TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Buffer

    Score8.4 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Buffer is a social sharing tool. When browsing content, clicking on the Buffer icon automatically stores the content and schedules posts to social media channels throughout the day.

    $6

    per month per channel

    Hootsuite

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AHootsuite is a social media management platform for building brand awareness, engaging with customers, and driving business results. Users can schedule posts across multiple social networks (including Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube ), manage organic and paid social content together, keep track of customer conversations, integrate with over 200+ applications, and gain actionable real-time insights from social media to make critical business decisions from…

    $149

    per month Starts at 1 user, 5 social accounts

    Pricing
    BufferHootsuite
    Editions & Modules
    Free
    $0
    Essentials
    $6
    per month per channel
    Team
    $12
    per month per channel
    Standard
    $99
    per month (billed annually) Starts at 1 user, 10 social accounts
    Advanced
    $249
    per month (billed annually) Starts at 1 user, unlimited social accounts
    Enterprise
    Custom Pricing
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BufferHootsuite
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.Plans can be paid monthly or annually, with a discount for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BufferHootsuite
    Considered Both Products
    Buffer
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer is much more affordable than Hootsuite. Another benefit is that Buffer allows more accounts to be loaded onto the platform. Hootsuite charges in tiered levels based on how many accounts you want to load onto the software. This makes it difficult to schedule and post for …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Hootsuite is good if you have the budget for social media baked into your communications budget/a communications budget in and of itself. Buffer is better for small teams, teams that may have a more limited budget or organizations that don't have a large social media …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    I think Sprout Social and Hootsuite provide more comprehensive tools and analytics, but they have more expensive plans that don't cater to businesses of all sizes. Plus, all of that complexity can make it hard to find what you're looking for. That's where Buffer excels. It's …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer had the best free version, but Zoho Social had the most social media channels available in the price range.
    Hootsuite was the tool we first wanted, but the price was considerably more, for tools we are not sure if we need at this time.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    In my opinion, Hootsuite has it all, except TikTok, which hopefully will open up some sort of interface soon. It is a much smoother and more customizable experience. I have not had any posts missing after scheduling, like I have had with Buffer in my past experience. Just an …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    We selected this tool to maintain the activity of publication in social networks at a low cost and good productivity, we consider that it adds to our objectives of brand awareness or discovery, since it allows us to keep our channels active with information and content that we …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer and Hootsuite are considered as best tools for managing your social media accounts . The only difference which I feel between the two is Buffer is [more] focused on pre-scheduling and Hootsuite is a advanced version of Buffer you can say it allows you full -fledged …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer is the first one I have used, and then I tried other platforms like Hootsuite, and HubSpot, but still, the other two haven't matched up to that level of ease and comfort, and the features I like of Buffer. So I switched back to Buffer.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Both Hootsuite and Buffer are excellent tools but they both target different users. If you're an individual user, small firm, or non-profit and you want to simplify your social media challenges, then Buffer is likely your best option. Hootsuite on the other hand is more likely …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    The price point is very affordable compared to other products that offer more features but charge a lot more. For my entire team, the price point has made it easy to get a good ROI. More than anything, it allows us to do what's necessary. Hootsuite definitely provides more …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Airtable is more of a planning tool and does not link to social media directly, so we more use it to brainstorm and maintain a calendar of ideas that are later translated into Buffer.

    Later is a good product that offers many of the same and even additional features (such as a …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    While Hootsuite had more features, it wasn't worth the cost when I could use the free version of Buffer. While it did lack some features, it still met my main needs so it was tough to want to pay for something similar. I also wasn't a fan of the Hootsuite platform. It wasn't …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Hootsuite and Buffer are pretty similar. I prefer Hootsuite over Buffer personally because I have used Hootsuite for a longer time in my career.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer is simple and easy to use and has a great free version.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer's interface when logged in is more beautiful and easier to use than the others I've tried. Especially HighLevel which does a lot of other stuff as well - the difference with Buffer is that it is ONLY for social scheduling so it does that really well and the entire screen …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer is way more user-friendly and gets straight to what I need to do. There is no frilly extra stuff—it's straight to the point. Buffer incorporates all the parts of the apps as well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    They all solve the same problem. Buffer initially started as a way to post content without worrying about the "when". Just add to the queue, and Buffer would post at a specified cadence. Buffer's price point is very reasonable for the services that it offers. They've grown …
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer has a clear, easy to use interface and a reliable scheduling calendar.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Both software are good, but personally I like Buffer just because it is easy to use and it has good costumer support. Buffer lets me put my updates on a schedule so I can set it up for weeks at a time and then not have to worry.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer has all the analytics tools and features that allow us to determine whether the result of our marketing is positive or negative. There are more complete alternatives, but Buffer is all I need at the moment.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Buffer wins it on simplicity and ease of use. Furthermore, it is multichannel whereas Later, for example, is only Instagram.
    Incentivized
    Chose Buffer
    Initially we selected Buffer because it is an effective tool for a low cost, especially compared to Sprout Social.

    It’s pared down and doesn’t have as many bells and whistles but that is nice when you want to simply accomplish posting.
    Incentivized
    Hootsuite
    Chose Hootsuite
    Very similar, but less expensive.
    Incentivized
    Chose Hootsuite
    I find Hootsuite better for teams to manage social media posts. It's easy for multi-channel and has link shortening within the software and makes basic reporting and analytics easy to comprehend.
    Incentivized
    Chose Hootsuite
    I don't remember the name now but there was another tool I used when I first started and it was messing up all of my posts. I would find links to one post were showing up on another and the images were swapped as well. Once this started happening, I immediately stopped using …
    Incentivized
    Chose Hootsuite
    Hootsuite offers a wide range of tools at a somewhat steeper cost. If you manage multiple platforms and want to survey the content being shared and interacted with across all of them, Hootsuite seems to have an easier platform to do that with. HubSpot CRM allows us to integrate …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BufferHootsuite
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    8.6
    68 Ratings
    Hootsuite
    7.5
    383 Ratings
    Content planning and scheduling9.068 Ratings8.9382 Ratings
    Content optimization8.061 Ratings6.9312 Ratings
    Workflow management8.857 Ratings7.7322 Ratings
    Audience targeting00 Ratings6.5260 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    8.3
    63 Ratings
    Hootsuite
    8.0
    306 Ratings
    Campaign success analytics8.363 Ratings8.4282 Ratings
    Real-time tracking00 Ratings7.6282 Ratings
    Competitor analysis00 Ratings8.0189 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    9.0
    65 Ratings
    Hootsuite
    7.8
    316 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions & privileges9.052 Ratings8.7268 Ratings
    Mobile access9.062 Ratings6.8294 Ratings
    Listening/monitoring
    Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Hootsuite
    6.6
    275 Ratings
    Boolean keyword searches00 Ratings6.0185 Ratings
    Filtering out noise/spam00 Ratings5.9193 Ratings
    Sentiment analysis00 Ratings6.1187 Ratings
    Broad channel coverage00 Ratings8.5255 Ratings
    Engagement
    Comparison of Engagement features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Hootsuite
    7.8
    308 Ratings
    Automated routing and prioritization00 Ratings7.4220 Ratings
    Customer interaction histories00 Ratings7.6237 Ratings
    Bulk actions00 Ratings8.3265 Ratings
    Marketing
    Comparison of Marketing features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Hootsuite
    7.4
    295 Ratings
    Lead generation00 Ratings6.3177 Ratings
    Content marketing00 Ratings8.1263 Ratings
    Paid media management00 Ratings7.6175 Ratings
    Campaigns and promotions00 Ratings7.6225 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Buffer and Hootsuite
    Feature
    Buffer
    -
    Ratings
    Hootsuite
    9.2
    376 Ratings
    Twitter00 Ratings9.0344 Ratings
    Facebook00 Ratings9.7360 Ratings
    LinkedIn00 Ratings9.5314 Ratings
    Google+00 Ratings8.960 Ratings
    Instagram00 Ratings9.7316 Ratings
    Pinterest00 Ratings9.2161 Ratings
    YouTube00 Ratings8.4149 Ratings
    User Ratings
    BufferHootsuite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (88 ratings)
    8.0
    (444 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (14 ratings)
    8.6
    (89 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (24 ratings)
    9.0
    (83 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    9.8
    (21 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.8
    (19 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.1
    (23 ratings)
    7.0
    (263 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (17 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (39 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.2
    (3 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (18 ratings)