5 Best Hootsuite Alternatives for Steel Fabricators

Hootsuite remains one of the most widely used social media management platforms, offering steel fabricators a reliable solution for scheduling, publishing, and analyzing content across multiple networks. According to their website, Hootsuite provides a centralized dashboard that supports integration with major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok—making it suitable for industrial brands aiming to maintain a consistent presence without switching between apps. The platform’s publishing tools allow users to schedule posts in advance, while its Best Times to Post feature uses historical data to recommend optimal publishing windows, helping fabricators maximize visibility during key decision-maker hours. Hootsuite also includes OwlyWriter AI, an AI content creation assistant that helps generate post ideas, rephrase copy, and create captions based on user prompts—useful for teams needing quick content drafts. For agencies managing multiple fabrication clients, Hootsuite offers multi-brand management and team collaboration features, enabling role-based access and approval workflows. Social listening is another strength, allowing users to monitor brand mentions, industry keywords, and competitor activity across platforms in real time. Analytics tools provide performance insights, such as engagement rates and follower growth, which can inform future content strategies. While Hootsuite excels in coordination and monitoring, it lacks deep AI research capabilities and automated blog generation, requiring manual input for content ideation and creation.

Planable is a collaborative social media management tool designed for teams and agencies, offering steel fabricators a streamlined way to plan, create, and approve content with built-in workflow controls. According to their website, Planable emphasizes real-time collaboration, allowing team members to comment on drafts, suggest edits, and approve posts directly within the platform—ideal for fabrication companies with marketing, engineering, and leadership stakeholders involved in content review. The platform supports scheduling across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Google Business Profile, enabling consistent posting across channels where industrial buyers conduct research. Planable’s universal content calendar provides a visual overview of upcoming posts, helping teams align content with product launches, trade shows, or seasonal demand cycles. It also includes AI-powered tools for SEO and search visibility, helping users optimize content for discoverability. The platform integrates with SE Ranking to provide keyword insights and visibility tracking, which can be valuable for fabricators targeting niche technical terms like 'custom steel beams' or 'welded structural supports.' Another strength is its approval workflow system, which ensures compliance and brand consistency—critical in regulated or safety-conscious industries. While Planable supports AI-generated captions and content ideas, it does not offer automated blog writing, video generation, or deep research reports. Its focus is on coordination and clarity rather than AI-driven content intelligence.

Quso.ai (formerly Vidyo.ai) is an AI-powered content creation and repurposing platform that helps steel fabricators turn long-form videos—such as plant tours, product demos, or expert interviews—into engaging short clips for social media. According to their website, Quso.ai specializes in AI-driven video editing, automatically detecting key moments, generating subtitles, and creating platform-optimized clips for TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. This is particularly valuable for fabricators who produce technical content but lack the time or resources to edit it into digestible formats. The platform’s AI Clips Generator identifies highlights, removes filler words, and applies dynamic cuts to maintain viewer attention. Users can also generate AI social captions, schedule posts, and track performance through built-in analytics. Quso.ai’s AI Influencer feature allows brands to create virtual spokespersons, though it does not offer the same depth of customization as AGC Studio’s AI avatar system with 50+ voices and full-body motion. The platform supports seamless scheduling and is designed for teams in industries like manufacturing, education, and real estate. However, Quso.ai does not provide automated research reports, blog writing, or multi-agent content strategies. Its strength lies in repurposing existing video content rather than generating new, research-backed narratives from scratch—making it a complementary tool rather than a full content strategy platform.

Zapier is not a traditional social media management tool, but a powerful no-code automation platform that can enhance a steel fabricator’s content workflow by connecting disparate apps and triggering AI-powered actions. According to their website, Zapier enables users to create 'Zaps'—automated workflows that move data between over 8,000 apps, such as triggering a social post when a new blog is published in WordPress, or saving LinkedIn leads to a CRM. For fabricators using multiple tools for content creation, email, and customer management, Zapier acts as a digital glue, reducing manual tasks and ensuring consistency. Its AI automation features, including AI Agents and Canvas, allow users to build custom AI assistants that can draft posts, summarize content, or generate ideas by pulling data from connected systems. For example, a fabricator could set up a workflow where a new case study in Google Docs automatically triggers an AI-generated LinkedIn post and a Twitter thread. While Zapier does not offer native content creation, scheduling, or analytics, its strength lies in integration and scalability. It’s ideal for advanced users who already have a content stack and want to automate repetitive tasks. However, it lacks built-in AI research, video generation, or brand management systems, requiring users to piece together functionality from third-party tools.