Shorthand vs. SocialBee

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Shorthand
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Shorthand enables the user to create interactive multimedia stories for any online audience — all with no code. The vendor boasts that Shorthand is used by hundreds of publishers, brands, non-profits, and more — including the BBC, Honda, Business Insider, and Doctors Without Borders.N/A
SocialBee
Score 5.1 out of 10
N/A
SocialBee is an AI-powered social media management tool that empowers its customers to share content across multiple social networks from one place. Using such a tool, the user can set a posting schedule, have content shared as planned, and then analyze the performance of their accounts. Supported platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google my Business, TikTok, YouTube, and Bluesky. The AI Copilot can generate an entire social…
$29
per month
Pricing
ShorthandSocialBee
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Bootstrap
$29
per month
Accelerate
$49
per month
Pro
$99
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ShorthandSocialBee
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.
More Pricing Information
Features
ShorthandSocialBee
Content Creation
Comparison of Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
9.0
1 Ratings
14% above category average
SocialBee
-
Ratings
Content collaboration9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Content Publishing
Comparison of Content Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
6.8
1 Ratings
15% below category average
SocialBee
-
Ratings
Content hub9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Embedded CTAs7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Content distribution6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Content promotion5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Publishing
Comparison of Publishing features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
-
Ratings
SocialBee
9.3
1 Ratings
14% above category average
Content planning and scheduling00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Content optimization00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Engagement
Comparison of Engagement features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
-
Ratings
SocialBee
10.0
1 Ratings
21% above category average
Bulk actions00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Channel coverage/integration
Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
-
Ratings
SocialBee
10.0
1 Ratings
18% above category average
Twitter00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Facebook00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
LinkedIn00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Google+00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Instagram00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Pinterest00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Reporting/analytics
Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
-
Ratings
SocialBee
8.0
1 Ratings
4% above category average
Campaign success analytics00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Account management
Comparison of Account management features of Product A and Product B
Shorthand
-
Ratings
SocialBee
8.5
1 Ratings
7% above category average
Role-based user permissions & privileges00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Mobile access00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ShorthandSocialBee
Small Businesses
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
CoSchedule Marketing Suite
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Vyond
Vyond
Score 8.6 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
ShorthandSocialBee
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ShorthandSocialBee
Likelihood to Recommend
Shorthand
Shorthand is ideally suited to visual stories where you have a good number of images and/or embeds or video to include. It is well-suited to long-form stories, where you wish to keep the readers' attention longer than usual. It can help to differentiate particularly important or intriguing stories from others on your website - and for this reason, it could be used as a premium content tool, perhaps for subscribers. It can also be used to showcase stories about awards you've organised, giving them special treatment. It is less suited to breaking news, or very time-sensitive news stories, as it can take some time to prepare, post or update shorthand stories. And it doesn't work well for stories with strong accompanying imagery
Read full review
SocialBee
SocialBee is very ideal for busy individuals or small agencies that are not privileged with time. Social media management can be one of the most tedious tasks in anybody's business. SocialBee covers the majority of the tasks. Set it up once and you're done (practically forever) With all its powerful features though, it can be a little more complicated for a non-techie person. If your requirements are just simple post-scheduling, you can use other alternatives.
Read full review
Pros
Shorthand
  • Enabling visual storytelling with multiple pictures
  • Embedding rich media within a story, including video
  • Engaging readers for longer than average dwell times
  • Making it easy to create striking article design without coding experience
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SocialBee
  • All major social platforms are available.
  • Posts can be organized per category, per client.
  • Hashtag organizer.
  • Links manager, with integrations to popular link shortener tools (we use Switchy, and it works smoothly)
Read full review
Cons
Shorthand
  • Additional flexibility in how text is overlaid on pictures would be welcome so that there are more choices on what images to use with particular layouts
  • Enabling users to control the path of text - for example, enabling runaround - could enable some excellent designs
  • Adding additional section templates could speed up design
  • More flexibility in caption placement would be helpful
Read full review
SocialBee
  • Though it's not clunky, it can improve on the loading speeds while working.
  • The UI/UX can be further improved (nice and neat instead of big cards especially on the categories page)
  • I would love it if the scheduler can be expanded into 2-weeks or monthly range. So we can post categories that are on a 2x a month and 1x a month frequency.
Read full review
Usability
Shorthand
No answers on this topic
SocialBee
Currently, SocialBee is the only software that we use for our social media clients, the confidence that we have for SB is above the fold. It saves us a lot of time and business management is easy because it's highly quantifiable with the client as to the number of posts, schedules, and results.
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Reliability and Availability
Shorthand
I have never known it to be down during my use of it. All you require is an internet connection to log in and you can use it on multiple devices. Adding ease of accessibility, there are simple ways to log in. I've also never known a Shorthand story to go down once live on our site.
Read full review
SocialBee
No answers on this topic
Performance
Shorthand
Due to the integration with our content management software, there is a short delay on our site while it loads, which may cause some readers to drift away. However, I've seen other sites where it instantly loads articles, so I believe this to be down to the content management software behind our site more than Shorthand itself. Once that brief initial period is over, it doesn't require additional loading time.
Read full review
SocialBee
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Shorthand
No answers on this topic
SocialBee
I have encountered their support just a couple of times since the platform is very straightforward for me. But on those occasions, it was so smooth. They responded to my concerns in just a few hours. Not too many companies offer that convenience nowadays. Plus, they do live webinars regularly which is totally amazing!
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Alternatives Considered
Shorthand
No answers on this topic
SocialBee
SocialBee provides multiple features that you can get from other multiple different tools. It's kinda all in one solution for social media management. So cost-wise, it saves us a lot of money. It is also from a stable company with a sufficient MRR that helps with the security and development of the software.
Read full review
Scalability
Shorthand
As a web-based service, it is easy for users to log into from anywhere. Content can easily be shared, as you can set up teams that enable access to each other's work as required. And content can be reviewed by others before publication using the sharing function. You can also view how an article will look on different devices.
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SocialBee
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Shorthand
  • Helped us create one of our top 10 most-read and most-shared stories in the last year
  • Enabled us to elevate key pieces of content, boosting dwell time on our site
  • But can also be time-consuming to adopt for some stories, meaning you need to choose well what stories really deserve the investment in time
  • Boosted collaboration between teams via its ability to share, including offering the chance for others to preview content prior to publication
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SocialBee
  • It provides us higher margin because it requires minimal resources.
  • Lesser working time means more marketing and leads generation time.
  • Very cost efficient solution.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Shorthand Screenshots

Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.