Sprout Social Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Sprout Social alternatives: Buffer, Postiz, Publer, Metricool and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Social Media & Ads
Verdict:Sprout Social starts at $79 per seat a month on annual billing, with no free plan, so the people who should look elsewhere are solo operators and small teams paying for a seat they use mostly to schedule posts. If that describes you, Buffer is the simplest swap: the free plan covers three channels and the paid tier is billed per channel at $5 a month, which stays cheap when you manage two or three accounts. Publer is similar and slightly cheaper on annual billing, but its free plan excludes X and keeps post history for only a day. Metricool suits freelancers handling several brands, because one Starter plan covers up to five. If you would rather own the software, Postiz is AGPL-3.0 and Mixpost has a free MIT Lite edition; both need a server and some patience, and Postiz says its hosted platform gets new features first. The honest trade-off is depth. Sprout's higher tiers add brand-keyword tracking and larger team workflows that the cheaper schedulers either lack or handle more lightly, and we did not test any of them hands-on. If you rely on that monitoring, or have a team needing approval chains, price the replacement stack before cancelling. If you mostly publish and glance at analytics, one of the cheaper tools will do.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | Free (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel); paid from $5 per channel/month, Essentials, billed annually ($60 a year) | Web | Small brands scheduling to a few channels | Docs only |
| Postiz | Free (Open-source code you host yourself; the hosted plans have no free tier, only a 7-day trial); paid from $23 per month, hosted Standard, billed annually ($29 billed monthly, 5 channels) | Web, Self-hosted | Teams that can self-host | Docs only |
| Publer | Free (1 user, 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 24-hour post history); paid from $4 per month, Professional, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly) | Web | Solo creators on a tight budget | Docs only |
| Metricool | Free (1 brand, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days of analytics); paid from $20 per month, Starter for up to 5 brands, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) | Web | Freelancers and small agencies | Docs only |
| Mixpost | Free (Mixpost Lite is free, self-hosted and open source); paid from $299 per one-time, self-hosted Pro with 1 year of updates | Web, Self-hosted | Developers who want a one-off cost | Docs only |
| Hootsuite | Paid from $99 per user/month, billed annually (Standard, 10 social accounts) | Web browser | Social Media Management | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You manage two or three channels and mostly schedule posts (Buffer is the pick)
- You want to self-host and avoid per-seat pricing (Postiz is the pick)
- You run several small client brands (Metricool is the pick)
- You prefer a one-time payment over a subscription (Mixpost is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Sprout Social features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Sprout Social today: Paid from $79 per seat/month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly), Essentials (Sprout Social pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Sprout Social alternatives
Sprout Social lists no free plan, only a 30-day trial. Essentials is $79 per seat per month billed annually ($99 billed monthly) and covers 5 social profiles; Standard is $199 per seat, and unlimited profiles only arrive with Professional at $299. Premium Analytics and Listening are add-ons on Standard and up, priced through a demo. Because every plan is charged per seat, cost climbs with each person added.
Buffer
Compared with Sprout Social: Drops Sprout's listed brand-keyword tracking and higher tiers, but charges per channel: $5 a month on Essentials against Sprout's $79 per seat. A free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each.
Price: Free (3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel); paid from $5 per channel/month, Essentials, billed annually ($60 a year) (Buffer pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Small brands scheduling to a few channels.
Postiz
Compared with Sprout Social: Open-source and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0, so no per-seat bill, unlike Sprout. You run the server yourself, and the hosted Standard plan is $23 a month on annual billing with no permanent free tier.
Price: Free (Open-source code you host yourself; the hosted plans have no free tier, only a 7-day trial); paid from $23 per month, hosted Standard, billed annually ($29 billed monthly, 5 channels) (Postiz pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 39.4k GitHub stars · latest release v2.25.3 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026
Best for: Teams that can self-host.
Worth knowing: Postiz calls self-hosting a secondary option; new agent features ship on the hosted platform first.
Publer
Compared with Sprout Social: Costs $4 a month on annual billing for the Professional tier versus Sprout's $79 per seat. The free plan allows 3 accounts but excludes X, and keeps post history for only 24 hours.
Price: Free (1 user, 3 social accounts (not X), 10 scheduled posts per account, 24-hour post history); paid from $4 per month, Professional, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly) (Publer pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Solo creators on a tight budget.
Metricool
Compared with Sprout Social: Free plan gives 1 brand, 20 scheduled posts a month and 30 days of analytics; Starter is $20 a month for up to 5 brands. Cheaper than Sprout's $79 seat for agencies handling several small clients.
Price: Free (1 brand, 20 scheduled posts per month, 30 days of analytics); paid from $20 per month, Starter for up to 5 brands, billed annually ($25 billed monthly) (Metricool pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Freelancers and small agencies.
Mixpost
Compared with Sprout Social: Self-hosted scheduler with a free MIT-licensed Lite edition and a $299 one-time Pro, so no monthly seat fee as with Sprout. You trade hosted convenience and Sprout's reporting tiers for ownership of the install.
Price: Free (Mixpost Lite is free, self-hosted and open source); paid from $299 per one-time, self-hosted Pro with 1 year of updates (Mixpost pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (Lite) (open source).
Project activity: 3.9k GitHub stars · latest release 2.6.0 (Mar 16, 2026) · last commit Mar 16, 2026
Best for: Developers who want a one-off cost.
Worth knowing: Pro and Enterprise ($1,199 one-time) are paid self-hosted editions.
Other popular options (paid)
Hootsuite
Compared with Sprout Social: Standard lists 10 social accounts from $99 per user per month, against Sprout's Essentials at $79 per seat for 5 profiles. Professional ($199) and Advanced (up to $399) give unlimited accounts, and Enterprise is custom.
Price: Paid from $99 per user/month, billed annually (Standard, 10 social accounts) (Hootsuite pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Buffer, Postiz, Publer, Metricool, Mixpost: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Sprout Social. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Sprout Social, Buffer, Postiz, Publer, Metricool, Mixpost, Hootsuite. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.