Hootsuite vs. Sprout Social vs. Vista Social: Which is Better?

It’s time for an answer: Hootsuite vs Sprout Social vs Vista Social—which should you pick?

Hootsuite and Sprout Social are among the most expensive SMM software. But does that mean they’re the best?

In this post, we’ll explore how these two SMM giants square up against Vista Social—the affordable SMM solution packed with modern, comprehensive features that’s shaking the SMM landscape.

Let’s begin.

Bottom line: use Vista Social for superior social media management for a fraction of the cost

Vista Social has most of the essential social media management tools Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer…and much more. 

Our platform also consistently comes first in bringing revolutionary features that shape the industry, such as: 

• Scheduling carousel posts on Instagram
• Finding trending audio tracks for short-form videos
• Direct publishing on short-form platforms (Instagram/Facebook reels and TikTok)

Check out our product roadmap for the complete list of exciting, upcoming features. 

You can also Schedule posts, locate brand mentions, discover user-generated content, manage conversations, and track analytics in one location.

Best of all, Vista Social only costs $3 per month (per social media profile). All premium social media software features come unlocked right out of the gate.  

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social vs Vista Social: company overview

Let’s start this showdown with a brief overview of each social media management tool: 

1. Hootsuite — The oldest SMM platform in the industry

Hootsuite is a widely-used social media management platform designed to help you execute successful social media campaigns. 

On top of basic features like content planning, scheduling, and analytics, Hootsuite also helps shape your content strategy. It shares personalized recommendations to boost your “Social Score” and shares useful content ideas to maintain audience engagement.

Who is Hootsuite for? 

Hootsuite is created with social media teams and agencies in mind. 

Most of their power features are locked behind their more expensive subscription plans. They also offer useful collaboration tools to keep everyone on your team on the same page. 

2. Sprout Social — Complete SMM platform for teams

Sprout Social is another popular social media management platform aimed at agency users. 

In addition to basic social media tools, the Sprout Social dashboard doubles as a task management interface. Team members get instant access to their to-do list and use the “Smart Inbox” for internal communications. 

Who is Sprout Social for? 

Sprout Social is for high-budget social media marketing teams that need integrated collaboration features. 

Their high pricing makes the platform impractical to freelancers, individual brands, and social media managers that only handle a few accounts.  

3. Vista Social — Disrupting the SMM space since launch

Vista Social is an all-in-one social media management platform that will take your campaigns further than ever. 

Other than post scheduling, social media listening, content curation, and analytics, our platform also includes game-changing tools, such as:

• Instagram post tagging (products, users, and locations)
• Publish Twitter threads with automated replies (up to five comments)
• Share live links to your content calendar with clients and colleagues
• Customize fonts
• White-labelable reports (including competitor analysis)
• Schedule short-form videos for TikTok, Instagram reels, and Facebook reels
• Discover trending audio for short-form video platforms

Vista Social’s diverse toolset eliminates the need for multiple integrations—from graphic design software to IG tools. This will keep your social media marketing software stack lean, efficient, and cost-effective.

We also offer priority support to anyone regardless of their subscription cost. Get in touch with a live agent via video call, live chat, or social media channels even with a $3 per month plan.

Who is Vista Social for?

Vista Social’s scalable pricing provides enterprise-level social media tools to all agencies, businesses, and individual users.

Our pay-per-profile pricing model ensures you don’t overspend on your social media management budget. Just spend $3 per social profile you manage and manage unlimited posts with unlimited users. 

All features are available to paid users. 

Ready to give your content workflow and posts a major upgrade? Try AI Assistant powered by ChatGPT today! 🤖💙

Key features comparison

Social media management tools

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Vista Social: 

Publishing and scheduling

Hootsuite

Hootsuite features a straightforward post editing and scheduling interface. 

Select the ‘Create’ menu from the dashboard and select if you want to publish a regular post, Pinterest pin, or Instagram story. 

How to schedule a post on Hootsuite: 

• Step 1: In the “Publish to” drop-down menu, select the social accounts you want to use. 
• Step 2: Write your message and insert links in the “Content” field below. 
• Step 3: Upload attachments or import content from Canva or your media library.
• Step 4: Click ‘Schedule for later’ to specify a posting time for your content (click ‘See recommended times’ to reveal the best times to post based on previous content performance). 

Hootsuite also generates hashtag suggestions to help improve your post’s searchability. To ensure content quality, use the Grammarly integration to automatically scan your post for spelling and grammatical errors.

Sprout Social

On Sprout Social, the post editor can be fired up from anywhere through the right menu. 

Just click ‘Compose’ (blue button in the upper-right) to get started.

How to schedule a post on Sprout Social: 

• Step 1: Select the social media accounts you want to publish to. 
• Step 2: Create the post’s caption in the main editor. 
• Step 3: Select labels and the campaign you’re running for tracking purposes (Optional). 
• Step 4: Add attachments from your device or connected services like Canva, Dropbox, and Google Drive. 
• Step 5: Pick a publishing time in the “When to post” drop-down menu (click ‘Use Optimal Times’ to reveal Sprout Social’s posting time suggestions).

Sprout Social has a dedicated hashtag analytics tool, but it doesn’t provide hashtag recommendations through the post editor. 

On the flip side, it offers other features that can help your team’s efficiency and the post’s reach potential. Use emojis, tag a location, insert product links, and choose an approval workflow in the same location.

Vista Social

On Vista Social, you can use the “Quick Add” tool to create and schedule a single social media post. However, clicking ‘Publish’ from the main menu will give you more options. 

How to schedule a post on Vista Social: 

• Step 1: Choose the social media channels you want to use in the left panel. 
• Step 2: Write your content under “Your post.”
• Step 3: Select labels to organize and track your social media posts (optional). 
• Step 4: Import attachments from your device, media library, Canva, Vista Create, or the “Discover” tool (you can also import assets via URL).
• Step 5: Choose “Add to queue” if you have an automated posting schedule or “Schedule” to specify a time and date (Click ‘Show optimal times’ for posting time suggestions.

Vista Social’s post editor looks minimalistic on the outside, but it packs a lot of punch on the inside. 

Use recommended hashtags, tag users, customize fonts, and import assets from third-party sources. Edit photos via the built-in tool or Canva integration. 

For videos, use the Vista Create integration for templates, animated assets, music, and more. You can also trim videos to the ideal TikTok, Facebook reels, or Instagram reels length.

Vista Social also provides additional settings for major social networks, including (but not limited to) Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. 

For example, TikTok posts have toggle switches for comments, “Duets,” and “Stitches.” For Instagram posts, you can disable comments or use location tagging. 

Vista Social also allows you to automate up to five comments on scheduled posts. This is helpful for inserting viral hashtags for Instagram, asking questions, or encouraging conversation. 

Content sourcing

Hootsuite 

Hootsuite’s post editor lets you import content from Pixabay, GIPHY, Adobe Stock, and a handful of other third-party sources. 

Click the ‘Media Library’ button and pick a source from the drop-down menu.

Hootsuite also lets you create custom feeds or “streams” for content discovery. Track social media conversations with specific hashtags, usernames, and other keywords.

Sprout Social 

Content sourcing on Sprout Social revolves around the platform’s social media listening tool. 

On the “Listening” page, click ‘New Topic’ to fire up the “Query Builder” feature. This monitors different social networks for relevant posts, comments, mentions, articles, reels, and more. 

To use the Query Builder, enter the keywords you want to include or exclude in the content discovery process. 

Additional options include:

• Content themes for specific topics or content categories
• Sentiment keywords
• Language
• Location
• Website

Vista Social

From Instagram reels hashtags to blog RSS feeds, sourcing content with Vista Social can be done in three ways. 

First, the “Bulk Publisher” tool lets you import content from six different sources: 

• CSV file
• Blog RSS feed
• News site blogroll
• Instagram hashtag search results
• Instagram user feed
• Media library options (asset library, Pexels, hashtags, and users)

The “Find Content” tool also lets you source content from news sites, hashtags, and Instagram usernames. You may also import images and videos from Unsplash, Pexels, and GIPHY.

Lastly, use the “Smart Publishing” feature to automate content curation from trending news and blog RSS feeds. 

Define a country, topic category, publishing time, and post frequency before configuring network-specific options. 

Must-read: How to Repost a Reel on Instagram

Social media marketing analytics

Hootsuite

Hootsuite Analytics consolidates post performance across social media channels into one dashboard.

Track user engagement, compare results, and export data into various report formats. Some examples are Excel, PDF, and CSV. 

Hootsuite also lets you export analytics data into PowerPoint presentations—ready to be shared with clients. 

Sprout Social 

Sprout Social offers different report templates for key data groups, such as:

• Post performance
• Profile performance
• Paid campaign performance
• Trends
• Inbox activity 

Sprout Social also lets you build custom reports via the visual editor. Customize your report from top to bottom by inserting data widgets (user demographics, top posts, engagement levels, etc.) and adding descriptions. 

Vista Social

Vista Social generates five, clear-cut reports for specific purposes: 

• Social media performance. Measure your client’s social media performance across all connected accounts.
• Post performance. Analyze the performance of content scheduled and published through Vista Social. 
• Review performance. Track user reviews and responses made about your client. 
• Tasks performance. Evaluate your team’s efficiency and productivity. 
• Competitor analysis. Compare your client’s social media presence with their competitors.

For custom reports, use the “Report Builder” tool.

Simply select the data sections you want to show or hide and specify the channels you want to include.

If you want reports sent straight to your email inbox, Vista Social lets you schedule reports on a specific timeframe. 

Reports can be sent to multiple recipients, including team members and clients via email. 

Supported social media platforms

Hootsuite 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Sprout Social

• Facebook 
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• TikTok

Vista Social

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Reddit
• TikTok
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• Google Business
• Bitly
• Trustpilot
• Yelp
• TripAdvisor
• OpenTable

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social vs Vista Social: pricing plans

Before we conclude this comparison, let’s look at how much Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Vista Social cost. 

Looking for a free version?

Both Vista Social and Hootsuite offer a free version that can be used indefinitely. However, Hootsuite’s free version comes with drastic limitations. 

For instance, Vista Social’s free plan lets you schedule up to 15 posts per month, whereas Hootsuite only allows five posts. 

Sprout Social currently doesn’t have a free plan, but it does offer a free 30-day trial. 

Managing 20 social media profiles?

Both Hootsuite and Sprout Social charge a fortune for their social media management features. 

With Hootsuite, managing 20 profiles will cost you $249 per month (for three users). With Sprout Social, you’ll need the “Professional” plan, which costs $399 per month for unlimited profiles (additional users cost $299 each). 

With Vista Social, managing 20 profiles only costs $60 per month—that’s $3 per profile flat. 

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Upgrade to the best SMM platform today

Upgrading to a better social media platform often means you pay more.

That’s not the case when you upgrade to Vista Social. 

With our platform, you not only save thousands of dollars annually, but you can easily streamline and improve your social media management workflows, allowing you to manage more client profiles.

Get started by creating your free Vista Social account today.