TheViralMarketing vs Hootsuite

Short answer: pick Hootsuite if you are a larger team that needs social listening, a shared inbox for comments and messages, detailed reports and many networks. Pick TheViralMarketing if you are a small business, founder or agency that mainly needs good posts made and published on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, at a lower price.

The main difference

Hootsuite covers a lot of ground. Its suite includes publishing, a social inbox for customer care, insights and listening, and AI tools. It is built for marketing teams who manage many accounts and need to report on them.

TheViralMarketing does fewer things, on purpose. It focuses on the part most small teams struggle with: making posts every week. You set up your brand once, and Autopilot plans the topics, writes the captions, designs the images and schedules them. You approve each post, or let posts above a confidence score you choose go out on their own.

Side by side

Hootsuite prices are from hootsuite.com/plans, checked on 31 October 2026. Its FAQ lists Standard at $99, Professional at $199 and Advanced at $399, with custom plans above that. Check their page for current prices and per-user details.

When Hootsuite is the better choice

• You need to listen, not just post. Hootsuite's listening and insights tools track what people say about your brand and industry. TheViralMarketing does not do social listening.
• You answer a lot of comments and messages. Hootsuite has a social inbox for customer care. TheViralMarketing does not have an inbox.
• You report to leadership. Hootsuite is built for custom performance reports across many accounts. TheViralMarketing has analytics for reach, engagement, best posting times and formats, but it is lighter.
• You use many networks. If you need networks beyond Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, Hootsuite covers more.

When TheViralMarketing is the better choice

• You don't have a content team. Hootsuite helps a team manage and publish its work. TheViralMarketing does a large part of that work for you: topics, captions and images.
• Budget matters. Our plans start at $20 a month. Hootsuite's paid plans start at $99.
• You want approvals on a small plan. Approvals, auto-approve and one-click email approvals are included on Starter, Pro and Agency.
• You run several small brands. Each organization gets its own voice, knowledge, calendar and connections. The Agency plan includes 50 organizations and unlimited teammates.
• You want to start quickly. Fill in a brand profile, add a little knowledge, connect one account and turn on Autopilot. See how it works.

What you get on every TheViralMarketing plan

• Autopilot, which fills your calendar 7, 14 or 30 days at a time
• Campaigns that turn one goal into a dated plan
• Studio to make or upload a single post
• Templates with your brand color and logo
• Approvals with a confidence score and auto-approve threshold
• AI captions written for each network, trending news drafts and analytics
• Unlimited scheduled posts from photos you upload

Plans differ by number of organizations, teammates and AI images a month. See pricing.

A normal week with each tool

With Hootsuite, a typical week starts with your team. Someone plans the topics, someone writes the posts, someone makes the images, and then the posts are loaded into the planner and scheduled. During the week, the team works through the inbox, watches listening streams and pulls reports. It's powerful, and it assumes you have people for each of those jobs.

With TheViralMarketing, the week starts with a list of drafts that are already made. Autopilot has picked topics from your brand profile and knowledge, written a caption for each network and designed the images. You open Approvals, read each post, fix a word or two if you need to, and approve. Anything you don't like, you reject or edit. If you've set an auto-approve threshold, strong drafts go out on their own and the rest wait for you. When a post goes live, analytics show reach and engagement, and the best posting times and formats.

Questions to ask before you choose

• Who makes your posts today, and how many hours a week does it take?
• Do you need to answer comments and messages from the same tool?
• Do you need social listening or detailed reports for someone else?
• Which networks bring you customers? Are they Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn?
• How many brands or clients do you post for?
• What is your monthly budget for social media tools?

If your answers are "we struggle to make posts", "no", "no", "yes" and "a small budget", TheViralMarketing is likely the better fit. If you need listening, an inbox and reports for a large team, Hootsuite is.

Can you use both?

Some larger teams could keep Hootsuite for listening, the inbox and reports, and use TheViralMarketing to make the posts for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you do that, pick one tool to publish from for each account, so nothing goes out twice.

How to try TheViralMarketing next to Hootsuite

1. Start a free trial. No card needed.
2. Set up one brand: profile, products and brand voice.
3. Connect one account you're happy to test with.
4. Turn on Autopilot with manual review for a week.
5. Compare the drafts with what your team would have made, and how long it took.

The bottom line

Hootsuite is a strong choice for bigger teams that need listening, an inbox and reporting across many networks. TheViralMarketing is a better fit for small teams that need the posts made, on three networks, with approvals included and a lower price.