Sprout Social vs Later 2025: Which Tool Should You Pick?

Later: Cheap, visual Instagram planner ($25/month). See Later Pricing 2025 for details. Sprout Social: Enterprise analytics and listening ($249/month).

Here's how to choose.

30-Second Answer

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Pricing Breakdown

Sprout Social

3-person team = $747/month

Later

3-person team = $45/month

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Cost by Team Size

Sprout costs 10-20x more than Later.

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Where Each Tool Wins

Later Wins: Visual Planning

Later was built for Instagram aesthetics.

What you get:

• Visual grid preview before posting
• Drag-and-drop feed planner
• Color palette suggestions
• Stories preview
• Linkin.bio landing pages

Sprout has a basic calendar. No grid preview.

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Sprout Social Wins: Social Listening

Sprout monitors what people say about your brand.

What you get:

• Brand mention tracking
• Sentiment analysis
• Competitor monitoring
• Crisis alerts
• Trend spotting

Later doesn't do any of this.

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Sprout Social Wins: Analytics

Sprout offers:

• Cross-platform dashboards
• Competitive benchmarks
• Team performance metrics
• ROI tracking
• Custom executive reports

Later offers:

• Basic post analytics
• Best times to post
• Growth tracking

For enterprise reporting, Sprout wins.

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Later Wins: Link in Bio

Sprout doesn't offer link in bio tools.

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Feature Comparison

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Who Should Pick What

Choose Later if you:

• Focus on Instagram/visual content
• Want affordable pricing
• Need grid preview planning
• Use link in bio features
• Are solo or small team
• Prioritize simplicity

Choose Sprout Social if you:

• Have $249+/user budget
• Need social listening
• Handle customer service on social
• Run enterprise operations
• Need detailed analytics

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What Both Miss

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Better Alternative

Want affordability AND AI content?

Try SocialRails free →

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Quick Answers

Is Later cheaper? Yes. Later starts free. Sprout starts at $249/month.

Which is better for Instagram? Later. Built for visual planning with grid preview.

Does Later have social listening? No. That's Sprout's strength.

Can Later replace Sprout? For scheduling, yes. For enterprise features, no.

Which is easier? Later. Simpler interface, faster to learn.

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Bottom Line

Sprout Social: Enterprise tool with listening and analytics. 10x the cost of Later.

Later: Visual Instagram planner. Affordable but no enterprise features.

Best of both: SocialRails at $29/month with AI content.

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Related

Sprout Social:

• Sprout Social Review
• Sprout Social Pricing
• Sprout Social Alternatives
• Cheaper Than Sprout Social

Later:

• Later Review
• Later Alternatives
• Cheaper Than Later

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• Hootsuite vs Sprout Social
• Loomly vs Sprout Social
• Buffer Alternatives
• Loomly Alternatives