Why did Hootsuite Raise Prices 1200%?

A huge increase for their long time users is met with angst.

Long time Hootsuite users got a surprise email informing them that starting June 1st, 2021 their monthly cost would increase from $5.99 to $75. Some users have been customers for over a decade, so this news certainly comes as a shock.

Here is the letter:

That is a lot to swallow and Twitter was not happy about it:

How to lose a lifetime customer and massive advocate in 60 seconds.

I was one of the first in the UK to use and talk about Hootsuite and since day 1 (over 11 years) I've been paying $5.99 p/m and now they want me to pay $75 p/m

BYE BYE @hootsuite, it's been emotional!!! pic.twitter.com/PLN6uxHVPu— Warren Knight (@WarrenKnight) April 13, 2021

Why the increase?

A great article by Kristian Downer gives details, but here is our take:

Hootsuite is practicing typical business practice. Ten years ago I’m sure a $5.99/mo user was an awesome account for them. Now their focus is on agencies and companies that pay the 4-5 figures a month. They probably don’t really even want a $75/mo account.

This large increase isn’t a cost of service/inflation adjustment (e.g. if they increased from $5.99 to $9.99/mo after 10 years), it is a we don’t want these users anymore. Without these early $5.99/mo users there would be no Hootsuite.

Will Hootsuite roll back the change? If enough bad press happens then they might, but don’t count on it.

Of course an alternative to Hootsuite is Ayrshare. We make it easy to post to social media via a social API for yourself or on behalf of your users.