CoSchedule vs Hootsuite (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hootsuite grades higher than CoSchedule: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
CoSchedule grades higher on value for money. Hootsuite grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CoSchedule
Marketing calendar with social scheduling, inbox and AI drafting
Hootsuite
Social media suite for publishing, inbox, listening and reports
Which one is for you
Pick CoSchedule if
- Fits if you are a solo marketer who wants a calendar and scheduling in one tool
- Works for small teams and agencies needing approvals and client calendars
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 profile and 15 posts at a time
- Pricey if you post to X: those profiles are $16 a month each, outside the base count
- Watch out: extra profiles are $5 a month and extra Professional seats $29
- Watch out: Starter allows one user and Professional at most three; Suite is sold through sales
Pick Hootsuite if
- Fits if your team answers comments and DMs, WhatsApp included, as much as it posts
- Works for brands that want listening and competitor tracking next to publishing, at $99 a user
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're a small team: every person is a paid seat at $99 a month billed yearly, so two pay $198
- Not for you if you want a free plan. The 14-day trial caps you at 10 to 20 posts a day, with no bulk scheduling
- Tight if you have more than 10 profiles, since unlimited ones need Professional at $199 a user
- Watch out: approvals and message routing need Advanced at $399 a user, and single sign-on is Enterprise only
- Watch out: there's no desktop app, and the dearer monthly price isn't published on the plans page
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACoScheduleFair | 2.6GPAHootsuiteGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$29 a month on annual billing, the category middle, for 1 user and 3 profiles. Professional is $49 for 2 users. | DStandard is $99 a user a month billed yearly, so two people managing five profiles pay $198 a month and three pay $297. That's in this category's dearest tenth, which starts at $99. Listening and competitor benchmarks are what the money buys over cheaper tools. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree plan: 15 scheduled posts at a time on 1 profile, plus a 14-day trial of any paid plan. You'll hit that cap. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed. Trial accounts are held to 10 to 20 posts a day and can't bulk schedule. |
| Features | CCalendar, requeue, analytics, inbox and approvals. The inbox on Starter covers Facebook and Instagram only. | BPublishing to nine networks, a shared inbox with WhatsApp in it, listening, benchmarks against 5 competitors and analytics on the first plan. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job; approvals and routing need Advanced at $399 a user. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A calendar to build, and profiles to connect. | AIts iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 from about 34,300 ratings. Connecting profiles and setting up approvals takes some setup first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Mailchimp, HubSpot, Canva, Zapier, WordPress and Google Analytics on the list. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with more than 100 apps in its directory, among them Canva, Salesforce, Slack and monday.com, plus MCP connectors for ChatGPT and Claude. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | a marketing calendar with social scheduling | publishing, inbox and listening in one place |
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: CoSchedule and Hootsuite. How we grade
Price against what you get
CoSchedule starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hootsuite starts at $99 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Hootsuite scores higher, and starts $70 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other social media schedulers on the chart, 9 score higher than CoSchedule for less, and none scores higher than Hootsuite for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- CoSchedule also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| CoSchedule | Hootsuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly) | $99 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Schedule up to 15 posts at a time on 1 social profile. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of any paid plan | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | CoSchedule | Hootsuite Inc. |
| Price read from | coschedule.com | hootsuite.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CoSchedule
- X profiles are billed separately at $16 per profile a month and are not included in the base profile count.
- Extra social profiles cost $5 a month each, and extra Professional seats $29 a month.
- Starter allows one user, and Professional allows at most three.
- Suite is sold through sales, and its price is custom.
Hootsuite
- There is no free plan. Trial accounts are limited to 10 to 20 posts a day and cannot bulk schedule.
- Every user is a paid seat, and Standard stops at 10 social accounts; unlimited accounts need Professional at $199 per user / month.
- Approval workflows and message assignment need Advanced at $399 per user / month; single sign-on is Enterprise only.
- Monthly billing is offered at a higher rate than the annual figures the plans page shows, but the monthly price is not published there.
Key features
CoSchedule
- Drag-and-drop calendar
- Posts and campaigns sit on one calendar; moving a campaign's launch date moves its social schedule with it.
- ReQueue
- Reshares chosen evergreen posts to fill gaps in the schedule and repeats recurring promotions.
- Social inbox
- Comments, mentions and DMs in one place, with saved replies and AI-drafted replies. Starter covers Facebook and Instagram, Professional covers nine networks.
- Analytics and reports
- Social reports on all plans, with AI insights, custom dashboards, scheduled and white-label reports on Professional.
- AI assistants
- A social assistant and a campaign assistant, both unlimited on paid plans, with brand voice profiles on Suite.
- Agency tools
- Professional adds client calendars, white labeling and message approvals for teams that publish for several brands.
Hootsuite
- Publishing calendar
- Posts for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest and Bluesky are planned on one calendar, with best-time suggestions and bulk scheduling.
- Shared inbox
- DMs and comments land in one inbox, WhatsApp included, with saved and suggested replies. Professional automates replies; Advanced adds assignment and routing.
- Listening and competitors
- Track mentions, trends and competitors' posting. Standard benchmarks 5 competitors and Professional 20; Enterprise covers 13 months of history across more sources.
- Analytics and reports
- Performance analytics come with every plan. Custom, scheduled and exported reports start on Professional, and branded reports shared outside the account need Advanced.
- Wisdom AI and MCP connectors
- An AI assistant drafts posts, recommends and analyzes on every plan, and MCP connectors let ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini run Hootsuite tasks.
- App directory
- More than 100 apps plug into the dashboard, among them Canva and Adobe Express in the composer, Salesforce, Slack, monday.com and Google Business Profile.
Plans
CoSchedule
Free$0
Up to 15 scheduled posts at a time on 1 social profile.
Starter$29
per month for 1 user, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
1 user seat, 3 social profiles ($5 a month for each extra), unlimited scheduling, ReQueue, analytics and a Facebook and Instagram inbox.
Professional$49
per month for 2 users, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
2 seats (up to 3, extra seat $29 a month), 5 profiles, a 9-network inbox, approvals, client calendars and white-label reports.
SuiteCustom
Custom seats and profiles, team permissions, campaign planning, SSO and AI brand voice. Custom plans start at $69 a month.
Hootsuite
Standard$99
per user / month, billed annually
Up to 10 social accounts, unlimited scheduling, AI posts and images, a shared inbox, listening and benchmarks against 5 competitors.
Professional$199
per user / month, billed annually
Unlimited social accounts, automated inbox replies and DMs, 30-day Quick Search, 90-day trend forecasts and custom scheduled reports.
Advanced$399
per user / month, billed annually
Approval workflows, internal comments, message assignment and routing, satisfaction surveys, team productivity and branded reports.
EnterpriseCustom
Single sign-on, compliance tools, 13 months of listening history, attribution and ROI reporting, employee advocacy and onboarding.
Ways to pay less
CoSchedule
No public discounts listed.
Hootsuite
- Nonprofit
Up to 60% off for nonprofits
The HootGiving program gives approved nonprofits a discount of up to 60% on the Standard, Professional and Advanced plans, by application.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CoSchedule or Hootsuite?
As of Nov 12, 2026, CoSchedule starts at $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly), and Hootsuite starts at $99 per user / month, billed annually. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, CoSchedule or Hootsuite?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only CoSchedule has a free plan. Hootsuite does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do CoSchedule and Hootsuite run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Hootsuite 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.