Sprout Social vs Tubular Labs: Which Is Better? (2026 Comparison)

The pricing structures for Sprout Social and Tubular Labs represent two different enterprise philosophies. Sprout Social uses a per-seat model, which can become prohibitively expensive for large teams. For a 5-person marketing team using the 'Professional' tier ($299/user/month), the base annual cost is $17,940. However, once you add 'Premium Analytics' for custom reporting and the 'Social Listening' add-on (which are usually required for parity with competitors), that annual cost can easily exceed $25,000.

Tubular Labs operates on a custom pricing model with a significantly higher entry point. Their 'Plus' tier starts at $1,500/month ($18,000/year), but this typically covers limited seats. For a 5-person team needing 'Premium' access at $3,500/month, the annual cost jumps to $42,000. These figures exclude potential add-ons like 'Direct Connect' for API access or 'Insights & Strategy' consulting.

When evaluating value, Sprout Social is better for teams that need to do everything—publishing, engagement, and listening—in one place. Tubular Labs provides better value for organizations where data-driven video strategy is the core business driver, such as media companies or ad sales teams. For those with tighter budgets, browsing all ShortsIntel comparisons may reveal more cost-effective options that don't sacrifice specialized video data. You may also want to check out Archive vs Sprout Social for a breakdown of how lower-cost tools handle UGC tasks.

Choose Sprout Social if...

You are an enterprise or mid-market brand managing multiple social profiles across a large team. Sprout is ideal if you need a unified inbox to manage customer service, a robust publishing calendar, and deep Salesforce integration. It is the best choice for those who prioritize traditional social listening (text and tags) over specialized video intelligence. If your workflow revolves around 9+ social networks and you have the budget for per-seat licensing, Sprout is the standard. Many teams transition to Sprout after searching for a Brandwatch alternative that offers more publishing features.

Choose Tubular Labs if...

You are a media company, broadcaster, or large agency where cross-platform social video performance is your primary KPI. If you need to benchmark your video views against 40 million other creators or categorize content using 15 billion historical data points, Tubular is the only choice. It is built for researchers and ad sales teams who need to prove the value of video partnerships. For those in the social video space, it is often a better fit than a Sprout Social alternative that lacks deep YouTube and Twitch metrics.

Neither might be right if...

You are a B2C or DTC brand focused specifically on short-form video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) and UGC creator campaigns. Both Sprout and Tubular often miss untagged content and lack automated rights management for repurposing creator videos into ads. If you are struggling with the manual 'grunt work' of tracking creators who forget to tag your brand, you may need a more specialized ShortsIntel vs Tubular Labs comparison to find a tool that prioritizes automated UGC detection.