Head to head
Postly vs Sprout Social
Last updated 4 June 2026
Postly is an AI-forward, per-channel scheduler that reaches a dozen social networks plus email. It bills by channel (cheaper as you add more), throws in unlimited team members and an AI studio for text, image, and video, and adds bio pages and a social inbox.
- From
- $3.2 per channel / mo
- Free plan
Sprout Social is the high-end suite: publishing, a shared inbox, listening, and reporting that goes deep, sold by the seat and priced for businesses with a budget. There's no free plan; the cut-down Essentials tier is $79 a seat each month on annual billing, and the main plans start at $199.
- From
- $79 per user / mo
- Free plan
Bottom line
Postly is the pick for creators and small agencies who want wide coverage cheaply, and it's the only one of the two with a free plan. Sprout Social fits businesses running social as a core function better, and it reaches Snapchat and Reddit, which Postly doesn't.
Postly starts cheaper, $3.2 per channel / mo against $79 per user / mo for Sprout Social. They bill on different units, so the real gap depends on how much you run. Sprout Social adds ad management that Postly leaves out.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Postly has a free plan; Sprout Social doesn't, though it offers a 30-day trial.
- Postly starts at $3.2 per channel / mo, Sprout Social at $79 per user / mo.
- Postly posts to 13 networks, Sprout Social to 11.
- Only Postly reaches Google Business, Mastodon, Telegram, and WordPress.
- Only Sprout Social reaches Reddit and Snapchat.
- Sprout Social has ad management; Postly doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Postly | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Yes |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced reports | Not assessed | Yes |
| Bulk upload | Yes | Yes |
| Evergreen recycling | Partial | No |
| Team roles | Yes | Yes |
| Approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Link in bio | Yes | Yes |
Platforms compared
| Network | Postly | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Auto | No |
| Mastodon | Auto | No |
| No | Auto | |
| Snapchat | No | Auto |
| Telegram | Auto | No |
| WordPress | 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.
Free plan available.
- 1 channel
- $3/mo
- 8 channelsTypical
- $26/mo~$20/mo annual
Cheapest plan: Pro.
No free plan; 30-day trial.
- 1 seat
- $99/mo~$79/mo annual
- 3 seatsTypical
- $297/mo~$237/mo annual
Cheapest plan: Essentials.
Postly
Starter
- Seats
- 2
- Accounts
- 2
- Scheduled posts
- 50
- Free: 2 channels, 2 team members
- 50 one-time scheduled posts, 5,000 AI writing credits a month
- 1GB storage
Pro
Popular- Seats
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $3.20 per channel/mo (5-channel minimum, so from $16/mo)
- Cheaper per channel at scale: $1.60 (11-100), $0.80 (101+)
- Unlimited posts, unlimited AI, unlimited team members, 100GB, API
Enterprise
- Seats
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- Custom pricing and volume rates
- Dedicated onboarding and migration, priority support
- Priced per channel on Pro, where a channel is a page, profile, Google Business location, Pinterest board, or similar destination. The rate falls as you add channels: $3.20 each up to 10, $1.60 from 11 to 100, and $0.80 beyond 100.
- Pro has a 5-channel minimum, so it effectively starts at $16 a month; the cost-at-scale figures start from one channel but you can't buy fewer than five on Pro.
- There's a genuine free Starter plan (2 channels, 50 scheduled posts, 2 team members). Annual billing is about 20% cheaper.
- Unlimited team members are included on Pro, unlike per-seat tools. Postly also sells email campaigns (Postly Email) alongside social.
- Prices are USD, read off the live pricing page.
What it really costs
Postly charges per channel, so the headline price is for one. Here is the monthly cost as you connect more, with the 8-channel row marked as a realistic setup.
| channels | Pro |
|---|---|
| 1 | $3/mo |
| 3 | $10/mo |
| 5 | $16/mo |
| 8Typical | $26/mo |
| 10 | $32/mo |
| 25 | $56/mo |
| 50 | $96/mo |
Monthly billing. Volume discounts lower the per-channel rate at higher counts.
Sprout Social
Essentials
$79/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $79 per seat/mo on annual, $99 monthly
- Up to 5 social profiles
- Publishing, calendar, and the Smart Inbox
- Profile and post-level reporting
Standard
$199/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $199 per seat/mo on annual, $249 monthly
- Up to 5 social profiles
- Smart Inbox, review management, and tasks
- Unlocks paid add-ons: Listening, Premium Analytics, Advocacy
Professional
Popular$299/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $299 per seat/mo on annual, $399 monthly
- Unlimited social profiles
- Competitor, tag, and paid reporting
- Message tagging and scheduling for optimal send times
Advanced
$399/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- $399 per seat/mo on annual, $499 monthly
- Unlimited social profiles
- Chatbots, automated workflows, and helpdesk integrations
- AI-enhanced replies, message spike alerts, and the Sprout API
Enterprise
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Custom pricing
- SSO and advanced security
- Premium Listening, Advocacy, and Influencer Marketing add-ons
- Dedicated support and professional services
- Priced per seat: the headline rate is for one user and multiplies by everyone you add. Sprout charges every extra seat at the same plan rate, with no volume discount.
- No free plan. There's a 30-day trial with no card required.
- Annual billing is paid upfront and is cheaper per seat than monthly: Essentials $79 vs $99, Standard $199 vs $249, Professional $299 vs $399, Advanced $399 vs $499.
- Premium Analytics, Listening, and Employee Advocacy are paid add-ons on Standard and up, quoted on request, so the real bill runs higher than the seat price.
- Prices are USD list, read off the live pricing page (which renders in USD here); the monthly figures come from the billing FAQ on that page.
What it really costs
Sprout Social charges per seat, so the headline price is for one. Here is the monthly cost as you connect more, with the 3-seat row marked as a realistic setup.
| seats | Essentials | Standard | Professional | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $99/mo | $249/mo | $399/mo | $499/mo |
| 3Typical | $297/mo | $747/mo | $1197/mo | $1497/mo |
| 5 | $495/mo | $1245/mo | $1995/mo | $2495/mo |
| 10 | $990/mo | $2490/mo | $3990/mo | $4990/mo |
| 25 | $2475/mo | $6225/mo | $9975/mo | $12475/mo |
| 50 | $4950/mo | $12450/mo | $19950/mo | $24950/mo |
Monthly billing.
Pros and cons
Postly
- Per-channel billing that gets cheaper as you scale
- Unlimited team members on Pro
- Broad AI Studio: text, image, video, avatars, voiceovers
- A dozen networks plus WordPress and email, with a social inbox and bio pages
- Five-channel minimum on Pro
- Recycling is limited to recurring posts
- Young, lightly documented company
- Wide AI feature set means uneven depth
Sprout Social
- Polished, deep platform: inbox, listening, and reporting together
- Strong analytics and presentation-ready reports
- Wide network list, including Reddit, Bluesky, and Snapchat
- Genuinely good for customer care and approval-heavy teams
- Expensive, and per-seat pricing has no volume discount
- No free plan, and the main plans start at $199 a seat each month
- Listening, Premium Analytics, and Advocacy cost extra on top
- Overkill if you only schedule a few accounts
Postly vs Sprout Social: FAQ
- Is Postly or Sprout Social cheaper?
- Postly is cheaper to start, from $3.2 against $79 for Sprout Social. The unit each one charges by differs, so the real bill depends on how many channels or seats you run.
- Does Postly or Sprout Social have a free plan?
- Postly has a free plan; Sprout Social does not, though it offers a 30-day trial.
- Which is better, Postly or Sprout Social?
- Postly is the stronger pick for creators and small agencies who want wide coverage cheaply, while Sprout Social is the better fit for businesses running social as a core function. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.