Hootsuite vs. Later: Unlock limitless social growth with the best social media tool
Here at Hootsuite, we’ll never limit your growth. We don’t put a cap on how much you can post or enhance with AI. And our all-in-one platform lets you schedule, analyze, and grow all across social.
Let’s compare the numbers.
You get so much more with Hootsuite, plain and simple.
A unified social
media inbox
Boost engagement with a social media inbox that lets you respond to comments and messages in one place.
Unlimited AI and scheduling
Unlike Later, every Hootsuite plan includes unlimited post scheduling and AI content enhancements.
Deeper analytics that cover more
Unlike Later, Hootsuite tracks performance across all networks. Use analytics to monitor organic and paid social posts side by side.
Features that grow with you
Hootsuite is designed for brands of all sizes. Start with lightweight tools and a single user seat, then level up as you grow.
Feature | Hootsuite | Later |
---|
Post limit (per month) | Unlimited for all plans | Depends on the plan |
Platforms |
|
|
Scheduling, publishing, and content creation |
|
|
---|---|---|
AI caption generator | Yes, starts at 300 per month limit | Yes, starts at 5 per month limit |
Unlimited AI caption enhancements (including fix spelling and grammar, optimize length, adjust tone, and inspire engagement) | Yes | No |
AI hashtag suggestions | Yes | No |
Recommended times to publish | Yes | Instagram and TikTok only |
Free stock photos | Yes | No |
Built-in Canva editor | Yes | No |
Post templates for every network | Yes | No |
Facebook ads | Yes | No |
Instagram ads | Yes | No |
LinkedIn ads | Yes | No |
LinkedIn ads | Yes | No |
Twitter (X) ads | Yes | No |
X (Twitter) threads | 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 |
Integrate with Bitly | Yes | No |
Select target audience | Yes | No |
Suspend scheduled posts | Yes | No |
Alt text for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook | 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 |
Analytics and reporting |
|
|
---|---|---|
Analytics for | ||
Recommended time to publish based on goal | Yes | No |
Customizable reports | Yes | No |
Paid and organic reporting | Yes | No |
Competitive benchmarking | Yes | No |
Social performance score | Yes | No |
Report scheduling | Yes | No |
White-label reports | Yes*** | No |
Add logo or image to report | Yes*** | No |
Channel analytics | Yes | No |
Channel post performance | Yes | Up to 1 year |
Web analytics integration | Yes* | No |
Social ROI analysis | Yes* | No |
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 |
Social media advertising |
|
|
---|---|---|
Social ads publishing and scheduling | Yes | No |
Social ads analytics and reporting | Yes | No |
Social ads campaign management | Yes | No |
Multiple channels post boosting | Yes | No |
Automatically boost posts | 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 |
Custom inbox views | Yes*** | No |
Conversation and contact notes | Yes | No |
Message masking | Yes | No |
Cross-channel conversation history | Yes*** | No |
Data export | Yes*** | No |
Generative AI chatbot | Yes* | No |
Salesforce integration | Yes* | No |
Review moderation | Yes* | No |
Assign messages to teammates | Yes | No |
Agent collision avoidance | Yes | No |
Chat with other agents | Yes | No |
Skill-based routing | 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 | 3, including support for Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce | 1 |
Shoppable Instagram posts | Yes* | Yes |
Integrations |
|
|
---|---|---|
App store | 100+ | Limited |
Accessibility |
|
|
---|---|---|
Alt text for posts | Yes | No |
Creator tools |
|
|
---|---|---|
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 |
Canva | Yes | No |
Compliance |
|
|
---|---|---|
Single sign-on | Yes* | Yes |
Safeguards to prevent accidental publishing | Yes | No |
Option to add publishing security with Proofpoint | Yes | No |
Global publishing pause | Yes | No |
Multi-factor authentication | Yes | Yes |
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 integration ***enterprise only
Last updated Dec. 9, 2024
What we do better
Looking for a Later alternative that does way more? Here are a few of the reasons savvy marketers choose Hootsuite over any other social media management tool, including Later.
Never miss a mention or an opportunity to engage
Every single Hootsuite plan includes social listening tools, while Later offers limited listening only for enterprise customers. With Hootsuite, you can track the latest trends, monitor mentions and keywords, and see exactly how people feel about your brand with sentiment analysis. Advanced AI tools even summarize complex results so you can turn insights into action faster.
Manage and improve your paid ad performance
With Hootsuite, you can manage, track, and schedule all kinds of social media posts, including paid ads. Identify which paid campaigns are working and why with in-depth paid social analytics, advanced targeting, and AI content creation. Schedule paid ads right alongside your organic posts and extend the reach of your top-performing organic content by boosting and auto-boosting right from the Hootsuite dashboard.
Dazzle your audience with better 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 templates and free stock photos right in the window where you draft your content. Plus, write engaging captions fast with AI-powered tools, hashtag suggestions, and content ideas — all for free with your Hootsuite plan.
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, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Later only lets you reply to public TikTok and Instagram comments, not messages.
Delight your customers and reduce response time
Manage high volumes of customer inquiries with ease thanks to saved replies, agent chat, the ability to assign messages to other agents, and more. Enterprise customers can merge social with customer care with our generative AI chatbot and Salesforce integration add-ons.
Hootsuite is more advanced and more user-friendly than Later.
Start seeing results right now — not Later
Sign up for a free Hootsuite trial and get immediate access to next-level social listening, the deepest analytics, and AI content creation tools.