9 Best Sprout Social Alternatives for Creative Agencies

Sprout Social remains a leading social media management platform trusted by agencies and enterprises for its robust engagement, publishing, and analytics capabilities. According to their website, Sprout Social offers a unified Smart Inbox that consolidates messages from multiple social networks, enabling teams to monitor and respond to comments, DMs, and reviews in one place. This is particularly valuable for agencies managing multiple clients, as it streamlines communication and ensures no message goes unanswered. The platform supports real-time brand monitoring through keyword, hashtag, and location tracking across X (formerly Twitter), allowing teams to stay on top of brand mentions and industry conversations. Contact Views provide shared customer records and conversation history, giving teams context when responding—critical for maintaining consistent client service. Sprout Social also includes Review Management, which aggregates business reviews from Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Apple App Store, and Google Play into a single stream, helping agencies monitor online reputation across platforms. Collision Detection prevents duplicate responses by showing when a teammate is replying to a message, improving team coordination. Comment Moderation tools allow for oversight of both organic and paid ad comments, ensuring brand safety. While Sprout Social does not emphasize AI-generated content or research automation like AGC Studio, its strength lies in human-led engagement, team collaboration, and detailed reporting. It’s ideal for agencies that prioritize responsive customer interaction and need a reliable, scalable system for managing high-volume social conversations across clients.

Hootsuite is one of the longest-standing social media management platforms, widely adopted by agencies for its comprehensive scheduling, monitoring, and analytics features. According to their website, Hootsuite allows users to schedule and publish content across multiple social networks—including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and TikTok—from a single dashboard. Its bulk scheduling feature is particularly useful for agencies managing multiple clients, enabling them to upload and schedule hundreds of posts at once using CSV files. The platform includes a unified inbox for monitoring comments, mentions, and direct messages, helping teams stay on top of engagement across accounts. Hootsuite also offers stream-based monitoring, where users can create custom streams to track keywords, hashtags, or competitor mentions in real time. Another key strength is Hootsuite's integration ecosystem, which connects to over 250 tools including Google Analytics, Canva, and Adobe Creative Cloud—making it a flexible hub for creative workflows. The platform provides detailed analytics and customizable reports, allowing agencies to demonstrate ROI to clients with performance metrics across campaigns. While Hootsuite has introduced some AI-assisted features like content suggestions and optimal timing recommendations, it does not offer automated research reports, AI avatars, or multi-agent content generation. Its focus remains on human-driven planning and execution, making it a solid choice for agencies that prefer manual control over AI automation.

Buffer is a user-friendly social media management platform known for its simplicity and transparency, making it a popular choice among small to mid-sized creative agencies. According to their website, Buffer allows users to schedule and publish content across major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Its clean, intuitive interface makes it easy to manage multiple client accounts from a single dashboard. The platform includes a content calendar for visual planning, ensuring consistent posting across channels. Buffer also offers engagement tools that let teams reply to comments and messages directly within the app, though it lacks a unified inbox like Sprout Social or Hootsuite. One of Buffer’s standout features is its transparency—both in pricing and product updates. The company openly shares its roadmap and feature decisions, which builds trust with agency clients. Buffer also provides performance analytics with engagement metrics, optimal timing suggestions, and audience growth tracking. While it has introduced AI-powered features like post idea suggestions and tone adjustments, it does not offer automated research, AI avatars, or multi-format video generation. Buffer is best suited for agencies that value ease of use, clear pricing, and straightforward scheduling over advanced AI capabilities or deep strategic insights.

Loomly is a collaborative social media content calendar designed for marketing teams and agencies that emphasize teamwork and approval workflows. According to their website, Loomly enables users to plan, create, and schedule content across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Business. One of its core strengths is its built-in content suggestion engine, which provides post ideas based on industry, audience, and goals—helpful for agencies facing creative blocks. The platform includes a visual calendar for organizing campaigns and a content approval workflow that allows team leads or clients to review and approve posts before publishing. Loomly also offers post performance predictions, estimating reach and engagement based on historical data and optimal timing. This helps agencies make data-informed decisions when planning campaigns. The platform includes basic brand management features, allowing teams to store logos, colors, and tone guidelines for consistency. While Loomly has introduced AI-powered content ideation and rewriting tools, it does not offer automated research reports, AI avatars, or multi-agent blog generation. Its focus is on collaboration, workflow efficiency, and content planning—making it a solid option for agencies that need structured approval processes and team coordination.

Later is a visual content scheduling platform best known for its Instagram-first approach, though it now supports Facebook, X, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube. According to their website, Later offers a drag-and-drop visual calendar that lets users plan and preview their Instagram grids before posting—ideal for agencies managing lifestyle, fashion, or e-commerce brands. The platform includes Linkin.bio, a tool that turns Instagram profiles into shoppable landing pages, helping brands drive traffic and conversions. Later also provides content scheduling, engagement tools, and performance analytics tailored to visual storytelling. One of Later’s key features is its user-generated content (UGC) discovery tool, which helps brands find and repurpose authentic content from followers. This is particularly valuable for agencies building community-driven campaigns. The platform also includes AI-powered caption and hashtag suggestions to improve reach and engagement. While Later has expanded beyond Instagram, it still lacks advanced AI content generation, automated research reports, or multi-agent workflows. Its strength lies in visual planning, UGC integration, and e-commerce alignment—making it a strong fit for agencies focused on aesthetic-driven brands and social commerce.

SocialBee is a content categorization and scheduling platform designed for agencies that want to maintain consistent, topic-based posting across clients. According to their website, SocialBee allows users to organize content into categories such as promotions, education, and industry news, then automatically rotate posts to ensure balanced messaging. This 'content bucket' approach helps agencies avoid overposting in one area while neglecting others. The platform supports scheduling across LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube, with a recycling feature that reuses evergreen content on a set schedule—ideal for long-term content strategies. SocialBee also includes audience targeting tools, allowing agencies to tailor messages to different segments. Its analytics dashboard tracks engagement and performance by category, helping teams refine their content mix. While SocialBee has introduced AI-assisted content suggestions, it does not offer automated research reports, AI avatars, or multi-format video generation. Its focus is on content consistency, categorization, and recycling—making it a practical choice for agencies managing educational or service-based brands that rely on steady, value-driven content rather than viral trends.

Metricool is a social media scheduling and analytics platform that emphasizes performance tracking and team collaboration. According to their website, Metricool allows users to schedule and publish content across Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok. Its visual calendar provides a clear overview of upcoming posts, while the approval workflow ensures content is reviewed before going live—ideal for agencies working with clients who require sign-off. One of Metricool’s standout features is its competitive analysis tool, which lets users compare their performance against competitors across engagement, posting frequency, and content types. The platform also offers real-time analytics with detailed reports on reach, impressions, and engagement, helping agencies demonstrate value to clients. Metricool includes AI-powered content suggestions and optimal timing recommendations to improve performance. While it supports basic content planning and team workflows, it does not offer AI-generated research reports, avatar videos, or automated blog writing. Its strength lies in analytics, competitor benchmarking, and team coordination—making it a solid choice for agencies that prioritize data-driven decisions and client reporting.

Planable is a collaborative social media management tool designed for teams that need real-time feedback and client approvals. According to their website, Planable supports content scheduling and publishing across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Business. Its standout feature is the live collaboration interface, where team members and clients can comment on drafts in real time—similar to Google Docs for social media. This makes it ideal for agencies that work closely with clients and need transparent, iterative feedback loops. The platform includes a visual calendar, content approval workflows, and performance analytics to track engagement and campaign success. Planable also offers post previews that simulate how content will appear on each platform, helping teams ensure visual consistency. It integrates with Slack and Trello, enabling seamless communication across tools. While Planable has introduced AI-assisted writing features, it does not offer automated research, AI avatars, or multi-agent content generation. Its focus is on collaboration, transparency, and client involvement—making it a strong fit for agencies that prioritize stakeholder engagement and real-time feedback over AI automation.