Head to head

Birdeye vs Hootsuite

vs

Birdeye is a reputation and customer-experience platform, reviews, listings, messaging, surveys, with social media management bolted on. It's priced per location, from around $299 a month, and aimed at multi-location brands rather than creators or small teams.

From
$299 per location / mo
Free plan

Hootsuite does more than schedule: listening, a shared inbox, and deep reporting sit in one dashboard, and you pay for the breadth. It starts at $99 a user each month and there's no longer a free plan.

From
$99 per user / mo
Free plan

Bottom line

Birdeye and Hootsuite both cover the basics; the right one comes down to how you post. Birdeye is the stronger pick for Multi-location brands and franchises focused on reviews and reputation; choose Hootsuite for Small teams that need listening and reporting in one place.

Features compared

FeatureBirdeyeHootsuite
AI captionsYesYes
Basic analyticsYesYes
Advanced reportsYesYes
Bulk uploadNot assessedYes
Evergreen recyclingNoNo
Team rolesYesYes
ApprovalsYesYes
Link in bioNot assessedYes

Platforms compared

NetworkBirdeyeHootsuite
InstagramAutoAuto
FacebookAutoAuto
X (Twitter)AutoAuto
LinkedInAutoAuto
TikTokAutoAuto
PinterestAutoAuto
YouTubeAutoAuto
ThreadsNoAuto
BlueskyNoAuto
Google BusinessAutoNo

Pricing

Birdeye

Starter

$299 per location / mo
  • About $299 per location/mo
  • Core review management and reputation tools
  • Basic social publishing

Growth

Popular
$349 per location / mo
  • About $349 per location/mo
  • Adds Social AI for publishing and replies
  • Reviews, listings, messaging, and analytics

Dominate

$449 per location / mo
  • About $449 per location/mo
  • Adds a dedicated chatbot AI
  • Full reputation, social, and customer-experience suite
  • Birdeye is priced per location, starting around $299 (Starter), $349 (Growth), and $449 (Dominate) a month per location. These are starting rates; multi-location and enterprise deals are custom-quoted, and many buyers negotiate.
  • It's a reputation and customer-experience platform first, reviews, listings, webchat, surveys, and referrals, with social media management as one module. Social AI arrives on Growth.
  • There's no free plan and no public self-serve checkout; you go through sales.
  • Prices are USD from current listings; Birdeye doesn't publish a fixed price ladder, so treat these as approximate starting points.

Hootsuite

Standard

$149 per user / mo

$99/mo billed annually

Seats
1
Accounts
10
Scheduled posts
Unlimited
  • $99 per user/mo on annual, $149 monthly
  • Up to 10 social accounts
  • Unlimited scheduling, AI assistant, one inbox
  • 7-day mention search, benchmark vs 5 competitors

Advanced

Popular
$399 per user / mo

$249/mo billed annually

Seats
1
Accounts
Unlimited
Scheduled posts
Unlimited
  • $249 per user/mo on annual, $399 monthly
  • Unlimited social accounts
  • Bulk schedule up to 350 posts at once
  • Custom reports, approval workflows, 30-day listening

Enterprise

Custom
Accounts
Unlimited
  • Custom pricing, 5+ users, unlimited accounts
  • SSO, employee advocacy (Amplify), premium listening
  • Salesforce, review management, compliance integrations
  • Priced per user/seat: the headline $99 / $249 is for one seat and multiplies by how many people you add.
  • No free plan. There's a 30-day trial, and the 25% trial-skip discount only applies on annual billing.
  • Annual billing is much cheaper than monthly: Standard is $99 vs $149 a seat, Advanced $249 vs $399.
  • Prices are USD list. Hootsuite renders prices client-side in local currency by region, so the annual figures were read off the live plans page and the monthly figures corroborated against current third-party listings.

Pros and cons

Birdeye

  • Best-in-class review and reputation management
  • Social publishing, inbox, and AI in the same platform
  • Revenue-tied outcome dashboards and listening
  • Built for multi-location scale
  • Social is a secondary module, not a dedicated scheduler
  • Expensive: per-location pricing from ~$299/mo, sales-led only
  • No free plan or self-serve checkout
  • Overkill if reputation isn't your priority

Hootsuite

  • Broad by design: scheduling, listening, inbox, and reporting together
  • Deep analytics and competitor benchmarking
  • Publishes to nine networks, including Bluesky and Threads
  • Strong approval workflows on Advanced and up
  • Expensive, and per-seat pricing climbs quickly
  • No free plan, and the entry price is $99 a month
  • Monthly billing costs far more than annual
  • The depth is overkill if you only schedule a few accounts

Birdeye vs Hootsuite: FAQ

Is Birdeye or Hootsuite cheaper?
Hootsuite is cheaper to start, from $99 against $299 for Birdeye. The unit each one charges by differs, so the real bill depends on how many channels or seats you run.
Does Birdeye or Hootsuite have a free plan?
Neither has a free plan. You get a free trial to test things, then you pay.
Which is better, Birdeye or Hootsuite?
Birdeye is the stronger pick for multi-location brands and franchises focused on reviews and reputation, while Hootsuite is the better fit for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.