Sprout Social vs Buffer

by Gralio Mar 10, 2025

Sprout Social and Buffer are both social media management platforms designed to help businesses streamline their social media activities. Sprout Social excels in comprehensive Instagram integration and in-depth analytics, making it suitable for businesses focused on Instagram marketing. Buffer offers a simpler interface and a more affordable pricing structure, making it a good option for businesses prioritizing Twitter and ease of use.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 5089 reviews and 60 websites, saving 1 day, 4 hours, 46 minutes of reading.

Sprout Social

Website LinkedIn Twitter

Buffer

Website LinkedIn Twitter

About

Sprout Social is a social media management platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It offers a suite of tools to manage social media interactions, schedule posts, analyze performance, and listen to what customers are saying online. Sprout Social aims to streamline social media activities, provide data-driven insights, and help businesses maximize the impact of their social media presence.

Buffer is a software tool that helps you manage your company's social media. Schedule posts across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all in one place. You can also track how your posts perform and get insights to improve your strategy. Buffer is designed to be user-friendly for teams of all sizes.

Summary

Main difference

Sprout Social is a strong choice for businesses that need in-depth social media analytics and reporting, especially for Instagram. Buffer is better suited for businesses prioritizing ease of use and affordability, particularly those focused on Twitter.

Relative strengths of Sprout Social (compared to Buffer)

Superior Instagram Integration: Sprout Social offers more comprehensive Instagram scheduling and analytics features, including support for both business and creator accounts.
Robust Reporting and Analytics: Provides detailed insights into social media performance with customizable reports, making it easier to track key metrics and demonstrate ROI.
Stronger Team Collaboration Features: Offers better tools for team collaboration, task assignment, and workflow management within the platform.

Relative weaknesses of Sprout Social (compared to Buffer)

Higher Price Point: Sprout Social's plans are generally more expensive than Buffer's, which may not be suitable for smaller businesses or those on a tight budget.
Less Intuitive User Interface: While offering advanced features, Sprout Social can be slightly less intuitive for new users compared to Buffer's simpler design.
Limited Free Plan: Sprout Social's free trial is time-limited, while Buffer offers a free plan with basic features indefinitely.

Who should use Sprout Social VS. Buffer

Sprout Social is a user-friendly social media management platform ideal for businesses of all sizes. Users praise its intuitive interface, smart inbox, and robust reporting. However, some have reported data accuracy issues and slow loading times. It's best for those seeking streamlined social media workflows and data-driven insights.

Buffer helps manage social media. Schedule posts, track performance, and gain insights. Easy to use, but some users report Instagram issues and occasional post failures. The free plan offers basic features, but pricing can be high for additional needs.

Best fit for medium to large businesses seeking streamlined social media management.
Strong fit for marketing & advertising, suitable for most other industries.

Ideal for small to medium businesses and marketing professionals.
Suitable for various sectors, including retail, e-commerce, and healthcare.

Sprout Social and Buffer features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Social Media Publishing

Supported

Sprout Social enables planning, creating, and scheduling social media posts across platforms from its central dashboard.

Supported

Buffer allows planning, creating, and scheduling social media posts across multiple platforms.
Twitter integration

Supported

Sprout Social allows scheduling single Tweets, but not threads.

Supported

Buffer fully supports Twitter integration and allows users to schedule both individual tweets and Twitter threads.
Instagram integration

Supported

Sprout Social allows scheduling posts to both Instagram business and creator accounts.

Supported

Buffer supports scheduling posts to both Instagram business and creator accounts, including the ability to schedule stories and reels. It also integrates well with other tools like Zapier for automation.
Impressions and reach

Supported

Sprout Social offers robust analytics with detailed reports on impressions and reach. It provides a comprehensive view of content performance across various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Supported

Buffer allows to see impressions and reach for social media posts in its paid plans. Its "Analyze" service provides detailed analytics including these metrics.
LinkedIn integration

Partially supported

Sprout Social allows scheduling posts to LinkedIn Company Pages, but not to personal profiles.

Supported

Buffer allows scheduling posts to both LinkedIn personal profiles and business pages.
Facebook integration

Partially supported

Sprout Social allows scheduling posts to Facebook pages. The possibility of scheduling posts to Facebook groups is not clear.

Partially supported

Buffer supports scheduling posts to Facebook Pages. Scheduling posts to Facebook Groups is no longer supported via API, but Buffer found a workaround using notifications and prompting the user to manually post the content.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

-0.83

Strongly negative sentiment

-0.5

Rather negative sentiment
Customer Service

+0.61

Rather positive sentiment

+0

Neutral sentiment
Ease of Use

+0.85

Strongly positive sentiment

+0.22

Neutral sentiment
Reliability and Performance

+0.18

Neutral sentiment

-0.17

Neutral sentiment
Ease of Implementation

+0.46

Rather positive sentiment

+0.33

Rather positive sentiment
Scalability

+0.38

Rather positive sentiment

-0.33

Rather negative sentiment

Sprout Social and Buffer Pricing

No data

User sentiment

Strongly negative

-0.83

See full Pricing page

All plans have access to various integrations such as Canva, Unsplash, Dropbox, Google Drive and Photos, One Drive, Zapier, IFTTT, WordPress, Feedly, Pocket, and Bitly. A 14-day free trial is available for the Essentials and Team plans.

Plans

See full Pricing page

Sprout Social and Buffer review insights

4998 reviews analysed from and

Users love

Intuitive and user-friendly interface, praised for ease of navigation.
Smart Inbox effectively aggregates messages, comments, and mentions.
Robust reporting features provide valuable insights and easy report generation.
Seamless integration with other platforms for social media publishing.

Easy to use and schedule posts across multiple platforms.
The interface is clean and intuitive.
The free plan offers a good amount of features for basic needs.
Helpful analytics and insights to track post performance.

Users dislike

Data retrieving issues: Some users report issues with data accuracy and APIs.
Connecting Instagram accounts can be a bit of a task.
Social listening data loading can be slow when changing queries.
Limited Instagram Story functionality, especially on mobile.

Instagram functionality is lacking, with issues connecting accounts and scheduling stories.
Posts sometimes fail to publish with no notification or explanation.
Pricing is high, especially for additional users and features.
The mobile app can be buggy and less user-friendly than the web version.

Sprout Social and Buffer Ratings

G2

4.4/5

(2515)
TrustPilot

2.0/5

(51)
Glassdoor

4.1/5

(568)

G2

4.3/5

(1008)
Capterra

4.5/5

(1475)
TrustPilot

2.2/5

(40)
Glassdoor

3.9/5

(25)

Company health

Employee growth

5% increase in the last year

23% increase in the last year

Web traffic

9% decrease in the last quarter

5% decrease in the last quarter

Financing

September 2018 - $111M

March 2017 - $4M

How do Sprout Social's Instagram story limitations compare to Buffer's capabilities?

Sprout Social has limited Instagram story functionality, especially on mobile, while Buffer fully supports Instagram story scheduling, including for both business and creator accounts. This suggests Buffer offers more comprehensive Instagram story management than Sprout Social.

Which platform provides more robust analytics for Twitter thread performance?

Buffer provides more robust analytics for Twitter thread performance. While Sprout Social offers analytics for overall Twitter performance, it does not specifically support scheduling or analyzing Twitter threads. Buffer, on the other hand, explicitly allows scheduling and analyzing individual tweets and complete threads. This feature gives users more granular control and insights into the performance of their threaded content on Twitter.

What are the advantages of Sprout Social?

Sprout Social offers robust analytics with detailed reports on impressions and reach across various platforms, including TikTok, which is not mentioned for Buffer. Users praise Sprout Social's intuitive interface, effective Smart Inbox, and seamless integrations. While both tools offer scheduling, Sprout Social's strength lies in its comprehensive analytics and user-friendly design, making it ideal for businesses focused on data-driven social media strategies.

What are the disadvantages of Sprout Social?

Sprout Social's disadvantages include occasional data retrieval issues affecting accuracy and API functionality, difficulty connecting Instagram accounts, slow loading of social listening data, and limited Instagram Story functionality, especially on mobile. Some users also find the pricing to be high.

Alternatives to Sprout Social and Buffer

Nuelink

Nuelink is a cloud-based social media management platform designed for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes. It allows you to schedule and automate your social media posts across various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more. Nuelink offers features like content scheduling, automated posting from blogs and online stores, AI-powered content generation, and performance tracking, enabling you to manage your social media presence efficiently from a single dashboard. It stands out with its automation features, simplifying content distribution and saving you time.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that lets companies schedule posts across various platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. It offers tools to manage content, track customer conversations, gain social media insights, and analyze data to improve social media strategies. Hootsuite is used by businesses of all sizes and is known for its user-friendly dashboard that consolidates multiple social media functions in one place.

Zoho Social

Zoho Social is a social media management platform designed for businesses of all sizes and agencies. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools to manage multiple social media accounts across various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With Zoho Social, you can schedule posts, track brand mentions, analyze performance with detailed reports, and manage social media activities effectively from a single dashboard. The platform also offers collaboration features, making it easy for teams to work together on social media campaigns. Zoho Social integrates seamlessly with other Zoho products like Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk, providing a unified platform to manage customer interactions and generate leads.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a social media management tool that helps businesses manage their presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It allows you to schedule posts, monitor social activity, and generate reports to analyze performance. Agorapulse is known for its user-friendly interface and responsive customer support, making it a suitable option for businesses of all sizes.

Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson is a social media management platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It provides tools to schedule posts, analyze performance, and track social media trends. Dash Hudson emphasizes its Vision AI feature for predicting content success and claims it can increase social media engagement. The software also offers tools to manage influencer marketing campaigns and track their effectiveness.

RADAAR

RADAAR is a social media management platform designed to streamline your online presence. It allows you to schedule and publish content, monitor social media activity, engage with your audience, and analyze your performance, all from one central location. RADAAR offers solutions for businesses of all sizes, from small businesses and agencies to large enterprises. It supports a wide array of social media platforms and provides tools to improve efficiency and collaboration.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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