Social media inbox tools bring your interactions on multiple social media networks to one place.
This means you won’t lose breath running around social platforms to reply one more comment.
But even more, inbox tools provide features you won’t see in your traditional social media network inbox.
So, an inbox tool is a smart way to engage your audience and provide customer support on social media.
Now the question is, “What’s the best social media inbox tool for your needs?”
This guide will explore 6 excellent options and what they offer to users.
Read on to find the best one for you.
Social media inbox tools
1. Vista Social
Vista Social is one of the best social media management tools.
And this is clear in its feature-packed social media inbox.
Vista Social lets you reply to comments, mentions, and direct messages on all major social networks (except Pinterest).
Here’s a breakdown of each social platform and what you can reply to:
- Facebook – comments, mentions, messages, reviews, and shares
- Instagram – comments, mentions, and messages
- X (Twitter) – comments, mentions, and messages
- Google Business – reviews
- YouTube – comments
- LinkedIn Company – comments and mentions
- LinkedIn Personal – comments
- TikTok – comments
Beyond this, you can label messages and apply filters according to type, labels, and dark mode.
If you work with team members, assigning interactions to them is easy.
And there’s a note feature to leave instructions about the interaction. In the note, there’s an option to tag team members.
If you have many interactions, the search box lets you find messages without scrolling for minutes.
Another neat feature is the sentiment analysis, which shows the mood of the message. However, sentiment analysis is only available on the Enterprise plan.
Apart from the robust social media inbox, Vista Social offers other social management features like scheduling, calendar, collaboration, and content creation.
Read my Vista Social review to get all the details.
Vista Social pricing
The Standard plan comes with 8 social media profiles and 1 user. You also get post comment collaboration, saved replies, and message labels. It costs $39 monthly (or $31.17 on an annual plan).
The Professional plan comes with 15 social profiles and 5 users. You also get spam and task management. It costs $79 monthly (or $63.17 on an annual plan).
The Advanced plan comes with 30 social profiles and 10 users. It costs $149 monthly (or $119.17 on an annual plan).
The Enterprise plan comes with 80 social profiles and 25 users. It also provides sentiment analysis in inbox. This plan costs $379 monthly (or $303.17 on an annual plan).
Try any of the plans for free for 14 days to judge its performance.
2. Pallyy
Pallyy is another social media management tool that lets you manage your interactions in one place.
The tool provides social media inbox on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, and TikTok.
Here’s a breakdown of the engagement options on each network:
- Instagram – comments, post mentions, story mentions, and direct messages
- Facebook – comments, post mentions, reviews, and direct messages
- LinkedIn – comments
- Google Business – reviews
- TikTok – comments
Then, Pallyy lets you label conversations for various purposes. You can also filter messages according to social channel or conversation type.
If you work with team members, you have an option to assign conversations to them.
Beyond that, you have access to basic inbox automation. This means you can label messages from specific channels or assign them to a team member.
Inbox automation is especially useful for organizing your inbox or collaborating effectively with team members.
Beyond the social inbox, Pallyy offers features like calendar, scheduling, and content creation.
Read my Pallyy review to see what it offers.
Pallyy pricing
Pallyy has a free plan, but it doesn’t have the inbox feature.
Then, the Premium plan costs $25 monthly (or $20 annually) and comes with a social set, 1 user, and all inbox features. Additional users cost $29 monthly per user.
3. Loomly
Loomly Interactions lets you like and reply to comments, messages, and mentions on 5 social media platforms.
Here’s a breakdown of the engagement type you get on each platform:
- Facebook – comments, mentions, and messages
- X (Twitter) – comments, mentions, and messages
- Instagram – comments, mentions, and messages
- LinkedIn – comments, mentions, and messages
- TikTok – comments
Once you get to the Interactions interface, you’ll see the ‘New’ label on unread conversations.
You can reply, like, hide, or delete comments.
But Loomly also allows you to assign interactions to team members. This eases your customer service efforts on social media.
Then, you can filter messages according to status, team member, and other criteria.
If your audience asks common questions on social media, saved replies ensure you don’t have to write long replies for every interaction.
Beyond Interactions, Loomly offers features like calendar, scheduling, and collaboration. If you’re a social media manager, it’s a tool you should try.
Check out my Loomly review to learn more about it.
Loomly pricing
The Base plan comes with 10 social accounts and 2 users. It lets you reply to interactions, save replies, and assign conversations to team members. It costs $42 monthly (or $32 on an annual plan).
The Standard plan comes with 20 social accounts and 6 users and costs $80 monthly (or $60 on an annual plan). The Advanced plan comes with 35 social accounts and 14 users and costs $175 monthly (or $131 on an annual plan).
Lastly, the Premium plan comes with 50 social accounts and 30 users and costs $369 monthly (or $277 on an annual plan). Take advantage of the 15-day free trial to see how it performs.
4. ContentStudio
ContentStudio is a social media management tool that helps you create content and manage social media activities.
And its unified social media inbox lets you keep up with audience engagement.
Here’s a breakdown of the social platforms and engagement types supported:
- Facebook – direct messages, comments on posts, comments on ads, visitor posts, and reviews
- X (Twitter) – direct messages, tweets, mentions on public tweets
- Instagram – direct messages, comments on posts, comments on ads
- LinkedIn – direct messages and mention companies on LinkedIn page
- Google Business – reviews
Beyond these, you can tag and bookmark messages to organize your inbox.
Also, filters help you find interactions faster.
If you work with team members, assign messages to them. Then, leave notes to instruct the team member.
For common inquiries, create saved replies to save time.
Apart from inbox, ContentStudio offers features like planning, scheduling, content curation, and more.
Read my ContentStudio review to get all the details.
ContentStudio pricing
The Starter plan comes with 5 social accounts and 1 workspace, but there’s no social inbox feature. It costs $25 monthly (or $20 on an annual plan).
The Pro plan comes with 10 social accounts, 1 workspace, and 1 team member. You can also reply to messages and comments, assign team members, label messages, and write internal notes. It costs $49 monthly (or $40 on an annual plan).
The Agency plan starts at $99 monthly (or $80 on an annual plan) and comes with 25 social accounts, 5 workspaces, and 5 team members. Go through a 14-day free trial to see what it offers.
5. SocialBee
SocialBee’s Engage Module lets you engage with comments, mentions, and direct messages on 7 social media platforms.
Here’s what you can reply to on each platform:
- Facebook – comments, mentions, and direct messages
- Instagram Business – comments, mentions, and direct messages
- X (Twitter) – comments and mentions
- LinkedIn Company – comments and mentions
- Google Business – questions
- YouTube – comments
- Threads – comments
In the Engage Module, add a board for an interaction type (e.g. comments). Then, add streams from your social media accounts.
With your interactions in one place, you can like and reply each interaction. Beyond that, notes let you write observations about an interaction.
If you want to engage with your interactions quickly, set up email notifications for new interactions.
Apart from the Engage Module, SocialBee offers more features like calendar, scheduling, and content creation.
SocialBee pricing
The Bootstrap plan comes with 5 social profiles, 1 workspace, and 1 user per workspace. You can also manage mentions, comments, and DMs on the 7 social platforms. The plan costs $29 monthly (or $24.2 on an annual plan).
The Accelerate plan comes with 10 social profiles, 1 workspace, and 1 user per workspace. It costs $49 monthly (or $40.8 on an annual plan).
The Pro plan comes with 25 social profiles, 5 workspaces, and 3 users per workspace. It costs $99 monthly (or $82.5 on an annual plan).
Start a 14-day free trial to see it in action.
6. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a popular and robust social media management tool.
And its Smart Inbox ensures you keep up with messages from your audience on 4 social platforms.
Here’s a breakdown of what you get on each social network:
- Facebook – mentions, comments, and direct messages
- Instagram – mentions, comments, and direct messages
- Twitter – mentions, comments, and direct messages
- LinkedIn – mentions, comments, and direct messages
Then, you can organize your inbox by tagging messages and filtering by sources, message type, and tags. After this, clean up your inbox by hiding completed messages.
Apart from these, the timeframe settings let you see conversations for particular periods. And you can search inbox to quickly find messages.
If you have team members, add them and set up permissions for inbox messages.
If you provide customer service on these social platforms, the ability to save replies lets you quickly answer common questions.
Then, Sprout Social provides the message sentiments to see the mood of each message.
Another great feature is the ability to monitor keywords, hashtags, and locations to find opportunities. So, you can reply people who mention your brand without tagging and those looking for services you provide.
Sprout Social provides other features such as scheduling, calendar, and collaboration.
Sprout Social pricing
The Standard plan comes with 5 social profiles, an all-in-one social inbox, and profiles, keywords, and location monitoring. It costs $249 per seat per month (or $199 on an annual plan).
The Professional plan comes with unlimited social profiles, message tagging, and saved replies. It costs $399 per seat per month (or $299 on an annual plan).
The Advanced plan comes with message spike alerts, sentiment in smart inbox, and Helpdesk and CRM integration. It costs $499 per seat per month (or $399 on an annual plan).
The Enterprise plan comes with more premium options. Contact the Sprout Social team for pricing.
Start a 30-day trial of your preferred plan to see what it offers.
How to pick a social media inbox tool
Consider these factors before picking a social media inbox tool for your business:
Supported social networks
How many social media platforms does the inbox tool support, and what can you do on each platform?
Don’t assume that the social media platforms supported for scheduling will automatically be supported for inbox.
For most tools, that’s not how it works.
So, research the platforms and engagement actions supported by their inbox tools. Ensure it meets your engagement needs.
This should also be a part of your research when picking a social media management tool.
Interaction features
Social inbox tools let you reply and like messages.
But some go further with the ability to delete and report messages as spam.
Check out the actions possible with interactions.
Inbox organization
You should be able to label messages according to your preferred categories.
Then, see if you can filter messages based on various criteria.
These features let you organize your messages for analysis and batch replies.
Collaboration
If you work with team members, they should be able to engage with your audience.
A social inbox tool should allow you to assign messages to team members. You should also be able to leave notes to guide the team member.
Ease of use
A social inbox tool should place the features you need in visible locations.
It should be easy to reply to interactions, organize the inbox, and collaborate with team members.
Conclusion
A social media inbox tool lets you build better connections and trust with your audience.
It also helps you provide customer support on social media.
So, try out the options in this guide to see which fits your needs best.
Disclosure: When you buy something through one of the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. We only recommend products we use and/or believe will deliver value to you.
Samuel writes long-form guides to help businesses and entrepreneurs achieve better results from their marketing activities. He also writes for marketing and SaaS companies that want more leads and customers. Get in touch with him to discuss your content needs.