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Social Media · head to head

Rival IQ vs Sked Social

Rival IQ logo

Rival IQ

Social Media

Competitive social media analytics and benchmarking with published, self-service pricing

From
$239/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sked Social logo

Sked Social

Social Media

Social media scheduling and approval workflow platform for teams and agencies

From
$24/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Rival IQ data history is capped by tier at 6, 12 or 24 months, so a year-on-year comparison is impossible on the entry plan and a three-year trend is impossible on any plan.; Sked Social basic plan is limited to a single user and one profile per platform.
  • They diverge on capability: Rival IQ covers Competitive landscapes, Sked Social covers Approval Workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rival IQ and Sked Social actually diverge.

Attributes where Rival IQ and Sked Social differ
AttributeRival IQSked Social
Starting price$239/month$24/month
Pricing modelPer month by tracked company countsubscription
PlatformsWebweb, ios, android

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Social Media).

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 Rival IQ

  • Competitive landscapes
  • Engagement rate benchmarking
  • Private channel analytics
  • Social listening searches
  • Facebook and Instagram ads reporting
  • Head-to-head reports
  • Scheduled exports and alerts
  • Looker Studio connector

Only in Sked Social

  • Approval Workflow
  • Content Calendar
  • Unified Social Inbox
  • Smart Assist AI
  • Custom Reports
  • Social Listening
  • MCP AI Connections

What people use each for

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

Rival IQ

  • An agency producing a quarterly competitive social report for a retail client without paying enterprise listening platform ratesnot Sked Social
  • A social media manager needing a defensible engagement rate benchmark against named competitors for a board decknot Sked Social
  • A brand team deciding whether to invest further in TikTok by comparing its performance against category peers rather than against its own historynot Sked Social
  • A marketing lead who wants a competitive tool they can buy on a departmental card in an afternoon rather than through a procurement cyclenot Sked Social

Sked Social

  • Getting client or stakeholder approval on posts without giving platform accessnot Rival IQ
  • Scheduling content across multiple social networksnot Rival IQ
  • Running a unified inbox for comments and messagesnot Rival IQ
  • Building recurring performance reports for clientsnot Rival IQ
  • Connecting live social data to AI tools via MCPnot Rival IQ

Where each one falls short

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

Rival IQ

  • Data history is capped by tier at 6, 12 or 24 months, so a year-on-year comparison is impossible on the entry plan and a three-year trend is impossible on any plan.
  • The entry plan includes a single user seat, which means a two-person social team is pushed to the 349 dollar tier for a reason that has nothing to do with data volume.
  • Social listening is sold as a small number of saved searches rather than a listening platform, so it will not replace a dedicated monitoring tool for crisis detection or broad web coverage.
  • Instagram reporting is the weakest part of the platform, with reach not presented as a clean monthly total, which frustrates teams whose primary channel is Instagram.
  • It analyses but does not publish or schedule, so it is an additional subscription alongside whatever publishing tool you already run rather than a consolidation.

Sked Social

  • Basic plan is limited to a single user and one profile per platform.
  • Internal and external approval workflows are paid add-ons on the Grow plan rather than included.
  • Extra profiles and users beyond plan limits carry additional annual fees.
  • Threads and Snapchat only support notification-based posting, not full auto-publishing.

Pricing, plan by plan

Rival IQ

$239/month
  • Drive$239/month
    • 10 tracked companies
    • 6 months of data history
    • 1 user seat
  • Engage$349/month
    • 20 tracked companies
    • 12 months of data history
    • 2 user seats
  • Engage Pro$559/month
    • 40 tracked companies
    • 24 months of data history
    • 5 user seats

Sked Social

$24/month
  • Basic$24/month
    • 1 user
    • 1 profile per platform
  • Grow$58/month
    • 3 users
    • 6 included profiles
  • Accelerate$166/month
    • 6 users
    • 10 included profiles
    • Internal and external approvals included
  • Custom$undefined/month
    • Tailored enterprise plan starting from $249/month

Which should you pick?

Choose Rival IQ if

  • You need competitive landscapes.
  • You also want engagement rate benchmarking.
Rival IQ review

Choose Sked Social if

  • You need approval workflow.
  • You work on web, ios, android.
  • You also want content calendar.
Sked Social review

Questions people ask

Is Rival IQ or Sked Social better?
Neither clearly leads. Rival IQ starts at $239/month and Sked Social at $24/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Rival IQ or Sked Social?
Rival IQ starts at $239/month and Sked Social at $24/month.
Does Rival IQ or Sked Social run on more platforms?
Rival IQ runs on Web. Sked Social runs on web, ios, android.
What is Rival IQ best used for?
Rival IQ is most often used for an agency producing a quarterly competitive social report for a retail client without paying enterprise listening platform rates, a social media manager needing a defensible engagement rate benchmark against named competitors for a board deck, a brand team deciding whether to invest further in tiktok by comparing its performance against category peers rather than against its own history, a marketing lead who wants a competitive tool they can buy on a departmental card in an afternoon rather than through a procurement cycle. Of those, an agency producing a quarterly competitive social report for a retail client without paying enterprise listening platform rates and a social media manager needing a defensible engagement rate benchmark against named competitors for a board deck are not what Sked Social is typically brought in for.
What can Rival IQ do that Sked Social cannot?
Rival IQ covers Competitive landscapes, Engagement rate benchmarking, Private channel analytics, Social listening searches. Sked Social covers Approval Workflow, Content Calendar, Unified Social Inbox, Smart Assist AI.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rival IQ: Can I schedule posts from Rival IQ?

No. It is analytics and benchmarking only. You keep your publishing tool.

Sked Social: What does Sked Social cost?

Plans start at $24/month for Basic (1 user, 1 profile per platform), rising to $58/month for Grow and $166/month for Accelerate, with a Custom tier from $249/month.

Source
Rival IQ: Does it need my competitors to grant access?

No. Public metrics for tracked companies are collected without their involvement. Private metrics require connecting your own accounts.

Sked Social: Is there a free trial?

Sked Social offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required; at trial end users pick a plan or the account pauses.

Source
Rival IQ: Is there a free trial?

Yes, 14 days with no card required.

Sked Social: Can I change or cancel my plan?

Upgrades take effect immediately while downgrades apply at the end of the billing cycle, and the company states there is no auto-charging or surprise billing.

Source
Rival IQ: How far back does data go when I add a competitor?

Rival IQ backfills history up to your plan limit of 6, 12 or 24 months, so adding a competitor does not start you from zero.

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