Last Updated on januari 20, 2025 by Ewen Finser
I recently took another look at Buffer and Hootsuite in 2025 and updated MOST of this comparison as a lot has changed!
I first used BOTH Buffer and Hootsuite about a decade ago (geez, I feel old). At the time they were both pioneering the category for social media automation. It genuinely felt like a huge advancement for marketers!
Times have definitely changed. It’s hard to imagine that time before Buffer and Hootsuite, to be honest.
Businesses have realized that social media automation is a MUST – not just a nice to have – and both Hootsuite and Buffer remain among the top sociale media-platforms today, even if their positioning and features have changed dramatically since I first tried them.
In this comparison I’ll break down how I see them both positioned today, what type of marketer (or team) is best for both, how they fit in the competitive landscape and which I recommend for specifice use cases.
But first, here’s how I see the main differences as it stands today…
Belangrijkste verschillen tussen Buffer vs Hootsuite
The main differences between Buffer and Hootsuite are:
- Buffer offers a fully featured and completely free tier (up to 3 social accounts), whereas Hootsuite only offers free trials.
- Buffer has more entry level pricing points, whereas Hootsuite starts at $99/month.
- Hootsuite has a strong centralized social inbox, whereas Buffer doesn’t really have a similar function.
- Hoostsuite allows for bulk uploading (up to 350 messages), whereas Buffer does not offer native bulk scheduling.
- Hootsuite offers more team member controls and access levels, whereas Buffer has a fairly simple standard team add process.
- Hootsuite features more integrations than Buffer.
- Hootsuite has more robust data analytics compared to Buffer.
- Buffer is more targeted towards creators and SMBs, while Hootsuite is more mid market and enterprise.
Het doel van Hootsuite en Buffer begrijpen
If you are a digital marketer today and haven’t heard about Hootsuite and Buffer at least in passing, then you must be doing something wrong. Although these tools share some common features, it is important to note early enough that they are subtly yet fundamentally different. Let us first look at an overview of both.
Hootsuite Social Media Beheer
This is a utility tool founded in 2008 by Ryan Holmes. In the beginning, it ran exclusively on Twitter as a Twitter social media management tool but now it is being used by over 15 million people worldwide and across various platforms such as: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.
Hootsuite was designed to manage social media accounts and delegate tasks to colleagues across multiple channels but on a single screen.
Je kunt deze widget gebruiken om content te publiceren, in te plannen, te beantwoorden en in het algemeen te controleren hoe goed je sociale mediakanalen communiceren met klanten. Een van de populairste functies is de auto-scheduler die automatisch berichten kan posten op sociale netwerken op een ingesteld tijdstip, hoe cool is dat?
Buffer Social Media Management
Buffer, on the other hand, can be termed as a platform for social media scheduling and publishing content across various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and Pinterest.
It’s widely adopted across all market segments, but also geared towards solo creators, small agencies and everyday businesses with free and low cost tiers.
Buffer is meer een hulpprogramma dat samenwerkt met andere analyse- en statistiektools om u een eenvoudig en zinvol dashboardoverzicht te geven van hoe uw sociale-mediastrategie het doet. Je kunt de software gebruiken om analyses te krijgen, bij te houden hoe individuele posts het doen en te zien welke posts het beste effect hebben op je doelmarkt.
Om goed te kunnen werken met 3rd partij apps, kan Buffer eenvoudig worden geïntegreerd als extensie voor apps en browsers, bijvoorbeeld Chrome, Firefox en Safari voor Mac. Op deze manier kun je de software zelfs op verschillende besturingssystemen gebruiken om je sociale medianetwerken zo snel en efficiënt mogelijk te beheren.
Where Buffer Shines
Rather than list ALL of the features, I wanted to just highlight the strong points about Buffer that I see:
- Pricing Flexibility: Buffer still retains their everyday appeal for marketers of all stripes. I like this. They also feature a fairly innovative model where each social account starts at $6/month. At first I didn’t like this, but after some reflection, it’s probably a good “usage based” pricing model for smaller businesses that really SHOULD be justifying each additional account beffore adding more.
- Functional Free Tier: Their free tier doesn’t offer too much, but it is fully functional for someone just getting started with social media. This is something that Sprout Social doesn’t really bother with (I get it), so if you are really trying out a strategy, Buffer can be a low-to-no-cost way to test things out in your market.
- Widely Adopted: Since Buffer has been around as one of the OG’s of the social media automation space, they are widely used and recognized. This can be helpful for attracting talent and getting a social strategy implemented quickly vs a lengthy onboarding process.
- Team Friendly: If you spring for just a bit more on their Team plan, you get UNLIMITED team seats, and the pricing increment is $12/month for each connected social account. This can be a good comp to other platforms, as many I’ve seen tend to segregate team tiers more with steeper pricing jumps.
Where Hootsuite Stands Out
Similarly, here’s where I see Hootsuite standing out from the crowd:
- Leads the integration game: Hootsuite is one of the better integrated social media platforms. They have 100+ of the leading platforms, including many of the leading (and some less known) options.
- Syncronized posting across networks: This is a feature that Sprout Social doesn’t really offer, but Hootsuite is uniquely leveraged to do. A simple create once and post everywhere process truly cuts now on operator time and ensures timely messages are put out quickly in a unified marketing campaign.
- Ad scheduling support: Hootsuite is one of the best in the business for similarly automating paid ads campaigns. I’ve always wondered why it took so long for the paid side to catch up to the organic marketing side… so if you do paid social and want to automated that in an integrated workflow, Hootsuite is a great fit.
- Unified Social Media Inbox: Hootsuite centralizes social media management with a handy “social inbox” for seeing all of the activity in one place. This is great for getting a sense of where to respond first and what’s happening across the broader social landscape.
- Performance Tracking: Hootsuite has an excellent built-in analytics platform for tracking both organic and PAID (influencer, etc..) campaigns in one dashboard.
- Unlimited Posts (All Plans): Unlike Later, Hootsuite offers no post restrictions on all of their paid plans. So, while the initial monthly costs and cost per seat are higher, there’s more value here for power users / teams.
Prijzen vergeleken
I have to consider everything in terms of price… and the differences between these two platforms are fairly significant in terms of budget & target markets.
Prijzen van Hootsuite
If you haven’t recently checked Hootsuite’s prijsstelling and features alignment, it’s dramatically different from even 5 years ago.
They’ve essentially punted the entry level market and are now targeting brands, agencies, and enterprises that necessarily are more mature due to the premium 2-tier (+enterprise) pricing structure:
- Standaard plan – Includes up to five social media accounts and get’s started at $99/month per user.
- Geavanceerd plan – Significantly ramps up to $249/month per user, but adds UNLIMITED social accounts, team approval workflows, tagging features, and the ability to bulk schedule up to 350 posts at once.
- Ondernemingsplan – I have no idea on the pricing here, but you can also customize packages for unlimited users and security features like SSO.
Bottom line on Hootsuite pricing: Hootsuite has slimmed down their pricing tiers considerably and gone up market, but there’s some sneaky value here. Specifiek, the $249/month per user plan includes unlimited social accounts, something that many social media marketing suites have moved against in recent years.
Buffer Prijzen
Buffer takes a more customizable and affordable route to their pricing plan, anchored by a completely free tier (up to 3 channels).
You can basically “choose your own adventure” based off of how many channels you plan to use:
- Gratis plan– totally free with for up to 3 social channels, 1 user account, and 10 scheduled posts per channel.
- Essentieel plan – A sliding tier that charges $6/month per channel (1 user account) and doesn’t limited scheduled posts, “ideas”, but adds first comment capability, more advanced analytices, and a unified engagement inbox.
- Teamplan – Doubles the price to $12/month per social channel, but opens it up to UNLIMITED users.
My bottom line on Buffer pricing: Buffer overall still feels incredibly approachable for bootstrapers and solo creators, but doesn’t skimp for more established organizations. Their pricing model is fairly different from the standard fair and is designed to be more scalable as you grow, with less aggressive break points.
Buffer and Hootsuite Competitors Worth Mentioning
This assessment wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention what’s going on in the broader landscape. These are some near peers with slightly different value props that may be worth a look:
- Later: Later is an excellent platform that I’ve used specifically for Instagram marketing. They’ve since expanded to other platforms, but really excel with the visual-based mediums. If Instagram is a heavy part of your brand blueprint, consider Later.
- SocialBee: Socialbee is a really cost-effective SMM platform for agencies or portfolio owners that don’t want to manage multiple logins and dashboards AND also can’t quite swing the premium pricing with Hootsuite or Sprout.
- SocialPilot: Another good agency fit, SocialPilot is particularly well-suited for local businesses and local business marketing agencies as they have excellent review solicitation tools and a great integration with Google Business profiles.
- Metricool: Metricool only recently popped on my radar, but feels like a budget alternative to both Hootsuite and Sprout Social. Less specialized and advanced features, but integrates widely and a good baseline service.
So Who Should Go with Buffer?
Buffer serves an excellent gap in the market for a focused social media automation platform that is approachable to ALL levels and stages of marketing.
I particularly like Buffer if you are…
- Just starting out… and don’t quite have an ROI for social yet (but want to find out). The pricing (FREE) definitely won’t kill you, but you can scale up to exactly what you need in an incremental way.
- Solo creators… Hootsuite is probably overkill anyway, so Buffer hits the mark for usable features, user friendly interface, and cost-effective pricing.
- “we need to cutback”…. If this is the vibe of your company right now, the incremental pricing with Buffer is a safe compromise that won’t rock any bean counter’s boats, while still giving you most of the features you need for social campaigns.
And Who Should Upgrade to Hootsuite?
If you have a proven, strong use case for social media ROI, the benefits of Hootsuite easily make it worth the upgrade. This means it’s often ideal for:
- Marketing Agencies: If you have a diversified client base and offer social media marketing services (as core or ancillary products), having the analytics layers and team management features of Hootsuite is a game changer. The reports alone are worth the price of admission as they are easily white-labeled for client summaries. Als dit als jou klinkt, go with Hootsuite.
- Large Enterprise SMM Teams: If you have a robust marketing department with multiple seats in or adjacement to social media, the team organization, delegation, and tagging (“department organization”) is essentially a workflow automation suite that will save “human hours” in the long run. The reports and analytics are also excellent tools to justifiy your existence to internal company stakeholders outside of the SMM vertical. Als dit als jou klinkt, go with Hootsuite.
- Teams Running Paid Social: Hootsuite doesn’t lead with this, but they have a really nice suite of tools to measure paid social impact that is missing from other tools and not really something Buffer does in a similar way. Als dit als jou klinkt, go with Hootsuite.
