Considering Sprout Social and Sprinklr for your social media management needs? Before you decide on either one, get details on how they compare to each other—and Agorapulse.
This post will use comparison charts and user reviews to explain why Agorapulse is the ultimate winner. Discover how Agorapulse sets itself apart as a great Sprinklr and Sprout alternative, from productivity tools to collaboration features and trending functionalities.
Ready to simplify your social media management? Get your free trial of Agorapulse.
Are There Any Publishing Differences Between Sprout and Sprinkr?
Sprout Social and Sprinklr offer robust features to help you create, schedule, and publish content across multiple networks. However, some key differences between the two platforms may sway your decision on which one to choose.
We’ll take those differences and compare them to Agorapulse. You’ll soon understand why Agorapulse is a popular Sprinklr and Sprout alternative.
Productivity features
One important aspect of social media publishing is the ability to customize posts for each social network or profile. Agorapulse excels in this area, allowing users to modify a scheduled post for each profile or network. This saves time for marketers who don’t want to create each post from scratch.
Here’s an example of how this works: If you like to go emoji-crazy on Instagram but hold off on any emoji when posting to LinkedIn, Agorapulse lets its users modify a base post to meet the vibe and branding guidelines for, in this case, Instagram and LinkedIn. Sprinklr also does this, starting with its $229/mo plan.
Unfortunately, Sprout Social doesn’t offer this level of customization when sharing a post across several social media profiles. A Sprout user mentioned this limitation in a review.
Agorapulse stands out with its unique feature of saved hashtags. No more cutting and pasting hashtags for each post—simply create and save your frequently used hashtag groups and add them to your posts with a click. Neither Sprout Social nor Sprinklr offers this time-saving functionality.
In regard to bulk scheduling, Agorapulse and Sprout Social allow you to upload a CSV file and schedule a sheet full of posts in one go. However, Sprinklr only offers bulk scheduling for images and videos, not text posts. Additionally, Sprout only includes this feature in its higher-tier $399/month plan, while Agorapulse offers bulk scheduling at a more affordable $149/month.
This G2 reviewer loves how Agorapulse’s “modify-per-network” and bulk scheduling features save them time and hassle.
Another key differentiator is the integration with Canva, the world’s most popular image-creation software. Sprout and Agorapulse offer a Canva integration so social media managers can seamlessly create visuals for their scheduled posts, while Sprinklr doesn’t provide one.
Ease of integrating TikTok
While not a “productivity feature” that you’d normally think of, these tools differ in how easy it is to publish to TikTok. With Sprinklr, you need to work with a Success Manager to enable TikTok publishing capabilities in your account.
In contrast, Sprout and Agorapulse make connecting and publishing to TikTok considerably easier without any intervention. Just link your TikTok account to the platform and go!
Content collaboration features
A shared content calendar is a fabulous way to collaborate with colleagues and clients who don’t otherwise have access to your social media management platform.
Sprinklr requires you to purchase a separate Marketing plan to get a shared calendar link. But it’s just a link. The link doesn’t include a way for non-users to provide feedback. Sprout offers a feedback workflow with external approvers, but only for Advanced users at $399/month.
Agorapulse provides a more affordable option, with 5 shared calendars at $149/month and unlimited sharing on its Enterprise plan. These calendars also have real, two-way functionality for better collaboration.
Trendy-yet-essential features
As social media continues to evolve, it’s crucial for publishing tools to keep up with the latest trends and the ways users create content.
For example, the Instagram grid preview feature has become increasingly important for ensuring that feed posts fit the overall aesthetic of a brand’s profile. Sprout Social only offers grid preview on its $399/month plan, while Sprinklr includes it at $249/month. Agorapulse wins out here, providing an Instagram grid preview at a more reasonable $99/month.
Similarly, Twitter/X threads have emerged as a popular way to tell engaging stories beyond the 280-character limit. Despite the growing importance of this format, only Agorapulse supports publishing X threads.
First comment scheduling is another modern feature that has gained traction, particularly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Adding hashtags in the first comment on Instagram keeps the post description clutter-free, while including a link to a lead magnet in the first comment on LinkedIn and Facebook can drive higher click-through rates. Agorapulse offers first comment scheduling for all three networks, while Sprinklr and Sprout do not.
Here’s a quick summary of which social media management tools offer these key publishing features:
Feature | Sprout | Sprinklr | Agorapulse |
Modifying posts per profile or network | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Canva integration | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Saved hashtags | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Bulk scheduling | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Self-serve TikTok access | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
X/Twitter threads | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
1st comments for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Shared calendar with feedback loop | $399/mo | no feedback option | $149/mo |
Instagram grid view | $399/mo | $249/mo | $99/mo |
Users’ thoughts on those platforms’ publishing features
On G2, users of Agorapulse appear to favor publishing features when compared with users of Sprout Social and Sprinklr Social.
While Sprout and Sprinklr both offer solid publishing tools, Agorapulse emerges as a better choice based on the breadth and depth of its publishing capabilities. Its focus on customization, user-friendly integrations, time-saving features, and support for the latest social media trends sets it apart as social media marketers’ most comprehensive (and value-packed) option.
Are Sprout Reports Better Than Sprinklr Reports?
Having access to the right data and insights is crucial for making informed decisions and proving the value of your social media efforts. Let’s dive into how Sprout Social, Sprinklr, and Agorapulse stack up with their reporting capabilities.
Sharing reports
One key aspect of reporting is the ability to schedule reports for delivery at regular intervals. This is incredibly useful for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and making data-driven adjustments to your content strategy based on recent results.
While all three platforms offer this functionality, their costs differ significantly. Sprout Social only includes scheduled report delivery on its $499/month plan, while Sprinklr offers it at $249/month. Agorapulse, on the other hand, includes this feature as part of its Power Reports, available on the Advanced plan; users can automate report delivery to internal and external users for just $149/month.
Personalizing reports
Every business and client has unique reporting needs, so having the flexibility to create custom reports that focus on the most meaningful metrics is essential.
Customization comes at a steep price with Sprout Social, where it’s only available as part of the Premium Analytics add-on. Sprinklr is similarly costly, offering customizable reports only on its Enterprise plan. In contrast, Agorapulse makes it easy and affordable to tailor your reports with its Power Reports feature, which is included in the Advanced plan for just $149/month.
The ability to white label reports is another must-have for marketing agencies and freelancers. It allows you to present a professional, branded report to your clients, giving the impression that you’ve compiled the data yourself rather than relying on a software platform.
Sprout Social enables white-labeling by allowing users to add their logo to reports, but only on plans starting at $399/month. Sprinklr doesn’t mention white-labeling on their website, so let’s assume they offer it at best on their $249/month plan. Agorapulse, once again, comes out on top by letting users on all paid plans add their logo to reports, starting at just $69/month.
How do Sprinklr and Sprout Compare in User Experience?
Here’s the TL:DR on customer support for all three social media management platforms.
Why don’t Sprinklr and Sprout Social match up to Agorapulse with user experience and support? Let’s break it down.
Interface
First, there’s the matter of the platforms’ respective interfaces.
Many Sprout users complain about the difficulty of getting around the dashboard. This recent review from a Sprout user mentions the challenges in finding what they’re looking for and training new team members and clients.
Sprinklr users often take to review sites to express the same sentiment about this tool’s interface. As with the prior Sprout review, this Sprinkr review uses the word “overwhelming” to describe the dashboard. In this review, the Sprinklr user also mentions that the tool’s complexity requires “significant time and effort to master.”
(This Sprinklr comparison page has more examples of Sprinklr users’ frustration with its interface.)
On the other hand, users find Agorapulse incredibly easy to use, like this communications professional who’s given the following G2 review.
Customer support
Busy social media managers rely on prompt, helpful customer support, as it directly impacts their user experience and ability to manage their social media presence effectively.
Support with Sprinklr
Sprinklr Social offers 24/7 support via web, email, and phone. However, their phone support isn’t a dedicated hotline, as stated on their website: “You may be directed to voicemail, should all team members be helping customers.” Some users have reported slow and not entirely helpful responses from Sprinklr’s support team. Here’s an example:
Expect help only in English. While Sprinklr Social has French, Spanish, and German web pages and a contact form that proudly boasts, “We are a global company,” its help center is entirely in English.
Support with Sprout Social
Sprout Social provides customer support for all plans 24/5 – weekdays only. The lack of weekend support can be troublesome for social media managers who need assistance outside regular business hours.
Like Sprinklr, Sprout has websites in several languages (French, Spanish, and Portuguese), but its ticket system and help center are only in English.
Support with Agorapulse
Agorapulse offers 24/7 customer support, along with a help center and ticket system in English, French, and German. It’s the only tool of the three with transparent response times on its Website. (Its response times range from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on a user’s plan.)
Agorapulse support offers the most breadth and satisfactory outcomes of the three social media management solutions.
Sprinklr v. Sprout: Who’s Cheaper?
Pricing is a key consideration when choosing a social media management tool. Let’s examine how Sprinklr, Sprout Social, and Agorapulse compare in terms of cost and value.
Basics
Before diving into features and plans, let’s examine the overall structure of all three social management platforms.
Pricing | Sprout Social | Sprinklr Social | Agorapulse |
Free plan | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Unlimited audience size | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Free trial | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
Contract length | Annual or monthly | Annual | Annual or monthly |
Sprout Social’s Standard plan ($249+/month) includes 5 profiles, and going past this limit requires upgrading to a plan that is at least $150 more each month. Agorapulse, on the other hand, allows profile add-ons to all plans without the need to upgrade.
There is no information on how many profiles are included in Sprinklr’s self-service plan or whether extra profiles require an upgrade or an add-on.
Overall, Agorapulse has the most flexibility for users to try a solution that fits the audience size and duration of their choosing.
A curious adventure in Sprinklr’s pricing
Sprinklr has undergone significant changes in the past two years, including two rounds of layoffs in February 2023 (4%) and May 2024 (3%).
During a September 2024 earnings call, Sprinklr CEO Ragy Thomas mentioned that the company is “re-looking at the pricing and packaging and aligning it more to how customers buy now.” Later that day, Sprinklr shares fell 8.79%.
These changes have impacted Sprinklr’s pricing throughout 2024, seemingly in an attempt to compete with Sprout Social’s pricing. Let’s follow the pricing trail, shall we?
In February 2024, Sprinklr offered only one self-serve plan at $299, with no annual billing discount and unlimited profiles.
By April 2024, the self-serve plan was limited to “7 social channels and 5 review channels,” with no mention of profiles.
As of September 2024, Sprinklr now offers two self-serve plans. The first one, most similar to the previous plans, is priced at $249 with an annual discount, lowering the cost to $199/month. However, there is no mention of how many channels or profiles are included, making it the cheapest but least transparent iteration.
“Re-looking at pricing and packaging,” indeed!
But what’s interesting is that even after these price drops, Sprinklr’s lowest self-serve plan is still more expensive than Agorapulse’s highest self-serve plan. (And Sprout is the most expensive of all three.)
Here’s a quick scenario. Say a marketing team wants these basics in their social media management tool:
- A content library for publishing collaboration
- Saved replies for quicker, on-brand communication
- Scheduled reports for consistent analytics.
The team would have to pay the following for each tool to get those features:
- Sprout Social: $399/mo/user
- Sprinklr Social: $249/mo/user
- Agorapulse: $149/mo/user
Now, imagine if the team has five users. That would be a monthly spend of:
- Sprout Social: $1,995
- Sprinklr Social: $1,245
- Agorapulse: $745.
The saving is clear with Agorapulse.
Add-ons: Employee advocacy and social listening
Let’s compare the costs of social listening and employee advocacy among these three tools.
Add-on | Sprout Social | Sprinklr Social | Agorapulse |
Social Listening | $999 for 3 searches | built-in to $249/mo | $40/search/mo |
Employee Advocacy | enterprise add-on | enterprise add-on | $150/mo |
Agorapulse offers the most affordable and accessible social listening and employee advocacy features, while Sprinklr and Sprout Social limit these capabilities to their higher-tier plans or add-ons.
It remains to be seen if Sprinklr’s price reduction is scalable and sustainable over the next 12-18 months. We’ll update this article with any significant changes.
In the meantime, Agorapulse remains a steady, affordable choice for social media publishing, reporting, engagement, and listening. With its commitment to providing essential features at lower price points and its user-friendly interface, Agorapulse offers the best value for businesses of all sizes looking to streamline their social media management.
Conclusion
While Sprout Social and Sprinklr offer solid social media management capabilities, Agorapulse’s practical features, customizable options, and competitive pricing make it a smart choice for marketers. Sign up for an Agorapulse free trial today and see for yourself.