Sprout Social and Buffer, An In-Depth Comparison 2024

Comparison Summary

Sprout Social: Sprout Social offers tools to reimagine social media growth for businesses. Start a free trial to see these management solutions in action.

Buffer: Buffer offers an all-you-need social media toolkit for small businesses. Over 160,000 small businesses use Buffer to save time managing their social media.

Sprout Social and Buffer: Customer Satisfaction Data

Most deployed common Use Cases for Sprout Social and Buffer

How can Sprout Social and Buffer enhance your Social Media Management process?

Sprout Social and Buffer are both social media management tools that allow users to schedule posts on multiple platforms. Both tools provide analytics, but Sprout Social offers more extensive analytics including insights for Google+ and LinkedIn. Sprout Social is better for organizations seeking team collaboration, automation, and reporting, whereas Buffer is a user-friendly option for scheduling posts consistently. A limitation of both tools is that they have occasional glitches in their systems.

"...Our social media team uses this tool to plan, manage and reporting on our social campaigns...." Peer review by Lilly S, Client Strategist, Marketing and Advertising

"...It makes life so much easier when managing multiple different social media platforms for a company...." Peer review by Kylee H, Communications Outreach Director, Non-Profit Organization Management

How does Sprout Social and Buffer facilitate Communication Management?

Sprout Social and Buffer both help users schedule social media posts. Sprout Social allows for more robust management of social interactions, including monitoring and responding to messages, while Buffer focuses primarily on scheduling. Sprout Social offers a wider range of features, but Buffer is more affordable. Both platforms have limitations; for example, Sprout Social has been reported to deny support requests and Buffer can experience issues with account connectivity.

"...I like that I can schedule social media posts, so I don't have to think about it...." Peer review by Tina W., Non-Profit Organization Management

"...If you have multiple accounts on social media, publishing the same content on everyone can be annoying...." Peer review by Pedro C., Investigador/Docente, Professional Training & Coaching

What makes Sprout Social and Buffer ideal for Engagement Management?

Sprout Social and Buffer both help manage social media engagement. Sprout Social assists in analyzing engagement and generating reports, while Buffer focuses on scheduling posts and engaging customers. Sprout Social has features for assigning tasks and monitoring messages, which Buffer does not. A limitation of both tools is that they are not ideal for companies that are not focused on planning posts.

"...It connects with Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram to allow our team to schedule posts, engage and easily track KPIs. ...." Peer review by Marissa W., Director of Digital Marketing, Hospitality

"...I love that every couple weeks, I can generate a bunch of Social Media posts, load them into Buffer.com and not have to think about that task again except to follow up on comments and engagement...." Peer review by Jan N., Founder & CEO, Information Technology and Services

What solutions does Sprout Social and Buffer provide for Content Management?

Sprout Social and Buffer both allow users to schedule and publish content on multiple social media platforms. Sprout Social offers more advanced features such as viral post optimization and comprehensive analytics. Buffer is simpler to use and has a browser extension for easy content sharing. Both tools have limitations; Sprout Social requires many steps to schedule content, and Buffer lacks customization options.

"...Keeping an active engagement factor on all of our social media channels is very important and our biggest issue was having to navigate to multiple locations to simply post similar content on the different channels...." Peer review by Jon A, Communications Director, Religious Institutions

"...Buffer is used for content curation and scheduling posts for social media...." Peer review by Rob F., Education

How can Sprout Social and Buffer optimize your Social Media Marketing Workflow?

Sprout Social and Buffer both focus on Social Media Marketing. Sprout Social provides more comprehensive features, including social media analytics, customer service, and management tools. Buffer specializes in social media publishing and management, simplifying scheduling and automating campaigns. Sprout Social is more expensive, requiring multiple user accounts for effective use.

"...It helped with social media marketing campaigns and helped us with the reporting understand the data. ...." Peer review by Helen R., VP, Media Production

"...Anyone who relies on social media marketing understands the necessity of frequent, regular posts, and if you're doing that across multiple platforms, as most social media marketing efforts do, it quickly adds up to a LOT of posts...." Peer review by Michael U, Owner, Internet