Publer vs Hootsuite, read from the source
Publer vs Hootsuite for a 1 to 3 person shop
Publer keeps a permanent free plan and prices its paid tiers at a few dollars a month; Hootsuite starts at $99 per user a month billed annually with no free plan. Every figure below was read from publer.com/plans and hootsuite.com/plans on 18 September 2026.
The two vendors print their prices in different units and formats, so every figure below carries its billing mode, and each one links back to the page it was read from.
The gap is the headline. On 18 September 2026, Publer's Professional plan cost $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, and Hootsuite's Standard plan cost $99 per user a month billed annually.
Pick Publer if a permanent free plan, a few dollars a month for the paid tiers and AI writing on every tier fit how a one to three person shop posts between jobs.
Pick Hootsuite only when several people work social as a job and will use approvals, a shared inbox and tiered analytics all week; a small shop pays for that machinery without running it.
Where every number came from
Publer
- The plans page carried a Monthly/Yearly billing toggle labelled "2 months free" and listed Free at $0.00 as "Free forever", Professional at $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, Business at $10.00 a month or $8.00 a month billed yearly, and Enterprise as "Billed yearly, Custom, Get a quote". Professional opened with "Start a free 7-day trial" and listed "Unlimited scheduling & drafts" among its inclusions. publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- The Free plan was listed at $0.00 as "Free forever" with 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts except X, 10 scheduled posts per account, 25 saved drafts and a 24-hour post history, and it read "You cannot connect Twitter / X accounts in the free version." publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- Above the cards sat a social accounts and additional members stepper. The accounts note read "For every 9 social accounts, the 10th one is free", and the members note read the same for additional members, with the plan owner already included in the price. publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- The plans page listed AI Assist under "Included In All", described as generating content with ease, completing text and creating photos. The Business plan listed "Unlimited AI prompts: generate as much AI-content as you need, both text and images, at no additional cost", and the same Business column added "Analytics insights & reports", "Best times to post" and "Competitor analysis". publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- Approval workflows were listed under the page's "Paid Features", described as creating approval workflows with real-time notifications and notes for a team or external clients. The Free plan was a single user, and additional members were added through the stepper above the cards. publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- The page's support table listed self-serve access to a Help Center, live chat with real human agents and email, and the Enterprise plan listed "1:1 onboarding", "Prioritized support" and "Expedited feature requests" among its inclusions. publer.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
Hootsuite
- The plans page carried no monthly or yearly toggle and priced a single billing mode. It headed the tiers "Standard $99 per user a month, billed annually", "Professional $199 per user a month, billed annually" and "Advanced $399 per user a month, billed annually", above an Enterprise shown as "Custom" with a "Request a demo" button. A footnote read "Prices displayed in USD, based on annual billing". hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- No free plan appeared on the plans page. Each paid tier opened with a free 14-day trial that asked for no card, and the page footnote said trial accounts are limited to 10 to 20 posts per organization per day depending on plan, with bulk scheduling unavailable during the trial. hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- The plans page described Standard as managing up to 10 social media accounts from one calendar, with unlimited accounts on Professional, Advanced and Enterprise. The seat row read 1+ on all three paid tiers, and the page prices plans per user, or seat, rather than per account. hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- Every paid tier listed "Generate posts and images with AI", and the page introduced "Wisdom", an AI teammate it said drafts, recommends and analyzes on every plan. The page printed no credit allowance or cap for its AI. hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
- The feature table put "Review and approve content with your team" on Advanced and Enterprise only. Analytics scaled by tier: Standard listed monitoring your brand and competitors, Professional added custom performance reports and forecasts up to 90 days ahead, and Advanced added measuring team performance and efficiency. The page did not break support out by tier. hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
Publer vs Hootsuite, side by side
Every cell above was read on 18 September 2026 from publer.com/plans and hootsuite.com/plans, and the full quotations with links sit in the section above. Publer prices a plan in two modes, billed monthly or billed yearly; Hootsuite prices one mode, per user a month billed annually, with no monthly figure published.
| What to compare | Publer | Hootsuite |
|---|---|---|
| Price at one seat | $5.00 a month, or $4.00 a month billed yearly (Professional) | $99 per user a month, billed annually (Standard) |
| Number of social accounts | 3 on Free, except X; paid plans scale through the accounts stepper | 10 on Standard, unlimited on Professional and above |
| Scheduling limits | 10 scheduled posts per account on Free; unlimited scheduling on paid plans with daily post limits | Unlimited scheduled posts on paid plans; the trial caps 10 to 20 posts a day |
| AI writing | AI Assist on every plan; unlimited text and image prompts on Business | Generate posts and images with AI on every paid plan, plus Wisdom |
| Approval flow | Listed under paid features, not on the single-user Free plan | Advanced and Enterprise only |
| Analytics | 24-hour post history on Free; reports and competitor analysis on Business | Custom reports from Professional up; advanced analytics on Enterprise |
| Support | Self-serve Help Center, live chat and email; Enterprise adds 1:1 onboarding | Not broken out by tier on the plans page |
| Free tier | Free forever, 3 accounts except X, 10 scheduled posts each, 25 drafts | None, a 14-day trial with no card instead |
Source: publer.com/plans and hootsuite.com/plans, read 18 September 2026
What actually decides the purchase
Price: a few dollars against a per-seat bill
Publer's Professional was $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, and Business $10.00 a month or $8.00 a month billed yearly, with an accounts stepper above the cards. Hootsuite's Standard was $99 per user a month billed annually, Professional $199 and Advanced $399, each per user a month billed annually. Publer's bill climbs per account and member; Hootsuite's climbs per person.
The free plan, and the trial Hootsuite offers instead
Publer's Free plan covers 3 social accounts except X, holds 10 scheduled posts per account and 25 drafts, and keeps a 24-hour post history. Hootsuite has no free plan: each tier opens with a 14-day trial that caps an organization at 10 to 20 posts a day and switches off bulk scheduling while it runs. One is a home, the other is a clock.
What the AI writes and draws
Publer's AI Assist sits on every plan to help write captions, and its Business tier adds unlimited prompts for text and images. Hootsuite lists 'Generate posts and images with AI' on every paid plan and runs Wisdom, an AI teammate that drafts, recommends and analyzes. Neither plans page printed a credit allowance for its AI.
Accounts, seats and how the bill climbs
Publer gives its Free plan 3 accounts except X and scales paid plans through a stepper where every tenth account is free, with members priced the same way. Hootsuite's Standard manages up to 10 accounts from one calendar, goes unlimited above it, and sells seats at 1+ per plan. The difference shows the moment a second helper joins.
Approval and team machinery
Publer lists approval workflows under its paid features, and its Free plan is a single user with members added through the stepper. Hootsuite puts "Review and approve content with your team" on Advanced and Enterprise, which start at $399 per user a month billed annually. A one to three person shop is unlikely to use either.
Analytics, support and the daily limits
Publer keeps a 24-hour post history on Free, moves reports, best times to post and competitor analysis to Business, and offers self-serve help, live chat and email support. Hootsuite scales analytics by tier, from monitoring on Standard to advanced analytics on Enterprise, and does not break support out by tier on the plans page. Publer's daily post limits run 12 a day per profile on Free against 24 and 36 on its paid tiers.
What changed recently
On 18 September 2026, Publer's plans page printed the same figures this site recorded a day earlier for the Publer vs Buffer page: Professional at $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, Business at $10.00 a month or $8.00 a month billed yearly, and a free plan at 3 accounts except X. Nothing on the card moved.
Hootsuite's plans page, read the same day, matched this site's 17 September 2026 read: Standard at $99 per user a month billed annually, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399, each per user a month billed annually, with no monthly figure published anywhere on the page.
Both vendors reprice on their own schedule. Treat every figure here as correct for the date printed, and open the two linked pages before a number decides a purchase.
When neither tool writes the posts
Publer and Hootsuite both schedule and manage content that already exists. Publer adds AI writing and, on its Business tier, AI images and a recycling queue; Hootsuite adds approvals, an inbox and listening for a staffed team. Neither one turns your website into a week of finished posts.
That gap is where SpeedRun Social sits. It reads your website into a brand kit and generates the caption, the image and the short video for each post, then holds everything for your approval before it publishes. The free plan is 300 credits a month refilled forever, one free campaign a week (3 posts, 1 video, 1 cross-post), no card, watermarked media on free. Paid plans are $49.99, $99.99 and $199.99 a month, flat per workspace and not per user or per channel, with image and video generation included on every tier.
We are new and have very few customers, so treat this as a priced comparison of two established tools, not a pitch with a track record. The links above let you re-check both vendors; the signup link lets you check ours.
Publer vs Hootsuite, answered
publer vs hootsuite: which should a small local business pick?
It depends on who makes the posts. On 18 September 2026, Publer's Professional plan was $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, and Hootsuite's Standard plan was $99 per user a month billed annually. If you want a permanent free plan and a few dollars a month for scheduling, pick Publer. If several people work social as a job and need approvals and an inbox, Hootsuite earns its price. If neither description fits, neither tool makes the posts.
Which is cheaper, Publer or Hootsuite?
Publer, by a wide margin. Its Professional plan was $5.00 a month or $4.00 a month billed yearly, and Business was $10.00 a month or $8.00 a month billed yearly. Hootsuite's Standard was $99 per user a month billed annually. The two entry prices buy different things, but the dollar gap is the point: Publer prices a plan, Hootsuite prices a seat.
Does Publer have a free plan?
Yes. On 18 September 2026, Publer's Free plan was listed at $0.00 as "Free forever" with 1 user, 1 workspace, 3 social accounts except X, 10 scheduled posts per account and 25 saved drafts, with a 24-hour post history. It cannot connect Twitter or X accounts.
Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
Not on the plans page read on 18 September 2026. It offered a free 14-day trial with no card required, capped at 10 to 20 posts per organization per day depending on plan, with bulk scheduling switched off during the trial.
Can Publer or Hootsuite generate images with AI?
Both can. Publer's AI Assist is on every plan, and its Business tier lists unlimited prompts for text and images. Hootsuite lists 'Generate posts and images with AI' on every paid plan. Neither plans page claimed its AI generates video.
Which one has approval workflows?
Both gate them to a paid tier. Publer lists approval workflows under its paid features, and its Free plan is a single user. Hootsuite puts "Review and approve content with your team" on Advanced and Enterprise. A solo owner or a two person shop is unlikely to use either.
How many social accounts can I connect on each?
Publer's Free plan covers 3 accounts except X, and its paid plans scale through a stepper that makes every tenth account free. Hootsuite's Standard holds up to 10 accounts in one calendar, then lifts the ceiling to unlimited from Professional up.
Open both pricing pages before you decide
Count your profiles, then open both pricing pages. Publer prices a plan in two billing modes, Hootsuite prices a seat in one, and the two links above are there so you can re-read both before deciding.
Every figure on this page was read on 18 September 2026 from publer.com/plans and hootsuite.com/plans. Prices move; the links exist so you can check theirs and ours.