Ask buyers what frustrates them about their social media tool and two complaints come up on every platform: the gap between what buyers can do natively on the networks and what their third-party tool supports, and reporting that does not give them the numbers they want. Behind those come tools that are hard to learn and run, price, listening, support, and products that change slowly. The tools divide in clear ways. Complexity is a Sprinklr complaint far more than a Sprout Social or Hootsuite one; support splits Sprout Social from the other two; and listening is a Sprout Social and Meltwater complaint, rarely a Hootsuite one, because few Hootsuite users rely on it for listening. Most buyers who complain remain with their existing tool. Among completed moves where buyers named a complaint as the reason, price is the most frequently cited, appearing in roughly half of them. For the ratings and the pre-purchase view, see what social media buyers wish they'd known.
The six complaints — graded
Each complaint is classified by how buyers in these interviews typically respond: tolerating the issue, working around it, waiting for the vendor, or reconsidering the contract. These are observed responses, not fixed severity ratings; the same limitation may be manageable for one company and unacceptable for another.
Network restrictions and third-party integration gaps
The complaint raised most widely involves the gap between what buyers can do natively on the social networks and what their third-party tool supports. Buyers describe newer formats arriving late, incomplete channel coverage, posts that render differently and unreliable connections. Some limitations originate in network APIs, permissions or authentication requirements; others may reflect how a vendor has implemented or maintained its integrations. “Static is fine, but video, no, because you can't pick your cover art and things like that as seamlessly,” says one Sprinklr user; a Sprout Social user notes “there is no support for new-age channels,” and a Dash Hudson user that “on things like X and Facebook, even Pinterest, the integrations are just not as strong.” Posts that fail to go up are a Hootsuite complaint more than the others' — one Hootsuite team added a second scheduler to make sure posts went live. Buyers often work around these problems by publishing certain formats directly through the networks or using a second scheduling tool. Several attribute the limitations to the networks, although the interviews do not establish that every missing feature or publishing failure is outside the vendor's control. For why this happens, see the third lesson on what social media buyers wish they'd known.
Named for this: Sprout Social · Sprinklr · Hootsuite · Dash Hudson · Meltwater
Reporting that falls short
Thin metrics, numbers that differ from the native apps, no history to compare against, and data that is hard to get out. “There's not a lot of data you can get out of Sprinklr,” says one user; a Sprout Social user says “It doesn't do a great job of compiling all the data that we want, so we do have to go into the individual platforms like Meta,” and a Hootsuite user finds “there is no base of comparison inside Hootsuite, which makes things a little heavier when it comes to planning.” It peaks on Sprinklr. Buyers mostly work around it — going to the native apps for the numbers or piping the data into their own analytics — but it builds: reporting is the complaint named most often in planned moves.
Named for this: Sprinklr · Sprout Social · Hootsuite · Meltwater
Hard to learn, set up and run
Sprinklr's defining complaint: nearly half of its complaining users raise it, against roughly one in eight for Sprout Social and Hootsuite. “It's not an easy User Interface, which makes it tougher,” says one Sprinklr user, and another finds that “They do have advocacy programs built into it, but it's just a little bit clunky.” One team copes by bringing in help: “we see us bringing in outside third parties to help us manage that tool.” Elsewhere it is milder — a Hootsuite user still has “some difficulty with navigating their new platform” after a redesign, and a Sprout Social user notes “Sprout also has everything built out into separate logins.” On Sprinklr it is named in most of the complaint-driven exits; for where those buyers went, see Sprinklr alternatives.
Named for this: Sprinklr · Hootsuite · Sprout Social · Brandwatch
Price and value
Price increases, seats, and paying for what the native apps now do for free. One Hootsuite user moved to Sprout Social after “Hootsuite was trying to raise their contract rate by a substantial amount, so it just caused us to look to see what else was out there”; a Sprout Social user, recalling a former employer, says “It used to be a more affordable option, but they've kind of drifted up.” A Meltwater user finds “The pricing model seems to be a bit more expensive than others,” and a brand that turned its tool off says “It was nice to have, but ultimately didn't deliver.” It is raised by about a quarter of Sprout Social's and Hootsuite's complaining users and less by Sprinklr's, and it is the complaint cited most often in completed moves where buyers named a reason — appearing in about half of them; among Hootsuite leavers who give a reason, price ties reliability as the most common, and two describe Hootsuite raising what it charged. For the cost mechanics, see what buyers actually pay for social media management tools.
Named for this: Sprout Social · Hootsuite · Meltwater · Talkwalker · Later
Listening that misses or drowns in noise
Listening that is rudimentary, manual or missing sources. “Social listening is fine. It's not great. It's not super intuitive to use,” says one Sprout Social user, and another calls its capabilities “not mind-blowing or anything.” Meltwater draws it most of all: one user says “It is very manual to gather many of the insights,” and another that it “doesn't capture everything that happens in the streaming space.” Few Hootsuite users raise it, because few use it for listening. Buyers fill the gap with a second listening tool, an alerts service or a person reading the comments — one team has a workflow “that pulls in anything that mentions us into a Teams channel.”
Named for this: Sprout Social · Meltwater · Agorapulse
Support and account service
Raised by over a quarter of Sprinklr's and Hootsuite's complaining users and rarely by Sprout Social's. “I think that their customer service isn't great. The account management hasn't really been there,” says one specialty retailer; a Brandwatch user finds “Sometimes the communication is not very smooth,” and another buyer says of every vendor it uses that “it's really dependent on the team you end up talking to.” Most buyers live with it. It comes up in some moves, always alongside price, complexity or a missing capability. The sharpest Sprinklr support accounts are on Sprinklr alternatives.
Named for this: Sprinklr · Hootsuite · Sprout Social · Brandwatch
Two further complaints sit outside the matrix. One is products that change slowly, above all on AI — mostly a Sprinklr complaint: “They seem to be pretty static to me. I've not seen a lot of recent updates regarding the AI capabilities,” says one user, and another that “They're trying to build out some AI capabilities, but they're behind on that.” Buyers look around over it, but few leave; the only completed move it explains here is off a product that has since been retired. The other is tools that are too basic for a growing team — no approval routing, a weak inbox, missing integrations. It is Later's main complaint here — “I think it's actually pretty rudimentary. Its main strength is just that it fits the budget, but we are actively looking for another platform,” says one Later user — and it drives several planned moves up to fuller platforms.
Who leaves, and why? Most complaining users stay. Of the completed moves where buyers named a complaint as the reason, price appears in about half, and the most common destinations were Brandwatch and Sprout Social, with some small teams moving to the networks' own tools; reporting is named most often in planned moves, and listening, slow product change and price lead evaluations. Replacement activity is reported more often among Sprinklr's complaining users: more than half describe a completed move, a planned move or an active evaluation, against about one in six of Sprout Social's. These stages represent different levels of commitment, and the comparison does not establish that each complaint caused a replacement decision. Sprinklr also wins buyers from other tools, as Sprinklr alternatives describes. For Hootsuite, see Hootsuite alternatives.
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Book mine →The stories behind the complaints
The counter-current: what some users praise, others complain about
Every complaint here has users who say the opposite. A Sprinklr user found that “with all of the social listening and analytics, that was a very, very easy implementation on their side”; a Hootsuite user says “one good thing about Hootsuite is that they're very quick to respond and their support is pretty good”; and a Sprout Social user trusts its numbers: “As soon as you have all your profiles there, I think that you can trust in everything that is there.” Some put the fault elsewhere — on the networks, “I think they're limited based on what these platforms will allow them to do,” or on their own team: “not because of the platform—the platform is fantastic—it's just that the person who operates it is just meh.” Complaining and staying is the norm, above all on Sprout Social. Before you conclude the tool is the problem, separate what the vendor controls from what the networks allow and what depends on your own setup.
What this means — whether you run one or you're buying one
If you already run a social media tool, most complaints are worked around or tolerated: buyers post some formats natively, take numbers from the networks or their own analytics, add a second tool for listening, and live with uneven support. Price, and complexity on the larger suites, are different, because they are the complaints most likely to end in a move. If you're evaluating one, our recommendations — not practices buyers describe — are to test the formats and networks you use most, including video, during the trial; to pull a real report your leadership would read; to have the people who will run it day to day set it up; and to price the plan against what the networks' own tools now do for free. For the ratings and lessons, see what social media buyers wish they'd known; for cost, what buyers actually pay; for where buyers go, Hootsuite alternatives and Sprinklr alternatives.
Common questions
What are the most common complaints about social media management tools?
Among the Sprout Social, Sprinklr, Hootsuite and other users in these interviews, six complaints recur: network restrictions and third-party integration gaps, including posts that fail and connections that break; reporting and analytics that fall short; tools that are hard to learn, set up and run; price and value; listening that misses or drowns in noise; and support and account service. Slow product change, especially on AI, comes up too, mostly about Sprinklr. Among completed moves where buyers named a complaint as the reason, price appears in about half, and reporting is the one named most often in planned moves.
What are the biggest complaints about Sprinklr?
Sprinklr users in these interviews most often say it is hard to learn, set up and run, that reporting is hard to get out of it, and that it is slow to add new capabilities, especially AI. Support also comes up more often than for Sprout Social. More of its complaining users describe a completed move, a planned move or an active evaluation than other tools' users do — different levels of commitment — though Sprinklr also wins buyers from other tools.
What are the biggest complaints about Sprout Social?
Sprout Social users' complaints spread evenly across four themes: reporting, network and integration limits, price, and listening. Support rarely comes up. Most of its complaining users stay with it.
What are the biggest complaints about Hootsuite?
Hootsuite users in these interviews most often raise network limits, including posts that do not go up and connections that break, along with price, support and reporting. Among Hootsuite leavers who give a reason, price and reliability are cited most often; few Hootsuite users complain about listening, because few use it for listening.
Why do companies switch social media management tools?
In these interviews, among completed moves where buyers named a complaint as the reason, price appears in about half, and reporting is the one named most often in planned moves; listening, slow product change and price lead evaluations. Support comes up in some moves but never as the only reason. Completed moves most often went to Brandwatch or Sprout Social, and some small teams moved to the networks' own tools. Most complaining users stay.
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