According to Statista, as of October 2024, there are currently 5.22 billion social media users worldwide. It’s no wonder that social media platforms are essential to online commerce. It also explains the importance of scheduling tools like Hootsuite.
Juggling social media accounts can be a challenge. Even the most seasoned marketer can get overwhelmed. And if you’re managing other aspects of digital entrepreneurship, staying on top of your socials is even harder.
As a social media scheduler, Hootsuite provides a streamlined solution. But how does it work? And is it worth the price tag?
At the time of writing, Hootsuite is rated “Poor” on Trustpilot. Overall, their rating is 2.1, with 481 reviews. That’s not exactly a recommendation, but is it the full picture?

On GetApp, Hootsuite has a 4.4 rating, from 3,700 reviews. That’s a stark contrast with Trustpilot.

So, what gives? To find out why Hootsuite reviews are mixed - and if it’s the right choice for you - Whop will explore everything you need to know. That includes features, pricing, pros and cons, and customer reviews.
Let’s dive in!
What is Hootsuite?

Founded back in 2008, Hootsuite was initially called BrightKit. It was launched by Ryan Holmes to manage social media for his online marketing agency.
Over time, the platform changed its name. It also grew into an industry icon. When most marketers think of a social scheduling tool, their minds go right to Hootsuite.
First, we should clarify what we mean by social media scheduler. These are also referred to as social media management platforms. As it sounds, they can be used to schedule social posts in advance.
This means you can post in bulk, rather than one day at a time. So, you (or your marketing team) can work on social posts at a set time, and then focus on other tasks through the rest of the week.
Most of these platforms include other tools to make marketing easier. For example, Hootsuite includes:
- Content curation to discover new content to share
- Assigning roles to your team members
- Analytics tools to pinpoint what and when to post
- AI content creation tools to develop post ideas and copy
- Social listening to monitor trends and your online presence
You won’t be limited to just one platform either. You can post on many social platforms via Hootsuite, including:
- TikTok
- X
- YouTube
- Threads
Whether you own a dropshipping store or sell digital products on Whop, this kind of tool is essential. Still, Hootsuite isn’t the only social media management platform by far. Competitors include Buffer, SocialPilot, Sprout Social, and Later.
Not sure if Hootsuite is the right choice? Check out our Hootsuite vs Sprout Social guide next.
Navigating the Hootsuite dashboard
From the Hootsuite dashboard, you can get started on your tasks. In the upper right corner, you’ll see a “Create a post” button.
Aside from this, there are prompts for different types of posts you can create at the top of the page. This includes recreating a popular post and creating posts with AI.

Other features on the dashboard home include:
Social performance score: As it sounds, this provides a measure of your performance on a particular social media platform. The score weighs up several important metrics, including engagements and shares.
You’ll also get personalized recommendations for how to take your account further.
Get started: At the side of the page, there’s a section with key steps to get you started on the platform. When you’ve completed these, you’ll unlock a reward.
Listening: This is a brief social listening section with a couple of trending topics from your niche. It also includes a prompt to create a draft post about each topic and quick search for a topic or company.
Scheduled posts: Here you’ll be able to see your scheduled posts.
Social accounts: You can see which social accounts you’ve connected to Hootsuite here.
Drafts: This shows any current drafts you’ve created for social media posts.
On the left side of the page, you can access the other tabs. These are:
- Home
- Plan
- Create
- Inbox 2.0
- Analytics
- Listening
- Ads
- More
We’ll explore these sections in more detail below.
What can you do with Hootsuite?
So, what do you actually get with Hootsuite? If you’re not sure whether the platform will meet your needs, we’ll go into more detail about some of the most important features next.
Social media calendar
To access the social media calendar, click the “Plan” icon on the left-hand menu. Here you can create and schedule posts for your socials. You can view the calendar by week, month, or list. In the screenshot below, we’ve used the weekly calendar.

The calendar provides recommended times to post, so you can maximize your engagement. You’ll also be notified of any upcoming important dates for use in your content.
For example, Sunday, December 8th is National Brownie Day. So, this would be a perfect day to post if you own a bakery or sell online cooking courses. Need some inspo? Creating a great caption is easy with Hootsuite’s AI tools.

Finding specific posts is simple. You can filter posts by social account and post status. You can also add new posts directly via the calendar. Just click on the day you want to post, then the “+Create” button. You can also schedule pins and ads.
Writing and publishing posts
While you can create posts through the calendar, there’s also the “Create” tab on the left-hand menu. Here you can add posts, generate AI content, ads, and more.
How to create a Hootsuite post
Creating a post is easy on the Create tab. You’ll select a social media account to post to - or multiple accounts if you want. Then you can type out your post content. There are some tools to optimize your posts too.
- Emojis - Search and add emojis to your posts.
- AI hashtag suggestions - This generates suggestions for relevant hashtags to include in your post.
- Add media - You can upload these from your computer or use images from Hootsuite’s media library.
- Design with Canva - As it sounds, you can create Canva designs to use in your post directly on Hootsuite.
- AI content tips - This provides you with customized, AI-generated tips to improve your content.
- Enhance with OwlyWriter AI - There are a few options for developing your posts with AI. These include:
- Fix spelling and grammar
- Optimize length
- Adjust tone
- Inspire engagement
This makes it very quick and easy to develop creative posts. You’ll have AI on hand to help with brainstorming and writing, and Canva to add stylish designs.
As you write out your post, you’ll be able to see a preview on the right side of the page. You can customize the content to suit different platforms and preview these versions.

When you’re done writing, you can either save the post as a draft, schedule it to post at a future date and time, or publish it right away.
Learn how to become a content creator and make money online.
Integrated social media inbox
The “Inbox 2.0” tab is a combined inbox where you can respond to messages and comments across all your social channels. This includes public comments you’ve been tagged in and private messages.
On the Enterprise plan, there are also features to set alerts and create automatic replies, so you can respond quickly to queries. Plus, the Inbox can assign any questions to the right member of your team. This all makes responding to comments and connecting with customers much easier.
Analytics tools
On the “Analytics” tab, you’ll find all the data you need to optimize your socials. Features include:
Create a report: It’s very easy to get a grasp of your data, with report templates and customized reports. For example, you can create a report focused on brand visibility and engagement on your social accounts.

Once you’ve found the right template, just click on “Create report” to see the data. On the Brand Awareness template, you’ll see metrics like follower count and new followers. You can view these across all accounts or by separate platforms. You can also see post reach, impressions, and more. There’s also a space to add notes as needed.
To view the report again, you can find it under “All reports” or you can pin it to the “Favourite reports” section.

Weekly score and highlights: Here you’ll get a weekly overview of your performance, but keep in mind it’s limited to certain platforms. You’ll only see data for Instagram Business, Facebook pages, and LinkedIn pages.
Benchmarking: You can use this tool to compare your social media performance with the average of other brands in your industry - or with specific competitor accounts.
Organic reporting: In this section, you can see how individual posts are performing and discover the best times to post to specifically drive traffic to your website.

Ads reporting: Explore paid social media advertising performance on the campaign, ad set, and ad level.
Social listening
On the “Listening” tab, you can conduct research into trends on social media, and the Enterprise plan has an add-on for monitoring comments about your brand.

You can also search for specific brands, topics, and more to see what people are saying. For example, a quick search for “Hootsuite” reveals 1,900 results over the past 7 days. It also includes a sentiment rating, which is 52.6% positive. This gives you an at-a-glance view of the online perception of brands and other industry topics.

Advertising
Hootsuite provides the tools to manage your paid social campaigns, as well as your organic content. This includes reviewing performance and adjusting budgets. You can also create, draft, and publish ad campaigns on the same dashboard.
You can manage ad campaigns for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter). It’s also possible to boost popular organic posts into paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Managing content through “Streams”
On the “More” tab, you’ll find some other important features, including “Streams”. Here you can view “boards” of content from different platforms, side by side. You can create different boards and choose the type of content you want to view. That could be your own content or relevant posts from your niche.

App directory
You can also find Hootsuite’s app directory on the “More” tab. Here you can download lots of different apps to use in Hootsuite. These integrations can add more functionality to the platform.
Some are free while others are paid, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the price to ensure you’re not caught out.

Popular apps in the directory include:
There are also integrations for monitoring other social media platforms, like this one for Reddit.

Pros and cons of Hootsuite
Pros of Hootsuite
All-in-one platform
As its name suggests, Hootsuite provides a whole suite of marketing tools. That keeps everything you need for a successful campaign on a single platform. Businesses and marketers really appreciate this. It makes social media marketing content quick and easy to generate. No more tab-switching or juggling different platforms.
As this review from Lewis J. on Get App notes, the Canva integration is super handy too. You can just create and insert your template right from the Hootsuite dashboard.

Positive reviewers feel that the all-inclusive platform makes the process easier for them, so they can focus on other areas of their business. So, it’s useful for both smaller brands and larger companies with a marketing manager. (Though it’s not so inclusive on price.)

Intuitive design
Reviewers also comment on the platform’s intuitive UI. As the dashboard features several social feeds, users can see all the info they need at a glance. Some Hootsuite reviews, like the one below, really appreciate this “global” view. On the other hand, it can be overwhelming for some. That’s particularly true if you’re used to the single platform feeds of most social media management tools.

Robust scheduling tools
Although Hootsuite offers lots of different features, its scheduling tools are arguably what made it popular. Being able to schedule posts in advance frees up entrepreneurs and marketers to focus on more important work.
It also lets you post outside of your typical work hours. So, you won’t have to work beyond the usual 9-5 to share posts at 7 pm or 6 am. You can also schedule posts across multiple platforms, saving extra time.

Analytics data
It’s not just what you can do on Hootsuite - it’s what you can learn. As you develop your campaigns and share content, you can view data about your followers, posts, and more. That’s invaluable information that can drive your campaigns forward.
With Hootsuite, you can take a data-led approach to scaling your social media content. Put simply, you can base the decisions you make about your social accounts on real-life data. This is essential, as you won’t be fumbling in the dark about what to post next.

Cons of Hootsuite
Expensive pricing
Some Hootsuite users feel the platform is too expensive, particularly for smaller brands. (We’ll go more in-depth into Hootsuite’s pricing later on.)

They also feel the platform doesn’t hold up in comparison to competitors when it comes to price. This is a major consideration. Most businesses don’t want to pay more for something they could get at a better price elsewhere. Make sure you shop around before settling on a social media platform, and consider the features you need carefully.

Unexpected pricing increase
Aside from Hootsuite’s expensive pricing, there’s also the issue of unannounced price increases on the platform. Several customer reviews have discussed this issue on Trustpilot. Customers talk about their distress at the huge pricing increase, which they say was changed without warning.
Hootsuite has argued that this increase reflects the development of new features on the platform. However, some customers still feel dissatisfied, as they didn’t request these features and feel they did not have warning.

Some of these Hootsuite reviews are from long-term customers of 2+ years, who also claim they were not forewarned about the change.

Poor customer support
Following on from the previous issue, some Hootsuite reviews also feel the platform’s customer service is lacking. Again, the Trustpilot review below is from a long-term customer who has become dissatisfied with the price and service.

On the other hand, some customers feel their problems were resolved. However, they note the slow responsiveness and possibly AI-generated responses. This lack of support seems to be frustrating for customers - especially as Hootsuite has a big learning curve to conquer.

Outdated interface and features
Some customer reviews also comment on problems with certain features, like the scheduling tools. In conjunction with the lack of customer support, this appears to be a sore point for users who otherwise like the platform.

Beyond this, some are frustrated with the lack of customization features, such as for the dashboard.

Hootsuite costs: Is it worth the price?

So, how much does Hootsuite cost to use? There are three plans available.
Professional

Pricing: $99 per user per month (billed annually) or $149 per month (billed monthly).
Aimed at individuals and solo marketers, Hootsuite Professional gives you the tools to manage 10 social accounts from a single platform. That includes unlimited posts - though you’ll be limited to a single user seat on the platform.
Let’s take a look at some of the features you’ll get:
Social listening: Listening Basics provides core social listening tools. So, you can use these to explore user perceptions of your brand and the wider industry on social media. For example, you could search for any mentions of your business on X (Twitter).
All-in-one inbox: You’ll also get access to the streamlined social media inbox. If you’re tagged in a comment or get a DM, you’ll know about it ASAP.
Custom analytics: You’ll have access to customizable analytics reports. This info can help you to pinpoint your most successful posts and campaigns and compare your performance against your competitors.
AI and paid ads: AI tools are available with this plan. For example, you can use these to develop your social posts and ad copy. If you do plan on using paid advertising, you can create and post these on Hootsuite as you would organic content.
What are the downsides of the Hootsuite Professional plan?
The Professional plan has lots of useful features for small brands, but it’s not the best option for larger (or growing) businesses. In particular, the plan is limited to a single user account. Businesses with a marketing team will typically need more.
Is Hootsuite Professional worth buying?
If you decide to pay annually, you’ll need to pay $1,188 in one go. Naturally, that’s an intimidating amount, particularly if you’re just starting your business. The monthly plan is also expensive at $149 per month.
If you’re looking for a well-recognized platform to manage your content and you’re already established in your industry, this could be the plan for you. However, if you’re a fledgling start-up or a lone entrepreneur, the price is arguably too hefty. Plus, other options on the market offer more for less.
Team

Pricing: $2,988 paid annually (equivalent to $249 per month). Alternatively, you can pay monthly at $399 per month.
If you have a marketing team and you’re looking to grow, then the Team plan could be the right choice for your business. With this plan, you can manage up to 20 social media accounts. You can also upgrade to unlimited accounts, which start at $147 per month. Plus, you’ll have three user seats for team members to develop your content on Hootsuite.
Here are some of the additional features you’ll enjoy:
Collaboration tools: This plan includes features specifically for collaborating with your team. Streamlined inboxes and chats make it easy to assign DMs to the most relevant team members. You’ll also have control over assigning permissions to your team.
This ensures that team members only post on accounts they’re approved to work on. Plus, you’ll be able to see if anyone is assigned to a comment or even if they’re typing, which helps to avoid overlapping responses.
Exporting and sharing data: The Teams plan includes the basic report exporting options that are also available on the Pro plan. You’ll also be able to work together with your team on a shared content calendar.
Linking features: There are tools to optimize your use of links, including a link-in-bio tool, one custom branded URL (sold separately), and automated link tracking.
Suspending posts: If you need to suspend scheduled posts - e.g. during a sensitive period - you can put these on hold. Once you’re ready, you can then resume them at a later time.
What are the downsides of the Hootsuite Team plan?
This plan is aimed specifically at small to medium-sized teams, but there are only 3 user seats. So, if your team is larger than this, you’ll potentially need to upgrade to the more expensive Enterprise tier.
While it does feature collaboration features, it doesn’t include all of the useful automation features on the Enterprise tier. You’ll typically want to upgrade to this plan if your business requires a structured onboarding process with staff training and robust customer support.
Is Hootsuite Team worth buying?
If you’re looking to collaborate with colleagues on a social media scheduler, then Hootsuite offers some useful features. Still, it’s on the expensive side and doesn’t include as impressive a roster as the Enterprise plan.
Although it’s aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, that’s again not reflected in the pricing. However, for brands on the grow, this could still be a good investment.
Enterprise

Pricing: Custom.
This plan is aimed at the largest brands, enterprises, and marketing agencies. You’ll be able to manage 50 social media accounts and have 5 users working on the platform. Need more? There’s also the option to upgrade these further for a fee.
Overall, the features of the Enterprise plan are set up to turbocharge your business on social media. That includes encouraging engagement from followers and sales on your website.
Here’s some of what you’ll get:
Training: With the Enterprise plan, you’ll have access to live training materials to help your team get to grips with the platform. You can also upgrade to a custom onboarding and training process.
Customer support: What about when things go wrong? The Enterprise plan includes responsive support from Hootsuite’s customer service experts. If you’re worried about technical issues, this can put your mind at ease.
Advanced tools: You’ll also get some extra features for optimizing your social media presence. This includes automated comments and DMs for faster responses to your followers, and automatic routing to the right team member.
Content optimization: If you’re looking to take your content forward, this plan includes a content library to easily access your post templates and images. You’ll also get free access to premium Hootsuite apps, like the influencer marketing platform Upfluence.
Paid add-ons: You can add more features to the Enterprise plan with add-ons, including advanced social listening, ROI reporting, review management, and much more.
What are the downsides of the Hootsuite Enterprise plan?
Arguably the biggest downside of this plan is its pricing. Hootsuite doesn’t display the exact pricing, as it’s customized to each business, but competitors Agorapulse and SocialPilot both list it as starting at $15,000. However, as the plan is specifically aimed at the largest enterprises, the pricing naturally reflects this.
Is Hootsuite Enterprise worth buying?
Enterprise has the most advanced features of all the Hootsuite plans, including some very useful automation tools. But, due to its expensive pricing, it can really only be recommended to the largest brands.
What are the best Hootsuite alternatives?
If Hootsuite seems on the pricey side - or you’re not impressed with the features - there are lots of alternatives to consider. In fact, the number of alternatives can quickly become overwhelming. Below are a few options to consider:
Buffer: This social media management platform includes many similar features to Hootsuite, including a calendar for planning posts, AI tools to help with content creation, and a streamlined inbox for messages. Its free plan can be used with up to 3 platforms. Paid plans start at $6 per month for each channel.
SocialPilot: Again, this platform features many core social media planning tools. That includes publishing and scheduling posts, curated content suggestions, and social monitoring tools. Plans start at $25.50 per month.
Sprout Social: If you’re an established brand with a larger team, then you might want to try Sprout Social. On this platform, you’ll get a social media scheduler coupled with customer relationship management tools. Plus, there are review management features, and shoppable content creation options too. Plans start at $249 per user per month.
Discover more alternatives in our guide to the best social media management apps.
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