9 Hootsuite alternatives for a small business in 2026

BetterSocials is the pick for a small business whose comments and DMs bring in customers, at $29 a month for four accounts. Buffer is the cheapest way to schedule posts, and Metricool has the strongest free plan. All three cost less than Hootsuite's Standard plan, which was $99 per user a month on annual billing as of October 2026.

What Hootsuite charges a small business in 2026

Hootsuite lists Standard at $99 per user a month, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399, all billed annually, as of October 2026 on its plans page. The inbox starts on Standard. Enterprise is priced on request.

A two-person business on Standard pays $99 for each user, so close to two hundred dollars a month. Hootsuite's inbox doesn't list YouTube, so YouTube there is publishing and analytics only.

We sorted the nine alternatives below into three price bands: free, under $50 a month and under $100 a month. Our wider price breakdown is in What social media tools cost in 2026, from Hootsuite's $99 seat to flat plans.

How we sorted and checked these nine

Hootsuite's Standard plan is the baseline every tool here was measured against: $99 a month for one person. Each tool gets a price band, its listed plans with the billing period, and what its inbox covers, from pricing checks dated between July and October 2026.

BetterSocials comes first because its job, answering the comments and DMs that turn into sales, is the job Hootsuite's inbox is bought for. The rest follow in the order a small business is likely to weigh them.

Sprout Social sits outside the bands. Its inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat a month, billed annually, as of October 2026.

BetterSocials, under $50: best for businesses whose comments and DMs bring in customers

BetterSocials posts to six platforms and puts the comments and DMs from them in one inbox, with AI replies written in the owner's voice. The platforms are Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, TikTok and LinkedIn Company Pages. DMs come in from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Creator is $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, for four accounts and one login. Pro is $49, or $39 billed yearly, for six accounts. Team is $99, or $79 billed yearly, for 12 accounts and unlimited teammates.

Every plan has unlimited contacts and unlimited keyword automations, and nothing is billed per contact. A keyword in an Instagram or Facebook comment sends the person a DM with your link, with no flow builder. On TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages, the keyword posts a public reply with the link instead.

AI replies have the same three settings for comments and for DMs: Off, Draft for me and Reply in my voice. You write your prices, hours and booking link as AI rules, and the AI answers from them. A question your rules don't cover waits for you in Needs reply.

Buffer is cheaper per channel. What the extra money buys is the DM side of the inbox, AI replies and keyword comment-to-DM. Every BetterSocials plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required.

Buffer, under $50: best for simple, cheap scheduling

Buffer charges $5 a channel a month on annual billing, as of October 2026. Four channels cost 4 x $5 = $20 a month.

Buffer's Community inbox comes on all plans and covers comments only, with no DMs. Instagram and Facebook messages stay in the phone app. Buffer does read YouTube comments.

Pick Buffer if you mostly schedule posts and answer a few comments by hand.

Metricool, free: best for analytics on a tight budget

Metricool has a free plan for one brand and up to 20 scheduled posts a month, as of October 2026, per its pricing page. Its inbox works from that free plan, YouTube comments included, and LinkedIn joins the inbox on Starter.

Starter is $25 a month, or $20 a month billed yearly, for five brands. Advanced is $67 a month, or $53 billed yearly.

Pick Metricool if you want analytics and an inbox before you pay anything.

Later, under $50 on yearly billing: best for Instagram-first brands

Later's Starter plan is $25 a month, or $18.75 billed yearly, as of September 2026. Growth is $50 a month, or $37.50 billed yearly, and Scale is $110, or $82.50 billed yearly.

Later's Conversations inbox starts on Growth. It covers Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook DMs and comments and TikTok comments. It has no YouTube or LinkedIn conversations.

Pick Later if Instagram is where your customers find you and you'll pay for Growth to answer them.

SocialBee, under $50: best for posting by content category

SocialBee's Bootstrap plan is $29 a month for five social profiles and one user, as of October 2026, and yearly billing takes 16% off every plan. Accelerate is $49 a month for ten profiles. Pro is $99 a month, or $82.50 billed yearly, for 25 profiles, three users and five workspaces.

Every SocialBee plan includes unlimited AI content generation. Bootstrap holds 10 content categories, and Accelerate raises that to 50 and adds post approval and a bulk post editor.

Per profile, SocialBee is cheaper than BetterSocials: Bootstrap gives five profiles for the $29 that buys four accounts on BetterSocials Creator. Pick SocialBee if your posting runs on recurring content categories.

Agorapulse, under $100: best for a small team sharing one inbox

Agorapulse costs $79 per user a month on annual billing, as of July 2026. One combined inbox comes with every tier.

Agorapulse's pricing page lists inbox tools such as assigning comments and messages, reply collision detection, saved replies and AI reply suggestions. Automated moderation starts at one free rule per social profile, and the top tier allows unlimited rules.

Two people on Agorapulse pay $79 each, so a little over a hundred and fifty dollars a month on annual billing. Pick Agorapulse when two or three people answer the same messages and need to see who already replied.

Vista Social, under $100: best for DM automations inside a scheduler

Vista Social's Professional plan is $99 a month, or $80 a month billed yearly, with two users, as of October 2026. It includes a social inbox plus DM automations.

Vista Social offers a 14-day trial without a card. Pick it if two people share the account and you want DM automations in the same tool that schedules your posts.

Pallyy, under $50: best for a low-cost inbox with Google reviews

Pallyy's inbox starts on Pro at $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, as of October 2026. It covers Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook messages and comments, LinkedIn comments, TikTok comments and Google reviews. It has no YouTube.

Pick Pallyy if you run a local business where Google reviews matter as much as Instagram.

Meta Business Suite, free: best for Facebook and Instagram only

Meta Business Suite is free on desktop and in its mobile app, as of October 2026, per Meta's help center. It holds messages and comments from your Facebook Page, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp Business account in one inbox.

Meta Business Suite's keyword automations send a template you write, are set up on desktop and wait 15 minutes before sending unless you reply first. WhatsApp isn't available in some regions, including the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Pick Meta Business Suite if every customer reaches you on Facebook or Instagram and you're happy to answer by hand.

The nine side by side, by price band

Metricool and Meta Business Suite are the two free picks, and Agorapulse and Vista Social fill the under-$100 band. Prices below are from pricing checks dated between July and October 2026.

For one person running four accounts, the yearly-billed bills come to $20 a month on Buffer (4 x $5), $24 on BetterSocials Creator, $79 on Agorapulse and $99 on Hootsuite Standard. Buffer is the cheapest of the four. BetterSocials costs a few dollars more a month and adds the DM inbox, AI replies in your voice and keyword comment-to-DM.