Written by Shikhar Singh
What is Hopper HQ and Later?
Both are Instagram marketing platforms that allow marketers to plan and schedule their social media posts.
They also allow scheduling content on other social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
They help us to reach our target audience at specific times when they are online, even if that time is inconvenient for us.
They exist to:
- Manage multiple social account at one single place
- Collaborate with others without sharing passwords
- Saves time and effort
- Give you more time for real-time engagement
Alternatives to:
- Agorapulse
- Social Pilot
- Huitesuite
- Tailwind
- Zoho Social
- Buffer
Use Cases:
- Visually plan & schedule posts ahead of time
- Plan your strategy according to the analytics
- Skip design softwares & use in-built media editing
01
Best Instagram Planning & Scheduling SaaS
About Hopper HQ
Hopper HQ is an Instagram scheduling tool founded in 2015 by James Vardy and Mike Bandar. The company is based in the UK and has thousands of customers in more than 55 countries.
The website states, “Visually plan and schedule your social media campaigns automatically with tailored insights. No phone required — Hopper HQ posts for you.”
Check out Hopper HQ's Screenshots
Create post interface
Media editing interface
Upload media file interface
Analytics interface
About Later
Later was founded as the first-to-market Instagram scheduler in 2014." It has grown from a simple Instagram tool to the #1 visual marketing platform for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest."
Later has over 4 million users worldwide and is an Instagram Partner and Pinterest Marketing Partner.
Check out Later's Screenshots
Create post interface
Media editing interface
Upload media file interface
Analytics interface
Key differences between Hopper HQ and Later
Both tools have been built to serve very similar purposes and therefore have many similarities. Here I will list the main differences and their unique selling points.
- Both Hopper HQ and Later offer live chat support, but the team at Hopper HQ is more attentive and quicker to answer any questions I have, when I get down to work.
- As a marketer, I use so many SaaS tools so that I need to stay within my budget; this is where price comes into play. Hopper HQ's pricing is simple and affordable compared to Later.
- Hopper HQ allows us to schedule unlimited posts, while at Later we can schedule unlimited posts only on their highest plan, which is a bit expensive.
- With Hopper HQ, we can upload up to 50 images and videos directly from your computer or cloud storage, which is a time saver, while Later also has a quick schedule feature, but it is hard to use.
- Hopper HQ allows us to repurpose our most successful posts, but Later does not offer this feature.
- Hopper HQ's built-in media editing feature provides better functionality than Later. It also allows for bulk editing of posts in one view and eliminates the need for a third-party photo editor.
- Both offer team features. In Hopper HQ we can customize user permissions per account, whereas in Later we can do it based on social sets. Hopper HQ supports unlimited users at no extra charge, unlike Later, which charges a fixed fee per user.
- Both programs offer grid previews for Instagram posts, that let us see how they will look like part of the bigger picture — your entire Instagram account. But Hopper HQ's grid view is more visually appealing than Later.
- In Later, we can also schedule Instagram Stories and content on TikTok and Pinterest. It supports scheduling Instagram Stories only via push notifications, so you have to use your phone to post Instagram Stories.
- Hopperhq, will soon introduce Instagram Stories scheduling and the option to save hashtags. That's going to be great.
- I like Later's link-in bio tool and the feature to reply to Instagram comments.
Thoughts on UI/UX :
The user interface of Hopper HQ is clear and easy to use. In Hopper HQ, the workflow for adding social media accounts and scheduling posts is simple.
The user interface and user experience of Later is not so bad, but they need to improve.
I found Later's platform to be quite buggy, my linked accounts were automatically disconnected twice, which was quite frustrating.
And in Later, we have to draft a separate post for each social network, which seems backward and counterproductive to me. I felt like it was a waste of time to design similar posts for each social network separately.
Overall, Hopper HQ's UI /UX is much better than Later.
Final Rating:
Here are the ratings:
9/10 to Hopper HQ
7/10 to Later
Features
Nothing beats a side-by-side features comparison
(Check the table below...)
02
Hopper HQ | Later | |
|---|---|---|
Number of users | Unlimited | Limited |
Social accounts in one set | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn | Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest & TikTok |
Scheduled posts per month | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Analytics | ||
Bulk uploading | ||
Bulk editing | ||
Collect media | Our device, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Photos, Box, Unsplash, Link (URL) and Websearch | Unplash, Instagram, Google Drive and Dropbox |
Client collaboration | ||
Stock library | ||
Reply Instagram comments | ||
Grid view for Instagram | ||
Best time to post | ||
Hashtag finder | ||
User and location tagging | ||
First comments | ||
Autopublish | ||
Reschedule top posts | ||
Link In Bio tool | ||
Schedule Instagram stories | ||
User-generated content | ||
Support | ||
Blog | ||
Devices | Desktop and iOS | Desktop, Android & iOS |
Conclusion Features
Both Hopper HQ and Later offer similar Instagram planning and scheduling features. Here I will highlight the features where the two differs.
Advantages of Hopper HQ:
- Ability to set your preferred time zone for your social media properties (useful for agencies).
- Bulk editing feature in Hopper HQ save a lot of time.
- Good compatibility with large teams at no additional cost.
- Ability to collect media for scheduling posts from any link (URL) and web search.
- Drag and drop option in calendar mode.
Disadvantages of Hopper HQ
- I wish they could add a feature to reply to comments on posts.
Advantages of Later
- The drag and drop calendar feature allows us to move our scheduled posts to another date and time in a matter of seconds.
- Later allows scheduling user-generated content directly from Instagram, and there's a photo library to store media as well.
Disadvantages of Later
- We do not have a bulk editing feature in Later.
- Later, limits the file size of the media we upload to schedule our content.
Final Score Features:
Hopper HQ has some advantages over Later in bulk editing, setting preferred time zones, cost-effective large team compatibility and the ability to collect media from almost every source.
On the other hand, Later has some advantages over Hopper HQ in drag-and-drop calendar feature, user-generated content, and media library for storing images, and unlimited stock images directly in the image uploader with their Unsplash integration.
Later offers the ability to schedule Instagram Stories, while this feature is included in the Hopper HQ roadmap and will be release soon, after I ask their customer service.
I do not think the two are that much different in their features.
So, it's a tie.
Here are the scores:
Hopper HQ— 8/10
Later — 8/10
03
Pricing
Hopper HQ Pricing Overview:
Hopper HQ offers a single and simple pricing plan that depends on the number of social account bundles.
A single social account bundle charges $19 per month, but you can save 15% if you pay annually. Hopper HQ also offers a 14-day free trial plan.
Later Pricing Overview:
Later offers three different pricing plans: 'Starter, Growth and Advanced'. The prices for these plans range from $15 per month to $40 per month.
There is also a free plan, but with limited features. Later also offers a one-time 14-day trial period for all plans.
Pricing Score:
Hopper HQ has the best pricing plan. They offer a single plan that includes all features.
Later offers three different plans and a free plan with very limited features.
Hopper HQ's Pricing:
Simple and basic pricing plan.
Includes all features.
Unlimited number of users at no additional cost.
Unlimited scheduling of posts at no additional cost.
14 days free trial
Later's Pricing:
Free plan available.
14-day free trial for all plans.
Free, Stater and Growth plans have limited features.
Need to pay extra per user Unlimited scheduling only available on Advanced plan.
Hopper HQ is the clear winner in this pricing round.
Here are the scores:
9/10 to Hopper HQ
6/10 to Later
Battle Decision
Hopper HQ
This SaaS battle is now over, but one thing is certain:
Hopper HQ leads the battle in many aspects!
The battle has come to its final decision, and this time the winner is Hopper HQ.
We have seen that Later offers some additional features not present in Hopper HQ (some of which are included in the roadmap), but some flaws in the Later platform decreases their likeability.
On the other hand, Hopper HQ leaves Later far behind with its UI / UX and affordable pricing plan.
While I was testing the two tools, I asked some questions to their customer support. Hopper HQ answered my questions in a few minutes, and they were outstanding so +1, while Later took more than a day.
However, I think that is all I can say! Hopper HQ is remarkable.
Here are some points that make the Hopper HQ winner of the battle.
- Clean UI & awesome user experience
- Attentive and quick chat support
- Bulk editing
- Economical pricing plan
- Compatible features for an agency
- Client collaboration and time zone settings
In our extensive testing, we found Hopper HQ to be easy to use. It's intuitive, clear, and most importantly, reliable, helping you efficiently share your posts and grow on your social channels!
So if you want to skyrocket your social media marketing, try the 14-day free trial and form your opinion.
Now It’s time to MAKE YOUR CHOICE.