Dash Social vs Sprout Social (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Sprout Social grades higher than Dash Social: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dash Social 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.
Dash Social
Social media suite with Vision AI analytics and creator tools
Sprout Social
Social media management with a shared inbox, listening and reports
Which one is for you
Pick Dash Social if
- Fits if you run a fashion, beauty or retail brand that leans on visual content
- Makes sense if you want unlimited users and many reports
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price first, because none is published
- Not for you if you're an individual creator: the plans suit brand and agency teams
- Watch out: each Engage and Advance plan includes only 1 social set per brand
- Watch out: SSO is Enterprise only, and custom dashboards, benchmarks and integrations need Advance
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
| 1.8GPADash SocialWeak | 2.2GPASprout SocialFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo prices published: Engage, Advance and Enterprise are all booked through a demo, so it sits mid-table by default. | 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 or trial on record; plans are booked through a demo. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no card needed, twice the usual 14 days here. |
| Features | BPlanning, publishing, cross-channel analytics, AI predictions, benchmarks, community tools and link in bio. Custom dashboards, benchmarks and integrations begin on Advance. | 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 | CNo store rating on record. Dashboards and reports take setting up. | 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, and no integrations are listed on its pages. | 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 | visual brands that want analytics and benchmarks | 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: Dash Social and Sprout Social. How we grade
Where they differ
- Dash Social also covers dashboards.
- Sprout Social also covers shared inbox.
At a glance
| Dash Social | 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 | Dash Social | Sprout Social, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | sproutsocial.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dash Social
- No prices are published: Engage, Advance and Enterprise are all booked through a demo.
- Each Engage and Advance plan includes 1 social set per brand.
- Custom dashboards, benchmarks and integrations start on Advance, and SSO is Enterprise only.
- The plans suit brand and agency teams more than individual creators.
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
Dash Social
- Planning and publishing
- A social planning and publishing calendar and a central content library come with the entry plan.
- Cross-channel analytics
- Analytics across channels, with custom dashboards and reporting on the Advance plan and regional or brand-level reporting on Enterprise.
- Vision AI predictions
- Image and video content performance predictions and generative creative based on brand data, listed from the Advance plan.
- Competitive benchmarks
- Compares owned performance with industry and competitors from Advance, and with market-level benchmarks on Enterprise.
- Community and creators
- Community management is in the entry plan. Creator management and UGC rights requests cover influencer programs.
- Link in bio and galleries
- Link in bio for Instagram and TikTok, plus the LikeShop and customizable on-site UGC galleries for social commerce.
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
Dash Social
Pricing could not be confirmed. See dashsocial.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
Dash Social
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, Dash Social or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dash Social 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, Dash Social or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Dash Social nor Sprout Social has a free plan. Sprout Social has a free trial.
Which platforms do Dash Social and Sprout Social run on?
As of Nov 12, 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.