Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads
Buffer vs HubSpot vs Sprout Social
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small businesses, solo founders and creators who want to post regularly across several social networks without paying for an enterprise suite.
Pick it if: Service businesses, agencies and B2B teams that need contacts, deals and marketing in one system.
Pick it if: Marketing teams and agencies managing several brands' social accounts who need a shared inbox and client-ready reports.
Overview
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Schedules posts to every social network from one queue, with an AI writing helper. | A free CRM with AI agents that handle leads, support and content for you. | Plans social posts, answers comments and reports results for brands and agencies. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $6/channel/mo | From $800/mo | $79/seat/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2Winner | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | – | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | – |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | Yes | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | – | Yes | – |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 12/ 17 | 8/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free A sole trader posting a few times a week. | Free Free Anyone who needs a CRM and basic marketing tools without a budget. | Essentials $79/seat/mo billed yearly, or $99 monthly Small businesses that mainly schedule and publish. |
EssentialsOur pick $6/channel/mo, or $5/channel/mo billed yearly One person running a business's social accounts. | Marketing Hub StarterOur pick $20/seat/mo, currently $7/seat/mo for new customers Small teams ready to remove the branding and send more. | Standard $199/seat/mo billed yearly Small teams that need the shared inbox. | |
Team $12/channel/mo, or $10/channel/mo billed yearly Small teams who need approvals. | Marketing Hub Professional From $800/mo billed yearly, or $890/mo Marketing teams that need real automation. | ProfessionalOur pick $299/seat/mo billed yearly Agencies and teams managing many brands. | |
Marketing Hub Enterprise From $3,600/mo Large teams with several brands or business units. | Advanced $399/seat/mo billed yearly Customer care teams with high message volume. | ||
Enterprise Custom Large brands with security and onboarding needs. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Start on Free to see if you will actually post regularly. Move to Essentials once you need more than 10 posts queued per channel; Team is only worth it when someone else needs to approve posts. | Run the free CRM for as long as you can; it covers most small businesses. Starter is the sensible first paid step when you want the branding gone and more sends. Only move to Professional when you have a specific automation in mind that will pay for the jump. | A small business that mostly posts can stop at Essentials. Agencies and teams with more than five profiles need Professional. Paying monthly costs more than the yearly prices shown, and add-ons like Listening are quoted separately. |
Key features
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standout features |
|
|
|
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pros |
|
|
|
| Cons |
|
|
|
Who each one is for
| Attribute | Buffer | HubSpot | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
|
|
|
| You'll find it used by |
|
|
|
Questions people ask
Which is better, Buffer, HubSpot or Sprout Social?
Buffer scores highest overall in our ratings (Buffer 4.2/5, HubSpot 4.1/5 and Sprout Social 4.0/5). Buffer is best for scheduling posts across many networks and small teams on a tight budget. HubSpot is best for tracking leads and deals and B2B email marketing. Sprout Social is best for agencies reporting to clients and teams answering comments and DMs together.
Which is cheaper, Buffer, HubSpot or Sprout Social?
Buffer: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $6/channel/mo. HubSpot: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $800/mo. Sprout Social: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $79/seat/mo.
Which is easier to use, Buffer, HubSpot or Sprout Social?
Buffer rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Small businesses, solo founders and creators who want to post regularly across several social networks without paying for an enterprise suite.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
Swap in another tool
More tools from Marketing & Ads in the library.
