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Prices and features checked against official pages: October 2026.
Quick Answer
Choose Vista Social’s Professional plan ($99 per month) if you manage up to 15 social profiles and one approval step is enough (the plan card lists two users, but the FAQ says three, so confirm in the trial). Choose Advanced ($199 per month) if you need more than 15 profiles, a multi-step approval chain, saved custom reports, or Zapier and Make connections. Look at Scale ($449 per month) only if you want white-label reports and dashboards or want clients to connect their own profiles. The prices and limits below come from Vista Social’s pricing page; the decision checklist is our own way of sorting them.
Start with Vista Social’s 14-day free trial
Vista Social’s FAQ says no credit card is needed for the trial.
Why Is Choosing a Vista Social Plan Harder Than It Looks?
The three plans share many features, so the decision rests on a few limits and a few features that appear only from Advanced upward. A small agency usually has one real question: will the account hold all of our client profiles and approvals, or will we outgrow it in a few months? Pick too low and you pay to upgrade mid-project. Pick too high and you pay for capacity and reports you never use. This article sorts the differences so you can answer that question with your own numbers.
What Do the Three Plans Include?
Professional, Advanced and Scale differ mainly in profiles, users and a handful of agency features. Monthly billing is shown first; the annual figure is the yearly total, which the page presents as a 20% saving.
| Professional | Advanced | Scale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly billing | $99 per month | $199 per month | $449 per month |
| Annual billing | $950 per year | $1,910 per year | $4,310 per year |
| Social profiles | 15 | 30 | 70 |
| Users (plan cards) | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| DM contacts | 10,000 | 25,000 | 100,000 |
| AI credits per month | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,500 |
Two cautions. The pricing page shows the annual option by default, with a monthly equivalent that looks lower than the monthly price, so switch the billing toggle to compare like with like. And the plan cards list 2, 3 and 4 users while the FAQ on the same site says Professional comes with 3 users and Advanced with 6. The pages do not explain the difference, so treat the user number as unconfirmed until you check it inside your own trial.
Which Features Are on Every Plan, Even Professional?
More than most people expect. The comparison table on the pricing page marks the following as available on all three plans: the Social inbox, DM automations, internal notes, task management, one-step approvals, scheduled reports, report downloads and competitor reports. If your work is scheduling posts, replying to comments, and sending a regular report, Professional already covers that.
What Do You Gain by Moving Up to Advanced?
Advanced adds the features that matter once more than one person reviews content or a client wants a report that looks different from the standard one. The pricing page lists these as not included on Professional:
- Multi-step approvals, for example an internal review and then a client sign-off.
- Custom reports that you can save and reuse as templates.
- Zapier and Make connections, and more advanced DM automations.
- Room to grow: 30 profiles and 25,000 DM contacts instead of 15 and 10,000.
- Support by email and video call, where Professional is email only.
How Many Profiles Will You Actually Need?
Count connected profiles, not clients. As an example, four clients on three networks each is 12 profiles, which fits Professional. Four clients on four networks is 16, which is already past it. Add a spare profile or two for your own brand and for new clients you expect to win in the next quarter. These numbers are examples to show the arithmetic, not a rule from Vista Social.
If you use every slot, the list price per profile is almost the same on both plans: $99 divided by 15 is $6.60, and $199 divided by 30 is about $6.63. Moving up does not buy a lower unit cost, so the choice is about capacity and features, not about a discount.
Which Plan Fits Your Agency? A Decision Checklist
| Question | If yes |
|---|---|
| Will you manage more than 15 profiles within a few months? | Advanced |
| Do posts need more than one approval step before publishing? | Advanced |
| Do you need saved custom report templates? | Advanced |
| Do you need Zapier or Make? | Advanced |
| Do you need white-label reports and dashboards, or clients who connect their own profiles? | Scale |
| None of the above | Professional |
Should You Look at Scale Instead?
Only if branded reporting or client-side connection is part of what you sell. The pricing page places white-label reports and dashboards, and the option for clients to connect their own profiles, on Scale ($449 per month, 70 profiles, four users on the plan card). Vista Social’s white-label page adds that X (Twitter) is not covered by white-labeling. Adding your own logo, title and description to reports is described on Vista Social’s analytics page under its White label feature, and the pricing page lists white label on Scale. Neither page says a logo alone is available on a lower plan, so ask Vista Social before you promise branded reports on Professional or Advanced.
What Extra Costs Should You Add to the Plan Price?
Publishing to X (Twitter) is a $29 per month add-on on every plan. Broader social listening across social, web and news starts at $75 per month, while listening on your own profiles is free according to the pricing page. If either applies to you, add it to the monthly estimate before comparing plans. Annual billing lowers the cost, but according to Vista Social’s terms, fees are generally non-refundable, annual plans renew automatically unless you cancel at least 30 days before the renewal date, and downgrades take effect at the end of the billing cycle without a refund. Read the current terms before paying for a year.
What Mistakes Do Agencies Make When Choosing?
- Counting clients instead of connected profiles.
- Leaving the X add-on out of the monthly total.
- Starting on Professional, then needing multi-step approval when a larger client joins.
- Paying for Advanced mainly for custom reports that nobody builds.
- Assuming the user count without checking it in the trial.
When Is Vista Social Not the Right Fit?
If your account list is small, a lower-priced scheduler may be enough; if you need many users or many more than 70 profiles, Scale (extra profiles in increments of 10), a quote-based plan or another tool may suit you better. For a comparison with a lower-priced alternative, see our Vista Social vs Later comparison. For a broader look at what the tool does well and where it is limited, read our Vista Social review.
FAQ
What is the difference between Vista Social Professional and Advanced?
Advanced adds multi-step approvals, saved custom reports, Zapier and Make connections, more advanced DM automations, and 30 profiles instead of 15. Professional already includes the Social inbox, DM automations and scheduled reports.
How many users can I have on each plan?
The plan cards show 2 on Professional, 3 on Advanced and 4 on Scale, but the site’s FAQ says 3 on Professional and 6 on Advanced. Confirm the count in your trial before you commit.
Is annual billing cheaper?
Yes. The page shows $950, $1,910 and $4,310 per year for the three plans against $99, $199 and $449 per month on monthly billing, a 20% saving.
Does the free trial need a credit card?
Vista Social’s FAQ says no credit card is required for the 14-day trial.
Is X (Twitter) included in the plan price?
No. The pricing page lists X as a $29 per month add-on on every plan.
Summary
Decide on profile count and approval chain first. Up to 15 profiles and one approval step points to Professional; more profiles, multi-step approval, saved custom reports or Zapier and Make point to Advanced; white-label reporting points to Scale. Use the 14-day trial to confirm the user count and the features you depend on, since plan details can change.
Start with Vista Social’s 14-day free trial
Connect two real client profiles and test your approval flow.
Product features, plan limits, and prices change over time. Always confirm current details on the official Vista Social website before making a purchase decision.
