The best social media management tools, according to our research, are Hootsuite and Sprout Social. This is thanks to their robust feature offerings, effectiveness across multiple platforms, and thorough help and support options.
Given social media's shift from entertaining nicety to business necessity in recent years, the value of your online presence cannot be understated. 54% of consumers use social media to research products before buying them. It is worth noting, however, that “most people have to see a product or service 2-4 times on social before they purchase it,” according to research by Sprout.
As with any new software, business owners are expected to be concerned about the price, as well as other aspects like features, ease of use, and integrations. Below, we'll cover all of that and then some, so you can fully understand what the best social media management tools are for your business. You might also be looking for a social media management service, which are slightly different.
| Score | Core Benefit | Starting Price | Free Plan Does this platform offer a free plan? | Unlimited Posting Does this platform allow you to post as much as you like without imposing monthly limits? | Browser Extension Is there an extension that allows you to use the software through a browser? | Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn Does this platform support management on all four social media networks? | Other Platforms What other platforms are supported by this platform? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BEST OVERALL Hootsuite | Sprout Social | Sendible | HubSpot | Loomly | Zoho Social | CoSchedule | Constant Contact | Buffer | |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.8 | |
Best for publishing social media posts | Best for providing customer service | Best for affordable listening tools | Best for large businesses | Best for managing multiple social profiles | Best value for money | Best for collaboration | Best for small business marketing | Best for flexible pricing | |
$25 per month | $99 per user per month | $25 per month | $800 per month | $25 per month | $10 per month | $29 per user per month | $20 per month | $12 per month | |
Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube | Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube | Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube | YouTube | Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube | None | Pinterest, Tumblr | None |
Best Social Media Management Tools
Rest assured, we have done more than 80+ hours of painstaking research to give you a clear and comprehensive ranking of the best social media management tools on the market today. We've measured support options, pricing plans, and the presence of 33 different features, so you know exactly what you're getting out of these platforms.
Take a look at the list below, and read on for in-depth reviews of each of these popular social media management tools to find out which one is right for your business. However, if you would identify your business as a “small business,” you might want to opt for a more suitable software. Check out our best social media management tools for small businesses.
- Hootsuite – best for publishing social media posts
- Sprout Social – best for providing customer service
- Sendible – best for affordable listening tools
- HubSpot – best for large businesses
- Loomly – best for managing multiple profiles
- Zoho Social – best value for money
- CoSchedule – best for collaboration
- Constant Contact – best for small business marketing
- Buffer – best for flexible pricing
Pros
– Extensive publishing, engagement, analytical and listening features
– Great free plan
– Unlimited scheduling across all plans
Cons
– Listening features are an add-on
– No phone or email for customer service
– Listening and analytic features cost more
According to our research, Hootsuite is the best option when it comes to social media management tools. This is mostly due to its extensive publishing feature catalog, which was the largest we found available on the market today, as well as the thorough listening, engaging, and analytical tools at your disposal.
Hootsuite is also designed for the avid scheduler. This comprehensive tool allows users to schedule an unlimited amount of posts with every price plan, and allows you quite a few social profiles (50) at the highest price point. Overall, if you're a business looking for a robust tool to really build out your social presence, Hootsuite is it.
Plus, Hootsuite offers a free plan, which is rare given the size of the platform, so take advantage of that while you have the chance.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | ||
Free | Professional | Team | Business | ||
Free | $29 per month | $129 per month | $599 per month | ||
1 | 1 | 3 | 5-10 | ||
3 | 10 | 20 | 35 | ||
30 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pros
– Extensive publishing, engagement, analytical, and listening features
– Only platform to provide automated responses to incoming communications
Cons
– Capped profiles on most expensive plans
– Extra users cost more
– Advanced listening and analytics features cost more
On par with Hoostuite is Sprout Social, an equally robust platform offering a wide range of publishing, listening, engaging, and analytical tools for your team. It can get a bit expensive and doesn't offer a free plan, so it's not well-suited to smaller businesses, but if you've got more than a few team members, Sprout Social is a great option.
Probably the best aspect of Sprout Social, however, is the ability to automated messages to incoming requests and complaints. This makes Sprout Social the undeniable go-to option for businesses looking to turn their social media presence into a customer support avenue.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | |||
Standard | Professional | Advanced | |||
$99 per user per month | $149 per user per month | $249 per user per month | |||
1 | 1 | 1 | |||
5 | 10 | 10 | |||
Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pros
– Great social media listening
– Extensive organizational/team features
– Extensive publishing features
Cons
– Has posting limit
– User roles restricted
– No ad functionality
Next up is Sendible, a more than solid option for social media management that allows you to engage and publish on social media with enthusiasm. Unparalleled are Sendible's listening features though, which are available in the lower pricing tiers and allow you to truly get a clear picture of how your customers feel about your business.
There were a few issues that knocked Sendible out of contention for the top spot, including posting limits on all plans and no ad functionality throughout the platform. Still, if you just don't like the top two options, Sendible is easily your next best alternative if these problems aren't dealbreakers.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | ||
Starter | Traction | Growth | Large | ||
$29 per month | $99 per month | $199 per month | $299 per month | ||
1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | ||
12 | 48 | 105 | 192 | ||
100 per day | 200 per day | 300 per day | 500 per day |
Pros
– Extensive marketing features not just social media
– Great customer support options
– Publishing and listening features
Cons
– Very expensive
– Engagement and analytics features not great for the price
– Posting limit of 10,000 posts per month
While social media management is not the company's main product, HubSpot has the resources to make its tools incredibly comprehensive and data-focused. As part of the Marketing Hub, HubSpot's social media management software is decidedly robust, and will obviously come with a wide range of other marketing features that can help you grow your business.
To be clear, this is not a great option for small businesses, and mid-sized businesses should consider their budget before making the call. The Hubspot Marketing Hub that includes social media management is very expensive compared to the other options on the list, but it does come with a full marketing suite, so it's certainly worth a look.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | ||||
Professional | Enterprise | ||||
$800 per month | $3,200 per month | ||||
Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||
50 | 300 | ||||
10,000 | 10,000 |
Pros
– Can post to Tiktok and Snapchat
– No posting or schedule limit
– Extensive organizational/team features
Cons
– Unable to bulk schedule via import
– No phone support
– No Listening features
Depending on what platforms you're looking to post on, Loomly could be your best move. As the only platform offering features for TikTok and Snapchat on this list, it's safe to say Loomly has a clear upside for the more widespread social mean presence. It also allows for lots of team organization on the platform, so collaboration will be easy.
Loomly isn't perfect though. It lacks some of the more advanced analytical options and doesn't allow for bulk scheduling via import. Still, if you want to spread your social media presence to the far corners of the industry, Loomly is unmatched on platform representation.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | ||
Base | Standard | Advanced | Premium | ||
$25 per month | $57 per month | $119 per month | $249 per month | ||
2 | 6 | 16 | 26 | ||
10 | 20 | 35 | 50 | ||
Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pros
– Affordable for wide functionality
– Offers a free plan
– Extensive organizational/team features
Cons
– Not great for larger businesses
– No phone or live chat customer support
– No image editor or content library
If you’re looking for simple tool that checks off all the boxes, Zoho Social is the way to go. Between the simple setup, the ease of use, and the variety of basic features, you’ll be able to assign team roles, schedule content, and receive analytics to make sure your campaign is doing what it needs to do.
The benefit of Zoho Social is that you get all this core functionality at a low price. This means you can seriously improve your strategy without breaking the budget, as long as you don't need advanced features like a content library or image editor.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | |
Free | Standard | Professional | Premium | Agency | Agency Plus |
Free | $10 per month | $25 per month | $37.50 per month | $200 per month | $300 per month |
1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 70 | 140 |
Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pros
– Extensive organizational/team features
– Low cost platform
– Unlimited scheduling and posting
– Provides send time optimization
Cons
– No image editor or listening features
– Not great for larger businesses
– Cheapest plan only provides simple analytics
CoSchedule is truly a great tool for collaborating with your whole team. You'll be able to discuss, comment, and track everyone on your team's project, making scheduling, meeting, and everything in between that much easier. it uniquely offers only one pricing plan, so make sure it fits your budget before making the decision to sign up.
Additionally, if you're looking to combine your WordPress and social media strategies into an all-in-one platform, CoSchedule is it. This platform is built to take your content all the way from first draft to social media post in a simple calendar view. Because of this end-to-end process, collaboration is made easy for your whole team on every project.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | Post Approval | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | |||||
Marketing Calendar | Marketing Suite | |||||
$29 per user per month | Bespoke | |||||
10 | 10 | |||||
10 | 10 | |||||
Unlimited | Unlimited | |||||
None | Included |
Pros
– Email marketing features
– Provides ad functionality
– Low cost offering
– Good range of analytical features
Cons
– Low number of social profiles
– Limited organizational/team features
– No listening features
If you're looking to branch out a bit as far as your entire marketing strategy is concerned, Constant Contact acts as an all-in-one marketing platform, offering email marketing and social media management together. You can run ads, schedule posts, and launch campaigns that will see your bottom line looking good.
Still, Constant Contact does miss out on a few advanced social media management features, like listening tools and organizational features. Plus, with a low number of social profiles, you might not be able to hit all the platforms you're looking for at a reasonable price. But if email marketing is on your to-do list along with social media management, you found your option in Constant Contact.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | ||||
Email Plus | |||||
$20 per month | $45 per month | ||||
3 | 10 | ||||
4 | 4 | ||||
Unlimited | Unlimited |
Pros
– Good range of publishing and analytical features
– Offer a Free plan
– Pay-for-what-you-use pricing model
Cons
– Lacks advanced Publishing features
– No Engagement or Listening features
– Limited organizational/team features
– Impose scheduling limits
If you’re just getting started, Buffer is a great tool if you need to watch your spending. The pricing plans are broken up so that you really only have to pay for what you use, so you can save big if you're only looking to publish posts.
Still, for a business, Buffer is pretty limited, with few advanced features, particularly when it comes to listening and engagement. But hey, it's one of the most transparent companies in the world, so you know exactly what you’re getting from them, inside and out.
| Price | Users How many individuals can access your account | Accounts | Posts How many emails can be sent within a month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | ||
Free | Pro | Premium | Business | ||
Free | $15 per month | $65 per month | $99 per month | ||
1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
3 | 8 | 8 | 25 | ||
10 | 100 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
Research Methodology
Our research team conducted an in-depth analysis of each platform, looking at four key areas of investigation:
- Integrations: Which social media platforms can they connect with and can they connect to third-party eCommerce, Email Marketing, and Helpdesk apps?
- Features: What features do they provide? This was split into 5 functionalities: Publishing Tools, Engagement Tools, Organizational Tools, Listening Tools, and Analytical Tools.
- Value for Money: How much do they cost? And how much do you receive for your purchase?
- Help & Support: What options are available when something goes wrong or you need to learn more about the software you’re using?
The final scores were calculated by assessing each platform’s performance in each of these key areas. This has allowed us to determine who is ahead of the competition when it comes to social media management.
Taking the Next Step in Social Media Management
Now that you've got all this information about the best social media management tools, it's time to make a clear cut decision.
Remember, according to our in-depth research, Hootsuite and Sprout Social are the best social media management tools, but there are lots of different options depending on what your business needs. Either way, if you want to take social media management seriously, you're on the right track. You how much they cost, what they can do, and why you need to pull the trigger now if you want to see the difference between a good social media presence and no social media presence at all.
Hootsuite, on the other hand, is great for larger businesses. It offers unlimited posting for one, although prices can get a bit higher. Fortunately, that higher price tag comes with a whole slew of features that can truly hone your strategy, which is why we believe Hootsuite is the best option available.
With social media management tools, the price can vary from $3 per month to $400 per month depending on how big your company is, what kind of features you're looking for, and what level of engagement you're expecting.
For the cost of social media management services, which will take full control over your social media strategy and create tailored content for your users, you can expect much higher costs, from $60 per month to $2,000 per month.
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