Buffer vs. Sprout Social

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Buffer
Score 8.5 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Buffer is a social sharing tool. When browsing content, clicking on the Buffer icon automatically stores the content and schedules posts to social media channels throughout the day.
$15
per month
Sprout Social
Score 8.6 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
BufferSprout Social
Editions & Modules
Publish Pro
$15
per month
Analyze Pro
$35
per month
Analyze Premium
$50
per month
Publish Premium
$65
per month
Publish Business
$99
per month
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
BufferSprout Social
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsHere are the prices of our various plans: Pro: $15/month Small Business: $99/month Medium Business: $199/month Large Business: $399/month Enterprise: Feel free to get in touch with us at onboarding@buffer.com. All plans can be paid on either a monthly or yearly basis. If you choose to pay yearly, you would receive a 15% discount, which works out to be approximately two months free per year.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BufferSprout Social
Considered Both Products
Buffer
Chose Buffer
I've previously used Sprout Social and while I think that is a more robust product overall (including its reporting/tracking capabilities), the cost is much more manageable with Buffer. As compared to Hootsuite, Buffer has a far more intuitive interface and makes it simpler to …
Chose Buffer
Hootsuite and Sprout Social also allow for multiple account management and easy scheduling of content. However, the functionality of Buffer and the ease of interface make it superior to the rest.
Chose Buffer
Buffer is a very cost-friendly tool with similar functionality to the tools above (Hootsuite/Sprout Social). While the other tools may offer more functionality or a better user experience, Buffer is by far the most cost-friendly option that still allows for a good and reliable …
Chose Buffer
I like Buffer better than Hootsuite or Sprout Social because it's so much easier to use and their customer service is second to none. I love Buffer support and they are constantly improving. I also love the interface the most. It's clean, simple, and easy to use. Hootsuite is …
Chose Buffer
I've always found Hootsuite's user interface to be a bit clunky when compared to Buffer. I find myself troubleshooting issues more often on Hootsuite, as well. I think that you can connect more accounts and add more posts to Hootsuite at a time but have found Buffer's limits to …
Chose Buffer
Initially we selected Buffer because it is an effective tool for a low cost, especially compared to Sprout Social.

It’s pared down and doesn’t have as many bells and whistles but that is nice when you want to simply accomplish posting.
Chose Buffer
I've used Sprout Social for two clients now and find it somewhat difficult to use. I'm sure there are ways to circumvent the issues, but I've even tried talking to/working with customer service and one issue just couldn't be worked out.
Buffer is easy. I've maybe had to contact …
Chose Buffer
I think Sprout Social and Hootsuite provide more comprehensive tools and analytics, but they have more expensive plans that don't cater to businesses of all sizes. Plus, all of that complexity can make it hard to find what you're looking for. That's where Buffer excels. It's …
Chose Buffer
They all solve the same problem. Buffer initially started as a way to post content without worrying about the "when". Just add to the queue, and Buffer would post at a specified cadence. Buffer's price point is very reasonable for the services that it offers. They've grown …
Chose Buffer
Buffer had the best free version, but Zoho Social had the most social media channels available in the price range.
Hootsuite was the tool we first wanted, but the price was considerably more, for tools we are not sure if we need at this time.
Chose Buffer
We selected this tool to maintain the activity of publication in social networks at a low cost and good productivity, we consider that it adds to our objectives of brand awareness or discovery, since it allows us to keep our channels active with information and content that we …
Chose Buffer
I would recommend Buffer for ease of use, social media intergration and costs, also Buffer rarely has any issues or downtime. If they do they warn you well in advance.
Chose Buffer
I find it easy for a business to implement this versus a larger tool (Hootsuite). Easy to quickly schedule in content and keep it within the dashboard.
Chose Buffer
It comes at a better price and is easier to navigate and learn with.
Chose Buffer
I feel that Buffer is very much an entry level product because it lacks some of the additional functionality offered by other tools. In that sense I recommend it only for small companies, or those just starting out with scheduling. In terms of scheduling content it does that …
Chose Buffer
Buffer is way more intuitive than Hootsuite. While it doesn't have the in-depth reporting or social media inbox Sprout Social offers, it makes up for it in simplicity, cost and customer service. Sprout Social is a great tool with equally good customer service, but the cost is …
Sprout Social
Chose Sprout Social
We needed something more thorough than the free products we had tested (Hootsuite and TweetDeck), but the more robust products (Falcon) were out of our budget. Sprout hit the sweet spot of having everything we needed at the time for the right price.
Chose Sprout Social
I've found that Sprout Social has more capabilities than other social platforms, and goes above and beyond in its functionality and support. I also think that Sprout Social has one of the cleanest, easy to use interfaces of all the social platforms. Hootsuite and TweetDeck, for …
Chose Sprout Social
I didn't select Sprout. Clients selected it. I would recommend Buffer. I also wanted one client to evaluate AgoraPulse. I haven's used Hootsuite enough to know it would stack up. The primary reason the one client selected Sprout was for the approval ability. I definitely feel …
Chose Sprout Social
Sprout Social's hashtag trend identification and analysis capabilities, overall real-time analytics, and simple ramp-up were the major draws of the product for our team. By comparison, Hootsuite's column-oriented dashboard is the most customizable and optimal for seeing "the …
Chose Sprout Social
Well, it depends on what you're looking for. If you want a one-stop shop social media management tool, then it's better than Hootsuite, but Buffer beats Sprout Social's scheduling features. TweetDeck beats Sprout's social listening features. Twitter provides way better Twitter …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BufferSprout Social
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.6
68 Ratings
7% above category average
Sprout Social
8.5
110 Ratings
6% above category average
Content planning and scheduling9.068 Ratings9.5110 Ratings
Content optimization8.061 Ratings8.296 Ratings
Workflow management8.757 Ratings8.896 Ratings
Audience targeting00 Ratings7.787 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
8.2
63 Ratings
4% above category average
Sprout Social
8.7
111 Ratings
10% above category average
Campaign success analytics8.263 Ratings8.7103 Ratings
Real-time tracking00 Ratings8.6100 Ratings
Competitor analysis00 Ratings8.889 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
9.0
65 Ratings
12% above category average
Sprout Social
8.1
104 Ratings
1% above category average
Role-based user permissions & privileges9.052 Ratings8.299 Ratings
Mobile access9.062 Ratings7.992 Ratings
Listening/monitoring
Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Sprout Social
7.9
87 Ratings
3% above category average
Boolean keyword searches00 Ratings7.665 Ratings
Filtering out noise/spam00 Ratings7.576 Ratings
Sentiment analysis00 Ratings7.656 Ratings
Broad channel coverage00 Ratings8.965 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Sprout Social
8.1
100 Ratings
2% above category average
Automated routing and prioritization00 Ratings7.962 Ratings
Customer interaction histories00 Ratings8.288 Ratings
Bulk actions00 Ratings8.285 Ratings
Marketing
Comparison of Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Sprout Social
7.3
78 Ratings
6% below category average
Lead generation00 Ratings7.357 Ratings
Content marketing00 Ratings8.574 Ratings
Paid media management00 Ratings6.23 Ratings
Campaigns and promotions00 Ratings7.24 Ratings
Channel coverage/integration
Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Product A and Product B
Buffer
-
Ratings
Sprout Social
8.7
110 Ratings
3% above category average
Twitter00 Ratings9.098 Ratings
Facebook00 Ratings9.2109 Ratings
LinkedIn00 Ratings9.1100 Ratings
Google+00 Ratings8.136 Ratings
Instagram00 Ratings9.099 Ratings
Pinterest00 Ratings8.633 Ratings
YouTube00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BufferSprout Social
Small Businesses
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BufferSprout Social
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(88 ratings)
8.7
(168 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
9.5
(65 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(24 ratings)
8.7
(95 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(2 ratings)
7.7
(8 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.0
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
6.2
(23 ratings)
5.8
(38 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(23 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
BufferSprout Social
Likelihood to Recommend
Buffer
It helps me save hours by devoting only half an hour in a month's worth of posting, in addition to that it is quite simple to use. Buffer for scheduling social posts well in advance, but I have begun using it instead of posting natively on the social apps themselves because it makes it super easy to post the same messages to more than one platform.
Read full review
Sprout Social
IMO it's best for an organization that has a lot of different people working on social media. They could be in different departments or just different members of the same team responsible for different types of posts (corporate, e-commerce, branding, etc.). I don't think it's as vital for a one-person team working solely within the Meta platform, for instance, especially if they're less concerned with detailed analytics.
Read full review
Pros
Buffer
  • I can plan and publish content on social channels.
  • Buffer's interface is quite tidy and generates the necessary facilities to save us time in publishing consistent content.
  • It has a special price; it is pretty affordable.
  • It has the possibility of integrating with other tools to improve its functions.
Read full review
Sprout Social
  • For each account, customize posts for each platform, and schedule them to go live simultaneously.
  • Employee Advocacy via Sprout Social has integrated AI assistance for captions. Usually I would generate one suggested caption for employees to use/stem from when re-sharing to their socials. But now, EA message ideas display in random orders to better promote the full range of content.
  • Sprout Social has made the option to gamify the sharing concept quite easily with Employee Advocacy. Using the Leaderboard feature, employees can earn points in Employee Advocacy. Customized point values ensure you know how to climb the Leaderboard and start some friendly competition.
Read full review
Cons
Buffer
  • Expensive Analytics: The upgrade you need to access your analytics is quite expensive, and I have come across other tools that provide the same or even more for a lesser priced plan.
  • No Media Library: The one feature I have found on another social media planning tool that I wish Buffer had is a media library. This allows you to upload photos you aren't using right away to have them readily available when you do decide to use them. This is not a feature in Buffer.
Read full review
Sprout Social
  • Social media platforms don't always play nice with Sprout so it will always be a challenge to get all integrations to work properly.
  • Sprout Social is a growing organization and they are acquiring new technologies, which can be good. However, they often spend time in meetings upselling new services. I like to learn about enhancements and opportunities but prefer to focus on my investments first.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Buffer
I am giving buffer this rating because of a couple issues that it has compared to other platforms. It does not always post to instagram and you will need to go in an manually post. Also, one of the biggest qualms that we have with buffer is the price it costs to have robust analytics
Read full review
Sprout Social
I like Sprout for our needs and I like that it is easy to use. We want something better than HootSuite but don't need a high-level fancy program. The only think I don't like is customer service (except for chat).
Read full review
Usability
Buffer
We use Buffer for certain website content that should be shared on social networks, having this tool helps us to do it faster and easier since we can send the publications from the internet browser and the stack of scheduled messages. It is really fast and easy for all team members who share access to the account, so at the same time that we analyze the information that we can share, the message stack is prepared
Read full review
Sprout Social
Sprout Social's ease of use and navigation throughout the technology are relatively easy to figure out and teach. We also had a representative thoroughly walk us through the features and functionality to set us up for success in using the platform. I didn’t give it a ten because there were times when the navigation didn’t make sense, but once you figured out the quirks, it didn’t cause any trouble.
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Reliability and Availability
Buffer
Buffer is always on hand and very reliable, their software suite rarely has outages
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.
Read full review
Performance
Buffer
Buffer performs well on both desktop and mobile platforms. The one area as I have stated before is that it does not always want to automatically push to Instagram and the user will have to go do it manually. Buffer works very well pushing to other platforms. The instagram issue is the only reason buffer does not get a 10 on this section
Read full review
Sprout Social
It is quick to post, however you have to refresh the page every time you add a new scheduled item.
Read full review
Support Rating
Buffer
  1. It really helped to my business to grow online.
  2. I was able to take actions mindfully as the analytics are damn good.
  3. Also used for managing clients social media accounts and it proved to be a best resource.
  4. Clients were really happy as they got high demand and growth on internet and the secret is Buffer.
  5. The user interface is really easy to understand and manage. Support is 24/7 available to help.
Read full review
Sprout Social
Sprout Social's customer support is extremely responsive. They're also always looking for suggestions on how they can make the product better and will actually take your ideas to their team to see if they're worth implementing. I've never had an issue that couldn't be resolved by them in a timely manner.
Read full review
Online Training
Buffer
No answers on this topic
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
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Buffer
We were very satisfied with the implementation of Buffer. We had no issues switching from the platform that we were using over to buffer. Our staff did not even miss a beat when it came to posting content. It was an easy transition and I feel that is something that buffer has really done well. They have an "out of the box" usability platform
Read full review
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
Buffer
I also used Combin which is easy and free to use. However, Combin only posts when the computer is active and connected to the internet. So, posting while you are not actively using your computer at that moment is not possible, therefore Buffer is much more efficient as you can even post while being on vacation without working.
Read full review
Sprout Social
We are constantly exploring our options and looking for the most cutting-edge products that suit our needs as a business. Sprout ticked the boxes for what we needed when it was time for a change. Both are powerful tools, and you can only see by doing.
Read full review
Scalability
Buffer
Buffer does what it say on tin as they say! you can always count on Buffer. Buffer can be scale to 25 social account with 2,000 scheduled post which is enough for most agencies or businesses
Read full review
Sprout Social
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Buffer
  • It has saved money by allowing us to automate our social using one person
  • It allows us to connect one channel at a time instead of wasting money on larger account management tools
  • We are making money, because it has already delivered several clients
Read full review
Sprout Social
  • One positive impact has been a huge time saver for our team. Where we once had multiple systems and delays from producing content to approval to publishing, now everything is seamless.
  • Another positive impact is streamlining the onboarding process for new team members. Sprout Social is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy to study even for someone completely new to social media.
  • One negative impact has been the time it takes to wade through irrelevant social listening posts. The filtering is not effective enough to eliminate the noise.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Buffer Screenshots

Screenshot of The Buffer dashboardScreenshot of Customizable posting scheduleScreenshot of Tailored PostsScreenshot of List or calendar view of scheduled postsScreenshot of Browser extensionScreenshot of Social media analytics

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.