Softwr

Influencer Marketing · head to head

Popular Pays vs Sprout Social

Popular Pays logo

Popular Pays

Influencer Marketing

Simplified influencer payment and management platform

From
$499/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sprout Social logo

Sprout Social

Influencer Marketing

Social media management with influencer insights

From
$79/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Popular Pays popular Pays gates its tools into 'Suite' (ongoing full access) versus 'Single Buy' (one-time activation) and requires a demo request for either, per its archived pricing page (24 March 2023), with no price shown; Sprout Social pricing shown is per-seat/month for annual billing; monthly billing for Essentials plan is $99/month per seat, representing a 25% premium over annual rates.
  • They diverge on capability: Popular Pays covers Creator discovery, Sprout Social covers Social publishing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Popular Pays and Sprout Social actually diverge.

Attributes where Popular Pays and Sprout Social differ
AttributePopular PaysSprout Social
Starting price$499/month$79/month
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Ios, Android, Api
Founded20152010

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Influencer Marketing).

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 Popular Pays

  • Creator discovery
  • Campaign management
  • Payment processing
  • Content tracking
  • Contract management
  • Performance analytics
  • ROI calculation
  • Instagram

Only in Sprout Social

  • Social publishing
  • Social inbox
  • Analytics
  • Social listening
  • Influencer identification
  • Competitor analysis
  • Report builder
  • Content calendar

Both cover

  • GDPR
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Popular Pays

  • Campaign managementnot Sprout Social
  • Influencer paymentsnot Sprout Social
  • Content trackingnot Sprout Social

Sprout Social

  • Discovering and vetting creators with brand safety reporting and Brand Fit Scoresnot Popular Pays
  • Centralising creator outreach, contracting, approvals and paymentsnot Popular Pays
  • Measuring creator-driven revenue with first-party analytics and attributionnot Popular Pays
  • Building a creator pipeline through branded application pagesnot Popular Pays

Where each one falls short

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

Popular Pays

  • Popular Pays gates its tools into 'Suite' (ongoing full access) versus 'Single Buy' (one-time activation) and requires a demo request for either, per its archived pricing page (24 March 2023), with no price shown

Sprout Social

  • Pricing shown is per-seat/month for annual billing; monthly billing for Essentials plan is $99/month per seat, representing a 25% premium over annual rates.
  • Monthly billing rates for other plans not specified; only annual billing prices clearly listed.

Pricing, plan by plan

Popular Pays

$499/month
  • Startup$499/month
    • Basic creator search
    • Campaign management
    • Payment processing
  • Growth$999/month
    • Advanced search
    • Contract templates
    • Analytics dashboard

Sprout Social

$79/month
  • Essentials$79/month
    • Up to 5 social profiles
    • 100 monthly AI agent credits per seat
    • Publishing, engagement, reporting, and mobile app
  • Standard$199/month
    • 5 social profiles
    • Consolidated inbox
    • Keyword monitoring
  • Professional$299/month
    • Everything in Standard
    • Unlimited social profiles
    • Extensive competitor and paid insights
  • Advanced$399/month
    • Everything in Professional
    • AI reply assistance
    • Sentiment analysis in inbox and reviews

Which should you pick?

Choose Popular Pays if

  • You need creator discovery.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want campaign management.
Popular Pays review

Choose Sprout Social if

  • You need social publishing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want social inbox.
Sprout Social review

Questions people ask

Is Popular Pays or Sprout Social better?
Neither clearly leads. Popular Pays starts at $499/month and Sprout Social at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Popular Pays or Sprout Social?
Popular Pays starts at $499/month and Sprout Social at $79/month.
Does Popular Pays or Sprout Social run on more platforms?
Popular Pays runs on Web, Mobile. Sprout Social runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
What is Popular Pays best used for?
Popular Pays is most often used for campaign management, influencer payments, content tracking. Of those, campaign management and influencer payments are not what Sprout Social is typically brought in for.
What can Popular Pays do that Sprout Social cannot?
Popular Pays covers Creator discovery, Campaign management, Payment processing, Content tracking. Sprout Social covers Social publishing, Social inbox, Analytics, Social listening. Both handle GDPR, Cloud deployment, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sprout Social: What is the least expensive Sprout Social plan?

The Essentials plan is the least expensive at $79 per seat per month with annual billing, or $99 per seat per month with monthly billing. This plan includes up to 5 social profiles, 100 monthly AI agent credits, publishing, engagement, reporting, and mobile app access.

Source
Sprout Social: Does Sprout Social offer a free trial?

Yes, Sprout Social provides a 30-day free trial that does not require a credit card to start. This applies to all paid plans.

Source
Sprout Social: What is the difference between Sprout Social Standard and Professional plans?

The Standard plan costs $199/month per seat and includes 5 social profiles, consolidated inbox, keyword monitoring, Trellis AI agent, and review management. The Professional plan costs $299/month per seat and adds everything in Standard plus unlimited social profiles, extensive competitor and paid insights, and AI-powered post enhancement.

Source
Sprout Social: Does Sprout Social offer add-on solutions beyond the base plans?

Yes, Sprout Social offers Premium Analytics, Listening (social media monitoring), Employee Advocacy, Professional Services (consulting packages), and Influencer Marketing as separate add-on solutions. Influencer Marketing can be used independently without requiring a Sprout Social plan.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Popular Pays

More on Sprout Social

Keep looking

Other head to heads