Head to head
Crowdfire vs Hootsuite
Last updated 21 July 2026
Crowdfire's social media app shut down in 2025, so this is here for the record rather than as a recommendation. In its day it leaned on content curation, surfacing articles and images to share, plus scheduling, light analytics, and the follower management it started life with as JustUnfollow.
- From
- $7.48 /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
Crowdfire is the pick for most setups, and it's the only one of the two with a free plan. Hootsuite fits small teams that need listening and reporting in one place better, and it reaches Threads and Bluesky, which Crowdfire doesn't.
Crowdfire starts cheaper, $7.48 a month against $99 per user / mo for Hootsuite. They bill on different units, so the real gap depends on how much you run. Crowdfire brings posting queue that Hootsuite skips, while Hootsuite has social listening Crowdfire doesn't.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Crowdfire has a free plan; Hootsuite doesn't, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Crowdfire starts at $7.48 a month, Hootsuite at $99 per user / mo.
- Crowdfire posts to 8 networks, Hootsuite to 9.
- Only Crowdfire reaches WordPress.
- Only Hootsuite reaches Threads and Bluesky.
- Hootsuite auto-publishes Instagram; Crowdfire sends a reminder to post.
- Hootsuite auto-publishes TikTok; Crowdfire sends a reminder to post.
- Crowdfire has posting queue; Hootsuite doesn't.
- Hootsuite has social listening; Crowdfire doesn't.
- Hootsuite has competitor tracking; Crowdfire doesn't.
- Hootsuite has link in bio; Crowdfire doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Crowdfire | Hootsuite |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Not assessed | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Yes |
| Evergreen recycling | No | No |
| Team roles | No | Yes |
| Approvals | Not assessed | Yes |
| Link in bio | No | Yes |
Platforms compared
| Network | Crowdfire | Hootsuite |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder | Auto | |
| Auto | Auto | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| TikTok | Reminder | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| YouTube | Auto | Auto |
| Threads | No | Auto |
| Bluesky | No | Auto |
| WordPress | Auto | No |
Pricing
Headline prices are for a single unit. Here is the real monthly cost as each tool scales, costed on its own unit so the two stay honest.
Crowdfire
Free
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 3
- Scheduled posts
- 10
- 3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts per account
- Article and image curation, basic analytics
Plus
$7.48/mo billed annually
- $9.99/mo, $7.48 on annual (25% off)
- More accounts and scheduling, content curation
Premium
Popular$37.48/mo billed annually
- $49.99/mo, $37.48 on annual
- Bulk scheduling, deeper analytics, more accounts
VIP
$74.98/mo billed annually
- $99.99/mo, $74.98 on annual
- Most accounts, full analytics and curation
- Crowdfire's social media management product shut down in 2025 (widely reported as May 15, 2025). The figures here are its last-known plans, kept for reference; you can no longer subscribe.
- The brand has pivoted to a media site covering social media, Web3, and AI, and no longer offers scheduling, curation, or analytics.
- Flat, quota-bundled plans: Free plus Plus, Premium, and VIP, each with more accounts and scheduling than the last. Annual billing was 25% off.
Hootsuite
Standard
$99/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 10
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $99 per user/mo billed annually
- Up to 10 social accounts
- Unlimited scheduling, AI assistant, one inbox
Professional
Popular$199/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $199 per user/mo billed annually
- Unlimited social accounts
- Automations for repetitive work
- No approval workflows (Hootsuite points approval-heavy teams at Advanced)
Advanced
$399/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $399 per user/mo billed annually
- Approval workflows, team assignments, custom reports
- Customer care routing
Enterprise
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Custom pricing, 5+ users, unlimited accounts
- SSO, employee advocacy (Amplify), premium listening
- Salesforce, review management, compliance integrations
- Hootsuite restructured its lineup between June and July 2026: a Professional tier at $199 now sits between Standard ($99) and Advanced (previously $249 on annual, now $399), and the trial dropped from 30 days to 14.
- Priced per user/seat: the headline $99 / $199 / $399 is for one seat and multiplies by how many people you add.
- The advertised prices are the billed-annually rates. Monthly billing exists for all three self-serve plans at a higher per-seat rate, but Hootsuite no longer prints the monthly figures on the plans page; they appear at checkout. Before the restructure, Standard was $149 monthly vs $99 annual.
- No free plan. The 14-day trial needs no credit card. Nonprofit discounts exist on some plans.
- Prices are USD list from the plans page structured data (offers marked 'Billed annually'), read 2026-07-21.
Pros and cons
Crowdfire
- Strong content curation, suggesting articles and images to share
- Mobile-first and simple to use
- Audience management roots from its JustUnfollow days
- Discontinued in 2025; you can no longer sign up
- No team collaboration or evergreen recycling
- Leaned on reminder publishing for Instagram
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
Crowdfire vs Hootsuite: FAQ
- Is Crowdfire or Hootsuite cheaper?
- Crowdfire is cheaper to start, from $7.48 against $99 for Hootsuite. The unit each one charges by differs, so the real bill depends on how many channels or seats you run.
- Does Crowdfire or Hootsuite have a free plan?
- Crowdfire has a free plan; Hootsuite does not, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Which is better, Crowdfire or Hootsuite?
- Crowdfire is the stronger pick for most people, 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.