Can’t you decide between Hootsuite and Buffer to manage your social media? Get ready for the showdown between the two platforms! Both platforms bring unique abilities, but there’s more to the story.
But before you pick, consider what truly fits your business needs: advanced features, ease of use, or pricing. And don’t miss out on how SocialPilot results in a more cost-effective, easy-to-use, and feature-packed tool that could change your social media management!
Quick Summary: Hootsuite Vs. Buffer
While choosing the right tool for your social media management, knowing how the shortlisted tool performs in high-level capabilities side-by-side makes the decision process more straightforward.
In the table below, we have compared Hootsuite and Buffer to give you an inside look at their abilities and compared SocialPilot to help you choose the right platform with the best of both.
 Hootsuite |
 Buffer |
 SocialPilot |
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| Number of Reviews | 4591 | 1006 | 814 |
| Overall Star Rating | |||
| Ease of Use | |||
| Quality of Support | |||
| Ease of Setup | |||
| Minimum Pricing | $99/Month | $6/Month | $30/Month |
| Number of Social Accounts | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Number of Team Members | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Scheduling & Publishing |
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| Analytics |
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| Social Inbox |
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| Collaboration |
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| Whitelabel |
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| Best For | Professionals, Brands, Big Businesses, and Enterprises. | Professionals and SMBs | Marketing Agencies, SMBs, Multi-Location Brands & Professionals |
| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
While Hootsuite’s pricing and abilities make it a powerful option for larger businesses and enterprises, Buffer is ideal for small teams and professionals as it offers low-cost pricing. Both platforms have similar user feedback; however, SocialPilot shines with better ratings among all.
SocialPilot stands strong as a balanced option among tools that offer excellent ease of setup and support. It is a great choice for businesses needing to manage multiple social media accounts at an affordable price without compromising quality.
Hootsuite Overview
Hootsuite has been the OG of the social media landscape, serving as a complete marketing tool. It is a dynamic platform with various features any brand or enterprise users may need to streamline social media activities.
If you are looking for a tool to eliminate the hassle of managing multiple accounts, groups, and pages, Hootsuite can help. Its integrated core functionalities on a single dashboard make content planning and publishing a breeze.
With this all-in-one dashboard, Hootsuite offers planning, scheduling, publishing, engagement, collaboration, calendar, and more Streams in one place. Additional functionalities like employee advocacy, review management, and social listening let you harness the power of the community.
Keziah S.
I like that Hootsuite allows you to schedule a post on multiple platforms together in one spot. Other platforms, like meta, make you go into each individual platform and schedule a post, which takes longer to post on all platforms. Hootsuite also allows you to schedule posts in advance so you can schedule everything and walk away from it.
Buffer Overview
Buffer has long been the underdog among social media management tools. It is known for its low-cost plans and user-friendly interface, which make management faster and better.
Buffer is a multi-purpose tool with highly beneficial features for solopreneurs and small businesses. From content scheduling and analytics to streamlining collaboration and social media calendar, Buffer is helping teams function smoothly together daily.
It lets you plan, schedule, and publish social media posts to all major social media channels from a single dashboard without visiting the native social media platforms. Buffer is a good choice for its simplicity, affordability, and effectiveness in scheduling, publishing, and analytics.
Victory J.
With Buffer, content scheduling to various social media platforms from a single dashboard is seamless and possible. The user interface is also great.
If you are looking for an effective tool that offers Hootsuite scalability, Buffer simplicity, and even more features, SocialPilot is the answer.
SocialPilot allows you to manage multiple social media accounts effortlessly, bulk scheduling, intuitive calendar, direct publishing, AI assistant, unified inbox, smooth collaboration, and more for social media managers, marketing agencies, and small businesses without the hefty pricing of Hootsuite and the limitations of Buffer. A tool that can refine your workflow without making you compromise on price or functionality.
Megan H.
It’s the most upfront pricing of any platform, fit exactly what I need and is really affordable. Blows competition out of the water in that sense! I use it to manage around 120 different location pages for a large retailer and am able to group them by franchise group so it is super organized in that way. It was really easy to set up groups and get all my pages connected. Customer support is SO fast to respond whenever I need specific help on something. I use this platform nearly every work day.
Hootsuite Vs. Buffer: Head-to-Head Feature Comparison
Scheduling and Publishing
Regarding scheduling and publishing abilities, Hootsuite has the upper hand. It is known for its advanced functionalities, bulk scheduling, and features that improve scheduling, including the best time to post indication. While Buffer is more straightforward, it can be better for easy-to-use limited scheduling.
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Hootsuite |
Buffer |
SocialPilot |
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| Smart & Advanced Queueing |
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| Customize Post for Each Platform |
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| Post Preview |
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| Canva Integration |
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| Unsplash Integration |
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| Slack Integration |
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| URL Shortener |
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| Visual Post Support (Image, Video, GIF) |
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| UTM Parameters |
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| Cloud Storage |
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| Hashtag Suggestions |
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| Advance Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Save Draft Posts |
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| AI Assistant |
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| Watermark on Images |
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| Bulk Scheduling |
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| Auto publishing from RSS |
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| Social media calendar |
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| Mobile App |
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| Browser Extension |
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| Advance Facebook Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Reel Scheduling |
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| Support Album Posts |
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| Support Carousel Posts |
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| Alternate Text on Image |
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| Support Facebook First Comment |
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| Audience Targeting |
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| Boost Post Scheduling |
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| Support Mention and Hashtags |
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| Advance Twitter Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Location Tagging |
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| Support Mention and Hashtags |
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| Support Multiple Image Posts |
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| Threads Scheduling |
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| Advance Instagram Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Reel Scheduling |
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| Story Scheduling |
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| Tag Profiles on Images |
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| Location Tagging |
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| Support Instagram First Comment |
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| Instagram Grid |
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| Advance LinkedIn Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Audience Targeting |
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| Support LinkedIn First Comment |
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| Advance YouTube Publishing Capabilities | |||
| Shorts Scheduling |
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| Mention of Other YouTube Accounts |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial | |
Based on our comparison of Hootsuite’s advanced and basic capabilities vs. Buffer’s, Hootsuite became the most feature-packed platform for all social media channels. It supports accurate scheduling, Facebook carousel posts, and even targeting audiences on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Buffer is incredibly user-friendly, but it focuses on scalability, which is a concern for growing teams as it is more suitable for small businesses with features like Instagram grid view and simpler workflow management. Hootsuite has advanced features like suto-publishing from RSS feeds and is a more powerful tool for handling large-scale campaigns.
After comparing Hootsuite vs Buffer, we tested SocialPilot, a tool that does justice to Hootsuite’s complexity and Buffer’s basicness. It combines features like Reel scheduling, bulk scheduling, the best time to post indication, and audience targeting, which puts it ahead of Buffer, and its cost-effectiveness puts it ahead of Hootsuite.
If you are looking for a tool that incorporates Hootsuite’s advanced features at Buffer’s low price, SocialPilot can be a better compromise for businesses that need flexibility and scalability.
Verified User in Entertainment
SocialPilot provides a wide range of features for an affordable price point, which was key for us when selecting a social media management platform. It is intuitive to navigate so implementing it and training new staff on it has been a breeze. I really appreciate the number of platforms that can be integrated into your account and the ability to schedule a large number of post. Batch scheduling and duplication is also particularly nice and easy to use. I also really appreciate the ability to manage your inboxes within the software. It really eliminates the need to have all the accounts on your phone
Social Media Analytics & Reporting
When comparing Hootsuite with Buffer for analytics and reporting abilities, Hootsuite stands out for better scalability and more advanced capabilities. With engagement metrics, custom reporting, multi-account management, and the ability to auto-schedule reports with client and team management.
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Hootsuite |
Buffer |
SocialPilot |
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| Whitelabel Downloadable Report in PDF Format |
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| Email PDF Report to Client |
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| Auto Schedule Report with Team and Client |
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| Custom Report Builder |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
Meanwhile, Buffer offers comprehensive metrics and custom report-building. However, it needs features like auto-schedule reports and email delivery, making it less ideal for large and complex operations.
When comparing Hootsuite and Buffer, Hootsuite won the race while still confusing users with its complexity and cost. SocialPilot steps in as a strong contender by offering all the advanced features Hootsuite possesses but at a more affordable price point. With the same standard of abilities, SocialPilot provides everything a growing agency or business would need.
SocialPilot is a more intelligent choice for teams needing advanced analytics and reporting without breaking the bank. It is an alternative to Hootsuite or Buffer because of its flexibility, ease of use, and scalability.
Social Media Engagement
When we experienced both social media tools for their engagement abilities, we established that Hootsuite shines with its comprehensive ability to reply and respond to all sorts of social media inboxes. Still, it also comes at an alarming price.
Buffer, however, needs to catch up in this area due to its limited engagement abilities and lack of response to customer queries on social media. So, in comparison to Buffer, Hootsuite fits better.
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Hootsuite |
Buffer |
SocialPilot |
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| Can Reply Message |
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| Can Reply Questions and Reviews |
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| Can Reply on Visitor Posts |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
Both of these tools lack all the necessary engagement features, as Hootsuite cannot reply to visitors’ posts and AI-generated replies.
SocialPilot, in this category, offers the best of both worlds. It matches Hootsuite’s advanced engagement features and is as low-cost as Buffer. For teams managing multiple social media accounts, SocialPilot is a powerhouse offering all the engagement features you need without the complexity of Hootsuite’s price.
Jenna D.
It took me a solid 3 weeks to compare and contrast every single social media scheduling tool on the market, but I’m glad I did it! SocialPilot was BY FAR the best service for the best price. I get more from SocialPilot than I do from HootSuite or Buffer at a fraction of the cost… AND their customer support is unbeatable! Thanks for all you guys do! You’ve helped me and my business more than you’ll ever know!
Social Media Collaboration
When it comes to collaboration, Hootsuite has all the necessary tools; however, Buffer’s capabilities are also sufficient for social media managers, small teams, and agencies. For features like per-post multi-user collaboration, Hootsuite falls short of Buffer, which excels, giving a seamless experience for teams working together on content.
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Hootsuite |
Buffer |
SocialPilot |
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| Free Unlimited Client Onboarding |
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| Per Post Multi-User Collaboration |
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| Access Management |
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| Content Approval Workflow |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
If you look at the Buffer vs. Hoosuite comparison, Hootsuite has more abilities; however, from our experience, Buffer leaves a stronger impact. It might have fewer features, but what it has with its pricing is truly valuable.
Both Hootsuite and Buffer lack certain features, and SocialPilot bridges the gap. This makes it a more flexible option, especially for agencies or growing teams that need advanced collaboration without the enterprise-level cost of Hootsuite. SocialPilot can be better for teams that need efficiency and client management.
Pricing Comparison
The most important aspect of picking the right social media management tool is ensuring it fits your budget. Here is a better look at Buffer vs. Hootsuite’s pricing structure to identify which offers a more cost-effective solution.
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Hootsuite |
Buffer |
SocialPilot |
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Professional
$99/per month
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Free
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Professional
$30/per month
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Small Team
$249/per month
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Essential
$6/per channel
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Small Team
$50/per month
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Enterprise
Custom
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Team
$12/per channel
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Agency
$100/per month
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Agency
$120/per channel
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Agency+
$200/per month
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30 Days Free Trial
Credit Card Required
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14 Days Free Trial
No Credit Card Required
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14 Days Free Trial
No Credit Card Required
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| Learn More | Learn More | Start Your free Trial |
In our view, Buffer’s pricing is easy to achieve: it starts at $6/month for one channel, which is more feasible for small teams and agencies, compared to Hootsuite, which starts at $149/month for a simple ten social channels and a single user.
In addition, Buffer has another advantage over Hootsuite: Its all-time free plan supports three channels and a few limited features, while Hootsuite does not offer a free plan for its users.
Hootsuite has a separate tailored plan for enterprise-level necessities that can be customized according to business needs. However, Buffer only has an agency plan that costs $120/month. Both platforms have free trial plans that help users understand which is more suitable for their needs.
If Hootsuite’s high pricing and Buffer’s lack of features are not your cup of tea, you should consider a better social media tool like SocialPilot that stands out as the most balanced option in pricing ad features.
It starts at $30/month for the professional plan and $50/month for small teams. It contains several of Hootsuite’s advanced features, like multi-account management content approval workflow, and supports major social media channels at a fraction of its pricing.
SocialPilot has a dedicated plan for every business type and their needs. The agency plan costs $100/month and suits teams and marketing agencies. The agency+ plan, at $200/month, is more suitable for big brands, enterprises, and teams.
You can start by taking a 14-day free trial.
Jenna D.
It took me a solid 3 weeks to compare and contrast every single social media scheduling tool on the market, but I’m glad I did it! SocialPilot was BY FAR the best service for the best price. I get more from SocialPilot than I do from HootSuite or Buffer at a fraction of the cost… AND their customer support is unbeatable! Thanks for all you guys do! You’ve helped me and my business more than you’ll ever know!
Customer Support
The final aspect of our comparison is support and response. Both the platforms, Hootsuite and Buffer, have impressive customer support, but Buffer lacks live chat support and a dedicated account manager to smooth out the initial use process.
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Hootsuite |
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SocialPilot |
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| Live Chat Support |
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| Email Support |
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| Training |
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| Setup Support |
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| Dedicated Account Manager |
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| Learn More | Learn More | 14 Days Trial |
Having faster, better, and more dedicated support is the quality of good social media management tools. While Buffer is simple and affordable, it has several hidden charges and lacks live chat support, which is vital for users from different time zones.
SocialPilot understands all the needs of its users. It offers a well-rounded customer support experience for its users and cost-effective pricing plans, something neither Buffer or Hootsuite fulfills. Along with live chat support, you can also leverage email and setup support as a beginner.
Unlike Hootsuite, you don’t have to pay enterprise-level prices to get priority support. SocialPilot also offers dedicated account managers for agency plans.
This way, it provides the best of both worlds: affordability, like Buffer, premium support, and features like Hootsuite.
Verified User in Marketing and Advertising
Price is competitive, and much more cost-effective than the bigger platforms. It’s easy to use and support is responsive. Calendar is user-friendly. Easy to pull off analytics and reports.
Final Verdict
Choosing between Hootsuite and Buffer for social media management depends on your business needs. Hootsuite offers a robust set of advanced features perfect for larger enterprises, but it has a higher price tag and hidden charges. On the other hand, Buffer is more affordable and user-friendly, making it ideal for smaller teams or individuals. However, it offers limited scalability for users as their businesses expand with social media growth.
However, SocialPilot strikes the perfect balance by offering the advanced features of Hootsuite at a much more accessible price point like Buffer, making it the most cost-effective and flexible option. But still, the choice is yours, and you had better pick the tool that offers you the most value for your money with features important for your business.
