Head to head
Hootsuite vs Maeve Social
Last updated 3 August 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
A newer scheduler built around approvals and client review rather than the solo posting queue.
- From
- $20 /mo
- Free plan
Bottom line
Maeve Social is the pick for teams and agencies that approve posts before they go out, and it's the cheaper start, from $20 a month. Hootsuite fits small teams that need listening and reporting in one place better, and it adds bulk upload and social listening that Maeve Social leaves out.
Maeve Social starts cheaper, $20 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 bulk upload and social listening that Maeve Social leaves out.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Maeve Social starts at $20 a month, Hootsuite at $99 per user / mo.
- Hootsuite posts to 9 networks, Maeve Social to 8.
- Only Hootsuite reaches Bluesky.
- Hootsuite has bulk upload; Maeve Social doesn't.
- Hootsuite has social listening; Maeve Social doesn't.
- Hootsuite has employee advocacy; Maeve Social doesn't.
- Hootsuite has link in bio; Maeve Social doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Hootsuite | Maeve Social |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Partial |
| Bulk upload | Yes | No |
| Evergreen recycling | No | Partial |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Link in bio | Yes | No |
Platforms compared
| Network | Hootsuite | Maeve Social |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
No free plan; 3-day trial.
- Cheapest paid plan
- $20/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.
Maeve Social
Basic
$20/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 20
- $25/mo, $20 on annual ($240/yr)
- 1 user, 2 workspaces, 20 social connections
- 800 AI credits a month, 20 GB media storage
Standard
Popular$79/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 5
- Accounts
- 50
- $99/mo, $79 on annual ($950/yr)
- 5 users, 5 workspaces, 50 social connections
- Adds approvals, client review links, shareable calendars, and PDF reports
- Public API, CLI, and MCP access; 1,500 AI credits a month
Premium
$158/mo billed annually
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- $199/mo, $158 on annual ($1,900/yr)
- Unlimited users, workspaces, and social connections
- Adds team insights and realtime co-editing
- 3,000 AI credits a month, 100 GB media storage
- Flat, quota-bundled tiers: each plan includes a fixed number of users, workspaces, and social connections, and you move up a plan rather than buying seats one at a time.
- No plan-level post cap. Publishing limits are per connected channel and follow each network's rules, for example 100 posts a month per X account.
- The trial is 3 days on every plan and takes a card up front; annual billing works out to roughly 20% off. AI credit top-ups are available at 50 credits per US dollar, $10 minimum.
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
Maeve Social
- Approvals and client review links on Standard and up
- Direct publishing on all eight supported networks
- Media Room, grid planner, and content board on every plan
- Public API, CLI, and MCP server for automation
- No bulk CSV upload or link-in-bio
- Inbox covers Instagram, Facebook, and Threads only
- No X or LinkedIn analytics yet
- Three-day trial is short and takes a card
Hootsuite vs Maeve Social: FAQ
- Is Hootsuite or Maeve Social cheaper?
- Maeve Social is cheaper to start, from $20 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 Maeve Social have a free plan?
- Neither has a free plan. You get a free trial to test things, then you pay.
- Which is better, Hootsuite or Maeve Social?
- Hootsuite is the stronger pick for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place, while Maeve Social is the better fit for teams and agencies that approve posts before they go out. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.