Last Updated: January 2026
Quick Verdict
Choose Viraly if you need a dedicated social media scheduler with content recycling, AI caption variations, first comment automation on four platforms, TikTok Photo Mode, and flat-rate pricing starting at $19/month. Viraly is purpose-built for scheduling and publishing across 10 platforms.
Choose Cision if you’re an enterprise PR team needing media monitoring across 190+ countries, journalist database access with 500,000+ profiles, press release distribution through PR Newswire, and broadcast monitoring. Be prepared for $7,200-$30,000+/year pricing and annual contracts.
In this Viraly versus Cision comparison, we examine two fundamentally different tools: a social media scheduling platform versus an enterprise PR communications suite. The right choice depends on whether you need to schedule social posts efficiently or manage comprehensive media monitoring and journalist outreach.
At a Glance
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $19/mo (5 profiles, 200 posts, 10 platforms) | $7,200/year (~$600/mo) – enterprise custom |
| Free Plan | Yes (3 profiles, 10 posts/month) | No (demo only) |
| Contract Terms | Monthly or annual (cancel anytime) | Annual contracts only (3+ months cancellation notice) |
| Social Platforms | 10 platforms (full publishing) | 5 platforms (publishing limited) |
| Primary Focus | Social media scheduling | PR & media monitoring |
| Media Monitoring | No | Yes (190+ countries, 96 languages) |
| Journalist Database | No | Yes (500,000+ profiles) |
| Press Release Distribution | No | Yes (PR Newswire) |
| Content Recycling | Yes (with AI variations) | No |
| First Comment Automation | Yes (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube) | No |
| TikTok Photo Mode | Yes (up to 35 images) | No |
| Link in Bio | Yes (full customization) | No |
| Target Market | Creators, SMBs, agencies | Enterprise PR teams, Fortune 500 |
Verdict: Different markets. Cision is an enterprise PR platform; Viraly is a dedicated social media scheduler. Most teams seeking affordable social media scheduling will find Viraly fits their needs at a fraction of Cision’s cost.
Pricing Comparison
Cision and Viraly operate at completely different price points for different use cases.
Viraly Pricing (Public, Transparent)
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Profiles | Posts/Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 3 | 10 |
| Influencer | $19 | $15.80 | 5 | 200 |
| Business | $49 | $40.80 | 15 | 500 |
| Agency | $99 | $82.50 | 50 | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Cision Pricing (Custom, Enterprise)
| Configuration | Reported Annual Cost | Monthly Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level (basic modules) | $7,200-$10,000 | ~$600-$833 |
| Average deployment | $12,000-$15,000 | ~$1,000-$1,250 |
| Full suite (5 seats) | $21,000-$23,000 | ~$1,750-$1,917 |
| Enterprise | $30,000+ | ~$2,500+ |
Note: Cision pricing is based on user reports and varies by modules selected, seats, and regions covered. Annual contracts only.
Annual Cost Comparison
| Need | Viraly Annual | Cision Annual | Savings with Viraly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo creator (5 profiles) | $190 | $7,200+ | $7,000+ |
| Small team (15 profiles) | $490 | $12,000+ | $11,500+ |
| Agency (50 profiles) | $990 | $21,000+ | $20,000+ |
Verdict: Viraly wins for teams focused on social media scheduling. Viraly’s Agency plan costs less than 5% of Cision’s entry-level pricing. However, they serve different purposes—Cision includes PR tools Viraly doesn’t offer.
Platform Support
| Platform | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Yes (full publishing + analytics) | Yes (publishing + listening) | |
| Yes (full publishing + analytics) | Yes (publishing + listening) | |
| X (Twitter) | Yes (Influencer+) | Yes |
| Yes (personal + company) | Yes | |
| YouTube | Yes (videos + Shorts) | Yes (publishing + listening) |
| TikTok | Yes (video + Photo Mode) | No |
| Yes | No | |
| Threads | Yes (with thread chains) | No |
| Bluesky | Yes (with analytics) | Listening only |
| Mastodon | Yes (any instance) | No |
| No | Listening only |
Verdict: Viraly wins for social media publishing with 10 platforms versus Cision’s 5 publishing platforms. Cision adds social listening capabilities, but Viraly covers more networks for actual posting.
Feature Comparison
Scheduling & Publishing
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Content Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Drag-and-Drop Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Content Queue | Yes | Limited |
| Draft Posts | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk Upload | Yes | Limited |
| Time Slot Scheduling | Yes | Limited |
| Post Approval Workflows | Yes (Business+) | Yes |
Post Limits by Plan (Viraly)
| Plan | Free | Influencer | Business | Agency | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Posts/Month | 10 | 200 | 500 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Cision doesn’t publish post limits—usage is determined by contract terms.
Verdict: Viraly wins. Purpose-built scheduling features, transparent limits, and dedicated publishing tools outperform Cision’s social publishing which is secondary to its PR focus.
Content Types Supported
| Content Type | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | Yes | Limited |
| Instagram Stories | Yes | Limited |
| Instagram Carousels | Yes (up to 10) | Limited |
| Facebook Reels | Yes | Limited |
| TikTok Videos | Yes (up to 10 min) | No |
| TikTok Photo Mode | Yes (up to 35 images) | No |
| YouTube Shorts | Yes | Limited |
| LinkedIn Documents | Yes (PDF, PPTX, DOCX) | Limited |
| LinkedIn Carousels | Yes (up to 20 images) | Limited |
| X/Twitter Threads | Yes (up to 25 tweets) | Limited |
| Thread Chains | Yes (Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky) | No |
Verdict: Viraly wins. Full support for modern content formats including Reels, Stories, carousels, documents, and thread chains. Cision’s publishing capabilities are basic compared to dedicated schedulers.
Evergreen Content Recycling
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Recycle Posts | Yes | No |
| Custom Intervals | Yes (7-365 days) | No |
| AI Caption Variations | Yes (3-10 per post) | No |
| End Date Control | Yes | No |
Verdict: Viraly wins. Content recycling with AI-generated caption variations keeps evergreen content fresh. Cision doesn’t offer this feature—it’s focused on one-time PR communications, not ongoing social content.
Link in Bio
| Feature | Viraly Free | Viraly Influencer | Viraly Business | Viraly Agency | Cision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bio Pages | 1 | 5 | 15 | 50 | No |
| Custom Links | 5 | 25 | 50 | 100 | No |
| Custom Domain | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Email Collection | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| E-commerce Products | No | 10 | 30 | 75 | No |
Verdict: Viraly wins. Full Link in Bio functionality with 70+ themes, email collection, and e-commerce. Cision doesn’t offer Link in Bio pages—different focus entirely.
AI & Content Tools
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| AI Caption Generator | Unlimited (all plans) | Limited (pitch generation) |
| AI Content Variations | Yes (3-10 per post) | No |
| AI Idea Generator | Yes | No |
| AI Hashtag Suggestions | Yes | No |
| AI Pitch Generation | No | Yes |
| AI Content Summarization | No | Yes |
| Media Library | Unlimited (all plans) | Yes |
| Photo Editor | Yes (crop, filters, stickers) | Basic |
| Video Editor | Yes (trim, crop, transitions) | No |
Verdict: Trade-offs. Viraly’s AI focuses on social content creation. Cision’s AI focuses on PR tasks like pitch generation and content summarization for media monitoring.
Idea Board / Content Library Limits (Viraly)
| Feature | Free | Influencer | Business | Agency | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idea Boards | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 | Unlimited |
| Ideas per Social Set | 50 | 200 | 500 | 1,000 | Unlimited |
| RSS Feeds | 3 | 10 | 25 | 50 | Unlimited |
| Content Templates | Yes (10 categories) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Idea Generator | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Library | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Cision doesn’t offer comparable content ideation or Kanban-style planning boards.
Analytics
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Social Media Analytics | Yes (all 10 platforms) | Yes (5 platforms) |
| Post Performance | Yes | Yes |
| Audience Demographics | Yes | Yes |
| Media Monitoring Analytics | No | Yes (comprehensive) |
| Sentiment Analysis | No | Yes (AI-powered) |
| Share of Voice | No | Yes |
| Competitive Benchmarking | No | Yes |
| Export Data | Yes (CSV) | Yes (PDF, Excel) |
Analytics History by Plan (Viraly)
| Plan | Free | Influencer | Business | Agency | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Retention | 2 weeks | 6 months | 12 months | 2 years | Unlimited |
Verdict: Different strengths. Viraly provides comprehensive social media analytics across more platforms. Cision excels at media monitoring analytics, sentiment analysis, and competitive benchmarking for PR teams.
Team Collaboration
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Team Members | 0/0/5/15/Unlimited by plan | By contract (seat-based) |
| Role Permissions | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sets (Brand Grouping) | Unlimited (all plans) | By module |
| Approval Workflows | Yes (Business+) | Yes |
| CRM for Journalists | No | Yes |
| Task Assignment | No | Yes |
Verdict: Trade-offs. Viraly offers unlimited social sets for organizing brands/clients at no extra cost. Cision provides journalist CRM and task management for PR workflows.
PR & Communications Features
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Media Monitoring | No | Yes (190+ countries, 96 languages) |
| Journalist Database | No | Yes (500,000+ profiles) |
| Press Release Distribution | No | Yes (PR Newswire – 440,000+ newsrooms) |
| TV/Radio Monitoring | No | Yes (3,000+ stations) |
| Podcast Monitoring | No | Yes (60,000+ podcasts) |
| Social Listening | No | Yes |
| Investor Relations Tools | No | Yes (IR websites, webcasting) |
Verdict: Cision wins. This is Cision’s core strength—comprehensive PR and communications tools that Viraly doesn’t offer. If you need these capabilities, Cision is the appropriate choice.
Comment Management
Neither Viraly nor Cision’s social publishing module focuses on engagement management.
- Viraly: Focuses on publishing—supports first comment automation but no unified inbox for managing replies
- Cision: Has audience engagement features within social module but limited compared to dedicated engagement tools
For comprehensive social inbox management, consider tools like Agorapulse or Sprout Social.
Integrations
| Integration Type | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Email Marketing/CRM | 8 platforms (Mailchimp, HubSpot, Klaviyo, etc.) | Limited |
| Tracking Pixels | 4 (GA4, Meta, TikTok, GTM) | Limited |
| Stock Photos | Unsplash (built-in) | No |
| Slack | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Teams | No | Yes |
| EDGAR/SEDAR (Financial) | No | Yes |
| WordPress Plugin | Yes | No |
Verdict: Trade-offs. Viraly integrates with marketing tools (email, pixels). Cision integrates with enterprise communication tools (Slack, Teams, financial filing systems).
Compliance & Security
| Feature | Viraly | Cision |
|---|---|---|
| Data Encryption | 256-bit AES at rest | Enterprise-grade |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes | Yes |
| CCPA Compliant | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 Type II | No | Yes (PR Newswire) |
| Cloud Hosting | AWS | Enterprise cloud |
Verdict: Trade-offs. Both meet standard security requirements. Cision offers additional enterprise compliance certifications like SOC 2 for organizations requiring formal audits.
Where Viraly Wins
- Affordable pricing: $19-99/month vs $7,200-30,000+/year—Viraly costs up to 97% less for social scheduling
- No annual contracts: Pay monthly and cancel anytime; Cision requires annual contracts with 3+ months cancellation notice
- More social platforms: 10 publishing platforms vs Cision’s 5
- Content recycling: Automatic evergreen posting with AI caption variations—Cision doesn’t offer this
- First comment automation: Schedule first comments on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube
- TikTok Photo Mode: Create photo carousels with up to 35 images
- LinkedIn document posts: Native PDF, PPTX, DOCX uploads with carousel support
- Link in Bio: Full landing page builder with 70+ themes—Cision has none
- Transparent pricing: Public pricing page vs Cision’s sales-required custom quotes
- Free plan available: Get started at $0 with 3 profiles and 10 posts/month
Where Cision Wins
- Media monitoring: Track mentions across 190+ countries in 96 languages—news, TV, radio, podcasts
- Journalist database: Access 500,000+ media profiles for outreach campaigns
- Press release distribution: PR Newswire reaches 440,000+ newsrooms globally
- Social listening: Monitor conversations and sentiment beyond your own channels
- Competitive benchmarking: Share of voice and competitor analysis
- Enterprise compliance: SOC 2 Type II certification, EDGAR filing integration
- Investor relations: IR website hosting, webcasting, analyst targeting
- Fortune 500 trust: 84% of Fortune 500 use Cision—established enterprise credibility
Who Should Choose Viraly
Content Creators & Influencers
You need multi-platform scheduling without enterprise complexity. Viraly’s $19/month Influencer plan covers 5 profiles across all 10 platforms with unlimited AI, content recycling, and Link in Bio pages—everything Cision can’t offer at any price.
Small Business Owners
You want straightforward social media management without PR overhead. Cision’s minimum $7,200/year is overkill when you just need to schedule Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok posts. Viraly’s Business plan at $49/month includes 5 team members and 15 profiles.
Marketing Agencies
You manage multiple client accounts and need scalable, flat-rate pricing. Viraly’s Agency plan at $99/month covers 50 profiles with unlimited posts—Cision would cost 20x more for similar social publishing capacity. Use social sets to organize clients with granular team permissions.
Teams Focused on Publishing
You need dedicated scheduling tools, not media monitoring. Content recycling with AI variations, first comment automation, thread building, and TikTok Photo Mode are purpose-built features Cision’s social module can’t match.
Who Should Choose Cision
Enterprise PR Teams
You need comprehensive media monitoring, journalist outreach, and press release distribution. Cision’s all-in-one PR suite—CisionOne, PR Newswire, Brandwatch—provides capabilities no social media scheduler can match.
Corporate Communications Departments
You’re managing reputation across earned, owned, and paid media at enterprise scale. Cision’s media monitoring across 190+ countries, sentiment analysis, and competitive benchmarking support strategic communications needs.
Investor Relations Teams
You need IR website hosting, webcasting, EDGAR filing integration, and analyst targeting. Cision’s investor relations tools serve this specialized function.
Global Brands Requiring Compliance
You need SOC 2 Type II certification, multi-country coverage, and enterprise security for regulated industries. Cision’s compliance credentials justify the premium for organizations with formal audit requirements.
FAQ
How do Viraly and Cision pricing compare?
Viraly starts at $0 (free plan) or $19/month for the Influencer plan with 5 profiles and 200 posts. Cision starts at approximately $7,200/year (~$600/month) with custom enterprise pricing typically ranging from $12,000-$30,000+ annually. Viraly costs 95-99% less for social media scheduling.
Which is better for small businesses: Viraly or Cision?
Viraly is the clear choice for small businesses. Cision’s minimum $7,200/year pricing and enterprise focus make it impractical for SMBs. Viraly’s Business plan at $49/month provides 15 profiles, 500 posts, and 5 team members—everything a small team needs without PR overhead.
What’s the difference between a PR platform and a social media scheduler?
A PR platform like Cision focuses on media monitoring, journalist relationships, and press release distribution—managing communications with news outlets and tracking media coverage. A social media scheduler like Viraly focuses on creating, scheduling, and publishing content to social media platforms. They serve different purposes and audiences.
Which tool has better social media scheduling features?
Viraly has significantly better social media scheduling features. It supports 10 platforms (vs Cision’s 5 for publishing), offers content recycling with AI variations, first comment automation, TikTok Photo Mode, LinkedIn document posts, and thread building. Cision’s social publishing is a secondary feature, not its core focus.
How do Viraly and Cision support teams differently?
Viraly offers flat-rate team pricing: 5 members on Business ($49/mo), 15 on Agency ($99/mo), with $2/member add-ons. Cision uses seat-based enterprise pricing where each user adds to the contract cost. Viraly includes unlimited social sets for organizing brands/clients; Cision provides journalist CRM and task management for PR workflows.
Can Cision replace a dedicated social media scheduler?
Cision’s CisionOne includes social publishing and listening capabilities, but it’s not designed as a dedicated scheduler. It lacks content recycling, first comment automation, TikTok support, Link in Bio, and comprehensive scheduling features. Teams focused on social media publishing would be better served by a dedicated tool like Viraly, potentially alongside Cision for PR needs.
How does CisionOne compare to alternatives like Meltwater?
CisionOne and Meltwater are both enterprise PR platforms with overlapping features. G2 scores show Meltwater ahead in sentiment analysis (7.1 vs 4.7) and social reporting (8.0 vs 6.5). Cision’s strength is its larger journalist database and PR Newswire distribution. Both are enterprise-priced and serve similar markets—neither is comparable to dedicated social schedulers like Viraly.
How much does Cision cost?
Cision doesn’t publish pricing. Based on user reports, entry-level packages cost $7,200-$10,000/year, average deployments run $12,000-$15,000/year, and full suites with multiple seats cost $21,000-$30,000+/year. All contracts are annual with auto-renewal requiring 3+ months cancellation notice.
Is there a Cision free plan or trial?
No. Cision offers demos upon request but no self-service free trial or free plan. This contrasts with Viraly’s free plan (3 profiles, 10 posts/month) that lets you test the platform indefinitely before upgrading.
What are the best Cision alternatives for social media scheduling?
For social media scheduling specifically, consider: Viraly (10 platforms, $19-99/mo, content recycling), Buffer (clean interface, per-channel pricing), Hootsuite (enterprise social management), or Sprout Social (unified inbox focus). These dedicated schedulers offer more social publishing features at lower prices than Cision’s social module.
Can I cancel a Cision contract?
Cision requires 3+ months written notice before your contract end date to cancel. Contracts auto-renew annually if you miss this window. User reviews frequently cite contract and cancellation difficulties as pain points. Viraly offers monthly billing with cancel-anytime flexibility—no long-term commitment required.
Is Cision worth it for small teams?
Generally no. Cision is built for enterprise PR teams at Fortune 500 companies. Small teams don’t need media monitoring across 190 countries or a 500,000-profile journalist database. The minimum $7,200/year cost makes no sense when Viraly’s $228/year Influencer plan (annual) covers all social scheduling needs.
Can I recycle evergreen content with either tool?
Only Viraly offers content recycling. You can set posts to automatically republish on intervals from 7-365 days with AI-generated caption variations (3-10 per post) to keep content fresh. Cision doesn’t offer content recycling—it’s focused on PR communications, not ongoing social content automation.
Which tool is better for Instagram and TikTok scheduling?
Viraly is significantly better. It supports Instagram posts, Reels, Stories, and carousels with features like collaborator tagging, location tagging, and first comment automation. For TikTok, Viraly offers both video scheduling and Photo Mode (up to 35 images). Cision has limited Instagram publishing and no TikTok support.
Do I need media monitoring if I just want to schedule posts?
No. Media monitoring tracks brand mentions across news, TV, radio, and podcasts—it’s a PR function, not a social scheduling feature. If your goal is scheduling and publishing social content, you need a dedicated scheduler like Viraly, not a PR platform like Cision. Only add media monitoring if you’re managing brand reputation at enterprise scale.
Which tool supports more social media platforms?
Viraly supports 10 platforms for publishing: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, X (Twitter), Bluesky, and Mastodon. Cision supports 5 platforms for publishing (Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube) plus social listening on additional platforms like Reddit and Bluesky. For actual post scheduling, Viraly covers more networks.
Final Verdict
Viraly and Cision serve fundamentally different purposes. Cision is an enterprise PR platform for media monitoring, journalist outreach, and press release distribution. Viraly is a dedicated social media scheduler for content creation and publishing.
| Use Case | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Social media scheduling (any scale) | Viraly — purpose-built for scheduling at 95-99% less cost |
| Content creators & influencers | Viraly — 10 platforms, content recycling, Link in Bio |
| Small business marketing | Viraly — $49/mo vs $7,200+/year minimum |
| Agencies managing client accounts | Viraly — flat-rate pricing, social sets, unlimited posts |
| Enterprise PR & media monitoring | Cision — 190+ countries, journalist database, PR Newswire |
| Corporate communications | Cision — media intelligence, sentiment analysis, competitive benchmarking |
| Investor relations | Cision — IR tools, webcasting, EDGAR filing |
| Social scheduling + PR (large enterprise) | Both — Cision for PR, Viraly or similar for social scheduling |
Bottom line: For teams seeking affordable, feature-rich social media scheduling, Viraly delivers more value at a fraction of Cision’s cost. Cision’s strength is enterprise PR communications—if you need media monitoring across 190 countries and a journalist database with 500,000+ profiles, that’s where Cision excels. Most teams will find Viraly meets their social scheduling needs without the enterprise complexity and pricing of Cision’s PR suite.