Hootsuite vs Social Champ (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hootsuite grades higher than Social Champ: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hootsuite grades higher on features and ease of use. Social Champ 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
Social Champ
Social media scheduler priced per profile or in bundles
Which one is for you
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
Pick Social Champ if
- Fits if you are a solo user or small brand with a handful of accounts
- Works for agencies who want per-profile or flat-rate pricing
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 15 scheduled posts across 3 accounts
- Pricey if you post to X, because it's charged per profile on top
- Watch out: per-account prices only drop at 11, 21 and 41 accounts
- Watch out: Standard can't add users, extra Professional users are $8 each, and Enterprise has no published price
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAHootsuiteGood | 2.4GPASocial ChampFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BStarter is $4 per account a month on yearly billing ($5 monthly); the flat Standard bundle is $23.20 for 6 accounts. |
| 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. | CFree plan: 3 social accounts, 1 user, 15 scheduled posts. 14-day trial on paid plans, no card. |
| 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 need Advanced at $399 a user. | CScheduling, inbox, design editor, approvals, listening and reports. X publishing costs extra per profile. |
| Ease of use | AIts iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 from about 34,300 ratings. Connecting profiles and setting up approvals takes some setup first. | CNo store rating on record. Accounts and workspaces to set up. |
| 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, iOS, Android and an extension, with Google Drive, Dropbox, Canva, WordPress, Salesforce and HubSpot, plus an API on Agency. |
| Best for | publishing, inbox and listening in one place | paying per social account |
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 Social Champ. 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. Social Champ starts at $4 a month and scores 2.3.
Hootsuite scores higher, and starts $95 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 none scores higher than Social Champ 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
At a glance
| Hootsuite | Social Champ | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $99 per user / month, billed annually | $4 per social account / month, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | 3 social accounts, 1 user and 15 scheduled posts. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial on paid plans, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Hootsuite Inc. | Social Champ |
| Price read from | hootsuite.com | socialchamp.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
Social Champ
- Pay-per-profile prices rise with every connected account, though the per-account rate drops at 11, 21 and 41 accounts.
- X (Twitter) publishing is an add-on charged per profile.
- Extra users on Professional cost $8 per user a month, and Standard cannot add users.
- Enterprise (SSO, Salesforce, HubSpot, custom integrations) has no published price.
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.
Social Champ
- Scheduling and bulk upload
- Unlimited post scheduling on paid plans, with bulk upload on the bundled plans, across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and more.
- Social inbox
- Messages and comments sit in one inbox, and Discord messages and app-store and G2 reviews can be routed into it.
- Design editor
- Every plan includes templates, seven post sizes, charts of your analytics, background removal and a retouch tool.
- Approvals and client management
- Approval workflows start as basic on Standard and become multi-layer on Professional, with client management on the higher tiers.
- Listening and competitor analysis
- Growth and the bundled Agency plan include social listening, and Professional adds competitor analysis and automation rules.
- Analytics and reports
- Analytics on all paid plans, with cross-platform analytics on Professional and white-label reports on Agency.
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.
Social Champ
Free$0
3 social accounts, 1 user and 15 scheduled posts.
Starter$4
per social account / month, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly)
Pay per profile: unlimited scheduling, 1 user, 1 workspace, analytics, social inbox. Per-account price falls from $4 to $3, $2 and $0.50 in steps.
Growth$8
per social account / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly)
Pay per profile: unlimited users and workspaces, approvals, client management, social listening and competitor analysis.
Standard$23.20
per month for 6 accounts, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly)
Flat-rate bundle with 6 social accounts, 2 users, 1 workspace, bulk upload, MCP access and the Champ AI suite.
Professional$47.20
per month for 12 accounts, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)
12 accounts, 5 users, 3 workspaces, multi-layer approvals, automation rules and WhatsApp Business.
Agency$119.20
per month for 30 accounts, billed yearly ($149 billed monthly)
30 accounts, unlimited users and workspaces, white-label reports, REST API access and social listening.
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.
Social Champ
- Annual discount
Up to 20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page shows yearly billing as up to 20% cheaper, for example Standard at $23.20 a month against $29.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hootsuite or Social Champ?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hootsuite starts at $99 per user / month, billed annually, and Social Champ starts at $4 per social account / month, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly). 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, Hootsuite or Social Champ?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Social Champ has a free plan. Hootsuite does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Hootsuite and Social Champ run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Social Champ lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.