Sprout Social is an enterprise social media management platform that competes at the higher end of the market against Hootsuite and Salesforce Social Studio. Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gil Lara, and Peter Soung founded it in 2010 in Chicago, and the company went public on NASDAQ in 2019.
The platform covers the full social media workflow: publishing, engagement, analytics, listening, and advocacy. Its Smart Inbox unifies messages from all connected social platforms into a single stream, making it easier for teams to manage customer interactions without switching between apps.
Sprout’s analytics are its standout feature. The platform generates presentation-ready reports that social media managers can share directly with executives — a small but important detail that saves hours of manual report building. Cross-network analytics let you compare performance across platforms with consistent metrics.
Social listening capabilities, expanded through the acquisition of Simply Measured in 2018, track brand mentions, sentiment, and trending topics across social media and the web. The Employee Advocacy tool lets companies curate content that employees can share on their personal profiles, extending organic reach.
Revenue surpassed $333 million in 2023, with consistent 20%+ growth. The company serves over 30,000 customers, including major brands like Grubhub, Subaru, and Evernote. Pricing starts at $249/user/month for the Standard plan, making it significantly more expensive than Buffer or Hootsuite’s basic tiers. The premium positioning means Sprout targets mid-market and enterprise customers who need advanced analytics, team workflows, and social listening in a single platform.
