Comparison
PublishBuddy vs Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a premium suite for large teams, priced per seat. PublishBuddy covers publishing, analytics, approvals and AI for small teams and agencies at a fraction of the cost.
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The short version
Sprout Social is built for big social teams: a Smart Inbox with DMs and reviews, listening, deep reporting and Trellis, an AI agent that analyzes your data. It charges per seat, and its two cheaper plans stop at 5 social profiles.
So 10 accounts mean Sprout Professional at $399 a month per person. PublishBuddy covers 10 accounts and 5 team members for $29, and 20 accounts with approvals for $49. It lacks Sprout's inbox, listening and reporting depth, and adds an AI agent that schedules posts.
PublishBuddy vs Sprout Social at a glance
| Feature | Sprout Social | PublishBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Networks | Facebook Pages, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Threads, Bluesky, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Reddit. No Telegram | Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram, Threads, Bluesky |
| Free plan | No | Yes: 3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts per account, 7 days of post stats |
| Free trial | 30 days, no credit card | 14 days of Pro or Business, no credit card |
| Cheapest paid plan | Essentials, $99/month per seat: 5 profiles | Pro, $29/month: 10 accounts, 5 team members |
| 10 social accounts | $399/month per seat (Professional) | $29/month (Pro) |
| Team members | Per seat: each person costs the plan price | 5 on Pro, 15 on Business, then $5/month each |
| AI writing help | AI Assist for post text on Professional and up | AI Assist writes captions and suggests hashtags (Pro and Business) |
| AI agent | Trellis analyzes your data and sends ideas to Compose as drafts. No scheduling listed | Answers questions about your accounts, and writes and schedules posts by chat. 500 AI credits a month on Pro, 2,500 on Business |
| AI images and video | None listed | AI Studio (Pro and Business, uses AI credits) |
| Analytics | Every plan. Competitor reports on Professional, scheduled delivery on Advanced | Analytics page on Pro and Business. Best times, hashtags and demographics on Business |
| Post stats history | Backfills by network on connect, then no stated limit | 7 days (Free), 365 days (Pro), 2 years (Business) |
| Approval workflows | Professional and up | Required approval on Business |
| Inbox | Comments, DMs, mentions and reviews on Standard and up | Comments (Engage, Pro and Business). No DMs yet |
| Social listening | Paid add-on, price on request | No |
| Link-in-bio page | SproutLink, for Instagram | No |
| Public API | Advanced plan | Pro and Business |
| MCP server | A ChatGPT connector for TikTok data only, read-only | Pro and Business. Works with Claude Code, Cursor and other clients that use an API key |
Sprout Social facts come from Sprout Social's own website, checked October 25, 2026 (sources at the end of this page). PublishBuddy facts come from our pricing page.
Sprout Social pricing, checked October 25, 2026
| Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $99 per seat | $79 per seat a month | 5 profiles, publishing and reports. No inbox or approvals. |
| Standard | $249 per seat | $199 per seat a month | 5 profiles, Smart Inbox with DMs and reviews. |
| Professional | $399 per seat | $299 per seat a month | Unlimited profiles, approvals, competitor reports, branded reports, CSV bulk upload. |
| Advanced | $499 per seat | $399 per seat a month | Unlimited profiles, scheduled report delivery, reply approvals, API access. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom terms. |
Source: Sprout Social pricing page. Last checked: . Prices are in US dollars and change often, so check the source before you buy.
Sprout Social charges per seat, so every person pays the plan price. Essentials and Standard stop at 5 profiles. Sprout sells extra profiles but doesn't publish the price, so for 10 accounts the cheapest published option is Professional at $399 a month for one person.
A team of 3 on Professional pays $1,197 a month. PublishBuddy Pro covers 10 accounts and 5 team members for $29, and Business covers 20 accounts and 15 team members for $49.
Listening and Premium Analytics are add-ons priced through sales. Sprout has no free plan, and its 30-day trial needs no credit card.
PublishBuddy pricing
| Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 3 accounts, 10 scheduled posts per account, 20 drafts, 7 days of post stats. No AI Assist or AI agent. |
| Pro | $29 | $278 a year | 10 accounts, 5 team members, AI agent and AI Assist (500 credits a month), AI Studio, Brand Kits, Engage, team roles, API and MCP, the Analytics page, 365 days of post stats. |
| Business | $49 | $470 a year | 20 accounts, 15 team members, 2,500 AI credits a month, required approval, best times, hashtag insights, demographics, PDF and scheduled reports, 2 years of post stats. |
Extra accounts are $5 a month each ($48 a year) on Pro and Business. Extra team members are $5 a month each. Pro and Business come with a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Where PublishBuddy is stronger
- The price: 10 accounts and 5 team members for $29 a month, against $399 per person on Sprout Professional.
- Approvals on a cheaper plan: Business, at $49 for 20 accounts. Sprout's start on Professional.
- An AI agent that writes and schedules posts. Sprout's Trellis analyzes data and hands drafts to Compose.
- AI Studio for images and video. Sprout lists no AI image or video tools.
- A public API and a full MCP server on Pro. Sprout keeps its API for Advanced, and its MCP connector reads TikTok data only.
- Telegram channels, and a free plan for 3 accounts.
Where Sprout Social is stronger
- The Smart Inbox: comments, DMs, mentions and reviews on Standard and up, with case routing and chatbots on Advanced. PublishBuddy's Engage handles comments only.
- Social listening and Premium Analytics add-ons, plus competitor reports on Professional and up.
- Trellis, an AI agent that reads your listening, inbox and reporting data to spot trends and sentiment.
- WhatsApp, Snapchat and Reddit, and reviews from Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor and the app stores.
- A 30-day trial, against PublishBuddy's 14 days.
Who should pick Sprout Social
You run a large team that handles customer care, listening and executive reporting, and per-seat pricing is within budget. Sprout's inbox, listening and reports are built for that scale.
Who should pick PublishBuddy
You're a small team or agency that wants publishing, analytics, approvals and AI without paying $399 a person. Business covers 20 accounts, 15 team members and approvals for $49 a month.
How to switch from Sprout Social to PublishBuddy
You can make the whole move yourself. Here are the steps.
- Start a free trial. Pro and Business come with 14 days free and no credit card.
- Connect your accounts through each network's own login. Facebook connects Pages, and Instagram needs a professional account.
- Gather your scheduled posts from Sprout. Its Publishing Calendar shares as a PDF, and the CSV exports cover published posts, so copy what's still scheduled into a spreadsheet.
- Load those posts with a CSV bulk upload (Pro and up). Name the columns Date and Message, and add Link and Media URLs if you have them. One file holds up to 500 posts and goes to the accounts you pick, so make one file per set of accounts.
- Set your queue times so new posts drop into the next open slot.
- Invite your team. Roles are on Pro and Business; making approval required is on Business.
- Delete each post from Sprout Social once it's scheduled in PublishBuddy, so nothing goes out twice. Cancel Sprout Social when its queue is empty.
Frequently asked questions
Is PublishBuddy cheaper than Sprout Social?
At 10 and 20 accounts, yes, by a lot. Covering 10 accounts on Sprout takes Professional at $399 a month per person, since Essentials and Standard stop at 5 profiles. PublishBuddy Pro covers 10 accounts and 5 team members for $29. Sprout prices were checked on its pricing page on October 25, 2026.
Does PublishBuddy have approval workflows?
Yes, on Business at $49. A team member drafts and submits a post, and a manager approves it with a schedule or rejects it with a reason. Sprout's approvals start on Professional, at $399 per seat.
Does PublishBuddy do social listening?
No. If listening is a must, Sprout Social, with its Listening add-on, is the better fit.
Does Sprout Social have an AI agent?
Yes. Trellis is on every Sprout plan, with 100 credits per seat a month. It analyzes your listening, inbox and reporting data and can send content ideas to Compose as drafts. Sprout doesn't say it schedules or publishes. PublishBuddy's agent writes and schedules posts from a chat.
Which one handles DMs and reviews?
Sprout Social, from the Standard plan. PublishBuddy's Engage inbox handles comments, not DMs or reviews yet.
Does Sprout Social have an API or an MCP server?
Its API comes with the Advanced plan, and its MCP connector works with ChatGPT and reads TikTok data only. PublishBuddy's public API and MCP server come with Pro and Business.
Can I move from Sprout Social to PublishBuddy?
Yes. Copy your scheduled posts from Sprout's calendar into a spreadsheet with Date and Message columns, then load it with PublishBuddy's bulk upload. Download any Sprout reports you want to keep first.
The verdict
Sprout Social is the better tool for large teams that live in the inbox and need listening and executive reports, at $249 to $499 per seat.
PublishBuddy is the better tool for small teams and agencies that mostly publish. It covers 10 accounts for $29 and 20 with approvals for $49, with an AI agent that schedules posts.
Sources
- Sprout Social pricing page, checked
- Sprout help: supported profiles, checked
- Sprout help: Essentials plan, checked
- Sprout help: Trellis agent, checked
- Sprout help: public API, checked
- Sprout help: ChatGPT connector, checked
- Sprout help: report data history, checked
- Sprout help: publishing calendar, checked
Try PublishBuddy free
Scheduling, analytics, and an AI agent that writes and schedules for you. 10+ platforms. From $29/mo with 10 accounts included.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.
Already set on leaving Sprout Social? See Sprout Social alternatives for more options, or the buyer's guide to match a tool to how you work.