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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Sprout Social

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASprout 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

    SpyFu

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ASpyFu is the eponymous SEO and PPC research platform from the company in Scottsdale, Arizona focused on "spying" on competitors, or basically using their behaviors to refine your own through keyword and content analysis, and backlink poaching. This positional search engine optimization and paid listings management platform touts the ability to lower costs and raise rankings via a Kombat-oriented approach... basically a cute way of saying "it makes comparisons" of how well your site does in niche…

    $39

    per month

    Pricing
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Editions & Modules
    Essentials
    $79 per seat/per month annual / $99 per seat/per month monthly
    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
    Basic
    $39
    per month
    Professional
    $79
    per month
    Team
    $299
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Considered Both Products
    Sprout Social
    Chose Sprout Social
    For the money, I have not found Sprout's equal. Admittedly no service is perfect, which is why your tech stack is in fact a stack. For the time it saves, the reports it generates, and the tabs it allows me to keep on an inordinately large competitive landscape, Sprout is and …
    Incentivized
    SpyFu
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    106 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    28 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    93 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    27 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    108 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    29 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    21 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    92 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    22 Answers
    Features
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Listening/monitoring
    Comparison of Listening/monitoring features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    7.2
    114 Ratings
    6% below category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Boolean keyword searches6.980 Ratings00 Ratings
    Filtering out noise/spam7.196 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sentiment analysis7.077 Ratings00 Ratings
    Broad channel coverage8.090 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing
    Comparison of Publishing features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    145 Ratings
    1% above category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Content planning and scheduling9.2145 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audience targeting7.2110 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content optimization8.2126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow management8.4126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Engagement
    Comparison of Engagement features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    7.9
    132 Ratings
    3% below category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Automated routing and prioritization7.687 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customer interaction histories8.1116 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk actions8.1115 Ratings00 Ratings
    Marketing
    Comparison of Marketing features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    7.1
    96 Ratings
    9% below category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Lead generation6.869 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content marketing8.192 Ratings00 Ratings
    Paid media management6.23 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaigns and promotions7.24 Ratings00 Ratings
    Channel coverage/integration
    Comparison of Channel coverage/integration features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    8.4
    144 Ratings
    1% above category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Twitter8.8126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Facebook8.7143 Ratings00 Ratings
    LinkedIn8.6130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Google+7.846 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instagram8.6132 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pinterest8.246 Ratings00 Ratings
    YouTube8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting/analytics
    Comparison of Reporting/analytics features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    8.2
    146 Ratings
    6% above category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Campaign success analytics8.6138 Ratings00 Ratings
    Real-time tracking8.1134 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitor analysis7.8120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Account management
    Comparison of Account management features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    8.0
    138 Ratings
    1% above category average
    SpyFu
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions & privileges8.8132 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile access7.3124 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO
    Comparison of SEO features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    SpyFu
    6.6
    52 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Keyword analysis00 Ratings7.052 Ratings
    Backlink management00 Ratings6.040 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking00 Ratings6.044 Ratings
    Page grader00 Ratings7.829 Ratings
    Competitive analysis00 Ratings7.051 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics00 Ratings7.232 Ratings
    Site recommendations00 Ratings6.031 Ratings
    Task management00 Ratings6.120 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    SpyFu
    5.8
    39 Ratings
    27% below category average
    Local SEO00 Ratings5.033 Ratings
    Social SEO00 Ratings5.028 Ratings
    Mobile SEO00 Ratings8.029 Ratings
    Global SEO00 Ratings5.035 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Sprout Social and SpyFu
    Feature
    Sprout Social
    -
    Ratings
    SpyFu
    7.2
    28 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Multi-domain support00 Ratings6.028 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools00 Ratings8.518 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Small Businesses
    Sendible
    Score7 out of 10
    Serpstat
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Emplifi
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Yoast
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (203 ratings)
    7.0
    (62 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.2
    (67 ratings)
    10.0
    (10 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (130 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    7.7
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.7
    (39 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    1.0
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.1
    (42 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Sprout SocialSpyFu
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Sprout Social
    Sprout is typically the first platform that comes to mind when I think of social media content scheduling/platform management/social media management. However, Sprout is very pricey, and I don’t think there’s an obvious standout element that helps differentiate it from other scheduling platforms. For organizations with only a few social media profiles, I’d be more likely to recommend lower-cost or free platforms as opposed to Sprout. I’d probably only recommend Sprout for organizations with dozens or hundreds of social media accounts
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpyFu
    If you have a Google ads PPC campaign and then I would say this is more or less essential if you want to know what your competitors are doing. You can get very useful data out of it even if you subscribe for one month. And the pricing is very reasonable. Even if you don't use Google ads, I would say this is still useful for your SEO/SMO team since it gives you a great idea of what keywords and traffic your competitors are working on.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Sprout Social
    • Social Scheduling: Sprout Social makes it easier than any platform I've used to schedule posts with each, and to batch-schedule the same post to run on multiple dates. The scheduling platform is intuitive and easy to understand.
    • Social Reporting: With just a few clicks of the button, you can easily export reports that are easy for both social media experts and complete novices to understand. I like how you can get a report within 60 seconds or so if needed.
    • Customer Service/Help: Whenever I've had a question, both my Sprout Social rep and the Help Center have been extremely easy to contact and quick to reply. Problems are solved very fast and it's made easy to understand.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpyFu
    • Keeping a tab on competitors organic and inorganic activities
    • Helps identify where the competitor is getting the backlinks from.
    • Identify competitors top content and the keywords that's bringing them traffic
    • Get proper information of their current and past ADS run on Google.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Sprout Social
    • I would like for Personal Instagram Accounts to be able to integrate with Sprout Social's Employee Advocacy platform. You are able to connect personally accounts to Sprout Social itself, which is great, but for employee re-sharing internal stories, this is not possible unless it is with a Business Instagram account.
    • I would like for the left hand tool bar to be more user friendly. There are so many tools and settings that are available, and I would like for it to be simplified in a way that makes it less cluttered.
    • An improvement can be made with the Sprout Social Mobile App. The user friendliness of the app does not allow as much autonomy as the regular webpage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpyFu
    • As with any database, their keyword database has limits, so the data returned is relative to their database, not necessarily the full picture.
    • When SpyFu database or scoring chances, the data provided can spike, thus causing confusion among stakeholders, we're reporting to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is the best platform out there for social-media management, and now that I have all my clients using Sprout Social, it would be sort of silly for me to walk away format at this juncture. The only cloud on the horizon would be if Salesforce bought it (as has been rumored) and put it inside its walled garden.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SpyFu
    Love this tool but would like insights from all 3 major search engines not just Google. I would also like deeper understanding of the placement for local businesses on Google Places/Maps. Insight into mobile search rankings and best landing pages per industry would also help :) Overall, SpyFu is a necessity for serious search marketers.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is straightforward to use - built for anyone regardless of tech experience to be able to navigate. It integrates pretty seamlessly to the native platforms and brings a lot of things together to make a seamlessly experience for seasoned social media managers.
    Incentivized
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    SpyFu
    SpyFu is an easy to use tool, and has a self -explanatroy dashborad to generate the data needed to provide insights into any B2B SEO and PPC campaign. It is not comprehensive, but it certainly provides good enough insight to make it a valuable part of any agency tool stack
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    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
    SpyFu
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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
    SpyFu
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Sprout Social
    The chat and online resources are great. The managers are too. They go through account reps pretty fast. Also, not a lot of onboarding once a product or service is sold. The ticket request system is terrible, they have too many people switching off roles, they take a long time to get back to you and don't plan on anything being fixed over a weekend - even if you have a problem. Their customer service via tickets is the worst.
    Incentivized
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    SpyFu
    SpyFu comes with a link to tutorial videos. I recommend you watch them. The software is capable of so much you really need to watch the videos and learn how to get the most out of it. When I have a question 90% of the time it's there. When it isn't, and I reach out to them, support is always quick and concise.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    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
    SpyFu
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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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    SpyFu
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Sprout Social
    We started this agency using Later and switched to Iconosqaure because we needed more in-depth reporting. We switched from Iconosquare to Sprout Social because of the continuous scheduling bugs/issues we were having with our account and our terrible experience with their Customer Service team. We are planning to close our Sprout Social account and move to HeyOrca because of cost, ease of use, and the basic scheduling features Sprout Social doesn't offer.
    Incentivized
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    SpyFu
    I was surprised to find I preferred Semrush when it comes to keyword research. SpyFu is great (and less expensive than Semrush), but I felt the data Semrush provided was vaster than SpyFu. I was able to get more competitors spending insights in Semrush than SpyFu. Overall, I liked the ability to use both in our keyword research for both paid and organic marketing.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    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.
    Incentivized
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    SpyFu
    • Helping us track our ranking.
    • It helps solve the problem of ambiguity when it comes to Google Ads. It makes the strategy more clear.
    • You can sift through lots of different online analytics to find the information, but it takes way too long. SpyFu has it all in one place!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.