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Hootsuite vs. Later: Which social media management tool is best for you?

Looking for a tool to manage all your social media channels in one place? Here at Hootsuite, we don't play favorites. Our all-in-one platform lets you schedule, analyze, and grow all across social — not just on Instagram. That’s just one of the reasons why Hootsuite beats Later across the board.

Graphic depicting Hootsuite dashboard with hashtag suggestions

TL;DR: Hootsuite is the obvious Later alternative.

Feature

Hootsuite

Later

Price

Starts at $99

Starts at $17

Avg. cost per user seat

$110

$15

Total customers

25 million

7 million

Post limit (per month)

Unlimited for all plans

Depends on the plan

Platforms

decorative

decorative

Scheduling and publishing

Facebook ads

Yes***

No

Instagram ads

Yes***

No

LinkedIn ads

Yes***

No

LinkedIn ads

Yes***

No

X (Twitter) treads

Yes

No

Pinterest boards

Yes

No

YouTube videos

Yes

No

Google Business Profile Updates

Yes**

No

Facebook group posts

Yes

No

Meta Threads

Yes

No

Calendar view

Yes

Yes

Instagram posts

Yes

Yes

Instagram carousels

Yes

Yes

Instagram Stories

Yes

Yes

Instagram Reels

Yes

Yes

Facebook posts

Yes

Yes

X (Twitter) posts

Yes

Yes

TikToks

Yes

Yes

LinkedIn page posts

Yes

Yes

LinkedIn personal profile posts

Yes

Yes

Pinterest Pins

Yes

Yes

Meta Threads

Yes (Beta)

No

Analytics and reporting

Analytics for

Instagram, facebook, X (twitter), tiktok, and linkedin logos

Instagram, facebook, X (twitter), and tiktok logos

Recommended time to publish based on goal

Yes

No

Paid and organic reporting

Yes

No

Competitive benchmarking

Yes

No

White-label reports

Yes 

No

Channel analytics

Yes

No

Customizable reports

Yes

Yes

Channel post performance

Yes

Up to 1 year

Web analytics integration

Yes*

No

Social ROI analysis

Yes*

No

Content creation

Canva

Yes

No

Post templates

Yes

No

Alt text for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Yes

No

AI caption writer

Yes

Instagram only

Link shortener

Yes

Only for Twitter and Pinterest

Automated link tracking

Yes

Only for Twitter and Pinterest

Hashtag generator

Yes

Yes

Photo editor

Yes

Yes

Content suggestions for reposting/content curation

Yes

Yes

Social listening

Social listening

Yes, in every plan

Yes (beta), geared towards enterprise businesses

Networks

30+ social networks*

Instagram and TikTok 

Monitor mentions in images and videos

Yes*

No

Quick search

Yes

No

AI-powered summaries

Yes

No

AI-powered sentiment analysis

Yes

No

AI-powered peak detection

Yes*

No

AI-powered smart alerts

Yes*

No

News websites

Yes

No

Blogs

Yes

No

Forums

Yes

No

Review sites

Yes

No

Sentiment analysis

Yes

Yes

Trend search

Yes

Yes

Advertising

Facebook ads

Yes

No

Instagram ads

Yes

No

LinkedIn ads

Yes

No

Boost Instagram posts

Yes

No

Boost LinkedIn posts

Yes

No

Boost Facebook posts

Yes

No

Ad campaign management

Yes***

No

Paid social reporting

Yes

No

Employee advocacy

Employee advocacy

Yes*

No

Messaging and customer service

Inbox

Yes

Comments only

Message spike alerts

Yes*

No

Message prioritization

Yes

No

Saved and suggested replies

Yes*

No

Business hours

Yes*

No

Message tags and topics

Yes*

No

Auto-resolve conversations

Yes*

No

Auto-responder

Yes*

No

Agent availability

Yes*

No

Team performance metrics

Yes*

No

Chatbot support

Yes*

No

Review management

Yes*

No

CRM integrations/API access

Yes*

No

CSAT surveys

Yes*

No

Collaboration

Project management integrations

Yes

No

Assign posts to team members

Yes

No

Approval workflows***

Yes

No

Give feedback on drafts

Yes

No

Export content calendar for stakeholders

Yes

Instagram only

Roles and permissions

Yes

Yes

Shopping

Social commerce integrations

7 (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc.)

1 (Shopify)

Shoppable Instagram posts

Yes*

Yes

Integrations

App store

100+

Limited

Zapier integration (lets you connect 5,000+ apps)

Yes

No

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI copywriter

Yes

Instagram only

AI hashtag generator

Yes

Instagram only

Chatbot integration

Yes

No

Work-life balance

Save difficult comments for later

Yes

No

Global publishing pause

Yes

No

Accessibility

Alt text for posts

Yes

No

Creator tools

Fourstarzz integration

Yes

No

Insense integration

Yes

No

Track influencer trends

Yes*

No

One centralized inbox to communicate with influencers across platforms

Yes

No

Content curation and user-generated content (UGC)

Manage Twitter lists

Yes

No

Collect the best customer content from social media and clear the rights

Yes**

No

Streams to follow and share relevant content

Yes

Yes

RSS Feeds

Yes**

No

WordPress integration

Yes

No

Tumblr integration

Yes

No

Canva

Yes

No

Compliance

Safeguards to prevent accidental publishing

Yes

No

Option to add publishing security with Proofpoint

Yes

No

Multi-factor authentication

Yes

No

Single sign-on

Yes

No

Strategy guidance

In-app Social Score to help you improve in real-time

Yes

No

Link shortener

Yes

No

Webinars

Yes

Yes

Platform certification training

Yes

Yes

*available with add-on **available with free integration ***enterprise only


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What we do better


Here are a few of the reasons savvy marketers choose Hootsuite over any other social media management tool.

Earn more wins across all social media platforms

We’re no one-trick pony. Hootsuite delivers seamless multi-platform publishing and analytics for all your social media networks. Of course you can schedule, advertise, and track metrics on Instagram with Hootsuite. But, unlike Later, we also offer scheduling and in-depth analytics for Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.

Graphic depicting Hootsuite's analytics tools, including when to publish, engagement rate, and brand awareness graph

Dazzle your audience with content creation tools

Take the dread out of crafting content with time-saving content creation tools you won’t find in Later. Design beautiful posts in seconds with Canva. Plus, write engaging captions fast with AI-powered tools and hashtag suggestions — all for free with your Hootsuite plan.

Transparent graphic depicting the Hootsuite dashboard with Composer, hashtag suggestions, and content ideas

Save time and boost engagement with a better inbox

Hootsuite brings all your conversations — comments, mentions, and messages—into one inbox. Save time with an organized space for conversations across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Later only lets you reply to public TikTok and Instagram comments, not messages.

Graphic depicting Hootsuite's inbox manager with a picture of an ice cream sundae and chat window
Hootsuite is more advanced and more user-friendly than Later.
Andrea Hansgen
Artemis Center

Frequently Asked Questions

Hootsuite is the clear winner in the battle of the best social media management tools. With Hootsuite, you'll only need a single tool to publish content across all channels. Post to all the main players plus YouTube, Pinterest, Google My Business, and more. Plus, unlike Later, Hootsuite offers analytics for LinkedIn and more in-depth analytics for Facebook.

Hootsuite is the best solution for social media managers dealing with overflowing inboxes. Save time and keep your audience happy by responding to comments and messages in one place. Content creation is superior with Hootsuite, too. Make better content faster with Canva and an AI writer — all built into the product.

Last but not least: Hootsuite has way more integrations (over 100, in fact). Use it as your central marketing dashboard with all your most-used tools in one tab. Add Google My Business, Canva, WordPress, RSS feeds, and more.

Hootsuite is the best social media management solution for growing businesses. It lets you connect up to 50 social media accounts and schedule as many posts as you need. Most Later plans limit the number of posts you can publish each month.

Plus, Hootsuite has a whole suite of extra tools designed to help you go further as you grow. Ramp up your efforts with social media listening, employee advocacy, and advanced analytics add-ons.

Hootsuite Insights is the best social media listening solution out there. It can help you simplify consumer research and better protect your brand. Hootsuite Amplify lets you turn your team into advocates and send your message even further. If you want to prove the ROI of your social media efforts, add Hootsuite Impact.

Hootsuite makes the best social media inbox manager, hands down. It allows you to respond to public comments and private messages within a single inbox. 

Save time, delight your customer, and deliver top-notch customer service with a unified inbox. Hootsuite lets you automate responses, assign messages to team members, and keep your inbox tidy.

With Hootsuite, you can reply to conversations across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Later’s limited inbox only lets you reply to Instagram and TikTok comments. It doesn't currently support private message replies on any network.

Hootsuite makes the best employee advocacy tool. Hootsuite Amplify lets you grow your reach exponentially by setting up your employees to share relevant, on-brand content. This translates to a significant boost in revenue, reach, and employee engagement. Later does not currently offer an employee advocacy solution.

Learn more


See why Hootsuite beats the competition every time

Still weighing your options? Visit our comparison tables to get a feature-by-feature breakdown of why Hootsuite is the best.

Why wait until later when you could start seeing results with Hootsuite right now?