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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Shorthand

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AShorthand 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

    Score5.9 out of 10
    N/ASocialBee 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 Details—A discount is offered for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    ShorthandSocialBee
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    Shorthand
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    14% above category average
    SocialBee
    -
    Ratings
    Content collaboration9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    Shorthand
    6.8
    1 Ratings
    14% 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 Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    SocialBee
    9.3
    1 Ratings
    13% 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 Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    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 Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    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 Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    SocialBee
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Campaign success analytics00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Shorthand and SocialBee
    Feature
    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
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Sendible
    Score7.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 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
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Incentivized
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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)
    Incentivized
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    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
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    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!
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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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
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Shorthand Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.