Comparing Buffer vs. Hootsuite for Social Media Management

Social media for business has boomed over the past decade, as brands utilise it more and more for connecting with their customer base. But with this rise in social media, marketing teams have had to find ways of dealing with the fast-paced, content-rich marketing channel to deliver unique, high-quality content, consistently. For this reason, many marketing teams choose to enlist the help of social media management tools, such as Hootsuite and Buffer, to help them work more productively.

But which is better when it comes down to Buffer vs Hootsuite for social media management? While they are similar, both have their pros and cons. This article will explore both in full detail giving you everything you need to know when deciding which tool to pick.

What is Buffer?

Buffer provides the ultimate social media toolkit to manage and schedule social media posts. Buffer splits into three main functionalities that make it unique.

• Buffer Publish: This part of the platform allows you to schedule social media posts on various platforms.
• Buffer Reply: This part of the platform is where you can monitor your social media engagement. This tool is also used for larger businesses to see what type of publicity they are getting.
• Buffer Analyze: This section of the platform allows you to see the statistics of engagement. It also allows you to view all of your stats collectively.

Buffer gives you the option to have a social media publishing schedule. This is a new feature of Buffer Publish, as it previously only allowed you to post one tweet at a time. 

Buffer also has a browser extension. This makes it quick and easy for you to compose posts from any web page. In addition, you don’t have to switch windows anymore to access the post feature. 

Buffer Reply is a handy tool for large companies. Despite this, it is not particularly helpful for small business owners. Social media is easier to manage when you are not a large corporation, and Buffer Reply makes it more complicated than it needs to be for smaller companies. 

Some businesses may not find Buffer Analyze useful for their specific needs. For example, if social media marketing is not a priority, the basic analytics offered will be sufficient. If it is, it allows you to view the analytics of all of your social posts in one area. 

Buffer offers three main types of plans to start with:

• Buffer Pro Plan: $15/month, the most basic paid plan that you can buy. Offers eight (8) connected profiles, 100 scheduled posts, 15 RSS feeds, one team member, and access to basic analytics.
• Buffer Premium Plan: $65/month. The basic plan plus another team member and 2000 scheduled status updates.
• Buffer Business Plan: Offers connection of more profiles and more team members depending on the number of profiles connected. Best for use in a larger business.

However, as opposed to Hootsuite, Buffer offers a free plan to try out. This plan allows you to get the feel of the program, and you can later decide if you want to use its other features. 

Buffer Free: Buffer’s free plan offers eight connected profiles. It also gives you the option of scheduling ten posts at a time.
Buffer Essentials: This is a budget-friendly Buffer option. You can have unlimited social channels per month, and they each cost $6 under this plan. It also allows you to add on a Team Pack, which gives your team access to the same features.

What is Hootsuite?

Similar to Buffer, Hootsuite is a platform for managing social media accounts. It offers a wider range of plans, from solo entrepreneurs to enterprises. In addition, Hootsuite offers multiple extensions that allow for easier access and more compatibility. 

Hootsuite gives you the most options for social platforms you can manage using their hub. They offer a free version of their hub, but there are also multiple plans you can choose from depending on your needs. Here, we dive into them:

• Professional: The professional plan is one of the most basic plans, and it costs $29/month. It gives you unlimited RSS integrations, analytics, and allows you to schedule large amounts of posts at once.
• Team: The team plan gives three users access to posting and costs $129/month. You are given a custom URL, a Hootsuite certification, as well as everything in the lower plans. 
• Business: The business plan is a pricier option, but gives you the most freedom when managing social media. The price for this plan is $599/month.
• Enterprise: There is no price listed for the enterprise plan. You are required to contact Hootsuite’s customer service to get a price. This gives you the option to customise their services based on what your company needs.

Hootsuite, while pricier, offers you more options when you are using it. When buying a plan, you also have access to all of their services, having everything nicely wrapped up into one area instead of being separated. 

You can also integrate plenty of apps when using Hootsuite, such as Hootlet, a browser extension that allows you to pull content from anywhere on the internet and plug it into a scheduled post for later. Hootsuite is more fully rounded as a content management tool, rather than just having post scheduling as their main focus.

Comparing Buffer vs Hootsuite

Buffer vs Hootsuite is one of the biggest arguments between social media managers. Buffer is the more affordable option, while Hootsuite is considered the higher-end option. So, to help you make your choice, here we delve into the differences between Buffer vs. Hootsuite. 

Platforms Offered

When deciding on what platform to use to manage your social media platform, it’s important to figure out which platform offers the media you want to manage. 

When it comes to platforms, they offer relatively the same basic ones that are typically used:

• Facebook
• Linkedin
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest

While they both offer these main platforms, Hootsuite offers 12+ more platforms that you can integrate. In this battle, Hootsuite wins because it is more inclusive when it comes to platform integration, giving its users more of a choice when choosing where to market.

Analytics

Both platforms offer analytics. Buffer has a whole separate section of their program that is dedicated to analytics. However, if you do not spend extra money on the analytics section of their plan, you are going to be getting very minimal data. 

Hootsuite offers in-depth analytics, and their prices make it a little bit more worth it to spring for the nicer analytic spread.

However, Buffer Analyze is a good option if you’re going to look for in-depth analytics without all of the fluff. Buffer Analyze wins this category due to its streamlined platform specifically for offloading data-analytic work.

Organisation

Organisation is an important factor when deciding on the right social media management platform. Hootsuite offers an integrated experience that brings all of the services to one platform and is inclusive with their plan pricing. On the other hand, Buffer makes you pay extra to have all of the features of Hootsuite. 

Hootsuite would be the right way to go for you if you are looking for an all-inclusive organisation system. It doesn’t require separate plans and gives you all the features you need in one hub. 

Which is Best for You? 

When weighing both of your options, you have to look at your business’s personal needs. Buffer and Hootsuite both offer different plans for different types of businesses, but they both offer their own features within the plans. 

If you are looking for something more high tech and streamlined, you might want to look at Hootsuite. Instead of separating their programs into different categories, everything is smoothly integrated into one interface. This will be the right option for you if you are a part of a team that primarily focuses on managing multiple social media accounts for clients.

Buffer will be the right option if you are an entrepreneur or if you are only managing profiles for one client. Its basic plan allows you to do just that. Their paid plans are going to give you the higher-end features at a fraction of the price that you’d be paying for Hootsuite’s services. Buffer is more budget-friendly when it comes to just starting in the industry.

Overall, Hootsuite is more integrative and provides the best overall for someone who isn’t solely focused on just scheduling posts. In addition, their interface allows you to fully manage every aspect of your operation without using separately purchased extensions.

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