Are these really comparable?

Only partly, and it is worth being straight about it. Sprout is a full social media management suite — publishing, engagement, reviews, reporting — with listening as one module. FishOut only does listening. If you need to schedule posts and run an inbox, Sprout is the answer.

What does Sprout cost for a team?

Every plan is per seat with none included, so five people on Standard is 5 x $249 = $1,245 a month billed monthly, or 5 x $199 annually. FishOut is one price with unlimited members on every plan.

Can Sprout reply for me?

Yes — and unlike us, it can post. Reply drafting with AI Assist is Advanced-only. FishOut deliberately never posts: it writes the draft and you send it from your own account.

FishOut

vsSprout Social

Comparison

FishOut vs Sprout Social

Q: Does Sprout do relevance scoring?

It has machine-learning filters and smart categories but publishes no relevance score or scale. Sentiment classification is Advanced-only, at $499 per seat a month billed monthly. FishOut gives every post a relevance from 0 to 100, with sentiment, on every plan from free.

These are not the same kind of product. Sprout publishes, schedules, replies, moderates reviews and reports across a whole social operation, with listening as one add-on module. FishOut does one thing. The comparison worth making is whether you need the rest.

Compare pricing

Sprout Social facts checked on 20 October 2026, from their own published material. Sources are listed at the foot of this page.

Seats: Unlimited, free; Per seat, from $99/mo
Starts at: Free; $99/seat/mo
Listening: The product; An add-on

[01] AT A GLANCE/ SIDE BY SIDE

FishOut and Sprout Social, feature by feature

Ties are marked as ties, and Sprout Social's wins as wins.

FishOut compared with Sprout Social, feature by feature
	FishOut	Sprout Social
Coverage
Pricing model	Advantage: Flat, per account	Behind: Per seat, none bundled
Keywords at entry	Advantage: 50	Behind: None on Essentials
Publishing and scheduling	Behind: Not offered	Advantage: Full suite
Review moderation	Behind: Not offered	Advantage: Eight review platforms
AI
AI relevance	Advantage: Relevance 0–100 with Why chips	Behind: ML filters, no published score
Sentiment	Advantage: Every plan, including Free	Behind: Advanced, $499 per seat/mo
Reply drafting	Even: Yes, never posts	Even: Advanced only, and it posts
Alerts
Alert destinations	Advantage: 13, every plan	Behind: Not on the pages we cite
Developer
MCP server — which plan	Advantage: Every plan, including Free	Behind: ChatGPT and TikTok data only
REST API — which plan	Advantage: Every plan, including Free	Behind: Advanced only
Team
Cost for a team of five	Advantage: $19/mo	Behind: $495/mo on Essentials
Seats at entry	Advantage: Unlimited on every plan	Behind: Per seat — $99/mo each on Essentials
Price
Entry price	Advantage: Free, then $19/mo	Behind: $99 per seat/mo
Free tier	Advantage: Free forever, 10 keywords, 500 relevant/mo	Behind: 30-day trial
Sales call needed	Even: No — self-serve, cancel any time	Even: No for listed tiers — 30-day trial

[02] WHAT IT COSTS/ SAME NEED

What each need costs on FishOut and on Sprout Social

The plan you would need on each side for the thing you came for.

To getFishOutSprout Social

5 people with keywordsListening is an add-on on topFreeFree$1,245/moStandard ×5

Reply drafting$19/moPlus$499/seat/moAdvanced

The REST APIFreeFree$499/seat/moAdvanced

Monthly-billed. A keyword is not always the same unit on both sides.

[03] WHERE SPROUT SOCIAL IS STRONGER/ HONESTLY

Sprout Social is a full social media management suite, and there are things it does that we do not.

It is a whole social operation

Publishing with a collaborative calendar and approval workflows, a unified inbox with case management and routing, review moderation across Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and more, competitor and paid-social reporting, employee advocacy and influencer marketing. Listening is one module of many. We do none of the rest.

It can see your own channels

Because Sprout holds your connected profiles it sees what public monitoring cannot — connected-account backfill, ad-comment moderation, owned demographic data and paid-social performance. A listening tool watching from outside has no route to any of that.

Enterprise depth around the data

Backfill to 2006 on X and YouTube, share of voice, smart categories, influencer identification, Salesforce, Zendesk, HubSpot and Marketo integrations, SSO, and live phone support on every plan.

[04] WHERE FISHOUT WINS/ WITH PROOF

Flat pricing, not per seat

Every Sprout plan is priced per seat with none bundled, so a five-person team on Standard is five times $249 a month. FishOut is one price with unlimited team members on every plan, including Free.

To get 5 people with keywords

FishOut

Free

Them

Standard ×5, $1,245/mo

Listening is the product, not an add-on

Sprout’s Essentials plan has no brand keywords at all; Standard and Professional get 10, Advanced 20, and full listening is a separate add-on. FishOut gives 50 keywords at $19 and 500 at $99.

A relevance score with reasons

Sprout has sentiment and machine-learning filters, but publishes no relevance score or scale, and its sentiment classification is Advanced-only at $499 per seat a month. FishOut gives every post a relevance from 0 to 100 with the Why behind it, plus labels and sentiment, on every plan from free.

Why this is relevant

Matches your briefAsking for helpNot answered yetFresh

Reply nowAsking for recommendationsHas a problem

The API is not the top tier

Sprout’s API is Advanced-only, and its MCP connection currently works with ChatGPT for TikTok data. FishOut includes the REST API, webhooks and a full-surface MCP server on every plan including Free.

[05] WHO SHOULD PICK WHICH/ SHORTCUTS

If you…

Who we would send to Sprout Social, and who to us.

You publish and schedule to your own social accountsSprout SocialPublishing, engagement and reporting on owned profiles is its core. We do not publish.

Your team is one or two people on owned channelsSprout SocialPer-seat pricing is fair at that size.

You want conversations about you that you do not ownFishOutListening is the product, not an add-on, and every seat is free.

[06] WITHOUT A SALES CALL/ SELF-SERVE

Without the sales call. Sprout Social: no for listed tiers — 30-day trial. FishOut: from $19/mo, or free, cancel any time.

MCP and the REST API, from Free

Sprout Social: chatgpt and tiktok data only for MCP; advanced only for the API.

fo_live_••••••••4b21Free plan

RESTapp.fishout.ai/api/v1MCPmcp.fishout.ai/mcpHooksmention.created

No seat count

Sprout Social: per seat — $99/mo each on essentials. FishOut: unlimited, on every plan.

MembersNo seat limit

OwnerAdminSupportSalesMarketingContractor+ invite

13 alert destinations

Sprout Social: not on the pages we cite. FishOut: Slack, Teams, Discord, Telegram, email, Zapier, webhooks and six more.

Alert to13 destinations

and six more

A draft, not just a reading

Every post gets a relevance, labels and a Reply call; from Plus, a draft in your Voice.

Draft replyYour voice

Six people and one shared inbox is the exact shape where filters stop helping. I work on AcmeMail, so take this with that in mind.

Says who you are

Copy and open threadFishOut never posts

[07] SEE IT ON YOUR KEYWORDS/ FREE PLAN

What you get instead of Sprout Social

The Switchers view — people comparing, leaving or complaining — read by AI as it arrives. No contract and no seat count, which is where Sprout Social and FishOut differ most.

Views

Reply now4

Leads9

Switchers7

Complaints3

Press5

Filtered318

Saved views

Competitor pricing

Q4 launch

Switchers· Best first7

r/sysadminquiet_pager1d

AcmeMail search keeps timing out on old threads

Reply nowHas a problemComplaint

r/msppatchtuesday_pete5h

Shared inbox for 12 clients, each with their own address?

Reply nowAsking for recommendations

LinkedInPriya Raman1h

Notchmail renewal came in 40% higher

Reply nowComparisonAsking for recommendations

r/sysadminquiet_pager1d

AcmeMail search keeps timing out on old threads

AcmeMail search keeps timing out on threads older than a year. Anyone else, or is it our tenant?

Relevance

Names youHas a problemNot answered yet

Labels · Reply call

Reply nowHas a problemComplaint

Acknowledge, then move it to support

Draft reply

That is on us — older threads hit a slower index. I work at AcmeMail; if you DM your workspace name, support can move you to the new index today.

Says who you are
Takes responsibility
No promises you cannot keep

Copy and open threadFishOut never posts

See every plan

Questions

More on Sprout Social

Sprout Social pricing, explained →Sprout Social alternatives, ranked →Brand24 vs Sprout Social →

Sources

Sprout Social pricing — checked 20 October 2026. Priced per seat: Essentials $99, Standard $249, Professional $399, Advanced $499 per seat per month billed monthly ($79/$199/$299/$399 billed annually). No seats bundled — each user is another full seat. Brand keywords per group: none on Essentials, 10 on Standard and Professional, 20 on Advanced. Listening is an add-on. Reply drafting and the API are Advanced-only. 30-day trial, no free plan.
FishOut pricing — checked 19 October 2026. lib/pricing-data.ts — the same data the pricing page renders.

Product names and logos belong to their owners and are used only to identify the products compared. No endorsement is implied.

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