Agorapulse started in 2012 as a Facebook promotion and contest tool, unlike other social media management platforms.
It later evolved into a complete Facebook Page management tool, offering scheduling, content tagging, and moderation.
Over time, Agorapulse integrated Twitter and Instagram, adding more features.
Its unique pricing plans initially targeted small and medium businesses, starting at $29/month.
However, frequent price fluctuations over the years may have led to a loss of trust among customers.
Not to our surprise, there was an unexpected change in the Agorapulse pricing some time ago, including the retirement of their Free Plan, which was introduced not long ago.
If you are reading this article, then I am sure you have the same question as me and many others.
Why is there a sudden increase in Agorapulse pricing?
So I did a lot of research on my part, then read about it on various forums, and saw customer queries and reviews to realize that I’m not the only one to notice the hike in pricing with an evident cut-off in the features.
That is why here I am about to break it down from where it all started and how Agorapulse customers were caught off-guard.
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Short Summary
- Agorapulse, launched in 2012, initially served as a Facebook promotion and contest tool, later evolving into a complete social media management platform.
- Agorapulse’s pricing is seen as less flexible, with a significant difference in additional user and social account costs compared to competitors like Social Champ.
- Social Champ, founded in 2016, offers more affordable pricing with a free plan and multiple paid plans that provide better value for features and add-ons.
- Agorapulse supports fewer social networks and integrations compared to Social Champ, which offers a broader range, including TikTok and Pinterest, for a lower cost.
- Both platforms offer analytics and reporting, but Social Champ provides more metrics and free access to advanced reports, unlike Agorapulse, which charges extra for Power Reports.
- Agorapulse has limited customer support options compared to Social Champ, which offers live chat, email, and onboarding training even for smaller plans.
- Despite Agorapulse’s earlier Free Plan, Social Champ’s free plan remains robust and competitive, offering similar features at no cost.
Agorapulse Pricing – Then and Now
Now, here is the major issue!
Agorapulse is mostly observed adjusting and recreating its pricing models.
It is nothing new for its customers.
On a bigger canvas, revamping a platform with new integrations and UI is necessary, but a major shift in pricing models every year or sometimes twice a year could be really irritating.
The entire website and the Agorapulse pricing model were majorly revamped in March 2021.
This time, they introduced a Free Plan along with a 30 Days free trial, making the total number of plans reach four.
This Free Plan would kick in once the trial would be over if the customer was not ready for purchase – an ideal situation for many small businesses and start-ups out there.
A free social media scheduler is very handy, and Agorapulse knew it.
The revamped pricing model didn’t increase the prices of their existing plans nor alter the feature limits.
The highlighted Free Plan is used to offer 3 social accounts with 1 user and some basic features to make social media automation hassle-free.
Other plans included a Standard Plan at $79/month and a Professional Plan at $119/month offering 10 social accounts in both.
The biggest plan was, of course, an Enterprise Plan whose details were never revealed on the website.
This new pricing model was all about ‘reductions’!
People were previously loving the latest developments until the Free Plan disappeared all of a sudden.
The Premium Plan became almost 25% more expensive with a decrease in the limits of social media accounts.
One major concern was the lack of a free plan.
What will be the future of the customers already on the Free Plan?
Now let me talk about the evident reductions which were totally unexpected!
First comes the increase in the Agorapulse pricing.
The major concern was that their smallest plan, the Pro Plan, offered only 2 users and 10 social accounts without the facility to purchase additional users or social profiles.
So, if you need just 1 extra team member on board, then you have to purchase the bigger plan which is now at $149/month.
So basically, the plans were not flexible at all and had no room for adjustments.
This leads to the second major reduction: The social accounts limit.
It could be seen that Agorapulse introduced Google Business Profile integration this time with some additional features under the roof, but that still didn’t justify the reduction in the number of social accounts offered by the Premium Plan.
Premium Plan was not just 25% more expensive this time but now offers 20 social accounts instead of 24.
While I still took my time to digest these major developments, the Agorapulse pricing revealed its third major reduction: the period of the free trial.
As mentioned above, Agorpulse, for a very long time, has had its free trial period fixed to 30 days without the requirement of a credit card.
But this time to everyone’s shock, the trial period was cut-off by half to 15-days before you need to pay and continue with the platform.
Now comes the final yet fourth major reduction by Agorapulse: the add-on limits.
Until a few years ago, the Premium Plan would offer up to 40 additional social profiles for $12/each and up to 8 additional users for $30/each.
But this time, while everything faced a major reduction with an increase in price, Agoralpulse reduced the add-on limits by more than half.
According to the new pricing model, a Premium Plan user can now purchase additional users for $10/each – blown away!
Where Does Agorapulse Pricing Stand if Compared to Social Champ?
Social Champ is a growing and much-talked-about social media management tool; it was founded in 2016.
Social Champ is apparently a much newer automation tool compared to Agorapulse yet the two are very different when it comes to their pricing models.
Let’s compare the monthly plans for a start.
Agorapulse is currently standing with three major pricing plans.
The smallest of them all is the Standard Plan which starts at $79/month offering 10 social profiles without an option for additional purchases.
In contrast, Social Champ pricing stands tall with a total of 4 plans, including a free plan and 3 different pricing plans.
The smallest plan here is the Champion Plan, which starts at $29/month and offers 12 social accounts and 2 users with an option of additional purchase.
For Agorapulse pricing plans, next comes the Premium Plan which costs $149/month for 10 social profiles in-plan.
While Social Champ maintains the rhythm with a Business Plan, it costs $89/month for 40 social accounts and 6 users—definitely double the number of social accounts and triple the number of users offered.
Let’s not forget a quick comparison between the cost of the additional social accounts and users’ purchases.
Social Champ’s add-ons are available from the Champion Plan. An add-on social account costs $5 each, and an add-on user costs $6 each, with no limit on the total number of add-ons purchased.
Meanwhile, Agorapulse enables add-on’s from the Premium Plan where an add-on social account costs $20/each and a user costs $50/each with a cap limit.
Lastly, the biggest plans offered by both of them are poles apart.
Irrespective of the pricing not discussed we can clearly assume that Social Champ would be far more pocket-friendly compared to Agorapulse.
Agora’s Advanced Plan offers a total of 10 social profiles and compared to Social Champ’s Agency Plan offering 100+ social accounts with 10 users on board.
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Agorapulse VS Social Champ – Feature Comparison
Features and platform stability matter the most when it comes to making a purchase.
Customers might be ready to invest in a pricey platform, but it must be feature-packed, user-friendly, and an easy-to-use social media management platform.
Before we start with the comparison, let’s take a look at a few features that exactly make management and an automation tool ideal for social media managers.
- Social Media Networks: The integration of social media networks is the most important. Social media managers and businesses juggle between networks with an overall different need for social accounts. Having a good variety of social media networks is a plus for any tool.
- Team Management: The ability to invite team members on board for a smooth, streamlined and timely content production and scheduling is a must. When your every minute counts, social media automation should be used smartly to save time.
- User-Friendly Scheduler: Any social media management tool would have a content scheduler but having an easy-to-use dashboard is the key. A user requires a fully functional, understandable, clean, and feature-full content dashboard in the long run.
- Timely Support: Many great social media management tools fail to impress due to the lack of customer support provided. Your platform would be a new world for a person but it is the timely support that can convert them into customers.
- Analytics and Reports: A social media scheduler is incomplete without a functional and detailed analytics option. Analyzing your best social media strategies and having the ability to download them as beautiful reports is wholesome.
- Social Inbox: In the current times, where the number of social media networks are increasing, so are the options to connect with your audience on them. Juggling between the windows and various inboxes is too tiring. Having a social inbox within a social media management tool is a blessing where you can sync all your comments and direct messages in a single window.
Now, let’s start a basic comparison between the two social media management tools and see if a sudden increase in Agorapulse pricing can be justified.
Social Media Networks
Agorapulse used to support Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube initially.
They just recently integrated Google Business Profile making it a total of six integrations.
Social Champ supports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, and TikTok.
Here, Social Champ supports a total of 8 social networks inclusive of giant Pinterest at more than half of the price of Agorapulse.
Social Media Integrations
Apart from social media networks, Agorapulse also integrates Canva for quicker in-app images.
While at Social Champ, the platform integrates various social media applications including Canva, Crello, Wave.video, Dropbox, Google Drive, Giphy, Imgur, and Flickr most prominently.
You can surely see the difference in pricing and the integrations onboard between the two.
Social Media Calendar
Agoralpulse currently has its new publishing calendar in beta, while Social Champ has a fully working all-in-one social media calendar in the running.
Both platforms allow their users to create content from within the calendar and view the scheduled posts on a monthly basis.
Agorapulse, in addition, allows a weekly calendar view, assigning tasks to team members and creating notes within.
Meanwhile, Social Champ supports various filters from Past, Present & Future posts to the scheduled content in bulk or via an RSS feed and more as well.
Agorapulse has a List view within the calendar while Social Champ has a detailed feature ‘Queue’ for a list view of posts.
Analytics and Reporting
Agorapulse and Social Champ both have a great focus on their Analytics & Reporting features.
When looked at in detail, both platforms provide a detailed analysis of the posted social media content.
While it is evident that Social Champ supports more data metrics for either social media network compared to Agorapulse.
Agorapulse pricing mentions Power Reports, which need to be purchased as part of their pricing plans.
This is in order to export PowerPoint reports, comparison of data between two sets of date ranges, or to schedule monthly analytical reports – everything that Social Champ provides for free within its free and paid plans.
Power Reports cost $29/month and $59/month respective to their pricing plans.
Thus, very evidently Agorapulse is an expensive social media management tool unable to justify the unnecessary hike in its pricing.
Social Inbox
Agorapulse and Social Champ both integrate a social inbox to gather comments and messages from various social media accounts within a single window.
It is safe to say that Agorapulse has more features within its ‘Inbox’ compared to a newly revamped Social Champ’s ‘Engage’ feature.
Agorapulse supports social listening and has filters that might make working easier for a team.
But Social Champ gets the power by supporting different social networks within the Engage section.
Customer Support
Irrespective of customers paying for a purchased plan and that too $99/month, Agorapulse chose to provide just email support to its smallest plan users without a priority.
This resulted in a few upset users, too.
Social Champ, in comparison, provides support on live chat, email, and social media with onboarding training.
Not only this, but Social Champ conducts priority demo calls to all its paid customers at a far lesser price.
Social Champ’s Free Plan Is as Powerful as Paid Compared to Agorapulse
Agorapulse pricing model never supported a Free Plan until March 2021, when they revamped their website along with their pricing plan.
This plan supported 3 social accounts and 1 user, just like Social Champ’s current free plan.
But on the contrary, Agorapulse’s free plan was very limited and basic for its customers.
But then, one day, the limits of the free plan fell short from 40 social media posts to 10 social media posts, and before an official announcement, the free plan disappeared!
Social Champ, in contrast, has a very powerful Free Plan that is equally efficient as any of its paid plans.
Customers can directly sign up for this plan to make the most of the unlimited scheduled options offered.
Unlimited scheduled posts & client organizations, a feature-rich dashboard, and no major limitations within analytics or social inbox.
The free plan is fully loaded with social media integrations and avails the customer support facility as well.
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Agorapulse Alternatives in Budget
By far it is very clear to us that Agorapulse pricing and a sudden increase to it got us all confused when compared to the features and social media integrations offered.
We dig up three leading social media management tools in the market as Agorapulse alternatives which offer similar or better automation services compared to Agorapulse in budget-friendly pricing.
Social Champ
Social Champ is by far the most robust Agorapulse alternative which not only is super-efficient but also markets competitive.
At the most reasonable price, Social Champ supports a vast range of businesses, from startups to agencies, with its variable pricing plans starting at $29/month.
Social Champ currently supports eleven major social media networks, with three detailed and feature-rich pricing plans and a free plan unlike any other in the market.
Schedule unlimited social media posts with a rich content dashboard supporting emojis, a hashtag manager, a revamped media library, sentiment analysis, location tagging, first comments, and real-like post previews side by side.
You can also schedule content in bulk with Bulk Upload or automate postings on multiple social accounts via the Auto RSS feature.
It has the ability to recycle your evergreen posts, invite team members on board, get suggestions for trending content, and much more.
Social Champ also offers an in-depth analytics and reporting feature where you can choose custom date ranges, export white-labeled PDF /PPT files, and compare data on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis.
Social Champ is your one-stop automation tool with a social inbox ‘Engage’ allowing you to sync all your comments, messages, and reviews from five major social networks within a single window.
Unlike Agorapulse, Social Champ also provides priority support to its customers with a 24-hour available live chat.
A detailed helpdesk, YouTube video tutorials, online onboarding, and live demo calls are also offered to the customers irrespective of their plans.
Is Your Social Media Ready for a Boost?
Social Champ offers a free plan and three affordable paid plans that deliver top-tier features for scheduling, analytics, and more. Get started today to maximize your social media efficiency!
Social Pilot
Social Pilot is another social media management tool that can serve really well as an Agorapulse alternative.
At a market competitive price, Socialpilot is a great option for small teams as well as enterprises at the same time.
Socialpilot doesn’t offer a free plan, but unlike Agorapulse, their pricing is comparatively reasonable with respect to their support for six major social networks, including Pinterest and TikTok.
Their smallest plan starts at $50/month supporting 25 social accounts with 3 users and unlimited scheduling features.
Get the ability to schedule content in bulk, monitor detailed analytics and export white-labeled reports, connect with the audience through a social inbox, and more.
CoSchedule
CoSchedule is another contender that is rightly fit as an Agorapulse alternative. It is a social media management tool mainly focused on marketers.
Unlike Agorapulse, Social Pilot offers a free plan supporting 2 social accounts and 1 user onboard.
Their smallest plan starts at $19/user/month, supporting five major social media networks, including Pinterest.
The major feature offered here is their detailed and well-crafted marketing calendar with in-depth layers to it.
A user can schedule content individually or in bulk using their features, run social media campaigns and connect with their customers through a social inbox.
SocialPilot also offers a deep workflow management system along with team members on board.
The Verdict!
It can be safely said that the increase in Agorapulse pricing with a major reduction and limitations in features were unexpected with no proper justification.
The total features and integrations it has to offer are lesser or at least the same as multiple social media management tools within the market but none charge an ample amount of money for no good reason.