for the whole workspace. The table holds the footprint at 10 profiles and changes only the number of people.
| Tool and plan | 1 seat, 10 profiles | 3 seats, 10 profiles | How seats are priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedchie | €7.99/mo (Pro) | €24.99/mo (Team, owner plus 3 invited members) | Flat; invited members need no paid plan |
| Sprout Social Professional | $299 billed annually, $399 monthly | $897 billed annually, $1,197 monthly | Per seat |
| Hootsuite Standard | $99 billed annually | $297 billed annually | Per user |
| Agorapulse Standard | $79 billed annually, $99 monthly | $237 billed annually, $297 monthly | Per user |
| Buffer Team | $120 monthly, $100 billed yearly | $120 monthly, $100 billed yearly | Per channel, unlimited team members |
| SocialPilot Standard | $50 monthly, $42.50 billed annually | $50 monthly, $42.50 billed annually | 3 users included on Standard |
| Later Growth | $50 monthly, $37.50 billed yearly | $55 monthly, $41.25 billed yearly | 2 users included, each extra user billed on top |
Prices verified on October 8, 2026 for Sprout Social and Buffer; October 6 for Hootsuite and Later; September 25 for SocialPilot; September 13 for Agorapulse via our pricing index. Per-seat figures are the vendor's seat rate multiplied by the seat count; no vendor discount is assumed.
Three seats on Sprout Professional cost $897 a month on the cheapest billing Sprout offers. Three people on Schedchie's Team plan cost €24.99. Multiplying a seat rate by a head count is not a projection; it is the invoice.
The best Sprout Social alternatives in 2026, ranked by what you pay
Each entry below is priced at the footprint above, with the billing period stated. Schedchie first, then the tools priced by profile, brand or tier, then the tools priced by seat.
1. Schedchie: €7.99 flat, unlimited accounts and posts
Schedchie is one plan at €7.99 a month for unlimited connected accounts and unlimited scheduled posts across twelve platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram, Google Business Profile and X. Posting to X is a €4.99 add-on per 30 posts. The calendar, the composer with per-platform options, CSV bulk import with a fix-me error file, and in-app analytics come with the plan. Analytics reports each platform's own numbers for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and Google Business Profile.
For teams, the €24.99 Team plan adds three invited members, account groups that keep each brand or client on its own calendar, post approvals that hold a member's post until the owner signs off, and client review links that let a client approve or request changes with no login. At 5 profiles or 50, the price stays €7.99, or €24.99 with the team.
Schedchie also runs a hosted MCP server at mcp.schedchie.com with 60 tools, so an AI assistant that speaks MCP can draft, schedule and report through your account. Several schedulers now ship MCP access; Schedchie's is included on the plan. The details are on the AI page.
The composer keeps each network's own options in one place. TikTok posts carry their privacy level, comment, duet and stitch switches and the commercial-content disclosure. YouTube uploads carry the made-for-kids and altered-content declarations. Pinterest pins carry their board. Bluesky takes video up to 10 minutes. You write once, adjust per platform where the platform asks for it, and the post goes out on schedule to every account you picked.
2. Metricool: priced per brand
Metricool's Starter plan is €20 a month on monthly billing for 5 brands, €16 billed annually, and €37 for 10 brands, read October 6. Approvals and team management start on Advanced, from €54 a month at 15 brands (€43 billed annually). The brand band is the meter: the 11th brand moves you up. Our Schedchie vs Metricool comparison runs the numbers side by side.
3. Buffer: priced per channel
Buffer Essentials is $6 per channel a month on monthly billing, $5 billed yearly: $30 for 5 profiles and $60 for 10, or $25 and $50 billed yearly. Essentials is one user, and every channel is priced on its own. The Team plan, which adds team members, is $120 a month at 10 channels on monthly billing. Every profile you add is another line on the bill. See Schedchie vs Buffer or our Buffer alternatives guide.
4. SocialPilot: tiers of accounts and users
SocialPilot Essentials is $30 a month for 7 accounts and 1 user ($25.50 billed annually). Ten accounts or a second person moves you to Standard at $50 a month for 15 accounts and 3 users ($42.50 billed annually), read September 25. Our SocialPilot alternatives guide prices every tier.
5. Later: social sets with a post meter
Later Starter is $25 a month on monthly billing, $18.75 billed yearly, for one social set of 8 profiles and 1 user, with a cap of 30 posts per profile per month. Ten profiles need Growth at $50 a month ($37.50 billed yearly) for 16 profiles and 2 users, with 180 posts per profile. Extra users are $5 a month. Our Later alternatives guide covers the post meter in detail.
6. Agorapulse: per user, 10 profiles each
Agorapulse Standard is $79 per user a month billed annually, $99 on monthly billing, with 10 profiles per user, verified September 13. It is the closest to Sprout in shape: per-seat pricing, a 30-day trial, and the same $79 headline.
7. Hootsuite: per user, 10 accounts on Standard
Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user a month billed annually for 10 social accounts. Professional is $199 per user for unlimited accounts, and team review and approval of content sits on Advanced at $399 per user, read October 6. Hootsuite publishes no monthly-billing rate. See Schedchie vs Hootsuite and our Hootsuite alternatives ranking.
8. Radaar and Pallyy: the cheap end, with caps
Radaar and Pallyy anchor the low end of the census. Radaar's Standard plan caps profiles at 6. Pallyy Pro is $25 a month with unlimited posts inside one social set of up to 11 accounts, and $10 for each extra set. Both are cheaper than Sprout by a wide margin; neither leaves accounts and posts both uncapped. Figures from our pricing index, verified September 13.
Sprout Social alternatives for small business
A small business usually has one person posting and somewhere between four and ten accounts: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, a YouTube channel, a Google Business Profile listing for each location. On Sprout, the fourth location's listing can be the sixth profile, which turns a $79 seat into a $299 seat on annual billing.
The cheaper alternative to Sprout Social for that shape is the one that does not count. Schedchie at €7.99 covers every account the business adds, including a Google Business Profile per location, at the same price. Over twelve months, one Sprout Professional seat at 10 profiles is $3,588 on annual billing. Our small business scheduler guide runs the same math across more budgets.
Sprout Social alternatives for agencies
Agencies hit both Sprout meters at once: client profiles push the plan to Professional, and every account manager is another seat. Five clients with four profiles each is 20 profiles; three account managers on Professional is $897 a month billed annually, $1,197 monthly.
On Schedchie's Team plan, the same agency pays €24.99 a month. Each client gets its own account group with its own calendar. Invited members can be limited to the client groups they work on. Approvals hold a junior's post until the owner signs off, and approval cannot be skipped by retrying or rescheduling. Client review links send the client a page where they approve or request changes without an account or a seat. More on the Team plan page, and our guide to approval-first scheduling tools compares workflows at the same price points.
Agencies that run large profile bundles should also read our guide to profile-bundle pricing, which prices 15, 30 and 70 profile tiers against a flat rate.
Switching from Sprout Social without losing a month
Sprout's 30-day trial and Schedchie's 14-day trial can overlap, so a switch never leaves a gap in the calendar. The work is mostly reconnecting accounts and moving the queue. Plan for an afternoon, not a migration project, and run both tools side by side for the first week so nothing scheduled on Sprout is lost while the new calendar fills up.
- List your profiles and people. Count both. On Sprout the count sets the bill; on Schedchie it changes nothing, so connect everything.
- Start the trial. Create a Schedchie account and connect every account on the platforms you use.
- Move the queue with CSV. Copy your upcoming posts into a spreadsheet, keep a date-time column and a text column, add media filenames if you have them, and import. Rows that need a fix come back in an error file you can correct and re-upload.
- Set up groups and members. On the Team plan, create one account group per brand or client, invite members, and turn on approvals where you want them.
- Cancel the Sprout seat before renewal. Annual Sprout plans are paid up front, so check the renewal date before the trial ends.
Cancel anytime, no questions asked. The plan and the Team options are on the pricing page.
Three checks before you pick a Sprout Social alternative
- Price the profile count you will have in a year. A tool that is cheap at 5 profiles can triple at 11. Sprout, Hootsuite and Metricool all step up a tier as the account list grows, and the step is usually larger than the account that caused it. Schedchie stays at one price.
- Price every seat. Multiply the per-user rate by the people who will log in, including the freelancer who posts twice a month.
- Read the billing period. The headline numbers on Sprout, Agorapulse and Hootsuite are annual-billing rates, paid a year up front. Sprout's month-to-month Professional rate is a third higher again. Schedchie's €7.99 is the monthly price, with no annual commitment.
A fourth check is worth a minute: count how often each person actually logs in. Per-seat pricing charges the same for the account manager who posts every day and the director who approves twice a month. On a flat plan, the second person costs nothing extra, so the approval step stays in the workflow instead of being skipped to save a seat.
For every vendor in one place, the alternatives page lists the head-to-heads.
FAQ
What is the best Sprout Social alternative?
Schedchie, at €7.99 a month flat for unlimited accounts and unlimited posts on twelve platforms. Sprout's cheapest plan is $79 per seat a month billed annually ($99 monthly) for 5 profiles, and 10 profiles need Professional at $299 per seat billed annually ($399 monthly). Teams add approvals and client review links on Schedchie's €24.99 Team plan.
best sprout social alternative
For price, Schedchie: one flat €7.99 plan covers 5, 10 or 50 profiles, against Sprout's per-seat ladder from $79 to $399 billed annually. It is the cheapest unlimited social media scheduler in our pricing index; Radaar caps profiles at 6 and Pallyy at 11.
Why is Sprout Social so expensive in 2026?
Two meters. Every seat is billed separately, and Essentials and Standard stop at 5 profiles, so the 6th profile moves you to Professional at $299 per seat billed annually, $399 monthly. Three people at 10 profiles cost $897 a month on annual billing. Schedchie's Team plan covers the owner plus three invited members for €24.99.
What is a cheaper alternative to Sprout Social?
Schedchie is €7.99 a month for unlimited accounts and posts. Among per-profile tools, Buffer is $30 a month for 5 channels on monthly billing ($25 billed yearly), Metricool €20 for 5 brands (€16 billed annually), and SocialPilot $30 for 7 accounts. All of them cost less than Sprout's cheapest plan on monthly billing.
How much does Sprout Social cost per seat?
As read on October 8, 2026: Essentials $79 per seat a month billed annually or $99 monthly, Standard $199 or $249, Professional $299 or $399, Advanced $399 or $499. Enterprise is custom. Each seat is one user, and the plan sets the profile allowance.
Does Sprout Social have a free plan in 2026?
No. Sprout offers a 30-day trial on its self-serve plans, then the per-seat price applies. Schedchie runs a 14-day free trial on the full plan, then €7.99 a month. Start free trial.
Is there a Sprout Social alternative with approvals and client review?
Yes. Schedchie's Team plan at €24.99 a month holds members' posts until the owner approves them, keeps each client in its own account group, and sends client review links that need no login. Hootsuite puts team review and approval on Advanced at $399 per user billed annually.
The short version
Sprout Social bills per seat and caps its two cheaper plans at 5 profiles: $79 a seat billed annually ($99 monthly) for 5 profiles, $299 ($399 monthly) for 10, and three times that for three people, read on October 8. If the Sprout Social price per seat sent you looking, the answer is a plan with nothing to multiply. Schedchie is €7.99 a month flat, unlimited accounts and unlimited posts, on twelve platforms, with CSV import, in-app analytics and the €24.99 Team plan for approvals and client review links. Fourteen days to check it against your own calendar. Start free trial.