Hootsuite vs. Semrush

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Hootsuite
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Hootsuite is a social media management platform for building brand awareness, engaging with customers, and driving business results. Users can schedule posts across multiple social networks (including Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube ), manage organic and paid social content together, keep track of customer conversations, integrate with over 200+ applications, and gain actionable real-time insights from social media to make critical business decisions from…
$249
per month per user
Semrush
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Semrush is a relatively popular search engine optimization tool set from the company of the same name based in Pennsylvania and founded in 2008. Largely the platforms relies on competitive intelligence, and features SEO staples like backlink checking, keyword analysis to refine SEO and PPC campaigning and locate low-cost / high-yield keywords, analysis of competitors who co-occupy desired ad and listing spaces, domain vs. domain analysis, as well as site audit and domain tracking. Semrush can…
$139.95
per month
Pricing
HootsuiteSemrush
Editions & Modules
Standard
$199
per month (billed annually) Starts at 1 user, 10 social accounts
Advanced
$399
per month (billed annually) Starts at 1 user, unlimited social accounts
Enterprise
Custom Pricing
per year
Pro
$139.95
per month
Guru
$249.95
per month
Business
$499.95
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HootsuiteSemrush
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional DetailsPlans can be paid monthly or annually, with a discount for annual pricing.17% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HootsuiteSemrush
Considered Both Products
Hootsuite
Chose Hootsuite
Buffer was the only one that could compete with Hootsuite, but [no] other has [had a] real impact on the social media scheduling tool world. Semrush, to me, was a disaster, and Sprout Social is not as accurate as Hootsuite. I guess Hootsuite is just the most popular tool …
Chose Hootsuite
During my research for a new platform, I noticed it was on many lists of top platforms, but, as I said before, I just wasn’t impressed. I definitely don’t think Hootsuite leads the social networking platform industry. I’d give that spot to Sprout Social. I think all of these …
Chose Hootsuite
We have not used any other tool other than Hootsuite.
Chose Hootsuite
I only used Hootsuite for planning and scheduling. It's already nice or fair and it saved very much time also. It has a very good review and is easy to use that's why I selected it.
Semrush
Chose Semrush
It's a close call, but ultimately SEMRush is the better product and has better service.
Chose Semrush
We chose Semrush because of how it integrates multiple services into one subscription. Rather than having one subscription for social media, one for listing management and one for SEO, we're able to get all three of these needs met in one service. The customer service is also …
Chose Semrush
SEMRush is a sort of one-stop-shop for SEO and SEM purposes. Moz is a great tool for website evaluations and backlink pursuit, but it is limited in its ability to actually make marked improvements to your website. Buffer is a great social media management tool, but it has …
Features
HootsuiteSemrush
Listening/monitoring
Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
6.7
314 Ratings
13% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Boolean keyword searches6.6206 Ratings00 Ratings
Filtering out noise/spam6.2218 Ratings00 Ratings
Sentiment analysis6.5215 Ratings00 Ratings
Broad channel coverage7.7289 Ratings00 Ratings
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
7.9
434 Ratings
2% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Content planning and scheduling8.9433 Ratings00 Ratings
Audience targeting7.0295 Ratings00 Ratings
Content optimization7.6356 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow management7.9368 Ratings00 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
7.6
350 Ratings
6% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Automated routing and prioritization7.3254 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer interaction histories7.5272 Ratings00 Ratings
Bulk actions7.9302 Ratings00 Ratings
Marketing
Comparison of Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
6.9
329 Ratings
11% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Lead generation6.6202 Ratings00 Ratings
Content marketing7.6296 Ratings00 Ratings
Paid media management6.7201 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaigns and promotions6.6250 Ratings00 Ratings
Channel coverage/integration
Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
8.2
426 Ratings
2% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Twitter7.7384 Ratings00 Ratings
Facebook8.6409 Ratings00 Ratings
LinkedIn8.3356 Ratings00 Ratings
Google+8.960 Ratings00 Ratings
Instagram8.4363 Ratings00 Ratings
Pinterest8.1179 Ratings00 Ratings
YouTube7.7169 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
7.8
351 Ratings
1% above category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Campaign success analytics8.0323 Ratings00 Ratings
Real-time tracking7.5325 Ratings00 Ratings
Competitor analysis7.8225 Ratings00 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
7.7
358 Ratings
3% below category average
Semrush
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions & privileges8.0305 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile access7.4329 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
-
Ratings
Semrush
7.9
154 Ratings
3% above category average
Keyword analysis00 Ratings8.6154 Ratings
Backlink management00 Ratings8.3147 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking00 Ratings8.3150 Ratings
Page grader00 Ratings7.6129 Ratings
Competitive analysis00 Ratings8.5149 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics00 Ratings8.0150 Ratings
Site recommendations00 Ratings7.6139 Ratings
Task management00 Ratings6.691 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
-
Ratings
Semrush
8.2
140 Ratings
8% above category average
Local SEO00 Ratings8.1128 Ratings
Social SEO00 Ratings8.0106 Ratings
Mobile SEO00 Ratings8.3113 Ratings
Global SEO00 Ratings8.2114 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Hootsuite
-
Ratings
Semrush
8.5
125 Ratings
1% above category average
Multi-domain support00 Ratings8.2115 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools00 Ratings8.8119 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HootsuiteSemrush
Small Businesses
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Social Suite by Reputation.com
Score 9.4 out of 10
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Dupli Checker (DupliChecker.com)
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
HootsuiteSemrush
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(486 ratings)
8.2
(154 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.7
(89 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(125 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(21 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.8
(19 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(263 ratings)
9.9
(17 ratings)
In-Person Training
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(17 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(39 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Configurability
7.2
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.1
(3 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.3
(18 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
HootsuiteSemrush
Likelihood to Recommend
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is well-suited for agencies managing multiple clients or scheduling multiple posts regularly across different channels. It's also appropriate for companies where the review process isn't streamlined or well-defined. But it's not well-suited for small brands that aren't regular on social media or for brands that focus heavily on real-time or trend-driven content, like TikTok or Twitter.
Read full review
Semrush
This is suited to plan for keywords in a single market, but it struggles when you need to consolidate several markets. It is well-suited to discover new keywords directly related to the ones being used currently to expand the content the company is creating to get better results.
Read full review
Pros
Hootsuite
  • Reporting. We are able to pull accurate and concise data points on our channels.
  • Planning and calendaring. We love that we are able to have our teams plan out content across months so that we are never feeling behind schedule on getting content out there.
  • Creating content natively in the platform!
Read full review
Semrush
  • Great visuals for keyword position tracking, love that you can see the page that is ranking
  • Enjoyed the auto-generated reporting feature (specifically in the context of keyword position tracking)
  • Shows many different and useful views for competitive research
  • Great templated keyword research tools for those who are not as hands-on with SEO
  • I LOVE the Keyword Magic Tool for honing in on longtail, high-opportunity keywords
Read full review
Cons
Hootsuite
  • TikTok is an area for improvement as it's newer to Hootsuite. It would be beneficial to be able to link non-business profiles on TikTok to Hootsuite as many businesses use personal accounts to access TikTok's expansive music library.
  • Hootsuite does have room to improve the analytics capabilities. There could be more ways to customize each aspect of their reports. There isn't much manipulation of data in each type of data set.
  • Simplicity is an area of improvement for Hootsuite. The streams are one example of an area that is super cluttered and difficult to view. Their platform could really use an aesthetic overhaul to make things look more pleasing.
Read full review
Semrush
  • Extra seats can be expensive, as [an] agency with multiple team members this can be frustrating
  • Backlink data is not great, misses out a lot of backlinks (better off using a specialist backlink tool like Link research tools LRT)
  • Tracking multiple keywords, across multiple clients can be costly
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Hootsuite
At this time we are satisfied that Hootsuite offers the most of what we are looking for at the most reasonable price point. As the social media landscape and monitoring/scheduling software changes, so do our needs. We re-evaluate our tools semi-annually or as new tools emerge onto the market. If we find at any point that we aren't gaining an advantage, then we are open to switching products.
Read full review
Semrush
I [previously] used Semrush for many years and I cannot find any other tool being so complete and easy to use.
Read full review
Usability
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is straightforward and does a great job of onboarding new users directly within the platform. Connecting social media accounts, regardless of whether you are managing multiple profiles on one platform, is easy enough. You can also easily toggle between platforms to see interactive dashboards showing how people are engaging with your posts.
Read full review
Semrush
The interface is a little less intuitive than it could be. The data is often available but filtering and manipulating the data can be a little difficult at times. Expanded comparisons would be helpful since most of the time seeing more than a few competitors at a time allows for a better sense of how to forecast.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Hootsuite
Gliches have made it a bit of a bind, particularly when you just want to 'click and send' a web article after you have read it - and then you have to deal with support (a great team but not always able to solve the problems with the gliches). Gliches with it loading properly, gliches with 'double ups in FB on the posts (the personal page and the business page if both clicked will lead to 2 lots of postings to each page!)
Read full review
Semrush
Semrush available when you need it!
Read full review
Performance
Hootsuite
HootSuite does everything it is designed to do very well: the product's performance is very reliable and efficient. Like other tools, there is always a room for new developments and updates, and the HootSuite team recognizes this and focuses on new development as well.
Read full review
Semrush
SemRush performs well with few errors!
Read full review
Support Rating
Hootsuite
I can manage all of my accounts on one site! It's absolutely amazing!
The dashboard is helpful to see how you are doing as well. Still
getting to understand the analytics and may need to reach out for help
on this
Read full review
Semrush
I'm in a FB group for Semrush paid users and it amazing! They are fast to respond, take suggestions and help with questions. I have not felt alone in using this product at all. Highly recommend their support team. When I had an issue I can jump into the group and they will help get me the right person to help or even tag their programmers to look at something that is going on. Love the group!
Read full review
In-Person Training
Hootsuite
Very easy to teach and learn
Read full review
Semrush
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Hootsuite
The online training is decent; however, it takes a lot more time to search for answers to my questions. Having a training session with a live person was much more effective as they were able to quickly address the business needs I have.
Read full review
Semrush
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Hootsuite
Simple and easy to use, and have never had any issues. We like how it saves me time and allows me to plan in advance. I plan on using this for as long as I can and will encourage others to use it too. If you haven't tried it you should. I hope my review is helpful to everyone.
Read full review
Semrush
I did it by myself and do not have a comment!
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Hootsuite
Metricool is free and we can shedule up to 50 posts per month, however Hootsuite allows us to do just a little bit more. For the price Agorapulse and Hootsuite are in tight competition but we prefer the Hootsuite format, although some chamber partners do find it a bit on the older school side we do not. We like the Hootsuite system
Read full review
Semrush
We have used both Ahrefs and Semrush extensively at our agency and Semrush remains the tool of choice. We find that Semrush has the largest selection of tools & features to use, with the highest accuracy, and provides top-tier analysis recommendations. It's really is the ultimate all-in-one tool when comparing other performance measurement tools in the digital marketing space.
Read full review
Scalability
Hootsuite
We are only using in marketing and have been able to scale.
Read full review
Semrush
Semrush is flexible and scalable software which can be deployed across multiple departments and sites as needed.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Hootsuite
  • For our organization, all ROI was on time saved and efficiency: for creating posts, for scheduling and publishing, for interacting with users, and for analyzing performances. It all comes in one place and this makes a very huge difference in your workflows. We would say that Hootsuite went beyond our expectations on this front, for example with the dynamics UTMs and the media library. Saving time was the main reason why we wanted to purchase the platform and it did not disappoint at all.
  • The ROI in time was also fast to get. The learning curse is very short and this is also an important element. Benefiting from the platform did not take long to be experienced.
Read full review
Semrush
  • Using Semrush on behalf of our clients, we have seen some impressive growth in organic visibility, traffic, conversion and revenue, across multiple industries.
  • The site checks available with Semrush have helped us to pitch and sell our services, securing new clients.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Hootsuite Screenshots

Screenshot of Monitoring: Monitors social media profiles and tracks the topics that matter to the brand.Screenshot of Publishing: Create, publish and schedule engaging posts across social channels.Screenshot of Customer Engagement: A consolidated stream of messages across networks that can be triaged and assigned to respond to customers faster. Provides optional chatbot handover for automated responses.Screenshot of Scheduling: Social content can be planned as a team with a shared calendar that features collaborative post drafts and built-in approval workflows.Screenshot of Analytics & Reporting: Measures the effectiveness of a social media strategy to help turn strategy into execution with meaningful and actionable insights. Reports can be customized and shared according to unique business goals and objectives.