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

Total Cost of Ownership Comparison

Choosing between these two platforms involves navigating very different pricing structures. Sprout Social uses a per-seat model, starting at $199/month for the Standard tier and rising to $399/month for Advanced. For a team of five users, a basic Sprout setup will cost at least $11,940 per year, not including potential add-ons for Premium Analytics or Social Listening, which are often required for enterprise-level insights. This makes it one of the more expensive Sprout Social alternatives for growing teams.

Upfluence uses a custom pricing model that typically starts around $478/month for the Starter tier, but enterprise-level access (which many mid-market brands require) can jump to $28,200 per year ($2,350/mo). A critical factor to note is that Upfluence requires a mandatory 12-month contract, offering no month-to-month flexibility. This is a significant commitment compared to other options found in our all ShortsIntel comparisons index.

For a 5-person team, Sprout is often more affordable at the entry-level, but costs scale rapidly with every new hire. Upfluence has a higher barrier to entry but provides a more comprehensive suite of influencer tools that may offset the seat-based costs if you are running massive campaigns.

Choose Sprout Social if...

You are an enterprise or mid-market team that needs a unified social inbox to manage customer service, publishing, and listening across multiple accounts. It is the gold standard for organizations that prioritize Salesforce integration and deep, traditional social listening. If you are looking for a reliable, publicly traded partner for high-level management, see our ShortsIntel vs Sprout Social guide for more details.

Choose Upfluence if...

You are a DTC or e-commerce brand scaling influencer marketing and need a discovery engine to find 4M+ creators. It is the best choice if you need to automate affiliate payouts and integrate directly with Shopify or Amazon. It is built for teams with substantial budgets ($28K+/year) who need a CRM to manage the entire creator lifecycle. You can browse all alternatives if you find Upfluence's contract terms too restrictive.

Neither might be right if...

You are specifically focused on tracking short-form video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) and user-generated content (UGC). Neither Sprout nor Upfluence is specialized in frame-by-frame video analysis or finding content that features your brand without tagging your account. If your primary goal is building a high-res video library for ad creatives or automating UGC rights management, you may find better value in specialized video-first tools.