Sprout Social vs Buffer: The best tool for your brand in 2025

Shopping for new social media management platforms can feel like a gift and a curse. It’s great to have options to add to your martech stack, but with so many tools out there, it can be challenging to determine which solution is the best for your business.

In this Sprout Social vs. Buffer examination, we’ll compare our product to Buffer based on feedback shared by customers*on G2, the world’s largest software marketplace for customer reviews. G2 connects over 80 million industry professionals so they can make better software decisions, fueled by authentic peer reviews. The comparison data in this article is based on G2 data from 12/3/2024, unless stated otherwise.

We’ll focus on factors that matter most to today’s leading brands: innovation, social listening, social analytics and customer support. Use the table of contents on the left to navigate the different comparisons.

Sprout Social vs Buffer: Overview

Let’s begin our Sprout Social vs. Buffer comparison with a general overview of who each product is for.

Who is Sprout Social for?

Sprout Social was founded in 2010. Nearly 15 years later, Sprout Social is an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software. Along with providing social media management software, we provide solutions for analytics and reporting, employee advocacy, influencer marketing and customer care.

Businesses of all sizes use Sprout, but our historic accolades show we thrive in the enterprise space. Sprout Social has been named a G2 Enterprise Leader every quarter since 2018.

In 2024, Sprout was named #1 Best Software Product in G2’s 2024 Software Awards—this means we earned the number one spot across products in every software category, not just social media management. Our accolades for 2024 also don’t stop there.

Sprout secured 173 leader badges in G2’s 2024 Fall Reports, spanning from small business to mid-market and enterprise and every region including EMEA, APAC and the Middle East. We ranked #1 in 94 reports. Sprout maintained the #1 position in the Grid® Report for Social Customer Service, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Suites and Social Media Listening Tools.

Sprout recognitions from G2 were consistent throughout the year as well. During G2’s Summer 2024 Reports Sprout secured over 200 badges, ranking #1 in 88 reports—this includes the Grid® Report for Social Customer Service, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Suites, Social Media Listening Tools and the Enterprise Results Index for Social Media Management.

And G2’s 2024 Spring Reports recognized Sprout as a leader in 148 categories, ranking us #1 in 77 reports spanning from small business to mid-market and enterprise ‌and across all regions including EMEA, APAC and the Middle East.

Regardless of sector or size, brands trust and rely on Sprout’s award-winning software to maximize business impact through social media.

Who is Buffer for?

Buffer was also founded in 2010. Buffer is best known for social media scheduling and publishing, but they also offer solutions for reporting and team collaboration. Their platform is designed for small businesses, creators and entrepreneurs who might have limited budgets. As far as G2 accolades go, Buffer isn’t recognized in any unique categories.

But small businesses (50 or less employees) share fairly positive reviews about the platform’s post scheduling, social media management, analytics, content creation and social media integrations. However, users claim Buffer needs improvement in several areas. Specifically, users reference the platform has a slower interface that has limitations with larger data sets and doesn’t provide analytics for all platforms. They also mention frequent bugs, such as certain social networks failing to integrate, the link-shortening functionality not working and pages that don’t load after refreshing.

Sprout Social vs Buffer: Innovation

The first category for our Sprout Social vs Buffer comparison is innovation. Why? Because brands can’t afford not to look ahead—or they risk falling behind. Networks are changing quickly, new technologies like artificial intelligence are emerging and common challenges like proving the return on investment of social media persist.

Today’s brands are forward-thinking. Staying on top of consumer, social and industry trends is a must. But without innovation—and the right tools in place—businesses can’t take the steps they need to be successful in the long-run. This is why innovation in a social media media management tool is so important.

But innovation isn’t about being the very first to market, launching the most features or jumping on every emerging trend or technology. It’s about charting and designing a platform with customers at the foundation of everything you do. You listen and absorb their feedback. You anticipate their pain points and needs to deliver solutions that help them remain agile and ahead of the curve.

Sprout leads Buffer in product direction

Product direction refers to a vendor’s product roadmap. This includes integration plans and their cadence for expanding features and functionality. G2 reviewers prefer the direction of Sprout Social over Buffer. According to G2, Sprout has an 8.9 rating for positive product direction. Buffer received an 8.1.

Sprout Social’s product organization has a mantra of speed with intentionality. We prioritize product launches based on our customers’ needs. We have developed integrations for TikTok, Reels, Threads and more, but that’s just one example of our customer focus.

Sprout’s Salesforce Service Cloud integration streamlines Salesforce users’ social media and customer care efforts. Our global partnership with Salesforce means our integrations into their ecosystem, specifically Salesforce Service Cloud, are best-in-class. Our Tableau integration enables you to synthesize Sprout’s robust data with other business intelligence sources in one place, making it easier to illustrate social media’s impact on your bottom line. Sprout’s Tableau BI Connector helps you visualize social data with the exact visuals and metric combinations you need to gain a 360 view of your customers.

Our other customer relationship management (CRM) integrations include Zendesk, HubSpot‌ and Microsoft Dynamics 365. These CRM integrations help you see your social and sales efforts better while giving you a comprehensive view of your funnel.

Product intentionality also informs our decisions to enhance existing solutions. When we rebranded the product formerly known as Bambu to Employee Advocacy, we integrated the tool more deeply with Sprout so that advocacy and brand social posts could be published all in one platform.

Sprout continues to invest in influencer and artificial intelligence (AI)

AI and influencer marketing are two spaces Sprout has focused on for several years. Sprout uses AI to help customers work smarter. Sprout’s proprietary AI and automation technology is already embedded in features like Optimal Send Times, so teams can ensure their social posts get maximum visibility and achieve their goals.

In 2023, Sprout Social acquired Repustate as a testament to our ongoing investments in AI. This partnership enables us to magnify and scale our in-house AI offerings so that teams can unlock the full potential of social, faster.

Then in 2024, we enhanced Sprout’s proprietary technology in 2024 with the launch of tools like AI Assist, a suite of capabilities powered by our integration with OpenAI’s GPT model. AI Assist seamlessly integrates into our Publishing, Engagement and Listening solutions, empowering customers to work with intention and achieve greater impact.

To connect our customers to deeper insights from social media and provide them with a comprehensive all-in-one influencer marketing platform powered by AI features, our company acquired Tagger, which is now known as Sprout Social Influencer Marketing.

Pricing

Sprout Social vs Buffer: Social listening

Social listening is a key part of a social strategy. It empowers businesses to understand what customers are saying about their brand’s products and services. Social listening reveals relevant topics and competitor behavior. By monitoring conversations, companies can quickly identify trends, sentiment and emerging customer issues related to both their brand and competitors, enabling them to respond proactively and refine their messaging. It can also uncover opportunities for content creation and marketing campaigns by highlighting gaps and strengths in the market. Overall, social listening provides valuable insights into market needs and preferences to help enhance data-driven decision-making.

Sprout’s Social Listening solution sifts through millions of data points to deliver insights, trends and key learnings within seconds.

G2 data reflects how Sprout’s platform sets the bar for social listening. Our rating is 8.1. Buffer doesn’t have enough reviewer data pertaining to social listening.

Sprout Social vs Buffer: Social analytics

Social analytics are also a foundational part of data-driven decision-making. Social analytics provide concrete, measurable insights into your content and campaign performance. By tracking metrics like engagements, reach and conversion rate, you can identify which content is resonating with your audience the most. Social analytics also reveal opportunities to improve by helping you understand audience behavior and preferences. Using social analytics allows you to optimize your strategies in real-time and create more targeted, effective marketing efforts. By grounding your decisions in data, you can create better assets and stronger impact.

Let’s evaluate Sprout Social vs. Buffer in terms of social analytics. G2 data shows Sprout has a rating of 8.0 while Buffer doesn’t have a rating. There isn’t enough reviewer data about Buffer’s social analytics.

Sprout Social sets the bar for social analytics by offering comprehensive, real-time data across multiple social platforms, allowing brands to monitor performance and engagement in one place. Its advanced reporting tools provide deep insights into audience behavior, content effectiveness and competitor activities, enabling data-driven decision-making. Sprout Social’s user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards make it easy to track key metrics and identify trends, ensuring that even non-technical users can use sophisticated analytics. This combination of depth and accessibility helps brands stay ahead of the curve and optimize their social strategies effectively.

Sprout Social vs Buffer: Customer support

When adding a new tool to your tech stack, it matters to have reliable customer support. An incredible social media management tool can become obsolete without having reliable assistance and resources to guide you when you experience issues or need guidance.

A responsive, knowledgeable support team will help maximize features and troubleshoot problems quickly so you can spend more time on your social media strategy and less time on finding resolutions.

For Sprout Social vs. Buffer quality of customer support, Sprout has a G2 rating of 8.7. Buffer has a rating of 8.5.

Although these scores are close, it’s important to note Sprout’s score for social customer service. Sprout has a rating of 8.1. Buffer doesn’t have enough G2 data in this area.

Social customer service refers to software that allows companies to reach out to customers and users via social media networks.This can include collecting and organizing social mentions across networks and creating tickets for support agents to respond to messages so they resolve issues for customers.

Sprout believes in holistic customer care—whether it’s helping our customers or empowering them to deliver quality social customer service.

Sprout Social’s customer support is unrivaled

It’s normal to experience a learning curve when adopting new software. But when spending dollars on tools, you want assurance that you’re investing in a great partnership. You need a partner that’ll help you navigate functionality and get the most from the product.

Social provides customer support globally via the following channels:

• In-app chat
• 24/5 phone support
• Email
• Helpdesk support

Along with our various support channels, Sprout users can use The Arboretum to ask their peers questions. The Arboretum is an online community designed for Sprout Social customers and social media professionals to connect with peers, grow their industry knowledge and professional credibility and enhance their personal brands. The Arboretum also has Sprout moderators to help provide support and facilitate discussions.

We cover multiple bases so we can support Sprout customers where they already are. Sprout Social is the clear choice if you’re looking for a product with award-winning customer support.

What’s best for your brand Sprout Social or Buffer?

In this article, we say Sprout is the best option, but that’s because we truly believe it. We don’t just provide a platform. We center innovation in our roadmap, offer powerful social listening and analytics solutions and top-tier customer support across several channels.

Join the thousands of brands using Sprout to grow their business and sign up for a free, 30-day trial.

*The comparison data in this article is based on G2 data from 12/3/2024, unless stated otherwise.