Sprout Social Pricing
- Marketing pricing
- $79/mo at the smallest
Sprout Social pricing starts at $79 a month, which is $948 over twelve months. There is no free plan, but there is a trial: 30 days. Every figure below was read from the vendor's pricing page on 9 August 2026.
Opens the vendor's own pricing page. Figures here were read from it on 9 August 2026.
Sprout Social ranking and coverage
- In Marketing
- #13 of 14
- Overall
- #115 of 122 tied
- Terms score
- 3.9 /10
- Referenced here
- 0 pages
Cost position 0.8 · Portability 5 · Subscription flexibility 6 - Ranked on published terms only: entry price against category peers, portability and subscription flexibility, equally weighted. This is not a quality score.How the rank is calculated.
Sprout Social pricing at a glance
| Entry price | Essentials $79 per seat/month billed annually, or $99 monthly |
|---|---|
| Smallest invoice | $79 a month, or $948 a year |
| How that is reached | Essentials at $79 a month |
| Seat minimum | None on the entry plan |
| Free plan | No |
| Free trial | 30 days |
| How it charges | subscription |
| Priced plans published | 5 rows on the vendor's page |
| Affiliate programme | No |
| Prices read from | The vendor's own pricing page |
| Last checked | 9 August 2026 |
Every Sprout Social plan and what it costs
Read from the vendor's own pricing page on 9 August 2026. Charged as subscription. Free trial: 30 days.
| Plan | Price | Billing | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $79 | per month | per seat - Annual billing, or $99 monthly. Up to 5 social profiles |
| Standard | $199 | per month | per seat - Annual billing. Unified inbox, reporting, more profiles |
| Professional | $299 | per month | per seat - Annual billing. Adds competitive reporting and trend analysis |
| Advanced | $399 | per month | per seat - Annual billing. Adds automation, chatbots and deeper listening |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Negotiated | Custom terms, with premium listening sold separately |
What Sprout Social actually costs over a year
A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above resolved both ways, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way. Where a vendor quotes only a yearly figure it is divided by twelve rather than left out, and the Quoted column says which figure the vendor actually publishes.
| Plan | Quoted | Monthly | Over 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentialsper seat | per month | $79 | $948 |
| Standardper seat | per month | $199 | $2,388 |
| Professionalper seat | per month | $299 | $3,588 |
| Advancedper seat | per month | $399 | $4,788 |
Sprout Social pricing over time
Read from 20 archived captures of the vendor's pricing page , spanning November 2011 to September 2026. Every figure below links to the capture it came from, so you can check it against the page as it stood on the day.
- Standard changed 4 times between 3 January 2014 and 1 September 2026, from $39 per user to $199 per seat, up 410.3% overall.
- Advanced changed 2 times between 23 August 2019 and 1 September 2026, from $249 per user to $399 per seat, up 60.2% overall.
- Professional changed 2 times between 23 August 2019 and 1 September 2026, from $149 per user to $299 per seat, up 100.7% overall.
Standard
| Published price | Charged | Seen from | Last seen | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39 | per user | 3 January 2014 | Single capture | Archive |
| $59 | per user | 10 October 2017 | Single capture | Archive |
| $99 | per user | 23 August 2019 | 1 May 2021 | Archive |
| $249 | Not stated | 1 March 2023 | Single capture | Archive |
| $199 | per seat | 6 December 2024 | 1 September 2026 | Archive |
- ↑ $39 to $59, between 3 January 2014 and 10 October 2017 (+51.3%). before / after
- ↑ $59 to $99, between 10 October 2017 and 23 August 2019 (+67.8%). before / after
- ↔ $99 to $249, between 1 May 2021 and 1 March 2023. One capture quotes per user and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
- ↔ $249 to $199, between 1 March 2023 and 6 December 2024. One capture quotes per seat and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
Advanced
| Published price | Charged | Seen from | Last seen | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $249 | per user | 23 August 2019 | 1 May 2021 | Archive |
| $499 | Not stated | 1 March 2023 | Single capture | Archive |
| $399 | per seat | 6 December 2024 | 1 September 2026 | Archive |
- ↔ $249 to $499, between 1 May 2021 and 1 March 2023. One capture quotes per user and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
- ↔ $499 to $399, between 1 March 2023 and 6 December 2024. One capture quotes per seat and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
Professional
| Published price | Charged | Seen from | Last seen | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $149 | per user | 23 August 2019 | 1 May 2021 | Archive |
| $399 | Not stated | 1 March 2023 | Single capture | Archive |
| $299 | per seat | 6 December 2024 | 1 September 2026 | Archive |
- ↔ $149 to $399, between 1 May 2021 and 1 March 2023. One capture quotes per user and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
- ↔ $399 to $299, between 1 March 2023 and 6 December 2024. One capture quotes per seat and the other states no unit, so we cannot confirm the two figures are on the same basis and no percentage is stated. before / after
Essentials
| Published price | Charged | Seen from | Last seen | Capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $79 | per seat | 1 September 2026 | Single capture | Archive |
2 archived captures with no price we could read
The capture exists, but the figures on it could not be extracted - usually a page that renders prices in JavaScript, or a currency selector the archive did not record. Listed rather than dropped, because a gap in a price history reads as "nothing changed" and these are not that.
Compiled 18 September 2026 from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Plan names were matched against the archived page text and the first currency-anchored figure within 160 characters was recorded, rejecting any figure with a competing plan name standing between it and the name it was matched to. The currency and the unit were read from each capture rather than assumed: captures served in a currency other than $, and captures where no plan name sat beside a figure, are listed as unread rather than dropped. Archived pages show the price as served to the archive's crawler, which may differ by region from the price you are shown.
Sprout Social pricing against its competitors
Compared on the smallest invoice each vendor will accept, not on the advertised per-seat rate. Where a product has a seat minimum, the figure below is the minimum times the rate, because that is the cheque you would actually write.
| Product | Cheapest paid entry | Free plan | Against Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | $5 a month | Yes | −$74 a month (−94%) |
| Sprout Social | $79 a month | No | This product |
| Hootsuite | $99 a month | No | +$20 a month (+25%) |
Which Sprout Social plan should you buy?
| Your situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want publishing with optimal send times only | Essentials | $79 per seat with up to 5 profiles. Note this excludes the unified inbox and deeper reporting that are the actual reasons to choose Sprout. |
| You need the unified inbox and real reporting | Standard | $199 per seat. This is the first tier that reflects what Sprout is for. |
| You need competitive reporting and trend analysis | Professional | $299 per seat. |
| You need automation, chatbots and deeper listening | Advanced | $399 per seat, and premium listening is sold separately again above that. |
| Several colleagues post occasionally | Count seats before anything else | Every tier is per seat. Four people on Professional is $14,352 a year, which punishes exactly the light-contributor pattern most teams have. |
| You only need scheduling | Do not buy Sprout Social | Buffer at $5 per channel does that. You would be paying for capability you never open. |
Verdict by who you are
Staffed social media teamYes
The best reporting in the category, presentable to executives without rework, plus an inbox that genuinely stops messages being missed.
Regulated organisation needing approvalsYes
Content routed for review with a record is a compliance requirement, not a nicety.
Solo operator or small businessNo
Per-seat pricing from $199 is indefensible at this size.
Team where several people post lightlyNo
Cost scales with people rather than workload, which is precisely backwards for this shape. Price a per-channel tool instead.
Should you buy Sprout Social?
Buy Sprout Social if…
- Teams with several people staffing social media
- Organisations needing approval workflows and audit trails
- Brands where social listening drives real decisions
Do not buy Sprout Social if…
- Solo operators and small businesses
- Teams that only need scheduling
- Anyone with more channels than budget
What leaving Sprout Social would cost
moderate lock-in
Sprout Social scores on public API. Portability 5/10 ; lock-in is the inverse. How this is calculated.
Per seat is the whole problem
Every tier is priced per seat per month, on annual billing:
| Plan | Per seat/month |
|---|---|
| Essentials | $79 ($99 billed monthly) |
| Standard | $199 |
| Professional | $299 |
| Advanced | $399 |
| Enterprise | Quote |
Do the arithmetic before anything else. Four people on Professional is $1,196 a month, or $14,352 a year. Four people on Buffer with ten channels is $100 a month.
That comparison is not entirely fair, because Buffer does not do listening, approvals or the reporting. But it establishes the question you actually need to answer: are four people each doing $299 a month of work in this tool, or are three of them occasionally scheduling a post?
Seat-based pricing punishes the common pattern where several colleagues contribute lightly. If that is your shape, price Hootsuite or a per-channel tool instead.
Essentials is a different product
At $79 a seat, Essentials connects up to 5 social profiles and covers publishing with optimal send times and profile-level reporting. It is described as being for professionals simplifying publishing workflows.
What it does not include is the unified inbox and the deeper reporting that constitute the actual argument for Sprout. So Essentials competes with cheaper schedulers on their terms, and loses on price. The tier worth evaluating is Standard upward.
What justifies the money when it does
Three things, honestly.
The inbox. Every message, comment and mention from every network in one queue, with assignment and history. For a brand receiving real volume, this is the difference between answering people and losing them.
The reporting. Sprout’s reports can go into a board pack unedited. Anyone who has spent a Friday rebuilding social metrics in a spreadsheet knows what that is worth.
Approvals. Content routed for review before publishing, with a record. In financial services, healthcare or anywhere with a compliance function, this is not optional.
If none of those describe your situation, you are paying premium prices for a scheduler.
Sprout Social questions, answered
- Is Sprout Social worth it?
- Sprout Social is the best-executed product in social media management and the hardest to justify on price.
- How much does Sprout Social cost?
- Essentials $79 per seat/month billed annually, or $99 monthly. The cheapest paid tier we recorded is Essentials, published at $79 a month, which works out at $79 a month or $948 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
- Does Sprout Social have a free plan or free trial?
- Sprout Social has no free plan. A free trial is available: 30 days.
- What is the best Sprout Social alternative?
- It depends on the job. Hootsuite: Comparable capability, usually cheaper, less polished reporting. Buffer: A fraction of the cost if you only need scheduling. Metricool: Much cheaper analytics and advertising reporting for small teams.
- Can I self-host Sprout Social?
- No. Sprout Social is a hosted service only, so your data lives on the vendor's infrastructure.
Opens the vendor's own pricing page. Figures here were read from it on 9 August 2026.
What this profile is based on
Every claim below is about our work, not about Sprout Social. A "no" is recorded rather than omitted, because the difference between a tested review and careful desk research is the reader's to weigh. How we research a profile.
-
Prices read from the vendor : yes
Read from Sprout Social's own pricing page on 9 August 2026
-
Plans and terms recorded : yes
5 rows, each with its billing period
-
Original screenshots : yes
2 captured by us: pricing page, homepage
-
Sources cited and dated : yes
1 primary source, each with the date it was read
-
Product used first-hand : no
Not tested. This profile is desk research from primary sources
-
Alternatives used first-hand : no
None, so comparisons here rest on published facts rather than use
-
Vendor contacted : no
Not contacted for this profile
Where Sprout Social appears on this site
No buyer guide, article or other profile here references Sprout Social yet. Its own record is verified and dated, but it has not been placed against alternatives in a comparison, so there is nothing further to link to. Until then the category index is the best place to see what it sits beside.
Counts pages on this site that name the product by choice - price guides, pricing question pages, deal records and other profiles. Category and directory indexes list everything automatically and are not counted.
One-click Google setting
Get our writing surfaced first on Google
If this was useful, add EveryAny.One as a preferred source in Google. Our pricing pages and price guides will appear ahead of the rest in Top Stories, AI Mode and AI Overviews when you search for what software costs.
- Our reviews get a "preferred" badge in Top Stories and AI Overviews.
- AI Mode leans on the sources you've chosen when it answers.
- Change it back any time from the same Google page.
Opens Google's source preferences in a new tab.
Provenance and freshness
When each fact was last checked
- Pricing ·
- Plans ·
- Free trial
- Features
- Platforms
- Integrations
- Affiliate programme
- Company details
What has changed
-
August 2026
- Per-seat pricing verified across all tiers, annual billing
- Added plan picker and verdicts
Sources & verification
Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.
- Sprout Social pricing - checked 9 August 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.
