Head to head
Hootsuite vs Iconosquare
Last updated 21 July 2026
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
Iconosquare started as an Instagram analytics tool and still leads with reporting: deep performance and audience analytics across eight networks, with scheduling, listening, and competitor tracking layered on. Plans run from a free tier up to $116 a month on annual billing, with a profiles slider and per-user pricing on the team plans.
- From
- $33 /mo
- Free plan
Bottom line
Iconosquare is the pick for social media managers and agencies who lead with analytics, 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 adds link in bio and ad management that Iconosquare leaves out.
Iconosquare starts cheaper, $33 a month against $99 per user / mo for Hootsuite. They bill on different units, so the real gap depends on how much you run. Hootsuite adds link in bio and ad management that Iconosquare leaves out.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Iconosquare has a free plan; Hootsuite doesn't, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Iconosquare starts at $33 a month, Hootsuite at $99 per user / mo.
- Hootsuite posts to 9 networks, Iconosquare to 8.
- Only Hootsuite reaches Bluesky.
- Hootsuite has link in bio; Iconosquare doesn't.
- Hootsuite has ad management; Iconosquare doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Hootsuite | Iconosquare |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Not assessed |
| Evergreen recycling | No | No |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Not assessed |
| Link in bio | Yes | No |
Platforms compared
| Network | Hootsuite | Iconosquare |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Auto | |
| Auto | Auto | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| TikTok | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| YouTube | Auto | Auto |
| Threads | Auto | Auto |
| Bluesky | 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.
No free plan; 14-day trial.
- Cheapest paid plan
- $99/mo
Plan set by your profile count.
Free plan available.
- Cheapest paid plan
- $33/mo
Whole-plan price; it doesn't scale per unit.
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.
Iconosquare
Free
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 2
- Scheduled posts
- 10
- 2 social profiles, 1 user
- 10 scheduled posts per profile a month
- Basic analytics and limited reporting
Launch
$33/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- 100
- $39/mo, $33 on annual
- 5 social profiles (sliderable), 1 user, 100 posts a month
- Standard analytics and reports, best time to post, AI caption writing
Scale
Popular$69/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 3
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $83/mo, $69 on annual
- 5 social profiles (sliderable), 3 users (extra users $16/mo)
- Adds campaign analytics, social listening, competitor tracking, DM management, collaboration
Excel
$116/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 6
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $139/mo, $116 on annual
- 5 social profiles (sliderable), 6 users (extra users $16/mo)
- Adds white-label reporting, unlimited data retention, API access, unlimited competitor benchmarking
Custom
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- Contact sales, for 20 or more social profiles
- Dedicated customer success manager and personalised onboarding
- Flat plans that differ mainly by users and feature depth, all starting from a base of 5 social profiles, with a slider to add more profiles (which scales the price) and Custom for 20 or more. Extra users are $16 a month each on Scale and Excel.
- There's a genuine free plan (2 profiles, 1 user, 10 posts a month per profile) plus a 14-day trial of the top features, no card required.
- Annual billing is up to 17% cheaper (two months free): Launch works out to $33 a month, Scale $69, Excel $116.
- Iconosquare is analytics-first: listening and competitor tracking arrive on Scale, and white-label reporting and API access on Excel.
- Prices are USD. The live pricing page geo-located to Australia and showed AUD, so the USD figures were taken from Iconosquare's USD listings and cross-checked by converting the AUD (for example AU$53 times about 0.74 lands near the $39 Launch monthly rate).
Pros and cons
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
Iconosquare
- Deep, analytics-first reporting and audience insights
- Competitor tracking and social listening on Scale and up
- White-label reporting and API on Excel
- Genuine free plan and a clear annual discount
- No evergreen recycling or link-in-bio
- No Google Business; network list stops at eight
- Listening and competitor tracking are Scale-only
- Team plans add per-user fees on top
Hootsuite vs Iconosquare: FAQ
- Is Hootsuite or Iconosquare cheaper?
- Iconosquare is cheaper to start, from $33 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 Hootsuite or Iconosquare have a free plan?
- Iconosquare has a free plan; Hootsuite does not, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Which is better, Hootsuite or Iconosquare?
- Hootsuite is the stronger pick for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place, while Iconosquare is the better fit for social media managers and agencies who lead with analytics. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.