Looker Studio
Sprout Social
| Feature | Looker Studio | Sprout Social |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $9/mo | From $249/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | marketers, analysts, google-ads-users, small-businesses | enterprise, agencies, marketing-teams, brand-managers |
| Founded | 2016 | 2010 |
| Dashboards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data Connectors | ✓ | ✗ |
| Visualizations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Templates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calculated Fields | ✓ | ✗ |
| Publishing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Social Inbox | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Social Listening | ✗ | ✓ |
| Advocacy | ✗ | ✓ |
| Chatbots | ✗ | ✓ |
| Review Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Looker Studio Pros
- Free
- Google data integration
- Shareable dashboards
- Many connectors
✗ Looker Studio Cons
- Can be slow
- Limited data blending
- Basic compared to paid tools
✓ Sprout Social Pros
- Best-in-class social analytics and reporting
- Unified inbox across all platforms
- Social listening for brand monitoring
- Excellent customer support
✗ Sprout Social Cons
- Very expensive — starts at $249/month
- Additional profiles cost extra
- Overkill for small businesses
The Verdict
Looker Studio is built for marketers and analysts, with a focus on dashboards and data-connectors. Sprout Social targets enterprise and agencies and leads with publishing and social-inbox.
On pricing, Looker Studio is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $9/mo compared to $249/mo for Sprout Social. That $240/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Looker Studio has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Sprout Social requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Sprout Social offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Looker Studio takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.