Head to head
Hootsuite vs Planoly
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
Planoly grew up as an Instagram feed planner and still leads with the visual side: drag posts around a grid preview until the profile looks right, then schedule them, with a link-in-bio page that can sell digital products. It publishes to eight networks and prices in flat plans from a free mobile tier to $47 a month.
- From
- $14 /mo
- Free plan
Bottom line
Planoly is the pick for Instagram-led creators who plan their grid visually, 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 advanced reports that Planoly leaves out.
Planoly starts cheaper, $14 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 social listening and advanced reports that Planoly leaves out.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Planoly has a free plan; Hootsuite doesn't, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Planoly starts at $14 a month, Hootsuite at $99 per user / mo.
- Hootsuite posts to 9 networks, Planoly to 8.
- Only Hootsuite reaches Bluesky.
- Hootsuite has social listening; Planoly doesn't.
- Hootsuite has advanced reports; Planoly doesn't.
- Hootsuite has ad management; Planoly doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Hootsuite | Planoly |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Yes | No |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Not assessed |
| Evergreen recycling | No | No |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Not assessed |
| Link in bio | Yes | Yes |
Platforms compared
| Network | Hootsuite | Planoly |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
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.
Planoly
Free
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 1
- Scheduled posts
- 10
- 1 social set, 1 user (mobile app)
- 10 uploads a month
- Visual planner and link-in-bio
Starter
$14/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 1
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $16/mo, $14 on annual
- 1 social set, 1 user, unlimited uploads
- Free link in bio; upgrade to Growth to add sets or users
Growth
Popular$24/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 2
- Accounts
- 2
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $28/mo, $24 on annual
- 2 social sets, 2 users, unlimited uploads
- Extra social set $10/mo, extra user $5/mo
Pro
$47/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 6
- Accounts
- 6
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $55/mo, $47 on annual
- 6 social sets, 6 users, unlimited uploads
- Extra social set $8/mo, extra user $3/mo
- Flat, quota-bundled plans: each tier bundles a number of social sets and users. A social set is one account per network (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and so on), so one set covers your presence across the networks you connect.
- Starter has no add-ons (you upgrade to grow). Growth and Pro let you buy extra sets ($10 then $8 a month) and extra users ($5 then $3 a month).
- There's a free mobile plan (1 social set, 10 uploads a month).
- Annual billing is up to 15% cheaper. Annual rates were read off the live pricing page; the Pro monthly figure is derived from the page's stated annual discount.
- Prices are USD, read off the live pricing page.
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
Planoly
- Best-known Instagram feed/grid visual planner
- Link-in-bio page that can sell digital products
- Schedules to eight networks with AI captions and auto-responses
- Free mobile plan and clear, cheap add-ons
- Analytics are moderate, with no custom reports
- No evergreen recycling or broad listening
- No Bluesky or Google Business
- Starter can't add sets or users without upgrading
Hootsuite vs Planoly: FAQ
- Is Hootsuite or Planoly cheaper?
- Planoly is cheaper to start, from $14 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 Planoly have a free plan?
- Planoly has a free plan; Hootsuite does not, though it offers a 14-day trial.
- Which is better, Hootsuite or Planoly?
- Hootsuite is the stronger pick for small teams that need listening and reporting in one place, while Planoly is the better fit for Instagram-led creators who plan their grid visually. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.