Sprout Social pricing runs from $79 to $399 per seat a month on annual billing, or $99 to $499 billed monthly, across Essentials, Standard, Professional and Advanced (Sprout Social pricing page, checked 1 November 2026). Enterprise is quoted.
Every price is per seat. Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are quoted separately. And the 5-profile cap on the two cheaper plans is the line most agencies cross early. Below: every plan, the math for 1, 3 and 10 seats, what the add-ons cost, what agencies actually pay, and when a cheaper tool does the job.
Key takeaways
- Four public tiers, priced per seat: Essentials $79, Standard $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399 a month on annual billing.
- Monthly billing costs $20 to $100 more per seat each month, which is $240 to $1,200 per seat a year.
- Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy are add-ons from Standard up, with no public price.
- Agencies usually land on Professional, because Essentials and Standard stop at 5 social profiles.
- The 30-day trial is Professional, with no credit card required.
Video: Sprout Social reviewed, plan by plan
A seven-minute review that walks through the plans, the inbox and the listening tools, and lands on the same objection this guide quantifies: price.
Three things worth taking from it:
- Annual billing is the cheaper way to pay. He shows the monthly and annual options on the pricing page and the saving on each tier, the same gap our table puts in dollars.
- The tiers stack features, not profiles alone. Standard carries 5 profiles, keyword and location monitoring and review management; Professional adds unlimited profiles and competitor and paid insights; Advanced adds sentiment in the inbox, helpdesk integrations and message spike alerts.
- Price is the main downside. For small businesses and solo creators he points to Buffer or Hootsuite as cheaper, and he flags a learning curve that comes with the feature depth.
Where we differ: the video does not show the Essentials plan, which the pricing page now marks as new at $79 a seat. Use the table below for the current ladder.
Sprout Social pricing in November 2026: every plan
Sprout Social sells five plans. Four have public per-seat prices and Enterprise is quoted after a demo. Annual billing is one up-front payment for the whole term; monthly billing costs more per seat, according to the FAQ on the same page.
| Plan | Per seat, billed annually | Per seat, billed monthly | Social profiles | Brand keywords | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials (new) | $79 a month | $99 a month | 5 | Not included | Publishing with optimal send times, profile and post reporting, Trellis AI |
| Standard | $199 a month | $249 a month | 5 | 10 per group | Consolidated inbox, keyword and location monitoring, review management |
| Professional | $299 a month | $399 a month | Unlimited | 10 per group | Competitor, tag and paid insights, message tagging, AI Assist for posts |
| Advanced | $399 a month | $499 a month | Unlimited | 20 per group | Sentiment in the inbox, Sprout API, helpdesk integrations, spike alerts, care reports |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Not listed | Not listed | White-glove onboarding, tailored plan, SSO setup, priority support |
Every plan includes 100 Trellis AI credits per seat a month. Trellis Plus raises that to 1,000 credits for $28 a seat a month on annual billing or $35 monthly, bought inside the app. Nonprofits in the US can ask for special pricing on Professional and Advanced, per the pricing page FAQ.
The free trial
The trial is 30 days of Sprout Professional with no credit card (Sprout trial page), and the page quotes $299 per seat a month billed annually after it ends. You can switch plans during the trial. When it ends, you pick a plan and enter payment details.
How we checked the prices
We read sproutsocial.com/pricing and the trial page on 1 November 2026: the plan cards, the comparison table, the FAQ and the structured price data in the page source, which lists prices in USD. The monthly figures come from the page's own FAQ on annual versus monthly billing. Add-on prices are not on the page, so we do not quote them. We did not negotiate a contract; the negotiated figures in the agency section come from Vendr, a software buying platform, and are labeled as such.
How much does Sprout Social cost for 1, 3 or 10 seats?
One seat costs $79 to $399 a month on annual billing, three cost $237 to $1,197, and ten cost $790 to $3,990. Billed monthly, the same ten seats cost $990 to $4,990.
| Seats and billing | Essentials | Standard | Professional | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 seat, annual | $79 a month ($948 a year) | $199 ($2,388 a year) | $299 ($3,588 a year) | $399 ($4,788 a year) |
| 1 seat, monthly | $99 a month | $249 | $399 | $499 |
| 3 seats, annual | $237 a month ($2,844 a year) | $597 ($7,164 a year) | $897 ($10,764 a year) | $1,197 ($14,364 a year) |
| 3 seats, monthly | $297 a month | $747 | $1,197 | $1,497 |
| 10 seats, annual | $790 a month ($9,480 a year) | $1,990 ($23,880 a year) | $2,990 ($35,880 a year) | $3,990 ($47,880 a year) |
| 10 seats, monthly | $990 a month | $2,490 | $3,990 | $4,990 |
Annual or monthly?
Monthly billing adds $20 a seat on Essentials, $50 on Standard and $100 on Professional and Advanced, every month. Over a year that is $240, $600 and $1,200 per seat. For three Professional seats the monthly premium is $3,600 a year; for ten it is $12,000.
Annual wins if your headcount will hold for twelve months, because you pay the year up front. Monthly is worth the premium while you are still finding out whether the team will live in the tool. A sensible pattern: one or two months on monthly billing after the trial, then switch to annual once the seat count is real.
What do Listening, Premium Analytics and Employee Advocacy cost?
Sprout does not publish a price for any of them. The pricing page sells Premium Analytics and Listening as individual add-ons to Standard and above, and Employee Advocacy from Standard up, each through a demo.
- Listening groups conversation topics with AI, scores sentiment and sends spike alerts when volume or sentiment moves suddenly. It is not the same as the keyword and location monitoring in Standard, which tracks up to 10 brand keywords per group.
- Premium Analytics adds advanced filtering, custom performance comparisons and shareable links to presentation-ready reports.
- Employee Advocacy lets you curate posts for employees to share, track them with UTM parameters and estimate earned media value.
- Influencer Marketing is a separate product that needs no Sprout plan, also priced on request, with creator fees paid separately. Professional Services come in packages from Standard up.
How big can the add-ons get? Vendr's buyer guide says Listening "can double or triple total contract value" depending on topics, keywords and users (Vendr Sprout Social guide, last updated February 2026). Treat that as a reason to get the quote early, not as a price.
What agencies actually pay for Sprout Social
Most agencies pay for Professional seats at $299 each a month on annual billing, because Essentials and Standard stop at 5 social profiles and an agency usually passes that by its second or third client. Listening and Premium Analytics come on top, by quote.
| Agency example | Profiles to manage | Lowest plan that fits | List price, annual billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer, 2 clients | 4 | Essentials (no inbox) or Standard | $79 or $199 a month |
| 3 people, 8 clients | About 24 | Professional | $897 a month, $10,764 a year |
| 10 people, 25 clients | About 75 | Professional | $2,990 a month, $35,880 a year |
| 10 people who need sentiment and helpdesk links | About 75 | Advanced | $3,990 a month, $47,880 a year |
Negotiated prices land below list on average. Vendr reports a median Sprout Social contract of $18,980 a year across 362 purchases, with buyers saving 14% on average (Vendr Sprout Social pricing, last updated February 2026). That median sits near the list price of five Professional seats, $17,940 a year. Two caveats: Vendr's data covers all buyers, not only agencies, and its own list-price table uses the monthly-billing figures, so use it for contract totals rather than list prices.
The seat your client pays for
The cheapest agency seat is the one your client buys. Sprout's Agency Partner Program pays referral revenue based on annual contract value, and once a referral is approved, your agency gets free user access to that client's account. The page gives no percentage for the referral revenue. If your clients own their subscriptions, your team works inside them without buying seats of its own.
Client logins and branded reports
The pricing page prices every seat and lists no free client or viewer seat. If clients approve posts inside Sprout, ask sales how those approvers are counted before you sign. The page also does not list white label reporting on any plan, so if branded client reports are what you bill for, check that before the trial ends. Our guide to white label reports covers what clients expect to see in one.
When does a cheaper tool fit better?
When your team uses one part of Sprout. A cheaper suite, a publishing tool or a competitor benchmarking tool each costs less than a Sprout seat.
Hootsuite Standard, if you want an inbox for less per seat
Hootsuite Standard is $99 per user a month on annual billing with 10 social accounts and a unified inbox (checked 1 November 2026), against $199 and 5 profiles on Sprout Standard. Approvals cost more there: they start on Hootsuite Advanced at $399 a user.
Best for: small teams that answer messages daily and manage up to 10 accounts. Skip it if: your workflow depends on approvals and you have a tight budget. Our Hootsuite pricing breakdown has the full tier map.
Buffer, if publishing is most of the work
Buffer charges per channel: Essentials is $5 a channel a month and Team is $10 with unlimited team members, billed yearly, plus a free plan for 3 channels (checked 1 November 2026). Six channels on Team cost $60 a month for the whole team.
Best for: teams that schedule posts and read native analytics. Skip it if: listening or competitor reports are why you looked at Sprout.
Pengu Insights, if competitor benchmarking is the job
Ours, so weigh the recommendation. If the Sprout feature you wanted was competitor insights, which start on Professional at $299 a seat, the Starter plan on Pengu Insights pricing is $39 a month and covers social benchmarking by engagement rate on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, plus the Meta Ad Library and core SEO. Agency at $129 a month adds full white label, multi-brand workspaces and client reports, which is the agency shape.
Best for: agencies and in-house teams that publish elsewhere and want to know what competitors post and what it earns them. Skip it if: you need scheduling, an inbox or mention listening. We do none of those, so it replaces one part of Sprout, not the suite.
For six more options sorted by which Sprout job they replace, see our Sprout Social alternatives comparison.
Common mistakes when budgeting for Sprout Social
- Quoting the annual price and paying monthly. The difference is up to $100 a seat a month. Decide the billing term before you compare tools.
- Putting an agency on Standard. Five social profiles run out by the second or third client. Price Professional from the start.
- Confusing keyword monitoring with Listening. Standard tracks brand keywords; the Listening add-on with topic analysis and spike alerts is a separate quote.
- Counting only marketers as seats. The pricing page prices every login as a seat, so count approvers and account managers too unless sales confirms otherwise.
- Ignoring Trellis credits. Each seat gets 100 AI credits a month. Heavy AI users may need Trellis Plus at $28 a seat on annual billing.
- Leaving add-on quotes for renewal. Get Listening and Premium Analytics priced in writing during the trial, while walking away still costs you nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sprout Social free?
No. There is no free plan. The 30-day trial of Professional needs no credit card, and after it the cheapest plan is Essentials at $79 a seat a month on annual billing or $99 monthly.
How much does Sprout Social cost per month?
Essentials $79, Standard $199, Professional $299 and Advanced $399 per seat on annual billing; $99, $249, $399 and $499 billed monthly. Enterprise and all add-ons are quoted.
How many users can you have on Sprout Social?
As many as you pay for. The pricing page lists no seat limit and charges every seat at the plan rate. Agency partners get free user access to referred clients' accounts once approved.
Does Sprout Social work for LinkedIn?
Yes, for Company Pages. Sprout's LinkedIn page lists publishing, replies to public and private messages, and post and Page analytics.
What to do next
- Count real seats (10 minutes). List everyone who logs in, including approvers. That number times the seat price is your floor.
- Count social profiles (10 minutes). More than 5 means Professional, whatever else you need.
- Pick the billing term (5 minutes). Monthly while you are testing, annual once headcount is stable for a year.
- Run the 30-day trial with real work (30 days). Answer real messages and build the report you would send to a client or a boss.
- Get add-on quotes in writing (20 minutes, plus the sales call). Listening and Premium Analytics, per seat or per topic, before the trial ends.
- Price the split (20 minutes). A publishing tool plus a competitor benchmarking tool, against your Sprout quote. Check one rival in the free website traffic checker to see the side of competitor research no social suite covers.
In short: Sprout Social costs $79 to $399 per seat a month on annual billing, $99 to $499 monthly, and agencies usually start at Professional because of the profile cap. If competitor benchmarking is the part you need, start free on Pengu Insights before you buy seats for it.
Written by
Founder of Pengu Insights. Competitive intelligence practitioner for DTC brands and marketing agencies.
