Brandwatch vs Sprout Social (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sprout Social grades higher than Brandwatch: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Brandwatch grades higher on value for money. Sprout Social grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Brandwatch
Enterprise social listening, management and consumer research
Sprout Social
Social media management with a shared inbox, listening and reports
Which one is for you
Pick Brandwatch if
- Fits if you are a company that needs listening across millions of conversations
- Makes sense if you can put budget through a sales process
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to see a price first, as none is published
- Skip it if you want a free plan or trial, because there is none
- Too light for planning, as plan limits are not listed on the pages we read
- Watch out: listening and publishing are separate products, possibly separate contracts
Pick Sprout Social if
- Fits if your social team handles customer questions as much as posts
- Works for companies tying social to Salesforce, Zendesk or HubSpot, at $199 a seat or more
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're a small business: $79 a seat gets no inbox, and the plan with one is $199 a seat
- Tight if you have more than 5 profiles, since unlimited starts at Professional, $299 a seat
- Not for you if you want listening or Premium Analytics included, as both are paid add-ons
- Watch out: the API and help desk integrations need Advanced at $399 a seat a month billed yearly
- Skip it if you want a free plan: there's a 30-day trial, and monthly billing runs $99 to $499 a seat
How we grade them
| 1.8GPABrandwatchWeak | 2.2GPASprout SocialFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published, so it sits at the middle by default; plans are quoted after a demo. | DEssentials is $79 a seat a month billed yearly and covers 5 profiles, so two people pay $158 a month and three $237. That's in this category's dearest tenth, from $99. And that plan has no inbox: Standard, which does, is $199 a seat. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial listed; you request a demo. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no card needed, twice the usual 14 days here. |
| Features | BListening, social management, influencer marketing, search data and an AI assistant. The listing shows no gap in the core job, though products are sold separately. | BPublishing to 11 networks including Reddit and Snapchat, an inbox that pulls in messages, reviews and WhatsApp, approvals, competitor and paid reports, and an API. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job; listening is an add-on. |
| Ease of use | CA web platform sold through a demo, and no store rating on record. Expect onboarding. | CIts iPhone and iPad app averages 4.2 from about 1,300 ratings, and the full suite takes some setting up across profiles, inbox rules and reports. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no integrations listed on the pages we read. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Salesforce, Zendesk, HubSpot, Canva, Slack, Shopify and Tableau, and the Sprout API on Advanced. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | enterprise social listening | customer care on social for bigger teams |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Brandwatch and Sprout Social. How we grade
Where they differ
- Brandwatch also covers dashboards.
- Sprout Social also covers calendar and shared inbox.
At a glance
| Brandwatch | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | Not published | $79 per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Brandwatch | Sprout Social, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | sproutsocial.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Brandwatch
- No prices are published; plans are quoted after a demo request.
- Standard to enterprise plans exist per product, but their limits are not listed.
- Products are sold separately, so listening and publishing may be separate contracts.
Sprout Social
- There is no free plan, and every seat is charged at the plan's full rate, from $79 a month on Essentials to $399 on Advanced, billed annually.
- Essentials and Standard stop at 5 social profiles; unlimited profiles start at Professional.
- The Sprout API and help desk integrations need Advanced at $399 per seat / month, billed annually.
- Listening and Premium Analytics are paid add-ons from Standard, and Trellis Plus (1,000 AI credits a seat) is $28 per seat a month billed annually, $35 monthly.
Key features
Brandwatch
- Consumer intelligence
- Searches an archive of online conversations, with customizable dashboards, automated reporting and alerts.
- Social media management
- Publishing calendar for organic and paid posts, a community inbox and competitor benchmarking; this was the Falcon suite.
- Influencer marketing
- Influencer discovery across a database of over 30 million creators, plus relationship and campaign tracking.
- Search intelligence
- Covers search visibility and generative AI monitoring.
- Iris AI
- AI features across the suite, branded Iris by the vendor.
Sprout Social
- Publishing calendar
- Posts for Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Reddit and Snapchat are planned on one calendar, with optimal send times.
- Smart Inbox
- Messages, comments, Messenger and WhatsApp conversations and reviews arrive in one inbox, with tagging from Professional and sentiment on Advanced.
- Approvals and collaboration
- Message approval workflows, calendar notes and a shared asset library, with calendars that can be shared with people outside the account for sign-off.
- Reports and competitor insights
- Profile and post reports on every plan; competitor, tag and paid reports from Professional; team productivity and customer care reports on Advanced.
- Trellis AI agent
- Each seat gets 100 Trellis credits a month for questions about social data. Trellis Plus costs $28 per user a month billed annually ($35 monthly).
- Add-ons
- Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are sold separately on Standard and up, and influencer marketing is a separate product.
Plans
Brandwatch
Pricing could not be confirmed. See brandwatch.com.
Sprout Social
Essentials$79
per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
Publishing for up to 5 social profiles, optimal send times, profile and post reports, and 100 Trellis AI credits a month.
Standard$199
per seat / month, billed annually ($249 billed monthly)
5 social profiles, the consolidated inbox, collaboration tools, keyword and location monitoring, and review management.
Professional$299
per seat / month, billed annually ($399 billed monthly)
Unlimited social profiles, message tagging, competitor, tag and paid insights, and AI post enhancement.
Advanced$399
per seat / month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
AI reply help, inbox sentiment, the Sprout API, help desk integrations, team productivity and customer care reports, and spike alerts.
EnterpriseCustom
A tailored plan with white-glove onboarding, single sign-on setup and priority support.
Ways to pay less
Brandwatch
No public discounts listed.
Sprout Social
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
Paying for a year up front brings Standard to $199 a seat a month from $249, Professional to $299 from $399 and Advanced to $399 from $499.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit pricing on Professional and Advanced
US nonprofits that commit to at least two seats on an annual plan pay $239 a seat a month for Professional and $299 for Advanced.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Brandwatch or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Brandwatch has no price we could confirm, and Sprout Social starts at $79 per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Brandwatch or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Brandwatch nor Sprout Social has a free plan. Sprout Social has a free trial.
Which platforms do Brandwatch and Sprout Social run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Sprout Social lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.