Head to head
Hootsuite vs Metricool
Last updated 21 July 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
Metricool started as an analytics tool and it still leads with reporting, pulling paid ads in next to organic and going deeper than the price suggests. Pricing is set by how many brands you connect, the free plan is one of the most generous around, and a few networks sit behind a paywall.
- From
- $20 per month
- Free plan
Bottom line
Metricool is the pick for analytics-led marketers who want organic and paid in one report, 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 social listening and employee advocacy that Metricool leaves out.
Metricool starts cheaper, $20 per 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 social listening and employee advocacy that Metricool leaves out.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Metricool has a free plan; Hootsuite doesn't, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Metricool starts at $20 per month, Hootsuite at $99 per user / mo.
- Hootsuite posts to 9 networks, Metricool to 12.
- Only Metricool reaches Google Business, Twitch, and WordPress.
- Hootsuite has social listening; Metricool doesn't.
- Hootsuite has employee advocacy; Metricool doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Hootsuite | Metricool |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Yes |
| Evergreen recycling | No | Partial |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Link in bio | Yes | Yes |
Platforms compared
| Network | Hootsuite | Metricool |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Auto | |
| Auto | Auto | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| TikTok | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | Auto | |
| YouTube | Auto | Auto |
| Threads | Auto | Auto |
| Bluesky | Auto | Auto |
| Google Business | No | Auto |
| Twitch | No | Analytics |
| WordPress | No | Auto |
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.
Hootsuite
Standard
Custom
$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
PopularCustom
$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
Custom
$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
Custom
- 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.
Metricool
Free
Free
- Scheduled posts
- 20
- 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month
- All networks except LinkedIn and X
- 5 competitor profiles, 30 days of analytics, AI assistant
Starter
Popular$25 per month
$20/mo billed annually
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- From $25/mo ($20 annual) for up to 5 brands
- Up to 10 brands for $45/mo ($36 annual)
- Unlimited publishing, LinkedIn, 100 competitor analyses
- Reporting tools, PDF and PPT exports, SmartLinks, Canva and Drive
- X is a +$5 per-account add-on
Advanced
$67 per month
$53/mo billed annually
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- From $67/mo ($53 annual) for up to 15 brands
- 25 brands $107/mo ($85 annual); 50 brands $210/mo ($159 annual)
- Team and client management, role management, post approvals
- Full X analytics, custom report templates, Looker Studio connector, API
Custom
Custom
- Quote-only for more than 50 brands
- White label, dedicated account manager, custom AI credits
- Business integration
- Plans are chosen by how many 'brands' you connect rather than multiplied per brand: you land in a brand-count band and pay that band's price. A brand is a group of profiles, roughly one account per network.
- Starter covers up to 10 brands ($25 a month for 5, $45 for 10; $20 / $36 on annual). Advanced covers up to 50 ($67 / $107 / $210 a month for 15 / 25 / 50 brands; $53 / $85 / $159 on annual). Past 50 brands it's the quote-only Custom plan.
- Annual billing saves up to 24% depending on the band.
- X (Twitter) is a paid add-on at $5 per connected account on every plan. LinkedIn is included from Starter up but not on the Free plan.
- Listed prices exclude VAT, which is added before checkout.
- The Free plan is genuine: 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month, 5 competitor profiles, and 30 days of analytics, but no LinkedIn or X.
- Prices are USD read off the live pricing page, which has a EUR/USD switch and a brand slider and renders client-side. Figures were read with the USD toggle selected, across both billing periods and the brand bands, and cross-checked against current third-party 2026 listings.
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
Metricool
- Deepest analytics for the price, with paid ads alongside organic
- Unusually generous free plan
- Wide network list, including Twitch analytics and Google Business
- Strong agency value with brand-band pricing and white-label reports
- Brand-band pricing takes a minute to work out
- X is a paid add-on and LinkedIn is paid-only
- Listed prices exclude VAT
- No category-based evergreen recycling and no broad listening
Hootsuite vs Metricool: FAQ
- Is Hootsuite or Metricool cheaper?
- Metricool 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 Metricool have a free plan?
- Metricool has a free plan; Hootsuite does not, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Which is better, Hootsuite or Metricool?
- Hootsuite is the stronger pick for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place, while Metricool is the better fit for analytics-led marketers who want organic and paid in one report. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.