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There are plenty of alternative social media management tools out there, many of which are on par with — and some a bit better than — Hootsuite. Here are some of the best options.

Hootsuite is a pretty powerful social media management tool. But its $99 per month starting price puts it out of reach for a lot of creators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses — and that's before you even get to the plan most people actually need.

Hootsuite's free plan was discontinued on March 31, 2023 — so there's no way to get Hootsuite for free beyond the 30-day trial. When the free plan was axed (RIP), existing users were nudged toward the $199 per month Standard plan — billed annually, which means a lump sum of $2,388 upfront.

Some customers chose to upgrade to keep their access to the social media scheduling tool. But for a lot of creators and small teams, $199 a month is a real stretch — especially when you're already juggling a stack of tools just to keep your content running.

An extra $2,388 a year has to earn its place in the budget.

The good news: you have options. There are plenty of solid social media management tools out there, and a few of them do things Hootsuite doesn't — often at a fraction of the price (sometimes free).

Not sure if you should make the leap? Here are a few common reasons creators and small teams start exploring other platforms:

• Budget — the monthly fees add up fast, especially when you're paying annually
• Analytics — wanting something deeper, clearer, or just easier to actually read
• Workflow — simpler scheduling, approvals, or engagement tools that don't require a learning curve
• Interface — a calmer, less cluttered dashboard that keeps the focus on creating

If any of those hit close to home, the alternatives below are worth a look.

1. Buffer

Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $6 per channel per month.

At Buffer, we are really into transparency — we have a whole transparency hub dedicated to sharing every company metric (even our salaries).

Full transparency: I work at Buffer, so I'm not exactly neutral here. But I've worked as a social media manager and creator for more than a decade, long before starting at Buffer.

I've tried a lot of social media tools over the years. But I keep coming back to Buffer because it offers the best value for what you actually need — powerful features without the overwhelming price tag.

The free plan includes some genuinely useful features:

• Schedule content for up to three channels: Buffer's free plan lets you publish and schedule up to 30 posts (10 per channel), which is significantly more than most other free plans. You'll also be able to choose from a broad range of differ