Hootsuite vs Planable
We give Hootsuite a 2.6 GPA and Planable a 2.2, out of 4.0. Hootsuite grades higher on features and ease of use. Planable grades higher on value for money. 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.
Hootsuite
Social media suite for publishing, inbox, listening and reports
Planable
Social media planning and approvals for agencies and brand teams
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAHootsuiteGood | 2.2GPAPlanableFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CBasic stops at 4 social pages, so five profiles means Pro: $49 a month per workspace billed yearly, with unlimited users. That's between this category's $29 middle and $58 dearer quarter, and analytics add $12 a month on top. |
| Free plan and trial | 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, which is fine for a look around. | CYour first 50 posts are free, with no time limit and no card. That's a proper look, but it's 50 in total, not each month, and X publishing waits for a paid plan. |
| Features | 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 just cost more, on Advanced. | CApprovals are the focus: comments, suggested edits, optional or required sign-off, and publishing to nine networks. The gaps its listing names: analytics and the inbox aren't included on Basic or Pro, and published posts are deleted after 13 months. |
| Ease of use | AIts iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 from about 34,300 ratings. Connecting profiles and setting up approvals takes a little time, but people clearly get on with it. | CThere's no App Store rating on record for us to go by, and you'll set up workspaces, pages and approval steps first. So it gets the ordinary grade. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Canva, Zapier, Slack, a public API on Pro and an MCP connector. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | publishing, inbox and listening in one place | getting posts approved by clients |
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: Hootsuite and Planable. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hootsuite starts at $99 a month for each person and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Planable starts at $33 a month and scores 2.3.
Hootsuite scores higher, and starts $66 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other social media schedulers on the chart, none scores higher than Hootsuite for less, and 8 score higher than Planable 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
- Hootsuite starts at $99 per user / month, billed annually. Planable starts at $33 per workspace / month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly).
- Hootsuite also covers shared inbox and reports.
At a glance
| Hootsuite | Planable | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $99 per user / month, billed annually | $33 per workspace / month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | First 50 posts free, with no time limit and no credit card |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Hootsuite Inc. | Planable |
| Price read from | hootsuite.com | planable.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Hootsuite
- Marketing and social teams that also handle customer messages on social
- Brands that want listening and competitor tracking beside publishing
- Larger organizations that need approvals, routing and single sign-on
Planable
- Agencies that need clients to review and approve posts before they go out
- Brand teams with legal or multi-step sign-off
- Teams that want every reviewer to log in without seat fees
Worth knowing
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.
Planable
- The free start is 50 posts in total, not a monthly allowance, and X publishing is not available until a paid plan.
- Basic caps each workspace at 4 social pages and 60 posts a month, and publishes one X post every 24 hours.
- Analytics and the social inbox are not included on Basic or Pro; they cost $14 and $9 a workspace a month extra, billed monthly.
- Published posts are kept for 13 months on Basic and Pro, then deleted.
Key features
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.
Planable
- Feed, calendar and grid views
- Posts can be planned in a feed that previews each network, a calendar or an Instagram-style grid (Pro). Campaigns and labels group related content.
- Comments and approvals
- Reviewers annotate text, suggest edits and approve posts. Approvals can be optional on Basic, required on Pro and multi-step on Enterprise.
- Publishing to nine networks
- Scheduling covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Business Profile and Threads, with first comments and recurring posts.
- Universal content
- Newsletters, blog posts, ads and other non-social content can be planned and approved in the same calendar.
- AI writing and MCP connector
- AI rewrites and generates posts on every plan, and an MCP connector lets an AI assistant create and manage content across workspaces.
- Paid add-ons
- Analytics ($12 a workspace a month yearly), a comments and DMs inbox ($7.50) and social listening ($82.50), each with a 30-day trial.
Plans
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.
Planable
Basic$33
per workspace / month, billed yearly ($39 billed monthly)
Unlimited users, 4 social pages and 60 posts a month per workspace, optional approvals, feed and calendar views.
Pro$49
per workspace / month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)
10 social pages and 150 posts a month per workspace, required approvals, grid view, team-only drafts and notes, and the public API.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited posts, 50 pages per workspace, multi-level approvals, SSO, analytics and inbox add-ons included, and an account manager.
Ways to pay less
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.
Planable
- Annual discount
Two months free with yearly billing
Yearly billing brings Basic to $33 a workspace a month from $39, and Pro to $49 from $59.
