Metricool vs Hootsuite: pricing, teams, AI and MCP in 2026

Metricool vs Hootsuite looks like a matchup between two similar tools, but they start from different places. Metricool is built around scheduling and analytics, has a free plan, and charges by brand. Hootsuite is an enterprise suite, strong on social listening, and charges for every person who uses it, from $99 USD a month. Most of what follows comes from that one difference: who fits on the team, what you pay as you grow, and what the AI does with your comments. We checked every fact on this page against each tool’s own site on September 25, 2026.

Metricool vs Hootsuite at a glance

HeyMark sits in the first column because it’s the tool we make. Treat it as a reference point: this section is about the other two.

Pricing: Metricool charges by brand, Hootsuite by user

With Metricool, the bill depends on how many brands you manage. The free plan covers 1 brand with 20 posts a month and 30 days of analytics, without LinkedIn or X. Starter costs $20 USD a month billed yearly ($25 month to month) for 5 brands, and $36 ($45) for 10. Starter doesn’t include team members, approvals or API access. For those you need Advanced: $53 a month billed yearly ($67 month to month) for 15 brands, $85 ($107) for 25 and $159 ($210) for 50. X costs extra, $10 a month per account since July 2026.

With Hootsuite, the bill depends on how many people use it. Standard starts at $99 USD a month per user, Professional is $199 and Advanced $399. There’s no free plan.

Two concrete cases show the gap:

• You work on your own, across several brands. Metricool lets you start free or pay for Starter, from $20 USD a month billed yearly for 5 brands. Hootsuite starts you on a Standard license at $99 USD a month.
• A team of 3 running one brand. Metricool puts you on Advanced ($53 USD a month billed yearly, or $67 month to month), because Starter doesn’t allow team members. On Hootsuite Standard, that’s three $99 USD licenses a month.

Metricool raised its prices by 10 to 24% in March 2026, so check the date on any comparison you read. The full plan breakdown is in Metricool pricing, and if per-channel pricing is what you’re weighing, see Metricool vs Buffer.

Analytics or social listening: where each one is strong

Metricool is strong on analytics, reports, competitor tracking and ads across Meta, Google and TikTok. It covers 11 networks: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Twitch, Google Business Profile and X (as an add-on). If your job is reporting results for a lot of brands, it’s hard to ask more of it at that price.

Hootsuite is an enterprise suite, and its strength is social listening: tracking what people say about your brand beyond your own posts. It covers the major networks, X included. If your team lives on that listening, the per-user price is easier to justify.

AI on comments and DMs

This is where the two split further than you’d expect.

Hootsuite offers AI-assisted replies in its inbox, called Nest, and automates replies from the Professional plan ($199 USD a month per user).

Metricool doesn’t document AI replies in its inbox. Its assistant drafts copy with 5 to 35 credits per brand a month, and you can’t buy more. Since September 1, 2026 it has Flows: when someone comments a keyword, it replies with up to 3 fixed texts you write yourself, on Instagram and TikTok, with one automation per post. On Instagram it requires a linked Facebook Page. It’s free for a limited time and will become a paid add-on.

Metricool’s inbox also can’t hide or delete comments (on TikTok, Flows does hide comments with banned words), doesn’t bring in TikTok or LinkedIn DMs, and doesn’t alert you when a new message arrives. For a brand that gets 10 comments a week, that’s fine. For one that gets 200 a day, it isn’t.

MCP: both have it

If you work in Claude or ChatGPT, both tools connect over MCP, so that alone no longer sets them apart. The scope does.

• Metricool: MCP free on every plan, with official connectors in Claude and ChatGPT since September 10, 2026. It documents 27 tools: 25 that read and 2 that write, for scheduling posts and editing scheduled ones.
• Hootsuite: 4 MCP servers since June 2026, one per area: publishing and analytics, inbox, listening, and advocacy.

With Metricool’s, your assistant reads numbers and schedules. Hootsuite’s also reaches the inbox and listening. We compare these and other servers in the best social media MCP servers.

The third option: AI that replies to comments and DMs

If you’re comparing Metricool and Hootsuite because comments and DMs keep piling up, there’s a third option built for exactly that. HeyMark is a social media management tool built around an AI agent, Mark, that understands your brand from what you’ve already posted and replies in your voice.

• One inbox. Comments and DMs from your connected accounts land in one place. Mark replies with AI, you can pause it in a conversation and pick it back up, and anything that needs a person gets handed off to your team.
• Keyword automations, included on every plan with no credits spent. A public reply plus a DM on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok (on LinkedIn and YouTube, the public reply), with up to 20 keywords per rule.
• Moderation. Comments go into review, get hidden or shown, and deleting one from the platform needs your approval.
• An MCP that replies too. With HeyMark connected to Claude or ChatGPT, your assistant reads the inbox, replies to comments and DMs, and creates automations. Before it replies on the platform, it shows you a preview to approve.

Here’s what that looks like. With HeyMark connected to Claude, paste this:

Go through the unanswered comments on my last 5 Instagram posts.

Draft a reply to each one in the brand's voice, and show them to me before anything gets posted.

If someone is complaining about an order, don't reply. Flag it for me.

Creator costs $12 USD a month (1 brand, 1 person, 500 AI credits) and Company $30 a month (3 brands, 5 people, 3,000 credits). Each AI reply or DM uses 1 credit. There’s a 14-day free trial and no free plan. More on how replies work in AI comment replies.

What HeyMark doesn’t do, so there are no surprises: it doesn’t post to X, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky or Google Business Profile, it doesn’t manage ads, and it doesn’t do social listening. Its analytics cover Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook, with less depth than Metricool’s.

Which one fits your case

Metricool, if…

• You manage several brands and budget comes first: 5 brands from $20 USD a month billed yearly.
• Reporting, analytics and ads are the core of your work.
• You need Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Twitch or Google Business Profile.
• You want to start free.

Hootsuite, if…

• Social listening is part of your team’s daily work.
• You’re a large team that needs an enterprise suite, and per-user pricing fits the budget.
• You want AI-assisted replies in the inbox and you’re already on Professional or higher.

HeyMark, if…

• Comments and DMs eat your time, not reports.
• Your networks are Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
• You’re a small team: Company includes 5 people for $30 USD a month, and the approval link comes with every plan.

How to get started with HeyMark

1. Create your account

   Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

2. Connect your networks

   One account per network on each brand. HeyMark pulls in what you’ve already posted and lays it out on the calendar, with video, copy and numbers.

   

3. Turn on replies

   Set up AI for your brand’s DMs, or create a keyword rule on a post. If you’d rather not, ask Mark to build it for you.

4. Connect your assistant, if you use one

   Add the HeyMark MCP server in Claude or ChatGPT by following the MCP docs.