Hootsuite

Starting at: $99/mo
Free trial: Yes
Founded: 2008

About

Hootsuite is a social media management platform founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 2008. It is one of the longest-running tools for scheduling, monitoring and analysing social media at business scale.

Marketing and social teams use Hootsuite to schedule posts, manage messages in one inbox, monitor brand mentions and competitors, and report on performance. OwlyGPT, its AI assistant, generates captions and images, suggests trends and helps with replies and DM automation.

As of October 2026, Hootsuite has no free plan. Standard is listed at $99 per user a month billed annually for up to 10 social accounts, with higher Professional, Advanced and Enterprise tiers. Pricing is per user, and a free trial is available.

Features and integrations

Scheduling and Publishing: Plan and publish posts across major networks with best-time recommendations.
OwlyGPT AI Assistant: Generate captions, images and content ideas and get trend suggestions.
Unified Inbox: Manage comments and messages from all accounts in one place, with DM automations.
Social Listening: Monitor brand mentions, competitors and sentiment.
Analytics and Reporting: Measure performance and build reports for stakeholders.
Integrations: Connect with Canva, Adobe Express, Salesforce and other tools.

Pros and cons

Pros

Enterprise-ready: Strong listening, analytics and team features.
AI on every plan: OwlyGPT is included from Standard.
Broad network support: Covers all major social platforms.
Established and reliable: Long track record with large brands.

Cons

Expensive: Starts far above tools like Buffer.
No free plan: Users must pay after the trial.
Per-user pricing: Costs rise with each team member.

Founder

Ryan Holmes

Founder, Hootsuite

Ryan Holmes founded Hootsuite in Vancouver in 2008, originally as an internal tool at his digital agency Invoke Media. He served as CEO for many years before stepping back from day-to-day leadership.