Head to head
Sprout Social vs Zoho Social
Last updated 4 June 2026
Sprout Social
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
- $79per user a month, billed yearly
- Free scheduling
- No
Zoho Social
Zoho Social combines publishing, monitoring and reporting with Zoho CRM and Desk integration. Business and agency plans bundle brands and members; optional extras are separate charges. The Free edition publishes immediately but does not schedule.
- From
- Paid scheduling; confirm regional offer
- Free scheduling
- No
Bottom line
Zoho Social is the pick for businesses already using Zoho CRM or the wider Zoho suite. Sprout Social fits businesses running social as a core function better.
A verified price comparison requires the same billing term, currency and eligible workload. See each pricing section for the published terms.
Key differences
Where the two actually diverge, before the full tables.
- Sprout Social posts to 12 networks, Zoho Social to 13.
- Only Sprout Social reaches Reddit.
- Zoho Social has a browser extension; Sprout Social doesn't.
Features compared
| Feature | Sprout Social | Zoho Social |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Sprout Social | Zoho 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 | Auto |
| Mastodon | Not assessed | Auto |
| Auto | No | |
| Snapchat | Auto | Auto |
| Telegram | Not assessed | No |
| Arattai | Not assessed | Auto |
| Not assessed | No |
Pricing
Prices use each tool’s billing unit. Annual equivalents are labeled as billed yearly; scaling rows show monthly costs and available annual rates.
Sprout Socialper user / mo
No free plan; 30-day trial.
- 1 seat · Essentials
- $99/mo~$79/mo annual
- 3 seats · EssentialsTypical
- $297/mo~$237/mo annual
Lowest priced plan at each shown workload. Check the plan's included features before choosing it.
Zoho SocialPricing qualification
Free edition; scheduling paid.
Paid scheduling; confirm regional offer
Sprout Social
Essentials
$99per user a month
$79 per user a month 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
$199per user a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 5
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- USD199/seat/month with annual billing; confirm monthly tariff
- $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$299per user a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- USD299/seat/month with annual billing; confirm monthly tariff
- $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
$399per user a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- Unlimited
- Scheduled posts
- Unlimited
- USD399/seat/month with annual billing; confirm monthly tariff
- $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
- List pricing is per seat. Obtain a quote for larger or customized deployments; no-volume-discount guarantees are not established by the current public evidence.
- Annual advertised rates per seat: Essentials USD79, Standard USD199, Professional USD299 and Advanced USD399. Essentials USD99 monthly is verified; other monthly rates need confirmation.
- No free plan. There's a 30-day trial with no card required.
- USD advertised list pricing. Check the applicable billing offer and paid add-ons before purchase.
- 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.
What it really costs
Monthly cost by seat count. Per-unit tiers grow with usage; flat tiers keep their whole-plan price within the published allowance, with the 3-seat row marked as a realistic setup.
| seats | Essentials |
|---|---|
| 1 | $99/mo |
| 3Typical | $297/mo |
| 5 | $495/mo |
| 10 | $990/mo |
| 25 | $2,475/mo |
| 50 | $4,950/mo |
Monthly billing.
Zoho Social
Free
Free
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 6
- 1 brand, 6 channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn profile and page, Google Business), 1 member
- Immediate publishing only; the Free edition does not schedule posts
- Forever free after the 15-day all-access trial
Standard
$10a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 14
- 1 bundled brand(s); 14 channel connections; 1 team member(s)
- Publishing calendar, multi-channel publishing, zurl shortener, summary reports, 40 AI credits
Professional
$30a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 1
- Accounts
- 14
- 1 bundled brand(s); 14 channel connections; 1 team member(s)
- Adds bulk scheduling, repeat posting, post insights, monitoring dashboard, media library, RSS, messages, first comment
Premium
Popular$40a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 3
- Accounts
- 16
- 1 bundled brand(s); 16 channel connections; 3 team member(s)
- Adds SmartQ, unified Inbox, content approvals and workflow, custom reports, UTM, Zoho CRM and Desk integration, 80 AI credits
Agency
$230a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 5
- Accounts
- 160
- 10 bundled brand(s); 160 channel connections; 5 team member(s)
- Client invite, customizable client portal, agency-branded reports, all Premium features
Agency Plus
$330a month
Billed annually
- Seats
- 5
- Accounts
- 320
- 20 bundled brand(s); 320 channel connections; 5 team member(s)
- All Agency features, with 10 more brands available as add-ons
- Business plans bundle one brand and included members; Agency/Agency Plus bundle ten/twenty brands and five members. Do not multiply the headline price by every bundled team member.
- US official pricing search extracts corroborate annual monthly equivalents of USD10/30/40/230/330. The current extracted page hides monthly prices, so monthly numeric tariffs are unconfirmed here.
- Extra brands and members are separately priced, plan-dependent add-ons. Regional currency and applicable taxes must be checked directly; no currency conversion has been used.
- Free includes one brand, six channels and one member but excludes scheduling. A fifteen-day trial is advertised.
- Standard/Professional list fourteen connections including Snapchat and Arattai. Premium adds WhatsApp and Telegram inbox connections; not every connection is a scheduled publishing destination.
Pros and cons
Sprout Social
- Publishing and social-care workflows
- Plan-based reporting and add-on listening
- Documented Reddit, Bluesky and Snapchat capabilities
- Internal and external review workflows
- Seat fees and add-ons increase the total
- Essentials and Standard have five-profile limits
- External MCP scope is narrower than the main product
- Network and mobile format coverage varies
Zoho Social
- Zoho CRM and Desk integration
- Publishing plus monitoring and reporting
- Native MCP publishing and media workflows
- Bundled agency plans
- Free edition excludes scheduling
- Inbox and approvals require higher tiers
- Extra brands and members are plan-dependent charges
- Messaging connections do not all support feed publishing
Sprout Social vs Zoho Social: FAQ
- Is Sprout Social or Zoho Social cheaper?
- A verified price comparison is unavailable for these configurations. Check the current billing term, currency, required capacity and plan features before comparing totals.
- Does Sprout Social or Zoho Social have a free plan?
- Sprout Social: No free plan. Zoho Social: Free edition; scheduling paid. Check the scheduling allowance, separately from any free research or design features.
- Which is better, Sprout Social or Zoho Social?
- Sprout Social is the stronger pick for businesses running social as a core function, while Zoho Social is the better fit for businesses already using Zoho CRM or the wider Zoho suite. We don't score them; the right call comes down to how you post.