Which Sprout Social plans include approval workflows?

Sprout's support article says Message Approval Workflows are available on the Professional and Advanced plans. External approvers are documented as an Advanced-plan feature, with up to three external approvers.

Can clients approve in Sprout Social without a Sprout account?

Yes, on the Advanced plan: up to three external approvers can be added by email. They get an email leading to a stream where they can approve, reject or comment, without a Sprout login.

What happens to a Sprout post that is not approved by its scheduled time?

Sprout's help page says it is not published, stays in the Needs Approval tab, and the author gets an expired-approval notification. Posts left unapproved for 90 days are automatically rejected.

What is a cheaper alternative to Sprout Social for client approvals?

It depends on your pricing unit. Buffer prices per channel, Sendible allows unlimited users on all plans, and SkedCast prices by connected accounts with a stated number of seats. Compare how many of your people are paid seats and whether clients need accounts before you compare headline prices.

Does SkedCast have multi-stage approvals like Sprout?

Yes, from the Studio plan: a per-client chain of up to six stages, each cleared by an internal Owner or Manager or by the client through a signed link. SkedCast does not have a unified social inbox or social listening, which Sprout does.

Sprout Social approval workflow: alternatives compared

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By The SkedCast Team · Updated 23 September 2026 · 9 min read

Key takeaways

Sprout's approval workflows are on Professional and Advanced; external approvers are Advanced only, up to three.
Sprout prices per seat per month, so approvers who are teammates add to the bill; external approvers do not.
Buffer, SocialBee, Later, Metricool, Sendible and Hootsuite all list approvals, but on different plans and with different depth.
SkedCast includes one internal approval on every plan and adds multi-stage chains and client sign-off links from Studio.
Do not choose on the word "approvals": check stages, client access and the plan that unlocks it.

A Sprout Social approval workflow alternative starts with how Sprout's own works

According to Sprout's support article, Message Approval Workflows are available on the Professional and Advanced plans, and only users with the Administration Permissions Company permission can create them. A workflow is a named list of steps; each step names its approvers and whether Any or All of them must sign off. Users with Full Publishing permission can optionally be allowed to skip steps.

To submit, an author chooses a workflow in Compose and submits the post. Approvers are notified by email and in-app. Users with the Needs Approval permission must submit; users with Publish permission may. Approvers find pending posts under Publishing, in a Needs Approval view, where they can approve, reject, edit or comment.

Two behaviours worth knowing: if a submitted post is not approved before its scheduled time, it is not published and stays in Needs Approval; and posts left in the approval workflow for 90 days without a decision are automatically rejected.

What about external approvers on Sprout?

External approvers, people without a Sprout account, are documented as an Advanced-plan feature, with up to three per workflow. You add their email to a step; Link Sharing must be enabled first. They receive a batched email (about five minutes after posts are assigned) leading to a consolidated stream where they can approve, reject or comment, and see a network preview.

How do the other tools compare?

Read from each vendor's own pricing or help pages on 2026-09-23. "Not stated" means the page we read did not say, not that the feature is absent.

Planable: Required approval is documented for its Pro plan, and multi-level approvals for Enterprise (one or more approvers per level; one approval completes a level). Clients join as "Client" members with Approver permission. Planable client approval, multi-level.
Hootsuite: up to three layers of approval set by Super Admins; its plans page lists "Review and approve content with your team" under Advanced. Priced per user. Approval tool, plans.
Buffer: "Content approval workflows" and "Access levels" are listed on the Team plan, which is priced per channel. Number of stages: not stated. Buffer pricing.
SocialBee: "Post approval system" is listed from the Accelerate plan up. Number of stages and client access: not stated. SocialBee pricing.
Later: "Internal & External collaboration and approvals" and configurable roles and permissions are listed on Growth and above. Later pricing.
Metricool: post approval is listed with its Advanced plan. Metricool plans explained.
Sendible: "Assignment & approvals" (assign tasks to teammates or clients through approval workflows) is listed from its Plus plan; all plans include unlimited users. Sendible pricing.
SkedCast: one internal approval on every plan; per-client chains of up to six internal or client-link stages, and signed client sign-off links, from Studio; approvals are per post. See multi-step approval.

How does pricing shape the choice?

Approvals are usually sold as part of a plan tier, and the pricing unit matters more than the headline number. Sprout charges per seat per month on annual billing, so each teammate who approves adds a seat; its external approvers do not. Hootsuite also charges per user. Buffer charges per channel, so approvals scale with the number of accounts you connect. SkedCast prices by connected accounts and includes a stated number of seats per plan rather than charging per approver.

For a small agency, the practical question is: who needs to approve, and are they a paid seat? If clients approve, prefer a tool where they do not consume a seat or need an account.

When is Sprout the right choice, and when is it not?

Sprout is a strong fit when approvals sit inside a wider enterprise workflow: a social inbox, listening, reporting and permissions in one product, where the per-seat price is acceptable. Its multi-step workflows with Any/All sign-off are a real strength.

It is a weaker fit for a small agency mainly needing publishing and client sign-off at a lower per-seat cost, or a team that wants approvals without paying for an inbox and listening suite. In that case a scheduling-first tool with client approval links may fit better; SkedCast is one such option, with the honest limits that it has no unified social inbox or listening.

Sources and last reviewed

Last reviewed 2026-09-23. Every statement about another vendor's product was read from the vendor's own page listed here on that date, and every statement about SkedCast was checked against the product's code and docs. Vendors change plans and features without notice, so confirm on their page before you buy.

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FAQ

Which Sprout Social plans include approval workflows?: Sprout's support article says Message Approval Workflows are available on the Professional and Advanced plans. External approvers are documented as an Advanced-plan feature, with up to three external approvers.
Can clients approve in Sprout Social without a Sprout account?: Yes, on the Advanced plan: up to three external approvers can be added by email. They get an email leading to a stream where they can approve, reject or comment, without a Sprout login.
What happens to a Sprout post that is not approved by its scheduled time?: Sprout's help page says it is not published, stays in the Needs Approval tab, and the author gets an expired-approval notification. Posts left unapproved for 90 days are automatically rejected.
What is a cheaper alternative to Sprout Social for client approvals?: It depends on your pricing unit. Buffer prices per channel, Sendible allows unlimited users on all plans, and SkedCast prices by connected accounts with a stated number of seats. Compare how many of your people are paid seats and whether clients need accounts before you compare headline prices.
Does SkedCast have multi-stage approvals like Sprout?: Yes, from the Studio plan: a per-client chain of up to six stages, each cleared by an internal Owner or Manager or by the client through a signed link. SkedCast does not have a unified social inbox or social listening, which Sprout does.