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Hootsuite vs Mercury Reader

Hootsuite logo

Hootsuite

Software

Save time and grow on social media

From
$99/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
M

Mercury Reader

Software

Clear clutter from articles instantly

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mercury Reader has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hootsuite no free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually; Mercury Reader mercury Reader's underlying engine (Postlight Parser) is free open source software licensed under Apache License 2.0, per the GitHub repository, with no paid tier
  • They diverge on capability: Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Mercury Reader covers Content extraction.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hootsuite and Mercury Reader actually diverge.

Attributes where Hootsuite and Mercury Reader differ
AttributeHootsuiteMercury Reader
Starting price$99/yearFree
Pricing modelUnknownfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebChrome, Firefox, Edge
Founded20082015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hootsuite

  • Content scheduling
  • Social inbox
  • Content calendar
  • Analytics & reporting
  • Social listening
  • Team collaboration
  • Approval workflows
  • Bulk scheduling

Only in Mercury Reader

  • Content extraction
  • Clean reading view
  • Custom themes
  • Font customization
  • Chrome support
  • Firefox support
  • Edge support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hootsuite

  • Social media schedulingnot Mercury Reader
  • Community managementnot Mercury Reader
  • Social advertisingnot Mercury Reader
  • Analytics & reportingnot Mercury Reader
  • Team collaborationnot Mercury Reader

Mercury Reader

No use cases recorded yet. See the Mercury Reader review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hootsuite

  • No free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually
  • Monthly billing significantly more expensive than annual (20-30% premium)
  • Advanced data export via SFTP available only to Enterprise tier customers

Mercury Reader

  • Mercury Reader's underlying engine (Postlight Parser) is free open source software licensed under Apache License 2.0, per the GitHub repository, with no paid tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Hootsuite

$99/year

No published plan breakdown. See the Hootsuite review.

Mercury Reader

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Clutter removal
    • Clean reading
    • Custom themes

Which should you pick?

Choose Hootsuite if

  • You need content scheduling.
  • You also want social inbox.
Hootsuite review

Choose Mercury Reader if

  • You need content extraction.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Firefox, Edge.
  • You also want clean reading view.
Mercury Reader review

Questions people ask

Is Hootsuite or Mercury Reader better?
Neither clearly leads. Hootsuite starts at $99/year and Mercury Reader at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hootsuite or Mercury Reader?
Mercury Reader has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for Hootsuite and Free for Mercury Reader.
Does Hootsuite or Mercury Reader run on more platforms?
Hootsuite runs on Web. Mercury Reader runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge.
Can I use Mercury Reader for free?
Yes. Mercury Reader has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hootsuite starts at $99/year.
What is Hootsuite best used for?
Hootsuite is most often used for social media scheduling, community management, social advertising, analytics & reporting. Of those, social media scheduling and community management are not what Mercury Reader is typically brought in for.
What can Hootsuite do that Mercury Reader cannot?
Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Social inbox, Content calendar, Analytics & reporting. Mercury Reader covers Content extraction, Clean reading view, Custom themes, Font customization.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hootsuite: What is Hootsuite's pricing structure?

Hootsuite offers four annual plans: Standard at $99/user/year, Professional at $199/user/year, Advanced at $399/user/year, and Enterprise with custom pricing. Monthly billing is available at 20-30% higher cost.

Source
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer a free tier?

No. Hootsuite does not offer a free tier or freemium plan. A 30-day trial is available, and skipping the trial provides 25% off annual plans.

Source
Hootsuite: How many integrations does Hootsuite support?

Hootsuite advertises support for over 100 integrations, claiming more than any other social media management platform.

Source
Hootsuite: Can users export their data from Hootsuite?

Yes. Hootsuite offers Advanced Analytics data export as CSV files to SFTP folders for Enterprise users, with daily exports and 90-day retention. Standard and Professional plans have more limited export capabilities.

Source
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer API access?

Yes. Hootsuite provides a REST API for building custom applications and integrations, though API capabilities vary by plan level.

Source
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer self-hosted or on-premise deployment?

No. Hootsuite is a cloud-based SaaS platform only. There is no self-hosted or on-premise deployment option available.

Source
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Related pages

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