Agorapulse Pricing: An Unexpected Increase & More Limitations in 2023

Agorapulse is a social media organizer and a management tool that most of us know about. But that is not exactly how it all started. Agorapulse, unlike many other social media management tools, started as a Facebook promotion or contest creating platform back in the year 2012. At this point, social media automation was already in and running in the market via some big giants like Hootsuite and Sprout Social.

Eventually, Agorapulse grew as a complete Facebook Page management tool allowing scheduling posts, tagging content, and automatically moderating content. While it still took them 2-3 years in integrating Twitter and Instagram automation on board. The rest of the integrations came in gradually over the period of time with more detailed features.

Agorapulse was able to attract customers irrespective of its competitors because of its unique pricing plans. The Agorapulse pricing was then focused on small and medium-sized companies with the initial plan to be called a ‘Micro’ starting from $29/month. But it didn’t stay the same for long. Customers witnessed immense fluctuations in the pricing plans every year, which we think probably made them lose their trust in the platform!

Not to our surprise, at the start of this year 2022, there was an unexpected change in the Agorapulse pricing including the retirement of their Free Plan which was introduced just a year 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 this year too?

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.

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.

In March 2021, there was a major revamp of the entire website as well as the Agorapulse pricing model. 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 altered the feature limits. The highlighted Free Plan used to offer 3 social accounts with 1 user and some basic features to make social media automation hassle-free. Other plans included a Pro Plan at $99/month and a Premium Plan at $199/month offering 10 social accounts with 2 users and 24 social accounts with 4 users respectively. The biggest plan was of course an Enterprise Plan whose details were never revealed on the website.

Then came the current Agorapulse pricing in March 2022 just after a year of the previous pricing revamp and it left everyone stunned.

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 got almost 25% more expensive with a decrease in the limits of social media accounts.

One major concern that rose was, will there be no Free Plan anymore?

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 which was the Pro Plan used to offer only 2 users and 10 social accounts without the facility to purchase any 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 $249/month instead of $199/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 which was not just 25% more expensive this time but now offers a total of 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 their 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 last year, 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 up to 15 additional social profiles for $20/each and up to 4 additional users for $50/each – blown away!

Where Does Agorapulse Pricing Stand if Compared to Social Champ?

Social Champ is a growing and one of the much talked about social media management tool in the current times it was founded back 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 Pro Plan which starts at $99/month offering 10 social profiles and 2 users without an option for additional purchases. In contrast, Social Champ pricing stands tall with a total of 4 plans which consists of a free plan and 3 different pricing plans. The smallest here is the Champion Plan which not only starts with $29/month but also offers 12 social accounts and 2 users with an option of additional purchase.

For Agorapulse pricing plans, next comes the Premium Plan which costs $249/month for 20 social profiles and 4 users in-plan. While Social Champ maintaining the rhythm with a Business Plan costs $99/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 where an add-on social account costs $5/each and an add-on user costs $6/each without any limitations on the total number of them 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 Enterprise Plan offers a total of 40+ social profiles and 8+ users compared to Social Champ’s Agency Plan offering 100+ social accounts with 10 users on board.

On the other side, Social Champ offers a complimentary 10% discount on the basic pricing plan for an annual plan purchase while Agorapulse offers a 20% discount instead.

Agorapulse VS Social Champ – Feature Comparison

Features and platform stability matter the most when it comes down 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 their new publishing calendar in beta while Social Champ has a fully working all-in-one social media calendar in running. Both the 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 feature. 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 5 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 which 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.

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.

1. 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 seven 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 preview 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. Have the ability to recycle your evergreen posts, invite team members on board, get suggestions of 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.

2. Social Pilot

   
   Social Pilot is another much like 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.

3. CoSchedule

   
   CoSchedule is one another contender rightly fit as an Agorapulse alternative which 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 $39/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.