MavSocial vs Sprout Social (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MavSocial and Sprout Social share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about value for money, where MavSocial grades higher, or features, where Sprout Social does.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MavSocial
Social publishing, inbox and ads tool for multi-location brands
Sprout Social
Social media management with a shared inbox, listening and reports
Which one is for you
Pick MavSocial if
- Fits if you run several franchise or branch pages and want reviews and posts in one place
- Works for a lone social manager on the single-user plan
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a free plan; it's a 14-day trial only
- Too light for teams on the $24 plan, which is one user
- Pricey if you need approvals or permissions, which start at Business, $208 a month on yearly billing
- Watch out: ads management starts at Enterprise at $333 a month and up, and Business and Enterprise are sold through a demo
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
| 2.2GPAMavSocialFair | 2.2GPASprout SocialFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$24 a month on yearly billing for 1 user and 10 profiles ($29 monthly), at the category middle of $24.99. The step to a team is steep: $65 for 3 users, then $208 for 5. | 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 | CNo free plan. A 14-day trial needs no card. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no card needed, twice the usual 14 days here. |
| Features | CPublishing, queues, calendar, inbox, reviews, listening and reports. The listing shows where it stops: approvals start at Business and ads management at Enterprise. | 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. Accounts to connect, queues and a calendar to build, and the upper plans go through a demo. | 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 | BWeb plus iOS and Android apps, with Google Business Profile, Bitly and Google Analytics connections. | 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 | publishing for multi-location brands and franchises | 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: MavSocial and Sprout Social. How we grade
Price against what you get
MavSocial starts at $24 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sprout Social starts at $79 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Sprout Social scores higher, and starts $55 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other social media schedulers on the chart, 11 score higher than MavSocial for less, and 3 score higher than Sprout Social 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
- MavSocial also covers templates, rSS reader and review collection.
At a glance
| MavSocial | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $24 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($29 billed monthly) | $79 per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required. | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | MavSocial | Sprout Social, Inc. |
| Price read from | mavsocial.com | sproutsocial.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MavSocial
- Business and Enterprise are sold through a demo request, not a self-serve checkout.
- Approvals and permission management start at Business, and ads management starts at Enterprise.
- Profile and user counts are fixed by plan; extra profiles cost $6 a month and extra users $20 a month on Business when billed annually.
- The $24 annual rate is shown on the page as two months free compared with monthly billing.
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
MavSocial
- Publishing and queues
- Schedule unlimited posts, repeat evergreen content in queues and upload posts in bulk from a spreadsheet.
- Campaign calendar
- A visual calendar and campaign planner group posts so engagement can be reported by campaign.
- Social inbox and reviews
- One inbox for comments and messages, with saved replies, assignments and Facebook and Google review replies.
- Social listening
- Track keywords and terms to find and join conversations about a topic.
- Reports
- Performance reports that can be sent automatically to stakeholders daily, weekly or monthly.
- Ads management
- Boosted and dark ads for Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn are managed on the Enterprise plan.
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
MavSocial
Advanced$24
per month for 1 user, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
1 user, 10 social profiles, unlimited scheduled posts, publishing queues, bulk uploader and calendar.
Pro$65
per month for 3 users, billed annually ($78 billed monthly)
Everything in Advanced with 3 users and 30 social profiles.
Business$208
per month for 5 users, billed annually ($249 billed monthly)
Adds permission management and an approval workflow; extra profiles $6 and extra users $20 a month; sold through a demo.
Enterprise$333
per month and up, billed annually ($399 billed monthly)
Adds Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X ads management, bulk Facebook ads and white label; sold through a demo.
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
MavSocial
- Annual discount
Two months free with annual billing
MavSocial's pricing page shows annual billing at a lower monthly rate and says it gives 2 months free.
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, MavSocial or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MavSocial starts at $24 per month for 1 user, billed annually ($29 billed monthly), and Sprout Social starts at $79 per seat / month, billed annually ($99 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, MavSocial or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither MavSocial nor Sprout Social has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.