Hootsuite Pricing 2026: Every Plan, the Per-User Math and the Free Plan

Hootsuite pricing looks simple on the plans page: three numbers and a "Contact for pricing" box. The catch is under the numbers. They're per user, they assume you pay for a full year up front, and none of them is $0 anymore.

We read the plans page, the price data behind it, the help center, the terms and a few archived Hootsuite pages from 2021 and 2023. Below: every plan and its limits, what common setups pay in a year, where Hootsuite's own pages contradict each other, and what happened to the free plan.

Prices checked October 7, 2026, in USD for the US, before tax. Hootsuite's payment terms say prices can differ by location, so check hootsuite.com/plans before you buy.

Hootsuite plans and prices at a glance#

Where do the monthly prices come from? The plans page only prints the yearly-billing price. Its FAQ confirms you can pay month to month, and the monthly figures ($149, $299, $499) sit in the price data that same page loads from Hootsuite's billing system.

How much is Hootsuite per user?#

Hootsuite's price tag is per human. Past Standard's 10-account cap it stops caring how many social accounts you connect, but every seat costs the full plan price, so your bill follows your headcount.

That's what you actually pay in a year, before tax. The table hides a few traps:

• The 11th account doubles your bill. Standard stops at 10 social accounts. A solo creator with 11 has to move to Professional, which takes the year from $1,188 to $2,388.
• More seats don't buy more accounts. Hootsuite's own FAQ example has teammates sharing Standard's 10. An agency with 5 seats and 30 client profiles needs Professional at minimum.
• Approvals are the expensive part. Post approvals and internal comments only start at Advanced. A 3-person team that wants a review step pays $14,364 a year, billed yearly. Hootsuite also notes that some features only work with multiple seats.

Is Hootsuite cheaper if you pay yearly?#

Yes, and by a lot on the two cheaper plans:

• Standard: $1,788 billed monthly vs $1,188 billed yearly. You save $600 per user (34%).
• Professional: $3,588 vs $2,388. You save $1,200 per user (33%).
• Advanced: $5,988 vs $4,788. You save $1,200 per user (20%).

The trade-off: Hootsuite's billing FAQ calls the annual plan "one discounted, non-refundable payment." Once you're on yearly, you have to finish the year before you can switch to monthly.

Switching the other way is murky. The billing FAQ says a move from monthly to yearly "begins immediately" with a prorated invoice. The newer plan-management article (updated September 2026) says the yearly plan starts when your current month ends. Ask support which applies before you switch mid-month.

What each Hootsuite plan includes (and leaves out)#

Standard ($99). 10 social accounts, unlimited and bulk scheduling, AI captions and hashtags, Canva and Adobe Express templates, a shared inbox, a 7-day listening search and benchmarking against 5 competitors. You don't get custom reports, report exports, DM automations, Bitly or approvals.

Professional ($199). Hootsuite's "Most popular" badge goes here. It adds unlimited accounts, automated replies and DM workflows, AI smart replies, a 30-day listening search with exports, trend forecasts up to 90 days out, custom and scheduled reports, 20 competitors and automatic post boosting.

Advanced ($399). The team tier. Post approvals, internal comments, pausing scheduled posts, assigning and routing messages, customer satisfaction surveys, team productivity reports, and branded reports you can email to people outside Hootsuite.

Enterprise (custom). SSO, compliance integrations, 13 months of listening history with alerts, ROI reporting and expert onboarding. It's also the only plan that includes what the plans page calls "Add-ons": Parliament employee advocacy, attribution analytics, an advanced inbox, Lumen by Talkwalker, brand review monitoring and Salesforce. None of them has a public price.

About the AI credits: every self-serve plan includes 100 AI credits a month for Wisdom, Hootsuite's built-in AI. None of the pages we checked says what one credit buys or what extra credits cost.

Is Hootsuite free?#

No. There's no free plan in 2026, just a 14-day trial of the paid plans. Hootsuite's own free page answers the question with "You can try any Hootsuite plan free for 14 days."

There used to be one, though. Here's the history from Hootsuite's own pages:

You'll see March 31, 2023 quoted around the web as the end date. We couldn't find that date on any Hootsuite page, but archived copies of its free page show the plan disappeared between January and April 2023.

Some old wording survived. The same free page still says you can publish to all your networks "with Hootsuite free and paid plans," and the terms still mention downgrading to "a charge-free service." The pricing page doesn't offer one.

How does the Hootsuite free trial work?#

You get 14 days on Standard, Professional or Advanced (Enterprise gets a demo). You only get one trial, and switching plans halfway doesn't restart the clock. Trial accounts are also capped at 10 to 20 posts a day per organization, depending on the plan, and bulk scheduling stays off until you pay.

Will Hootsuite charge you when the trial ends? That depends on which Hootsuite page you read:

• The plans page: no credit card required, and you "won't be charged automatically" when the trial ends.
• The help center's account FAQ: when the trial ends, your account moves to the plan you picked "and the payment method on your account is charged." It tells you to delete your account before the trial expires if you want to avoid charges.
• The self-serve terms: Hootsuite "may require" a card for a trial and charges you on the first day after it ends, unless you cancel.

If you never entered a card, there's nothing on file to charge. If you did, go by the help center and the terms and cancel before day 14. Hootsuite says it emails you a few days before the trial runs out.

Hootsuite add-ons, discounts and price changes#

• Add-ons: Enterprise only, no public prices (see above). The billing FAQ says add-ons are invoiced from the day you add them to the end of your commitment. Remove one mid-cycle and it stays active until then, with no refund.
• Nonprofits: the HootGiving program prices Standard at $39, Professional at $79 and Advanced at $159 per user a month, billed yearly. You verify through TechSoup or Goodstack. Schools, hospitals, government bodies, credit unions, political groups, trade associations and individuals don't qualify.
• Anything else: yearly billing is the only other discount on the pricing pages.
• Price changes: Hootsuite's payment terms allow price changes on 30 days' notice, but not in the middle of your current term. Yearly billing locks your price for 12 months.
• Payment: cards and PayPal. The plans page leaves American Express off its list while the billing FAQ includes it, so check at checkout if Amex is your only card. Debit and prepaid cards aren't accepted.

Can you cancel Hootsuite and get a refund?#

You can cancel any time. A refund is officially off the table, unofficially maybe.

• The terms: you can cancel or downgrade whenever you like, but "you must continue to pay for the rest of your plan term and you are not entitled to a refund." The only exception is Hootsuite ending your account for no reason.
• The refund policy page: it admits the terms say all fees are non-refundable, then says Hootsuite is "happy to review your charges." You fill out a form, and approved refunds take 5 to 10 business days. Hootsuite can't refund subscriptions bought in its iOS or Android app, so those go through Apple or Google.
• How to cancel: Account, then Plan and billing, then Manage my subscription, then Cancel upcoming subscription. It takes effect at the end of your paid or trial period, and only an organization's Super Admin can do it.
• Don't delete your account to cancel faster. Deletion is immediate, with no proration. Your scheduled posts are wiped and that email can never be used for Hootsuite again.
• The downgrade trap: going from Advanced to Standard currently means deleting your account and signing up again, so you lose scheduled messages, streams, inbox conversations and analytics data. Don't start on Advanced "just in case."

Which Hootsuite plan should you pick?#

Hootsuite alternatives (the short version)#

First decide whether you need an inbox and listening. If your team answers DMs and tracks mentions all day, compare Hootsuite with tools in its own class (Sprout Social, Agorapulse and friends) on price per seat. If you mostly publish, you'd be paying for an inbox you won't open, and a plain scheduler will do.

A free alternative (full disclosure: it's ours)#

We built DumbSMM, and it includes a free AI social media scheduler. Connect Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, put posts on a calendar, or turn on AutoPost: you pick how many posts a day and your time zone, and it fills the next open slots with videos you've approved.

Nothing to post yet? DumbSMM Create turns your website into short videos for TikTok and Reels (UGC-style clips, product demos, memes), and you don't need an account to start.

To be fair, Hootsuite wins on a lot: a unified inbox, social listening, enterprise analytics and ROI reporting, multi-person approvals, SSO, and far more networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn and X. If your team lives in the inbox, stay on Hootsuite or something like it.

But if you're a founder or a small team that mostly needs short videos going out on schedule, $1,188 a year per person is a lot for a calendar. Try the DumbSMM scheduler. It's free.

Hootsuite pricing FAQ#

How much does Hootsuite cost per month?#

Standard is $99 per user a month billed yearly, or $149 billed monthly. Professional is $199 or $299, and Advanced is $399 or $499. Enterprise pricing is custom. These are US prices before tax.

Is Hootsuite free?#

No. Hootsuite dropped its free plan in early 2023. Today you get a 14-day free trial of Standard, Professional or Advanced, and trial accounts can only post 10 to 20 times a day.

Is Hootsuite priced per user?#

Yes. Every plan is sold per seat, so 3 people on Professional cost 3 × $2,388 = $7,164 a year, billed yearly. Standard also caps you at 10 social accounts.

Will Hootsuite charge me after the free trial?#

Hootsuite's pages disagree. The plans page says no card is needed and you won't be charged automatically. The help center and the terms say the payment method on file is charged when the trial ends. If you entered a card, cancel before day 14.

Can I get a refund from Hootsuite?#

Officially, no. The terms say you pay for the rest of your term after cancelling, and the annual plan is a non-refundable payment. Hootsuite's refund policy page does let you request a review, and approved refunds take 5 to 10 business days.

Does Hootsuite offer discounts?#

Two. Paying yearly saves 20% to 34% depending on the plan, and registered nonprofits pay $39, $79 or $159 per user a month (billed yearly) through HootGiving.

How much is Hootsuite Enterprise?#

Hootsuite doesn't publish it. You request a demo and get a quote. Any Enterprise figure you see online is an estimate, not a Hootsuite price.

Sources:

• Hootsuite plans and pricing
• Price data loaded by the plans page: Standard, Professional, Advanced
• Hootsuite free trial page
• HootGiving nonprofit pricing
• Hootsuite help: Billing FAQ
• Hootsuite help: Account FAQ
• Hootsuite help: Manage your Hootsuite plan and account
• Hootsuite help: Refund policy
• Hootsuite help: Hootsuite for nonprofits
• Hootsuite self-serve terms of service
• Hootsuite online payment terms
• Hootsuite press release: HootSuite goes freemium (2010)
• Hootsuite help: Changes to the Free plan, April 5, 2021 (archived)
• Hootsuite free page, archived January 2023 and April 2023

All checked October 7, 2026. DumbSMM is not affiliated with Hootsuite.