Khoros Marketing vs. Sprout Social

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Khoros Marketing
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium) is a social media management platform. Key features include: Plan and Organize Social Campaigns, Manage Real-Time Engagement, and Learn and Prove Social ImpactN/A
Sprout Social
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Sprout Social provides social media management, marketing, customer care, data and intelligence, and employee advocacy solutions for brands and agencies, including Ticketmaster, Chipotle, Grubhub, Subaru, and Zendesk. Sprout’s platform is used to simplify social publishing, engagement, reviews, analytics and listening for customers. Sprout also provides customer success and technical support, to deliver consistent value to all users. Any organization, regardless of size or industry, receives…
$249
per month per user
Pricing
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Standard
$199 annual / $249 monthly
per user/per month
Professional
$299 annual / $399 monthly
per user/per month
Advanced
$399 annual / $499 monthly
per user/per month
Free Trial
Free
for 30 days
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Considered Both Products
Khoros Marketing
Chose Khoros Marketing
It has been several years since I have used Sprout Social, so it is difficult to compare. I began using Khoros when I began a new job 2.5 years ago. I will say that despite having several years of experience using Sprout, making the transition to Khoros was simple. I understood …
Chose Khoros Marketing
Sprout Social has a better mobile interface IMHO but the depth of feature in Khoros is unmatched.
Chose Khoros Marketing
I wasn't involved in the selection process in my current position. However, I would say Khoros compares favourably to Sprout Social. The features are comparable and the reliability of the tool is great. Scheduling posts is quick and easy, so training other users is generally …
Chose Khoros Marketing
I would say they are pretty similar. I do find the look and ease of the tabs in Hootsuite to be very beneficial, as well as the best time to schedule/post based on historic engagement in Sprout Social to be very beneficial. I would appreciate either or both of these features …
Chose Khoros Marketing
I wasn't involved in the selection process. However, I know that the previous tool was Salesforce Social Studio and it was decided to dismiss it because of the need to have a more efficient tool for social media management. Moreover, Khoros Marketing gives you way more features …
Chose Khoros Marketing
Khoros has more offerings than Sprout Social. We can post more format types, more data feedsin (TikTok), reporting templates can be more detailed than Sproutsocial.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Sprout has more feature and more options for social networks.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Sprout is much more user friendly and aesthetic. The mobile app is also much more useable.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Khoros met a specific technical need that other vendors couldn't provide for us. However, in terms of interface and performance, my impression was that there was little difference between it and its closest competitors.
Chose Khoros Marketing
I would say Khoros is among the better platforms I've evaluated, near the top of the pack.
Chose Khoros Marketing
We would prefer to have everything done under one software rather than having to switch between software because Khoros doesn't have everything we need.
Chose Khoros Marketing
We evaluated these two platforms as due diligence before deciding to continue using Khoros. Overall, the employees involved in the evaluation were more impressed with Khoros' demos and pricing.
Chose Khoros Marketing
They stand very close together but ultimately we are more familiar with Khoros and have put more time and energy into implementing the platform into our workflow.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Khoros' product offering supports multiple teams within the enterprise whereas many of their competitors lacked 1 product or another, which would have required us to vet, sign, and renew with multiple vendors. My team vets competing platforms every year, and Khoros continues to …
Chose Khoros Marketing
I was not involved in the decision to select Khoros but I've seen no reason to replace them through two renewal cycles.
Chose Khoros Marketing
The combination of scalability, enterprise functionality, and user experience is incomparable.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Spredfast is more robust but for sure much more expensive. We went with Spredfast because of the size of our company and its robust reporting.
Chose Khoros Marketing
We honestly really liked the people at Khoros, and it set them apart from the rest of the products and people that we evaluated when first making our decision almost five years ago. The platform has tons of features, but wasn't super overwhelming like some of others that we …
Chose Khoros Marketing
Khoros Marketing (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium) had more robust publishing features and better API integrations than the others. It allowed us to do more from within the platform rather than having to do a lot of things in the organic social platforms. We also liked the way it …
Chose Khoros Marketing
Khoros is very easy to use and have a great CSM team that makes us feel supported. We didn't feel that the others could manage the number of accounts and users we had available and would be more difficult for our regional teams to use. The layout and analytics reports are easy …
Chose Khoros Marketing
The legal disclaimer our industry must undergo with third party apps and platforms is strict - Khoros was able to meet the parameters. I have no complaints with the feature it has compared to some other social channels. I would like to see more hashtag research tools, and "best …
Chose Khoros Marketing
We selected Khoros because it fit the larger organization structure and capabilities the best.
Chose Khoros Marketing
Every other year, we evaluate social media monitoring, engagement, analytics, and display tools. Khoros consistently comes out on top for its strong products, great support, competent services team, and fair price point. I highly recommend them for organizations that want a …
Sprout Social
Chose Sprout Social
Our organization previously used Spredfast (now Khoros), which was useful but limited in functionality. A few years ago we transitioned to Sprout Social, which at the time appeared to be a more dynamic product and an overall better fit for our organization. I can't speak to the …
Chose Sprout Social
I believe that Spredfast and Sprinklr are better in terms of community management and brand engagement. Spredfast has great reporting capabilities, however, the Sprout interface and overall display is easier to navigate and display a PDF for clients on how our content is doing …
Chose Sprout Social
Hootsuite, Gremln, Spredfast
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Listening/monitoring
Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
6.4
117 Ratings
18% below category average
Sprout Social
7.2
53 Ratings
6% below category average
Boolean keyword searches7.290 Ratings6.739 Ratings
Filtering out noise/spam5.999 Ratings6.943 Ratings
Sentiment analysis6.889 Ratings6.924 Ratings
Broad channel coverage5.8111 Ratings8.134 Ratings
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
7.3
148 Ratings
8% below category average
Sprout Social
4.9
57 Ratings
47% below category average
Content planning and scheduling8.4146 Ratings7.057 Ratings
Audience targeting7.2112 Ratings3.148 Ratings
Content optimization5.05 Ratings3.749 Ratings
Workflow management8.4130 Ratings5.952 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
7.5
113 Ratings
7% below category average
Sprout Social
5.9
55 Ratings
31% below category average
Automated routing and prioritization7.290 Ratings2.825 Ratings
Customer interaction histories7.7103 Ratings7.751 Ratings
Bulk actions7.494 Ratings7.246 Ratings
Marketing
Comparison of Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
7.0
103 Ratings
9% below category average
Sprout Social
4.7
39 Ratings
48% below category average
Lead generation6.747 Ratings2.531 Ratings
Content marketing6.686 Ratings3.135 Ratings
Paid media management7.12 Ratings6.23 Ratings
Campaigns and promotions7.790 Ratings7.24 Ratings
Channel coverage/integration
Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
7.6
147 Ratings
11% below category average
Sprout Social
7.5
59 Ratings
13% below category average
Twitter7.7138 Ratings7.757 Ratings
Facebook7.9143 Ratings6.459 Ratings
LinkedIn7.5105 Ratings8.252 Ratings
Google+9.018 Ratings7.721 Ratings
Instagram7.3132 Ratings7.049 Ratings
Pinterest6.346 Ratings7.214 Ratings
YouTube7.533 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
7.1
131 Ratings
10% below category average
Sprout Social
5.8
58 Ratings
30% below category average
Campaign success analytics8.0121 Ratings4.354 Ratings
Real-time tracking6.6120 Ratings6.455 Ratings
Competitor analysis6.777 Ratings6.847 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Khoros Marketing
6.1
136 Ratings
29% below category average
Sprout Social
7.6
58 Ratings
7% below category average
Role-based user permissions & privileges6.4132 Ratings7.655 Ratings
Mobile access5.8112 Ratings7.551 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Small Businesses
Publer
Publer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Publer
Publer
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(184 ratings)
7.4
(115 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(34 ratings)
9.0
(62 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(29 ratings)
7.0
(42 ratings)
Availability
9.7
(11 ratings)
7.7
(8 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(8 ratings)
8.0
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(31 ratings)
5.1
(37 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.9
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
6.0
(7 ratings)
7.3
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.7
(24 ratings)
10.0
(11 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.3
(122 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Khoros MarketingSprout Social
Likelihood to Recommend
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
The best it could be used for is running campaigns. Be it a product launch or be it any new event that you are hosting. If you need to quickly grab attention, then this might be your choice. Also the report given after the campaign is a good insight for improving your next campaign.
Read full review
Sprout Social
Sprout [Social] is great for small businesses, small agencies and those who need a platform but don't want to spend a fortune. If you need multiple user log-in's, the cost will add up. This is great to share a log-in for different people to use or add one or two users
Read full review
Pros
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
  • Reporting is great - easy to create bespoke dashboards for multiple ways to view the data and trends in platform
  • Onboarding and training - a good repository of knowledge articles for users to access on most aspects of the platform for self-learning
  • The user-friendly and intuitive interface allows any user to quickly assimilate how to use the platform.
Read full review
Sprout Social
  • The Landscape system that Sprout Social offers allows me to modify all the images that I want to publish on my social networks. This service allows me to modify the size of the image, add filters, modify the colors and much more, it is a very important tool to be able to have a better presentation of the images that we use in our publications on social networks.
  • It offers me a perfect statistical system where I can consult all kinds of movements that have occurred in all my social networks, I can see statistics individually or generally. The statistics allow me to see group reports, participation, information on audience movement on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and also allow me to view the activity that has occurred in my account.
  • Sprout Social allows me to view a record in real time that shows me all the movements that my social networks are having by my employees. As Director of the Marketing Sector, this is a very important role, as I can know what actions my employees are taking to improve marketing with social networks.
Read full review
Cons
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
  • Look and feel of the interface could use a refresh as it's not very exciting to use
  • Improve analytics features and accuracy
  • Facilitate bulk actions
  • Better alerts/visibility of collaborative actions and assigned tasks
  • Clearer communication around new feature releases and announcements
Read full review
Sprout Social
  • I'd love to see more robust tag reporting capabilities, but they mentioned that this is something in the pipeline for improvement.
  • I wish it was easier to batch content and shift it to approval or draft mode. Sometimes clients can change their mind and moving through each post individually can be a bit time consuming. This is a very minor thing.
  • I'd love to see more customization options come to its reporting feature so we can insert graphics. Currently it supports the insertion of text only.
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Likelihood to Renew
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
There is no product like Khoros. Our company lives and dies by the analytics, and to date, we have not seen a more comprehensive analytics structure for any social media management tool. Khoros support is also fantastic, responding and resolving any and all questions, ideas, or complaints, usually in 24 hours.
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Sprout Social
While I am currently no longer working with the company in which I was employed and utilized Sprout Social, I do know that the company is still utilizing Sprout Social on a daily basis and I do not foresee a time when the subscription would be cancelled.
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Usability
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
Khoros Marketing is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. The calendar visibility is the view I use most so I can see all posts going out on all of our channels. It allows us to time posts in a proper cadence so we don't overlap with other pressing content.
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Sprout Social
Sprout Social is extremely user-friendly. The publishing feature is easy to use, and provides previews of what your content will look like once posted. I also love the calendar view where you can view all posts you have scheduled for the month. The collaborative nature of the platform makes working directly in Sprout Social with clients a breeze, and we are seeing our content get approved much faster.
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Reliability and Availability
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
• We still experience a bit of downtime and slowness here but things have drastically improved in the last year with their feature updates and reconfigured hosting.
Read full review
Sprout Social
Uptime was OK, but given the fact that we are in Europe, there were some specific problems: They tended to take the system down for maintenance during the night in the US, which was during our workday. This was definitely problematic and hard to explain to our clients.
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Performance
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
Khoros has greatly improved the performance of its SaaS products in the last 5 years. Their applications, including Conversations, Intelligence, and Experiences, all load quickly with real-time data. This performance is critical to provide meaningful, social customer support, and marketing. The performance maintains integrity even when you deploy powerful integrations like Salesforce Customer Relationship Manager.
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Sprout Social
It is quick to post, however you have to refresh the page every time you add a new scheduled item.
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Support Rating
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
Overall, support does a great job and is timely in their responses and efforts. We have had to contact support many times due to the Capture app. Some tickets have remained open for months, while others get resolved quickly. I understand this is not always up to support and they often have to wait for their engineering team to fix issues that we identified, but it's difficult to deal with issues that are affecting our workflow, especially for extended amounts of time.
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Sprout Social
Sprout Social's customer support is extremely prompt and always helpful. Not only do they provide quick and useful service, but the representatives follow up multiple times to ensure that the issue is fully address and/or completely resolved. The overall experience is exemplary; very few other companies provide comparable service.
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In-Person Training
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
• As a very early customer, we did not undergo formal training but worked closely with the team to get the system set up to do what we wanted. However, online training resources are now available with many blog posts / video lessons and tutorials.
Read full review
Sprout Social
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
it is important to note that my perspective is not necessarily common - I'm a geek/nerd/poweruser in general, so I found the online resources to be more than adequate (and often very aesthetically pleasing, too). That said, a less "geeky" person might struggle a bit.
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Sprout Social
Their training is good, but the promotion of it is even better. I don't need or have the time for training, but I was always happy to know it was there. They did a great job sending updates out and making me aware when there was a new feature that I may want training for. As for the training I never used it, so I can't comment on that
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Implementation Rating
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
The implementation team from Khoros were great - they worked hard to understand our somewhat complex organization, and were with us all the way through face to face meetings, user training, and technical training. We had a clearly defined account manager and implementation manager, who worked really effectively together and with us.
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Sprout Social
Make sure you do it all the way. Do not break it into phases. Pour yourself a coffee, start it in the morning and you'll be done before you finish that coffee.
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Alternatives Considered
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
On some accounts that I am on, I use Asana in place of Khoros marketing but I much prefer Khoros Marketing. I prefer Khoros Marketing over Asana because I can post directly (and schedule posts) on Khoros but not on Asana. Also, I can moderate directly on Khoros but not Asana
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Sprout Social
I used Buffer previous to Sprout Social for two years. It was a good solution as we were getting a handle on scheduling content. It was the first real tool we had for this. But we outgrew it and they began removing features that were critical to our workflow, such as the RSS Feed. While their 50% off policy for non-profits was very helpful, once we started adding up the cost to use features like Replies and Analytics, we discovered that our needs were simply too robust for Buffer to handle. Sprout Social was the solution suggested by all our peers and we've been very happy with it ever since.
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Scalability
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
Khoros seems to struggle a little past a certain level of scale. More than 30 separate per day makes it difficult to view all content in the weekly calendar view, which is frustrating and could cause issues. However, the ability to schedule one post across multiple channels is hugely valuable and cuts down on a lot of duplicative work.
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Sprout Social
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Khoros (Formerly Spredfast + Lithium)
  • Negatively impacted relationship with Khoros as they're notoriously difficult to engage with or able to produce viable results from our feedback.
  • Negatively impacted KPI reporting, as metrics were inaccurate for six months.
  • Negatively impacted resource management, as there've been so many restrictions with this platform that simple, day-to-day tasks take so much longer.
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Sprout Social
  • Sprout has given insights to lead our creative refreshes every quarter. As we have a healthy budget on paid social, it is crucial to understand the type of creative that works best.
  • Sprout has the ability to send notifications based on certain types of messages received. This is crucial for social media teams who don't have 24/7 coverage but need to be notified of urgent matters.
  • Sprout has saved me hours of time as I no longer pull analytics natively from each social platform. The generated reports give me a look at all of the platforms and can be customized.
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ScreenShots

Sprout Social Screenshots

Screenshot of Sprout’s social media publishing tools, used to schedule and post messages to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn simultaneously from a single Compose window.