We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
Most buyers should pick Post Planner.
Choose Hootsuite if your team needs a shared inbox, trend tracking, competitor benchmarks and approval workflows; its Standard plan starts at $99 per user/month billed annually. Choose Post Planner if lower cost, content curation and recycling matter more: it has a free tier, and Starter is listed at $9/month billed annually ($14 monthly). Post Planner's plans cap users, accounts and scheduled posts at lower tiers; Hootsuite charges per seat. The right pick depends on whether team oversight justifies the price gap.
01Side by side
| Hootsuite | Post Planner | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99/user/month, billed annually | $9/month, billed annually |
| Free plan | No free plan; 14-day trial | Free plan; 7-day trial |
| Best for | Teams needing monitoring and a shared inbox | Individuals curating and recycling social posts |
| Core strength | Inbox, trend tracking and competitor benchmarks | Content curation, scheduling and post recycling |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 6 | Ease-of-use review score: 7 |
| Integrations and data | MCP connectors, trend tracking and competitor benchmarks | Social analytics; integrations not specified |
| Team and seat costs | Per-user pricing; $99/user/month on Standard | Plans cap users; starts at $9/month annually |
| Support | Review support score: 5 | Review support score: 5 |
Hootsuite Choose Hootsuite if
- Choose Hootsuite if you need a shared inbox across networks.
- Choose Hootsuite if trend tracking and competitor benchmarks matter.
- Choose Hootsuite if you need approval workflows and team coordination.
Post Planner Choose Post Planner if
- Choose Post Planner if you want a free starting tier.
- Choose Post Planner if content discovery and recycling are priorities.
- Choose Post Planner if lower entry pricing matters more than breadth.
02Pricing compared
Hootsuite Standard starts at $99 per user/month billed annually; monthly billing costs more, but the rate isn’t published here. Standard includes up to 10 social accounts and unlimited scheduled posts. Professional is $199 and Advanced is $399 per user/month, billed annually.
Post Planner has a free plan, capped at one account, one user and 30 scheduled posts. Starter is listed at $9/month billed annually or $14 monthly, for three accounts and 150 scheduled posts. Growth starts at $39 annually billed or $59 monthly. Higher tiers add users, accounts and post capacity. These are plan prices, not per-user rates; each plan sets a user cap. The pricing data has medium confidence, and Booster Pack pricing isn’t published.
03Features and depth
Hootsuite covers more of the team workflow. Its features include scheduling, a unified inbox for DMs and comments, trend tracking, competitor analysis and an AI assistant for drafting and insights. Standard includes one unified inbox and benchmarks against up to five competitors; Professional raises that benchmark limit to 20 and adds automated inbox replies, workflows, Quick Search and trend forecasting. Advanced adds approval workflows and message assignment.
Post Planner focuses on publishing and content discovery. It offers content curation, AI-powered scheduling, post recycling, an AI post creator, a media editor and social analytics. Its paid plans specify limits for accounts, users, scheduled posts and AI images, but the published plan details don’t specify inbox, approval or competitor-analysis features. Choose it for a curation-led scheduler; choose Hootsuite if oversight, listening and shared response workflows matter more.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The available review scores rate Post Planner higher for ease of use: 7/10 versus Hootsuite’s 6/10. That points to a simpler starting point, but the published material doesn’t include setup details or a measured learning curve. Post Planner’s plan caps are easy to compare; check that the account, user and scheduled-post limits fit before choosing a tier.
Hootsuite brings more team tools to evaluate, including inbox workflows and approvals on higher plans. That breadth may suit teams with established processes, but it also means more decisions about seats and plan requirements. Enterprise includes dedicated onboarding and consulting; onboarding details for other plans aren’t specified.
Questions people ask
Which is better, Buffer or Hootsuite?
We can’t make a sourced comparison with Buffer because the available information here covers Hootsuite and Post Planner only. For Hootsuite, the published details highlight scheduling, a shared inbox, trend tracking and competitor benchmarks; check Buffer’s current pricing and features before choosing between them.
What type of platform is Hootsuite?
Hootsuite is a social media management platform for planning, publishing and responding across social networks from one dashboard. Its listed features include post scheduling, a unified inbox, trend tracking, competitor analysis and AI tools for drafting content and surfacing insights.
Does Hootsuite schedule posts?
Yes. Hootsuite lists post scheduling across networks, and its Standard plan includes unlimited scheduled posts for up to 10 social accounts. The published pricing details say Standard costs $99 per user/month when billed annually; monthly billing is available at a higher rate, not specified here.
What are the disadvantages of using Hootsuite?
The main trade-off in our comparison is cost: Standard starts at $99 per user/month billed annually, and Hootsuite charges per seat. The review also gives it lower value and ease-of-use scores than Post Planner. Exact monthly rates aren’t published in the published pricing details.