Hootsuite Review 2025: Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons
TL;DR - Quick Answer
12 min readTips you can use today. What works and what doesn't.
Hootsuite: Pioneered social media management. Still relevant in 2025?
At $99/month with no free plan, you need to know what you're actually getting.
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Best for: Mid-size to enterprise organizations needing social listening and AI content assistance.
Not for: Small businesses, solopreneurs, budget-conscious teams.
Pricing Breakdown
2025 Plans
Annual Costs
- Solo user: $1,188/year
- 3-person team: $2,988/year
- Enterprise: $6,000-20,000+/year
Hidden Costs
- No free plan (eliminated 2023)
- Per-user pricing scales fast
- Advanced features locked to Enterprise
- 2-3 weeks learning curve
🤔 Quick Knowledge Check
A team of 3 people needs 15 social accounts. What's the cheapest Hootsuite option?
Core Features
Publishing & Scheduling
What works:
- Multi-platform support (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube)
- Visual content calendar
- Bulk scheduling (upload spreadsheets)
- Best Time to Publish suggestions
What doesn't:
- Interface feels dated
- Calendar can get cluttered with many accounts
Verdict: Solid but not special. Similar scheduling available for $20-50/month elsewhere.
OwlyWriter AI
What it does:
- Generates caption drafts
- Suggests hashtags
- Adjusts tone
- Creates variations
Reality check: Usable first drafts that need editing. Not as advanced as dedicated AI tools.
Verdict: Helpful but not a differentiator. Many competitors offer similar or better AI cheaper.
🤔 Quick Knowledge Check
Which statement about Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI is accurate?
Social Listening (Hootsuite's Strength)
What you get:
- Brand mention monitoring
- Keyword tracking
- Competitor tracking
- Trend spotting
- Sentiment analysis (Enterprise)
Verdict: Hootsuite's genuine competitive advantage. If brand monitoring is critical, Hootsuite delivers.
Analytics & Reporting
What's included:
- Post performance metrics
- Audience growth tracking
- Custom reports
- Competitive benchmarking
Quality: Comprehensive. Reports are polished enough for executive presentations.
Inbox Management
Features:
- Unified inbox across platforms
- Message routing and assignment
- Response templates
- Tags and filters
Reality: Functional but cluttered. Sprout Social's Smart Inbox is more polished.
Pros and Cons
What Hootsuite Does Well
Where Hootsuite Falls Short
🤔 Quick Knowledge Check
What's Hootsuite's main competitive advantage over cheaper alternatives?
Who Should Use Hootsuite?
Right For
- Mid-size companies (10+ social accounts)
- Teams needing social listening
- Organizations with compliance requirements
- Enterprises with dedicated social staff
- Agencies with budget for premium tools
Wrong For
- Solopreneurs and freelancers
- Small businesses on a budget
- Teams only needing basic scheduling
- Users wanting simple, intuitive tools
- Visual-first Instagram marketers
Hootsuite vs Competitors
🤔 Quick Knowledge Check
You're a solopreneur managing 5 accounts. Best tool for you?
Is Hootsuite Worth It?
For enterprises: Maybe. If you need social listening and compliance, Hootsuite delivers. But Sprout Social often wins at enterprise level.
For small teams: No. You're paying premium for features you don't need. Better options at $30-50/month.
For solopreneurs: Definitely not. $99/month for one user is overpriced. Buffer (free) or SocialRails ($29) are smarter choices.
Better Alternatives
Try SocialRails free →Quick Answers
Is Hootsuite free? No. Free plan eliminated in 2023. Starts at $99/month.
Is Hootsuite worth the money? For enterprises needing social listening, maybe. For small businesses, usually not.
What's the cheapest plan? Professional at $99/month (1 user, 10 accounts).
Does Hootsuite have AI? Yes. OwlyWriter AI generates captions and suggestions.
How does it compare to Buffer? Buffer is simpler and cheaper. Hootsuite has more features at higher cost.
Final Verdict
Rating: 3.4/5
Hootsuite is capable but showing its age. Social listening is genuinely valuable, and OwlyWriter helps with content. But the cluttered interface, high pricing, and lost free plan push many users toward alternatives.
Recommendation: Try the 30-day free trial if you need social listening. For most users, alternatives deliver 80% of the value at 30% of the price.
Create content, post everywhere
Let AI do the work. Ideas, posts, images, carousels. Scheduled in seconds.
Start your free trialRelated
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