Head to head
Hootsuite vs Meta Business Suite
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
Meta Business Suite is the free, official way to schedule and manage Facebook and Instagram. It handles posts, Reels, and Stories, has a shared inbox and basic insights, and doubles as Meta's ads tool, but it only covers Meta's own networks.
- From
- Custom
- Free plan
Bottom line
Hootsuite and Meta Business Suite 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 Meta Business Suite for Small businesses and creators focused only on Facebook and Instagram.
Features compared
| Feature | Hootsuite | Meta Business Suite |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | No |
| Bulk upload | Yes | No |
| Evergreen recycling | No | No |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Not assessed |
| Link in bio | Yes | No |
Platforms compared
| Network | Hootsuite | Meta Business Suite |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Auto | |
| Auto | Auto | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | No |
| Auto | No | |
| TikTok | Auto | No |
| Auto | No | |
| YouTube | Auto | No |
| Threads | Auto | No |
| 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.
Meta Business Suite
Free
Free
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Accounts
- 2
- Free for any Facebook Page and connected Instagram account
- Schedule posts, Reels, and Stories up to 75 days ahead, up to 25 a day per account
- Shared inbox, insights, and Meta ad management included
- Meta Business Suite is free. It only covers Meta's own networks, Facebook and Instagram, so there's no paid tier and no cost to weigh, just the limit of which networks it reaches.
- Scheduling runs up to 75 days in advance, with a cap of about 25 scheduled posts a day per account.
- It doubles as Meta's ads tool, so you can boost posts and run paid campaigns from the same place.
- Threads has its own scheduling path rather than full management here; that's covered separately.
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
Meta Business Suite
- Free and official, with the newest formats first
- Direct publishing of posts, Reels, and Stories
- Shared inbox for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
- Built-in ad management and audience insights
- Only covers Facebook and Instagram
- No evergreen recycling, bulk upload, or advanced reporting
- No real listening, and only Page benchmarking
- Interface can be clunky
Hootsuite vs Meta Business Suite: FAQ
- Is Hootsuite or Meta Business Suite cheaper?
- Hootsuite starts at $99 per user / mo, while Meta Business Suite is quoted custom, so Hootsuite is the one with a public entry price.
- Does Hootsuite or Meta Business Suite have a free plan?
- Meta Business Suite has a free plan; Hootsuite does not, though it offers a 30-day trial.
- Which is better, Hootsuite or Meta Business Suite?
- Hootsuite is the stronger pick for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place, while Meta Business Suite is the better fit for small businesses and creators focused only on Facebook and Instagram. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.