Selecting a new social media management platform can feel like both a blessing and a burden. While expanding your martech stack with new options is beneficial, the sheer number of available tools makes it difficult to identify the right solution for your specific business needs.
In this comparison of Sprout Social and Buffer, we evaluate our product against Buffer using feedback from G2, the world’s largest software marketplace for customer reviews. G2 connects over 80 million industry professionals, enabling them to make informed software decisions based on authentic peer feedback. Unless otherwise noted, the comparative data in this article is based on G2 information as of 12/3/2024.
We will concentrate on the areas most vital to modern brands: innovation, social listening, social analytics, and customer support. Please use the table of contents on the left to navigate between the different sections.
Let’s begin our Sprout Social vs. Buffer comparison with a general overview of who each product is for.
Sprout Social was founded in 2010. Nearly 15 years later, it stands as an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software. Beyond core management tools, we offer solutions for reporting and analytics, influencer marketing, employee advocacy, and customer care.
While businesses of all sizes utilize Sprout, our history of accolades demonstrates that we excel in the enterprise sector. Sprout Social has been recognized as a G2 Enterprise Leader every quarter since 2018.
In 2024, Sprout was named the #1 Best Software Product in G2’s 2024 Software Awards—a distinction meaning we earned the top spot across every software category, not just social media management. Our 2024 achievements extend well beyond that.
Sprout secured 173 leader badges in G2’s 2024 Fall Reports, covering small business, mid-market, and enterprise segments across all regions, including EMEA, APAC, and the Middle East. We ranked #1 in 94 reports and maintained the top position in the Grid® Reports for Social Customer Service, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Suites, and Social Media Listening Tools.
Sprout’s G2 recognitions remained consistent throughout the year. During the Summer 2024 Reports, Sprout earned over 200 badges and ranked #1 in 88 reports, including the Grid® Reports for Social Customer Service, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Suites, Social Media Listening Tools, and the Enterprise Results Index for Social Media Management.
Additionally, G2’s 2024 Spring Reports identified Sprout as a leader in 148 categories, ranking us #1 in 77 reports spanning small business, mid-market, and enterprise sectors across all regions, including EMEA, APAC, and the Middle East.
Regardless of their size or industry, brands rely on Sprout’s award-winning software to maximize their business impact through social media.
Buffer was also founded in 2010. While best known for publishing and scheduling, the company also provides solutions for team collaboration and reporting. Their platform is tailored toward creators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses that may operate with tighter budgets. Buffer does not hold any unique category recognitions from G2.
However, small businesses with 50 or fewer employees often share positive feedback regarding the platform’s social media management, post scheduling, content creation, analytics, and integrations. Conversely, users note that Buffer requires improvement in several areas. Specifically, reviewers mention a sluggish interface that struggles with larger data sets and lacks analytics across all platforms. They also report frequent bugs, such as failed integrations with certain social networks, malfunctioning link-shortening tools, and pages that fail to load after a refresh.
The first category in our Sprout Social vs. Buffer comparison is innovation. This is critical because brands that fail to look ahead risk falling behind. Social networks are evolving rapidly, new technologies like artificial intelligence are emerging, and the challenge of proving social media’s return on investment remains constant.
Modern brands must be forward-thinking. Keeping pace with industry, social, and consumer trends is essential. Without innovation and the proper tools, businesses cannot take the necessary steps to ensure long-term success. This is why innovation is a vital component of any social media management tool.
However, innovation is not merely about being the first to market, launching the most features, or chasing every new trend. It is about designing a platform with the customer at the center of every decision. You must listen to and absorb their feedback, anticipating their needs and pain points to deliver solutions that keep them agile and ahead of the curve.
Product direction refers to a vendor’s roadmap, including their plans for integrations and the pace at which they expand functionality. G2 reviewers prefer Sprout Social’s direction over Buffer’s. According to G2, Sprout holds an 8.9 rating for positive product direction, while Buffer received an 8.1.
Sprout Social’s product team operates with a philosophy of speed combined with intentionality. We prioritize product launches based on customer requirements. Our development of integrations for Threads, Reels, TikTok, and others is just one example of this customer-centric approach.
Sprout’s integration with Salesforce Service Cloud streamlines social media and customer care efforts for Salesforce users. Our global partnership with Salesforce ensures our integrations into their ecosystem are best-in-class. Furthermore, our Tableau integration allows you to synthesize Sprout’s robust data with other business intelligence sources, making it easier to demonstrate the impact of social media on your bottom line. Sprout’s Tableau BI Connector helps you visualize social data with the specific metrics and visuals needed to gain a 360-degree view of your customers.
Our additional CRM integrations include HubSpot, Zendesk, and Microsoft Dynamics 365. These connections help you better align your sales and social efforts while providing a comprehensive view of your funnel.
Product intentionality also guides our decisions to improve existing solutions. When we rebranded the product formerly known as Bambu to Employee Advocacy, we integrated the tool more deeply with Sprout so that brand social posts and advocacy content could be published from a single platform.
AI and influencer marketing are two areas where Sprout has focused for several years. Sprout utilizes AI to help customers work more efficiently. Our proprietary AI and automation technology is embedded in features like Optimal Send Times, ensuring teams can achieve their goals and maximize post visibility.
In 2023, Sprout Social acquired Repustate, a testament to our ongoing investment in AI. This partnership allows us to scale and magnify our in-house AI offerings so teams can unlock the full potential of social media more quickly.
In 2024, we enhanced our proprietary technology with the launch of tools like AI Assist, a suite of capabilities powered by our integration with OpenAI’s GPT model. AI Assist integrates seamlessly into our Listening, Engagement, and Publishing solutions, empowering customers to work with intention and achieve greater impact.
To connect our customers to deeper social insights and provide a comprehensive, AI-powered influencer marketing platform, our company acquired Tagger, now known as Sprout Social Influencer Marketing.
Social listening is a fundamental part of any social strategy. It empowers businesses to understand what customers are saying about their products and services. Social listening reveals competitor behavior and relevant topics. By monitoring these conversations, companies can quickly identify sentiment, trends, and emerging issues related to their brand or competitors, allowing them to respond proactively and refine their messaging. It can also highlight market strengths and gaps, uncovering opportunities for marketing campaigns and content creation. Overall, social listening provides the valuable insights needed to enhance data-driven decision-making.
Sprout’s Social Listening solution sifts through millions of data points to deliver key learnings, trends, and insights within seconds.
G2 data reflects how Sprout’s platform sets the standard for social listening, with a rating of 8.1. Buffer does not have enough reviewer data regarding social listening to provide a rating.
Social analytics are also a foundational element of data-driven decision-making. They provide measurable, concrete insights into campaign and content performance. By tracking metrics such as reach, engagements, and conversion rates, you can identify which content resonates most with your audience. Social analytics also reveal opportunities for improvement by helping you understand audience preferences and behavior. Utilizing these analytics allows you to optimize strategies in real-time and create more effective, targeted marketing efforts. By grounding your decisions in data, you can create stronger impact and better assets.
Let’s evaluate Sprout Social vs. Buffer regarding social analytics. G2 data shows Sprout has a rating of 8.0, while Buffer lacks a rating due to insufficient reviewer data.
Sprout Social sets the bar for social analytics by offering real-time, comprehensive data across multiple platforms, allowing brands to monitor engagement and performance in one place. Its advanced reporting tools provide deep insights into competitor activities, content effectiveness, and audience behavior, facilitating data-driven decisions. Sprout Social’s customizable dashboards and user-friendly interface make it simple to track key metrics and identify trends, ensuring that even non-technical users can leverage sophisticated analytics. This combination of accessibility and depth helps brands stay ahead of the curve and effectively optimize their social strategies.
When adding a new tool to your tech stack, having reliable customer support is essential. An incredible social media management tool can become obsolete without access to dependable assistance.
A knowledgeable, responsive support team helps you troubleshoot problems quickly and maximize features, allowing you to spend more time on your social media strategy and less time seeking resolutions.
Regarding the quality of customer support, Sprout holds a G2 rating of 8.7, while Buffer has a rating of 8.5.
Although these scores are close, it is important to note Sprout’s score for social customer service. Sprout holds a rating of 8.1, whereas Buffer lacks sufficient G2 data in this area.
Social customer service refers to software that allows companies to reach out to users, analyze social mentions across networks, and create tickets for support agents to resolve customer issues.
Sprout believes in holistic customer care—whether it involves assisting our own customers or empowering them to deliver high-quality social customer service.
It is normal to experience a learning curve when adopting new software. However, when investing in tools, you want the assurance of a great partnership. You need a partner that will help you navigate functionality and get the most out of the product.
Sprout provides global customer support, including:
Along with our various support channels, Sprout users can use The Arboretum to ask questions of their peers. The Arboretum is an online community designed for social media professionals and Sprout Social customers to connect, grow their professional credibility and industry knowledge, and enhance their personal brands. The Arboretum also features Sprout moderators who help facilitate discussions and provide support.
We cover multiple bases to support Sprout customers where they already are. Sprout Social is the clear choice if you are seeking a product with award-winning customer support.
In this article, we identify Sprout as the best option, but that is because we truly believe it. We do not just provide a platform; we center innovation in our roadmap, offer top-tier customer support across multiple channels, and provide powerful analytics and social listening solutions.
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.
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