Rival IQ vs Sprout Social (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sprout Social grades higher than Rival IQ: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Sprout Social grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Rival IQ
Social media benchmarking against competitors, with reports
Sprout Social
Social media management with a shared inbox, listening and reports
Which one is for you
Pick Rival IQ if
- Fits if your job is comparing your social results with competitors
- Works for agencies that report on several clients every month
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you track a handful of rivals, as the entry plan is $199 a month
- Tight if you need history, because Drive keeps 6 months and one user
- Skip it if you need to publish posts, as it lists no scheduling
- Watch out: monthly plans are paid by credit card only, and history starts when you first track a company
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
| 1.8GPARival IQWeak | 2.2GPASprout SocialFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DDrive is $199 a month billed yearly ($239 monthly), against a dearest-tenth line of $129 for social tools. Extra companies are $50 a month per 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 | CA 14-day free trial with no card, and no free plan. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no card needed, twice the usual 14 days here. |
| Features | CBenchmarking, post and hashtag analysis, scheduled reports, alerts and listening on dearer plans. The pricing page lists no publishing or scheduling. | 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. You add companies and handles before the reports mean anything. | 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. A Data Studio connector sits on Engage and above, and API access is a paid add-on on Engage Pro. | 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 | benchmarking your social accounts against competitors | 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: Rival IQ and Sprout Social. How we grade
Price against what you get
Rival IQ starts at $199 a month and scores 2.0 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 $120 a month lower. Of the other social media schedulers on the chart, 35 score higher than Rival IQ 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
- Rival IQ also covers dashboards.
- Sprout Social also covers calendar and shared inbox.
At a glance
| Rival IQ | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $199 per month, billed annually ($239 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 | Rival IQ | Sprout Social, Inc. |
| Price read from | rivaliq.com | sproutsocial.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Rival IQ
- Plans are capped by tracked companies (10, 20 or 40), and extra companies are sold in packs of 5 for $50 a month.
- Rival IQ is for analytics and listening; the pricing page lists no publishing or scheduling.
- Data history is limited by plan, from 6 months on Drive to 24 on Engage Pro, and begins when a company is first tracked.
- Monthly plans can be paid only by credit card; invoicing is offered on annual plans.
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
Rival IQ
- Competitive benchmarking
- Tracks one handle per network for each company you add, so your accounts can be compared with competitors, partners or influencers.
- Social posts analysis
- Analyzes every available post from the tracked companies, with hashtag analysis and a chart builder that is included on every plan.
- Scheduled reports and alerts
- Reports can be exported as CSV, PowerPoint, PDF or PNG and delivered automatically. Email alerts flag a breakout post or a change by a tracked company.
- Social listening
- Saved searches monitor topics and mentions continuously on Engage and above, and Instant Search covers one-off research.
- Private account analytics
- Engage adds reporting on your own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn data, and Facebook Ads reports and alerts.
- Data Studio connector
- Engage and Engage Pro can send social metrics into Google Data Studio. API access is a paid add-on on Engage Pro.
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
Rival IQ
Drive$199
per month for 10 companies, billed annually ($239 billed monthly)
10 tracked companies, 6 months of data history and 1 user. Extra companies cost $50 a month per 5; extra users $10 a month.
Engage$299
per month for 20 companies, billed annually ($349 billed monthly)
20 companies, 12 months of history, 2 users, 2 social listening saved searches, private data analysis and Facebook Ads reporting.
Engage Pro$469
per month for 40 companies, billed annually ($559 billed monthly)
40 companies, 24 months of history, 5 users, 10 listening saved searches, multi-handle private data and estimated impressions.
EnterpriseCustom
Enterprise and volume packages for larger tracking needs, quoted by the sales team.
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
Rival IQ
- Annual discount
Save 15% with annual billing
Rival IQ's pricing page says annual plans save 15% against monthly billing.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit pricing and training
The pricing FAQ says Rival IQ offers nonprofit pricing and training; the terms are given on request.
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, Rival IQ or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Rival IQ starts at $199 per month, billed annually ($239 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, Rival IQ or Sprout Social?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Rival IQ nor Sprout Social has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Rival IQ 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.