Hubspot vs Sprout Social: Which I Prefer, When

Last Updated on January 6, 2025 by Ewen Finser

If you are trying to figure out if you need Sprout Social or Hubspot for our business, this comparison is for you.

I’ve used both platforms on and off for the last 10 years. They are excellent for specific things, but I actually think there’s some very clear reasons to go with one over the other here.

In this article I’ll walk through some of the key differences to be aware of, the top features I really like, some other alternatives to consider, and my final recommendation about WHO should go with either platform (and why).

Sound good?

Ok, let’s jump right in.

The Main Differences Between Hubspot and Sprout Social

To set the stage properly, I immediately want to cover off some of the essential distinctions between these to platforms to help but the decision point into context for you.

• Hubspot is a more comprehensive business marketing suite (think: Salesforce) that also includes social media tools, whereas Sprout Social is specifically targeted towards social media tools and marketing.
• Partly because of this, Hubspot is generally considerably more expensive (e.g. Market Hub Professional includes 3 seats and starts at $800/month), while Sprout Social starts at $199 per seat, per month.
• Hubspot offers more robust CRM tie-ins for businesses leveraging social media marketing for specific sales objectives.
• Sprout Social has a more user friendly unified social media inbox compared to Hubspot’s more limited via.
• Sprout Social also has deeper and more useful social media analytics, including customizable attributes, compared to Hubspot.
• Sprout Social has more focused research tools built-in around the social media use case compared to Hubspot.
• Sprout Social has a more robust post bulk scheduling and social media automation, whereas Hubspot is more manual in nature.
• Sprout Social supports TikTok and Google Business profiles, whereas Hubspot does not within their social media tools.

Features I Like About Hubspot

These are some of my favorite parts about Hubspot:

• Unified Operating System: One of the primary reasons I like Hubspot is that it’s really an all in one marketing operations suite. Once you are familiar with how it works, there’s not too much additional learning curve. Depending on your current pricing package, you may also already have access to the social media management features.

• Excellent CRM Focus: Hubspot famously has a completely FREE CRM as an entry point, and for good reason. I think it’s their best product. As such, there’s some logic to tying in social media marketing directly into Hubspot IF the CRM function is already core to your business (that said, Sprout Social also does have a direct Hubspot CRM integration).
• Strong Email Marketing: A closer runner up to their CRM is their email marketing system. If email marketing and social are your two top strategies (or closely dependent), I’d take a close look at Hubspot.
• Helpful Landing Pages: If you are looking to easily build custom landing pages from your social profiles, Hubspot makes it incredibly easy with their page builder. This also means you do not have to worry about integrations and data fidelity, as the data flows naturally between the modules.

Features I Like About Sprout Social

Here’s what I particularly like about Sprout Social as a platform:

• Dedicated to Social Media: This is an obvious, and overarching element that shades pretty much the entire discussion for me. Whereas Hubspot adds in “me too” social tools, Sprout Social is laser focused on delivering valuable tools, interfaces, and experiences for social media teams. This shines in so many ways that it’s hard to quantify precisely… but even the smallest thing like a well laid out UX (for social) can lead to incremental efficiency gains over time, specifically for social teams.
• Straightforward (if pricey): It still feels like a premium product, but the pricing plan is much easier to comprehend with Sprout Social. With Hubspot, social sits in the “Marketing Hub”, but this really needs to be unpacked. Not all of the features are relevant for social and may actually be redundant in your organization. Sprout Social is pricey, but it clearly articulates (and delivers) on a premium social package.

• Outstanding Social Listening: I honestly was blown away but the level and customization available for social listening campaigns. You can use their query builder to set the exact parameters to watch for across multiple (or specific) networks.

• Data, Data, Data: The reporting suite is also a best in class experience, with some excellent pre-configured displays, but plenty of customization should you need it. I found this ideal for interfacing with clients and internal C-suite or stakeholders, with simple click and download / share options.

• Smart Inbox: I love a good unified social inbox, and Sprout Social executes on this well. Team members can easily action from a familiar inbox workflow across networks, ensuring nothing gets through the cracks.

• Includes Link in Bio Builder: Small detail, but much appreciated. Plenty of stand alone services that charge just for this.

Comparing Integrations Between Sprout Social and Hubspot

Since both of these platforms are well established, I wanted to closely examine their integrations with third party platforms.

At it’s core, Hubspot ITSELF is trying to quite literally be an all-in-one hub for marketing, sales and more. So, you might think they wouldn’t want to play nicely with other systems. Surprisingly, this isn’t the case!

Hubspot (via Hubspot Connect) is perhaps one of the longest and best integrated platforms. Full stop. It’s a household name and one of the first platforms other tools look to integrate with.

While Sprout Social doesn’t have quite as many third-party integrations, they do have more than most specifically for a dedicated social media marketing platform.

They also have some advanced native integrations for larger enterprise sales, data and ERP suites that could be interesting if your organization uses these platforms:

My bottom line on integrations: Hubspot is clearly more widely integrated as a platform in general, but Sprout Social has a high number of thoughtful direct platform integrations with suites that can especially leverage the capabilities that Sprout Social brings to the table. In other words, with Hubspot, you can technically integrate with almost everything, but it’s not always clear why or how to leverage the two platforms.

What About Price?

Pricing is another big differentiator, and while both Sprout Social and Hubspot are targeting the mid to large enterprise categories, they have different approaches to pricing and value propositions.

Sprout Social has a fairly straightforward 3-tier pricing system:

While Sprout does offer significant annual pricing discounts, they are still among the more premium priced social media marketing tools.

Hubspot is also famously pricey, but also offers a full spectrum marketing suite (CRM, Sales, Support, Social, Marketing, and more…).

Hubspot’s core value prop is in being the ONLY marketing stack you need. The issue is that they now split out their “products” into different categories like Marketing, Sales, Service, Content, Operations, and Commerence. These ALL have different individual pricing structures.

The most direct comp to Sprout Social is the Marketing tier as it includes Social, but it also includes MANY other sub-modules that you may or may not need:

I’m not in love with these hefty one-time onboarding fees, either, something Sprout Social includes gratis with many of their plans.

It is worth noting that on the above Marketing plan, the $800 tier includes 3 seats, so effectively it’s $266 per seat / month, which is a good effective comp to Sprout Social.

My bottom line on price: While Hubspot does have a competent social media toolkit within the marketing plan, I’m leaning towards Sprout Social due to the dedicated, best-in-class category focus. My only caveat might be if you are already using Hubspot Marketing for other purposes and social is an ancillary (not main) marketing channel.

Some Alternatives to Consider in Parallel

If you are in the market for a new social media platform, you may also want to consider:

• Hootsuite: Similar to Sprout Social, but with a lower initial price point and more generalist approach to social media marketing (e.g. less detailed insights, influencer toolsets). See how Hootsuite compares directly to Sprout Social.
• Buffer: Buffer is a good solution if you aren’t quite sure social has enough juice, OR if you need the Hubspot CRM and just want to integrate directly with a lower-cost social platform. See how Buffer compares directly to Sprout Social.

Who Should Go with Hubspot?

• If you already use and like Hubspot… Sticking with Hubspot makes some sense.
• If the sales (and CRM) function is the core driver of your business… Hubspot might be more helpful.
• If email marketing syncs closely with your social strategy… I’d lean Hubspot.

Who Should Stick to Sprout Social?

But for brands looking for a comprehensive social media implementation, it’s really hard to beat Sprout Social.

Even if you do resonate with a few of the use cases I described for Hubspot… Sprout Social DOES integrate with Hubspot. It’s not one seamless platform, but you don’t necessarily have to compromise.

Given that Hubspot’s social media marketing suite isn’t nearly as developed as Sprout Social, I’d be looking at Sprout Social as my overall default recommendation for specifically achieving social media ROI.