Head to head
Sprout Social vs X Pro
Last updated 4 June 2026
vs
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
X Pro is the rebuilt TweetDeck: a multi-column dashboard for power users on X, with post and thread scheduling, real-time search columns, and multi-account monitoring. As of 2026 it's locked behind X's $40-a-month Premium+ tier, which is the catch.
- From
- $33 /mo
- Free plan
Bottom line
Sprout Social and X Pro both cover the basics; the right one comes down to how you post. Sprout Social is the stronger pick for Businesses running social as a core function; choose X Pro for Heavy X users and community managers who live in the timeline.
Features compared
| Feature | Sprout Social | X Pro |
|---|---|---|
| AI captions | Yes | Not assessed |
| Basic analytics | Yes | Partial |
| Advanced reports | Yes | Not assessed |
| Bulk upload | Yes | No |
| Evergreen recycling | No | No |
| Team roles | Yes | Not assessed |
| Approvals | Yes | Not assessed |
| Link in bio | Yes | Not assessed |
Platforms compared
| Network | Sprout Social | X Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | No | |
| Auto | No | |
| X (Twitter) | Auto | Auto |
| Auto | No | |
| TikTok | Auto | No |
| Auto | No | |
| YouTube | Auto | No |
| Threads | Auto | No |
| Bluesky | Auto | No |
| Auto | No | |
| Snapchat | Auto | No |
Pricing
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.
X Pro
X Premium+
$40 /mo
$33/mo billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- X Pro is bundled with X Premium+ (about $40/mo, $395/yr)
- Column-based decks, multi-account monitoring, post and thread scheduling
- Access to multiple X accounts you control
- X Pro isn't sold on its own. It used to come with the cheaper X Premium plan (around $8/mo), but in March 2026 X moved it behind the top X Premium+ tier, roughly $40 a month (about $395 a year), so the real cost of using X Pro is a Premium+ subscription.
- It only manages X, so the value is entirely about how much you live on that one network.
- X has signalled a replacement product may follow, so the access terms here may change.
Pros and cons
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
X Pro
- Best-in-class real-time column monitoring for X
- Schedules posts and threads
- Manages multiple X accounts at once
- Fast, dense, power-user layout
- Now requires the $40-a-month X Premium+ tier
- X only
- No calendar, bulk scheduling, recycling, or mobile app
- Access terms have changed once and may change again
Sprout Social vs X Pro: FAQ
- Is Sprout Social or X Pro cheaper?
- X Pro is cheaper to start, from $33 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 Sprout Social or X Pro have a free plan?
- Neither has a free plan. You get a free trial to test things, then you pay.
- Which is better, Sprout Social or X Pro?
- Sprout Social is the stronger pick for businesses running social as a core function, while X Pro is the better fit for heavy X users and community managers who live in the timeline. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.