Top 10 Free Alternatives to Hootsuite Insights in 2025

In the constantly evolving social media landscape of 2025, many businesses and individuals are looking for powerful analytics tools that offer insights without the hefty price tag. Here are ten top-rated free alternatives to Hootsuite Insights that you should consider. Each alternative has its own unique features and strengths to help you make the most of your social media strategies.

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1. Buffer

Website: Buffer
Free Plan Details: Offers a free plan for up to 3 social media channels.
Data Points:
Social Media Scheduling: Allows you to schedule posts across multiple platforms.
Analytics: Provides basic analytics on post performance, engagement, and audience insights.
Link in Bio: Offers a "Start Page" feature to create a customized link-in-bio landing page.
Content Creation: Includes an AI assistant to help with content creation.
Platform support: Supports platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Visit Buffer

2. Metricool

Website: Metricool
Free Plan Details: Offers a free plan that allows you to schedule up to 50 posts per month and has better analytics when compared to Hootsuite's free trial.
Data Points:
Scheduling: Schedule posts on multiple platforms.
Analytics: Detailed analytics on audience engagement and performance.
Competitor Analysis: Provides data regarding the performance of your competitors' content.
Reporting: Generates custom reports to visualize performance.
Free Plan: The free plan is available for life, unlike Hootsuite's free plan. Explore Metricool

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3. Social Champ

Website: Social Champ
Free Plan Details: Offers a 14-day free trial.
Data Points:
Scheduling: Automates content scheduling.
Analytics: Tracks analytics from a single dashboard.
Engagement: Engage with your audience.
Multi-Platform Support: Manages multiple social media accounts.
Collaboration: Features team collaboration tools. Check out Social Champ

4. RobinReach

Website: RobinReach
Free Plan Details: Offers a free, comprehensive social media management tool.
Data Points:
All-in-One Dashboard: Manages multiple social media profiles from one place.
Advanced Scheduling: Schedules posts for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter).
AI-Powered Content Generation: Creates engaging content based on trends and audience interests.
Detailed Analytics: Provides in-depth analytics with actionable insights.
Trend Tracking: Real-time trend-tracking feature to spot viral topics. Discover RobinReach

5. Vista Social

Website: Vista Social
Free Plan Details: Offers a free plan with robust social analytics tools.
Data Points:
Comprehensive Dashboard: Provides a centralized location to manage your social media.
Social Media Performance Report: Offers reports that provide insight into the performance of your social media.
Post Performance Report: Details the performance of each post.
Competitor Analysis Report: Allows you to compare your performance with your competitors.
Sentiment Analysis Report: Helps you understand the overall sentiment towards your brand. Visit Vista Social

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6. Zoho Social

Website: Zoho Social
Free Plan Details: Offers a 15-day free trial.
Data Points:
Audience Demographics: Provides in-depth audience data.
Engagement Tracking: Tracks engagements on various content types.
Top Connections: Identifies your brand's top connections.
Top Performing Content: Analyzes top-performing social media posts.
Optimal Timing: Identifies the best times to engage your audience. Explore Zoho Social

7. Planable

Website: Planable
Free Plan Details: Offers a free plan.
Data Points:
Social Media Calendar: Features a calendar view for scheduling.
Collaboration: Provides collaboration tools for teams.
Approval Process: Streamlines the content approval process.
Content Management: Manages drafts, scheduled, and past content.
Multi-View Calendar: Offers various calendar views for different needs. Discover Planable

8. Later

Website: Later
Free Plan Details: Offers a free plan.
Data Points:
Visual Content Planning: Focuses on visual content with a drag-and-drop calendar.
Scheduling: Schedule posts with a user-friendly interface.
Analytics: Provides basic analytics.
Platform Support: Supports major social media platforms, mainly focusing on visual ones.
Content Calendar: Simplifies visual content planning. Explore Later

9. Rival IQ

Website: Rival IQ
Free Plan Details: Offers a free head-to-head report feature to see how you stack up to your competition.
Data Points:
Social Media Analytics: In-depth analytics across multiple social media channels.
Social Listening: Provides social listening capabilities.
Post Tracking: Tracks post-level content performance.
Top Content Identification: Identifies top-performing posts.
Hashtag Performance: Analyzes hashtag performance. Learn more about Rival IQ

10. Google Analytics

Website: Google Analytics
Free Plan Details: Free to use.
Data Points:
Web Analytics: Shows web analytics from each social network.
Social Media Tracking: Provides reports specifically for social media.
Traffic Source: Finds social networks where people interact with your brand.
Platform support: Tracks traffic from Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Conversion Tracking: Helps track and measure conversions from different platforms. Visit Google Analytics

Keep in mind that the best tool for you will depend on your specific needs, such as scheduling, analytics, or collaboration. Many of these tools offer robust free plans, but they often come with limitations. That's why you might also want to consider trials for different platforms to find the one that fits you best.

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FAQ

1. What is one of the top free alternatives to Hootsuite Insights in 2025?

Metricool is one of the top free alternatives offering advanced scheduling, detailed analytics on audience engagement, competitor analysis, and custom reporting. Explore Metricool here

2. Which tool provides an AI assistant for content creation as part of its free plan?

Buffer includes an AI assistant for content creation, alongside basic analytics, social media scheduling, and a "Start Page" feature. Learn more about Buffer here

3. What social media management tool offers a 14-day free trial with team collaboration features?

Social Champ offers a 14-day free trial and includes features like automated content scheduling, single-dashboard analytics, engagement tools, and team collaboration capabilities. Discover Social Champ here

4. What tool provides a comprehensive free plan for managing multiple social media profiles and real-time trend tracking?

RobinReach is a tool that offers a comprehensive free plan with an all-in-one dashboard, advanced post scheduling, AI-powered content generation, detailed analytics, and real-time trend tracking. Find out more about RobinReach here

5. Is there a tool that offers sentiment analysis reports in its free plan?

Vista Social's free plan includes a comprehensive dashboard and various reports like social media performance, post performance, competitor analysis, and sentiment analysis reports. Learn about Vista Social here

6. Which tool offers a free 15-day trial with audience demographics and optimal timing insights?

Zoho Social provides a 15-day free trial, featuring in-depth audience demographics, engagement tracking, identification of top connections and performing content, and optimal timing insights. Explore Zoho Social here

7. What free tool focuses on social media calendar planning and collaboration?

Planable offers a free plan with features that include a social media calendar, collaboration tools, a streamlined content approval process, and content management. Discover Planable here

8. Which tool emphasizes visual content planning and provides basic analytics in its free version?

Later offers a free plan focusing on visual content planning through a drag-and-drop calendar, along with scheduling abilities and basic analytics. Learn more about Later here

9. What tool provides free head-to-head competitive analysis reports?

Rival IQ offers a free head-to-head report feature for comparing performance against competitors, with additional capabilities in social media analytics, social listening, and hashtag performance. Find out more about Rival IQ here

10. What is a free tool that offers extensive web analytics and social media tracking?

Google Analytics is free to use and provides web analytics, social media tracking, traffic source identification, cross-platform support, and conversion tracking. Learn more about Google Analytics here

References

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).

She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.

For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.

About the Publication

Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.

Mission and Purpose

Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.

Key Features

The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:

Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials

Impact and Growth

Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:

3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
100+ startup tools built
5,000+ pieces of articles and news written

Partnerships

Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.

Recognition

Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.