Pricing guide · updated August 2026
Hootsuite pricing, explained with real math
Hootsuite is the original enterprise social suite, and it's priced like one: per user, per month, anchored to annual billing. The Standard plan is $99 per user per month billed annually, which means about $1,188 up front before you've scheduled a post.
The free plan is long gone and prices have climbed over the years, which is why 'hootsuite price increase' is a search people actually type. None of that makes Hootsuite wrong: for organizations with approval chains, compliance, and listening needs, it's the real deal. It just makes the math worth doing before you sign.
The plans
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $99/user/month, billed annually | Up to 10 social accounts, the core publishing and inbox tools. |
| Advanced | $199/user/month, billed annually | More accounts and the deeper approvals and automation. |
| Enterprise | Custom (from the $399 tier upward) | Listening, compliance, and the full organizational stack. |
Hootsuite details from their public pricing pages as of August 2026. Plans change, so check their pricing page for the latest.
What you’d actually pay
One person, one year
$99 x 12 = about $1,188, paid up front on annual billing.
A team of three on Standard
3 seats x $99 x 12 = about $3,564 per year.
You mostly schedule posts
You'd be paying enterprise-suite rates to use the calendar. This is the shape where flat-rate schedulers exist.
Know before you buy
- Annual anchoring: the advertised monthly number is the annual-commitment rate, paid up front.
- Per-seat pricing: every teammate is another $99+/month.
- The features that justify the price (listening, compliance, approval chains) live on the higher tiers.
- No free plan; a 14-day trial only.
The honest verdict
If you're an organization with real compliance and listening needs, Hootsuite's price buys genuine depth, and the annual contract is normal procurement. That buyer should compare Hootsuite against Sprout Social, not against schedulers.
If you're a business owner or small team who mostly schedules posts, the same $1,188 a year buys three years of Unbusied: $33/month flat per brand, all seven platforms including X, unlimited posts, up to 5 team seats, billed monthly with no contract.
Fair questions
How much does Hootsuite cost per month?
Standard is $99 per user per month billed annually (about $1,188 per seat per year, paid up front). Advanced is $199 per user per month, and enterprise tiers go higher. Each additional teammate is another seat at the same rate.
Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
Not anymore. Hootsuite removed its free plan years ago; it offers a 14-day trial. If a free plan matters, Buffer and Metricool have real ones.
Why is Hootsuite so expensive?
Because it's enterprise software: listening dashboards, compliance archiving, approval chains, training, and a support organization. Those things cost real money to run. The mismatch is only when someone pays for all that to use the scheduling calendar.
What's the cheapest Hootsuite alternative for scheduling?
For one brand across the major platforms: flat-rate schedulers. Unbusied is $33/month with everything included. For agencies wanting approval workflows cheaper, SocialPilot's tiers undercut Hootsuite badly. Our compare pages walk the honest math for each.