Hootsuite review: $99 a month is the entry price, and there is no monthly billing
Hootsuite Standard starts at $99 per user a month, annual commitment only, with no free plan. Whether the established name justifies the price against far cheaper alternatives.
Verdict
Hootsuite starts at $99 per user a month with annual commitment and no monthly option. It is the most expensive way for a small business to schedule social posts, and there is no free plan.
Hootsuite at a glance
- Starting price
- $99/user/mo
- Free plan
- No
- Prices checked
- August 13, 2026
Pros and cons
What works
- A 30-day free trial, which is unusually long and enough to genuinely test it before any commitment
- Established platform with wide social network support and a mature analytics offering
- Advanced tier includes bulk scheduling of up to 350 posts, approval workflows, and competitor benchmarking
- Nonprofit discounts are available, which materially changes the value for eligible organisations
What does not
- The entry price of $99 per user per month is far above what most small businesses need to spend on scheduling
- No monthly billing option on Standard; annual commitment is required from the start
- No free plan at all, unlike Buffer and several competitors that offer usable free tiers
- Sources disagree on whether Standard covers 5 or 10 social accounts, and whether a $199 Professional tier exists, so confirm what you are buying
The price is the headline#
$99
Per user per month, annual commitment, entry tier
There is no monthly billing option on Standard and no free plan. This is the minimum cost of using Hootsuite.
For a small business whose social media need is "post to three channels a few times a week," that figure is difficult to justify. Hootsuite's pricing is built for marketing teams and agencies, and it has not been repositioned for the small end of the market.
What you are actually paying for#
Hootsuite's case rests on breadth rather than scheduling itself: wide network support, mature analytics, competitor benchmarking, and approval workflows for teams where posts need sign-off before going out.
Published details do not agree#
| Question | What sources say |
|---|---|
| Standard price | $99/user/mo (consistent) |
| Monthly billing on Standard | Not available (consistent) |
| Social accounts on Standard | 5 or 10, depending on source |
| Is there a Professional tier? | Some list $199, others do not |
| Advanced price | $399/mo (consistent) |
Before signing an annual contract, get the account limit for your specific quote in writing. The difference between 5 and 10 accounts is significant at this price.
The honest recommendation#
Hootsuite is a capable platform that is priced for a customer that is not a small business. The 30-day trial is genuinely long enough to evaluate it properly, and the right way to use it is to trial it and then ask whether the analytics and workflow features justify roughly ten times what basic scheduling costs elsewhere.
For most small businesses on this site's readership, the answer will be no.
Hootsuite pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99per user / month, billed annually only | Social scheduling, publishing, and analytics across a limited number of social accounts (reported as 5 to 10 depending on source) | A business already committed to Hootsuite as a platform |
| Advanced | $399per month | Unlimited social accounts, bulk scheduling up to 350 posts, customisable analytics reports, team approval workflows, competitor benchmarking, custom permissions | Agencies managing many accounts with approval processes |
| Enterprise | Customcontact sales | Custom limits, advanced governance, dedicated support | Large organisations with compliance requirements |
Prices in US dollars, checked on August 13, 2026. Vendors change pricing without notice.
Who Hootsuite is for
Buy it if
- You manage many social accounts across a team and need approval workflows, which is what the Advanced tier is genuinely built for
- You need mature analytics and competitor benchmarking rather than just a scheduling queue
- You qualify for the nonprofit discount, which changes the value calculation substantially
Skip it if
- You are a small business that mainly needs to queue posts; $99 a month is roughly ten times what that costs elsewhere
- You want to pay monthly while evaluating, which Standard does not allow
- You want a free tier to start with, which Hootsuite does not offer at all
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Hootsuite cost?
- Standard is $99 per user per month, billed annually with no monthly option. Advanced is $399 a month. Enterprise is custom priced. There is no free plan, though a 30-day free trial is available.
- Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
- No. Hootsuite discontinued its free tier. It offers a 30-day free trial, which is longer than most, but after that the minimum commitment is $99 per user per month on an annual contract.
- How many social accounts does the Standard plan include?
- Sources disagree, reporting either 5 or 10 accounts per user. Some also reference a Professional tier around $199 that other sources do not list. Confirm the exact account limit for your quote directly with Hootsuite before committing to an annual contract.
- Is Hootsuite worth it for a small business?
- Usually not. At $99 per user per month with annual commitment, it is priced for agencies and larger marketing teams. A small business that needs to schedule posts across a few accounts can do so for a fraction of that, or free, with several alternatives.
Written by
Nizam Uddin
Founder and pricing researcher
Nizam started Tested AI after noticing how often published software prices are simply wrong. Most articles copy a vendor's pricing page once and never look again. He checks every figure against the vendor's own page, cross-references independent trackers, and states plainly when they disagree rather than picking whichever number reads best. He does not claim to have run these tools in production, and the reviews say so at the top of every page.
- Checks every price against the vendor page
- Reports source conflicts instead of hiding them
- No vendor has paid for placement