Compare · social media monitoring

Meltwater VS Sprout Social_

As of 4 November 2026, Sprout Social is named by 562 companies and Meltwater by 205; Meltwater skews to companies under 200 people (41% vs 45%), Sprout Social to companies over 1,000 (28% vs 36%).

As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.

The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: Meltwater's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, Sprout Social rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.

Meltwater: 2–200 employees
41%
Sprout Social: 2–200 employees
45%
Meltwater: 1,000+ employees
36%
Sprout Social: 1,000+ employees
28%
Postings per company, 90 days
1.5 · 3.1
Website or DNS footprint
0 · 0
205companies name Meltwater
562companies name Sprout Social
55name both
315 · 1,719postings in 90 days, Meltwater · Sprout Social
02 — Side by side

Who chooses which

Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.

By company size
SegmentMeltwatershareSprout SocialshareLeans
Self-employed63%234%even
2-10 employees84%478%Sprout Social
11-50 employees3015%9918%Sprout Social
51-200 employees4723%10819%Meltwater
201-500 employees2814%7213%even
501-1000 employees136%5610%Sprout Social
1001-5000 employees3819%8916%Meltwater
5001-10000 employees157%295%Meltwater
10,001+ employees2010%397%Meltwater
By industry
SegmentMeltwatershareSprout SocialshareLeans
Business & finance services9245%15928%Meltwater
Public, community & associations2613%529%Meltwater
Technology & software178%9918%Sprout Social
Media & content168%468%even
Consumer services & leisure157%509%even
Manufacturing & industry147%407%even
Commerce & trade63%468%Sprout Social
Property & construction63%132%even
Hospitality & travel42%254%Sprout Social
Health care31%173%even
Automotive21%81%even
Transport, logistics & rental21%––outside top 12
Utilities & infrastructure––41%outside top 12
By country
SegmentMeltwatershareSprout SocialshareLeans
United States15174%42375%even
United Kingdom189%366%Meltwater
Canada73%224%even
Germany31%112%even
France31%––outside top 12
Australia21%61%even
Netherlands21%––outside top 12
PH21%––outside top 12
Singapore21%31%even
Austria10%––outside top 12
Cyprus10%––outside top 12
Denmark10%––outside top 12
India––112%outside top 12
Spain––51%outside top 12
United Arab Emirates––41%outside top 12
Italy––31%outside top 12
NG––31%outside top 12
Belgium––20%outside top 12
Postings by team (share of each tool's postings)
SegmentMeltwatershareSprout SocialshareLeans
Marketing & communications26068%1,78092%Sprout Social
Sales205%70%Meltwater
Data & AI113%40%Meltwater
Business development & strategy51%20%even
arts media and entertainment41%101%even
Travel, leisure & events41%––outside top 12
Unclassified41%20%even
Education & training31%30%even
Product, program & project management31%70%even
real estate and property31%221%even
General management & consulting21%10%even
Design & UX10%50%even
Software engineering10%––outside top 12
Administration & office––40%outside top 12
social care and community––30%outside top 12
Customer service & success––20%outside top 12
Finance & accounting––20%outside top 12
IT operations & business systems––10%outside top 12
manufacturing and production––10%outside top 12
Retail & store operations––10%outside top 12
Cite this

Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.

Sprout Social is named by 562 companies in job postings and Meltwater by 205; 55 name both. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/meltwater-vs-sprout-social)
How we know

Read from the source, not self-reported

Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →

  • Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
  • Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
  • SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
  • Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
FAQ

Meltwater vs Sprout Social: questions

Which is more used, Meltwater or Sprout Social?

By companies naming it in their own job postings, Sprout Social (562) over Meltwater (205). By website-and-DNS footprint, Sprout Social (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.

Who chooses Meltwater?

41% of Meltwater companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 45% for Sprout Social. 36% of Meltwater companies have over 1,000 employees, against 28% for Sprout Social.

Do companies run both?

55 companies name both in their postings, usually Meltwater in marketing and Sprout Social in sales, or during a migration.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.

Companies and people

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