Hootsuite Reviews, Pricing, and Alternatives (December 2025)

You're managing social content for your B2B team, and you're starting to wonder if your current social media management tool is actually helping or just taking up budget. Maybe you're frustrated by the price increases, or maybe the interface feels like it was designed for a different era of marketing. Either way, you're here because you want to understand what else is out there. The good news is that the landscape has changed dramatically. Modern tools now offer auto-engagement features and LinkedIn-specific capabilities that legacy platforms like Hootsuite simply don't provide.

TLDR:

• Hootsuite starts at $99/month with strict user caps that force teams into custom Enterprise pricing
• Many teams need granular data showing which prospects engage, not just aggregate metrics
• Alternatives like Ordinal combine scheduling, auto-engagements (automatically liking, commenting, and reposting on content from your team), and sales intelligence in one platform for growth-focused teams

What is Hootsuite and How Does it Work?

Hootsuite operates as a centralized dashboard for managing multiple social media profiles simultaneously. It enables users to schedule and publish content across networks, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X, from a single location. The tool allows marketers to batch content creation effectively, letting them plan weeks of posts ahead of time within a calendar view.

Beyond scheduling, the software features monitoring streams that track brand mentions, specific keywords, and hashtags. This helps users observe relevant conversations or customer support queries. It also supplies analytics reporting to measure performance metrics like engagement and reach.

For larger organizations, Hootsuite offers team collaboration capabilities such as permission levels and approval workflows. This structure allows managers to review posts before they go live to maintain brand safety. Because of its broad feature set and legacy status, it primarily serves enterprise companies and traditional marketing agencies that need to handle high volumes of accounts.

Hootsuite Features and Limitations

Hootsuite provides a set of tools designed for managing social media at scale. The platform focuses on centralized control and broad network coverage, making it a popular choice for enterprises with complex organizational structures.

Key Features:

• Multi-Platform Publishing & Content Calendar – Schedule and publish content across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, and YouTube from a unified dashboard. Visualize scheduled posts in a calendar view to maintain consistent posting schedules and plan content weeks in advance using bulk scheduling with CSV uploads.
• Social Listening & Monitoring – Track brand mentions, keywords, and hashtags across networks through customizable monitoring streams. Respond to customer inquiries and join relevant conversations to maintain brand presence and handle support queries.
• Team Collaboration & Approval Workflows – Assign tasks, set permission levels, and manage multiple team members across different social accounts. Route content through customizable approval chains with notifications to ensure brand consistency before posts go live.
• Analytics & Third-Party Integrations – Generate reports on engagement metrics, reach, and follower growth across all connected profiles. Connect with tools like Canva, Dropbox, and Google Drive to access assets directly within the platform for streamlined content creation.

While these features cover the fundamentals of social media management, they're built primarily for traditional marketing workflows rather than modern-revenue focused strategies.

Key Limitations and Gaps

While Hootsuite handles basic social media management, several critical limitations become apparent. These gaps are particularly noticeable for B2B companies running LinkedIn-first strategies or employee advocacy programs.

• No Auto-Engagement or Amplification Tools – Lacks native features to automatically like, comment, or repost content, forcing teams to manually coordinate engagement to boost post visibility and algorithm performance
• Dated Interface with Restrictive User Limits – Features a cluttered, complex dashboard that slows down workflows while enforcing strict user caps per pricing tier, forcing teams to jump to expensive Enterprise plans when adding just one more team member
• Limited Collaboration Features – Lacks inline commenting on drafts and intuitive approval workflows, forcing teams to coordinate feedback through external tools like email or Slack rather than keeping discussions in context
• Generic Social Approach Without LinkedIn Optimization – Built for traditional social media management rather than modern B2B strategies like founder-led content or employee advocacy, lacking LinkedIn-specific features like realistic post previews, carousel support, or tools designed for professional networking content
• No Advanced Link Customization – Cannot edit link preview titles, descriptions, or images before posting, limiting control over how shared content appears and reducing click-through optimization opportunities

These limitations explain why growth-focused B2B teams increasingly seek alternatives that align social media activity with business outcomes rather than just managing posting schedules.

Hootsuite Pricing Breakdown for December 2025

Hootsuite pricing has evolved to prioritize large organizations. The published rates below reflect annual billing. Teams requiring monthly flexibility often face higher costs.

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The visible price rarely covers the total cost. Essential features for scaling teams, including advanced social listening and granular analytics, often exist as paid add-ons. We find the strict user cap particularly restrictive. If a team needs a fourth seat, they cannot simply add a user to the Team plan. They must leap directly to a custom Enterprise contract. This pricing cliff makes predicting expenses difficult for agencies in the growth phase.

Why Consider Hootsuite Alternatives?

While Hootsuite remains a staple for large enterprises requiring complex approval chains, many agile marketing teams are outgrowing the tool or are priced out entirely. The primary driver for seeking alternatives is often cost. Hootsuite now starts at $99 per month for its entry-level Professional plan. This represents a significant investment for growing businesses, especially after the company eliminated its free tier.

Beyond the price tag, user experience is a common friction point. The interface is often described as cluttered, resulting in a steeper learning curve for new team members compared to streamlined solutions.

The software is better suited for general social media management rather than aggressive employee advocacy or founder-led content strategies.

Best Hootsuite Alternatives in December 2025

Ordinal: Best Overall Hootsuite Alternative

Ordinal is built specifically for B2B teams and agencies that need professional-grade social media coordination. While it supports all major social platforms, it stands out with LinkedIn-specific capabilities that legacy tools simply don't offer. Unlike generalist tools, it combines a clean, Notion-style editor with robust multi-channel scheduling and unique amplification features. This helps teams manage founder/exec content and employee advocacy workflows effectively without the clutter found in legacy software.

Key Features:

• Unified Calendar & Workflow Management – Plan, collaborate, and approve content across all clients and platforms from a single calendar view, eliminating the need to switch between workspaces or tools—ideal for agencies managing multiple accounts
• Inline Collaboration & Comments – Team members can leave feedback and suggestions directly on post drafts, streamlining the review process and keeping all discussions in context
• Auto-Engagement & Amplification – Automatically like, comment, and repost content across your team's accounts to jumpstart visibility and trigger algorithm momentum
• Multi-Platform Publishing & Post Previews – See exactly how your content will appear on LinkedIn and other networks before publishing, with one-click cross-posting and automatic formatting adjustments for each platform

• Analytics with Powerful Filters – Track performance with actionable insights that go beyond vanity metrics, using advanced filters to understand what content drives engagement across your team
• LinkedIn-First Features – Purpose-built tools for professional networking, including realistic LinkedIn post previews, native carousel support, auto-first comments, and optimized formatting for thought leadership content that performs on the platform
• Customizable Link Previews – Edit link preview titles, descriptions, and images before posting to optimize click-through rates and control how shared content appears in feeds

Ordinal works best for teams that need sophisticated coordination and automation features to maximize their social media impact at scale.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social acts as an enterprise solution known for deep analytics and listening tools. It works well for large organizations requiring complex approval hierarchies. However, the high cost and lack of native auto engagement features make it less ideal for growth-focused teams. It also forces manual duplication of posts for different channels.

Buffer

Buffer serves as a lightweight option for individual creators. It offers a simple queue system and a free plan for basic scheduling. While affordable, it lacks robust collaboration features like inline commenting and approvals. It also provides no auto engagement capabilities or sales grade data. Teams serious about driving revenue will find Buffer too limited.

Oktopost

Oktopost targets enterprise B2B marketing. It handles large-scale sharing programs well but comes with a steep price tag that excludes smaller teams. It also lacks the intuitive editing experience and organic reach amplification features found in Ordinal.

Typefully

Typefully focuses on individual creators writing for X and LinkedIn. It provides a clean writing interface for threads, but lacks support for other major channels like Instagram or YouTube. It also misses key team features such as approvals. While great for solo writers, marketing teams need multi-channel management.

Feature Comparison: Hootsuite vs Top Alternatives

Selecting the right software involves looking past basic scheduling to find features that actually move the needle for your team.

Differentiation in 2025 comes from capabilities like auto-engagement, granular user tracking, and seamless data syncing that turn social activity into actionable insights.

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Most options handle the logistics of posting content. However, marketing teams focused on B2B growth need more than a publishing queue. As shown above, only Ordinal provides the specific auto-engagement tools and granular data tracking required to turn social interactions into tangible sales leads without requiring expensive enterprise add-ons.

Why Ordinal is the Best Hootsuite Alternative

We built Ordinal because B2B teams need more than what Hootsuite offers. While Hootsuite provides basic multi-channel scheduling, it lacks the modern features that actually drive results on LinkedIn and other professional networks. Ordinal delivers what Hootsuite can't: auto-engagement tools that amplify your content immediately, granular analytics that identify individual engagers, and LinkedIn-specific features built for today's B2B strategies.

Hootsuite forces you to manually coordinate engagement and provides only aggregate metrics that don't help sales teams. Ordinal automatically likes, comments, and reposts content across your team's accounts to trigger algorithm momentum from the moment you publish. Our analytics show you exactly which prospects interact with your posts—not just how many people engaged, but who they are and what they care about.

For agencies and teams managing multiple accounts, the difference is even clearer. Hootsuite's cluttered interface and restrictive user limits push you into expensive Enterprise pricing. Ordinal provides a unified calendar where you can plan, collaborate, and approve content across all clients without switching workspaces. Inline comments keep feedback in context, and LinkedIn-first features like realistic post previews and customizable link cards make sure your content looks perfect before it goes live.

If you're serious about turning social content into business results, Ordinal offers what legacy tools like Hootsuite simply don't: the amplification features, individual engagement tracking, and modern workflows that B2B teams actually need.

Final Thoughts on Selecting Social Media Tools

Your choice of Hootsuite alternative should align with how your team actually works. Generic tools handle basic posting, but B2B teams need deeper collaboration features and engagement automation to maximize their social media impact. Start by testing what fits your workflow, then scale from there.

FAQ

When should you consider moving away from Hootsuite?

You should evaluate alternatives if you're spending over $99 per month but still lack auto-engagement features, if your team struggles with the cluttered interface, or if you need more intuitive collaboration tools and better analytics for your B2B content strategy.

What features should you prioritize when comparing Hootsuite alternatives?

Focus on auto-engagement capabilities (auto-likes, comments, reposts), team collaboration workflows with approval systems, LinkedIn-optimized scheduling with post previews, and a clean interface that reduces onboarding time for new team members.

How does Ordinal differ from traditional social media management tools?

Ordinal provides auto-engagement features to jumpstart post visibility, advanced team coordination with Slack notifications, and LinkedIn-specific optimization tools—capabilities that legacy tools like Hootsuite typically don't offer without expensive enterprise add-ons.

Can I manage multiple client accounts efficiently with Hootsuite alternatives?

Yes, modern alternatives like Ordinal support scalable multi-account management with features designed for agencies, including client-specific workspaces, bulk actions, and the ability to handle dozens of profiles from a unified dashboard without the pricing cliffs found in Hootsuite's tier structure.