Head to head
Postly vs Sprout Social
Last updated 4 June 2026
vs
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 and Sprout Social both cover the basics; the right one comes down to how you post. Postly is the stronger pick for Creators and small agencies who want wide coverage cheaply; choose Sprout Social for Businesses running social as a core function.
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
Postly
Starter
Free
- 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$3.2 per channel / mo
- 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
Custom
- 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.
Sprout Social
Essentials
$99 per user / mo
$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
$249 per user / mo
$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$399 per user / mo
$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
$499 per user / mo
$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
Custom
- 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.
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.