Head to head
Hootsuite vs Iconosquare
Last updated 4 June 2026
vs
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
Hootsuite and Iconosquare both cover the basics; the right one comes down to how you post. Hootsuite is the stronger pick for Small teams that need listening and reporting in one place; choose Iconosquare for Social media managers and agencies who lead with analytics.
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
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.
Iconosquare
Free
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
$39 /mo
$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$83 /mo
$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
$139 /mo
$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
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 30-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.