What are the best social listening tools in 2026?
A good listening tool tells you when people talk about you, before it turns into a problem.
Social listening means tracking what people say about your brand, your competitors and your market outside your own accounts: on social networks, and also in online news, blogs, forums and review sites. A publishing tool that only reads comments on your own posts doesn't do this job.
The short answer. Mentionlytics is the best pick for most small and mid-size teams: from $49 a month billed annually, a long source list that includes Reddit, Bluesky and Threads, and a 14-day trial with no credit card. Awario is the cheapest at volume: $29 a month billed annually for 30,000 mentions. Brand24 covers the most sources (podcasts, newsletters, Twitch), but 3 keywords for $199 a month is tight. YouScan is for brands that need image recognition, and Hootsuite for teams already publishing with it.
The market moved a lot since 2024. Hootsuite bought Talkwalker, Mention is no longer sold on its own and now lives inside Agorapulse, and Digimind became Onclusive Social. Most "best of" lists still haven't caught up.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best social listening tool for your situation
From $49/mo, Reddit, Bluesky and Threads included
Cheapest at volume30,000 mentions for $29/mo billed annually
Widest source listPodcasts, newsletters, Twitch and reviews
Best for image recognitionVisual Insights add-on, from $499/mo
If you already publish with itBasic listening included from $99
Free, not rankedNews, blogs, forums and X in 22 languages
The 5 social listening tools compared
This ranking is for a marketing lead, a comms manager or a social media manager at a small business, a mid-size brand or an agency. Every ranked tool listens beyond your own accounts (social and web) and publishes a readable price. Suites that only sell listening after a sales call (Meltwater, Brandwatch, Sprout Social's add-on) are covered further down, unranked: we don't rank a price we can't see.
| Best for | What sets it apart | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mentionlytics | Best overall | Full 14-day trial, no card | 3.9/5 | $49/mo billed annually | — | Small teams, agencies, first setup | Visit → |
| 2 | Awario | Cheapest at volume | Unlimited keywords per topic | 3.8/5 | $29/mo billed annually | — | Tight budgets, freelancers, SMBs | Visit → |
| 3 | Brand24 | Widest source list | Podcasts, newsletters, Twitch, reviews | 3.5/5 | $199/mo billed annually | — | Brands talked about on many channels | Visit → |
| 4 | YouScan | Best for image recognition | Image analysis add-on | 3.4/5 | $499/mo billed annually | — | Consumer brands, mid-market | Visit → |
| 5 | Hootsuite | If you already publish with it | Listening and publishing in one tool | 3.2/5 | $99/user/mo | — | Social teams already on Hootsuite | Visit → |
Scores on five weighted criteria, detailed in our method. Prices checked in 2026 on each vendor's official pricing page, in US dollars, before tax.
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How we compared and scored
The core criterion for this page: the tool has to listen beyond your own accounts. It searches your keywords (brand, products, competitors) across social networks and the open web, then helps you read the results: sentiment (whether a mention is positive, neutral or negative), spike alerts when volume jumps, and trends. A publishing tool that only reads comments on your pages doesn't make the cut.
Source coverage counts for 25% of the score, and so does pricing. Pricing weighs that much because it's where most comparison posts get vague: we read every plan on the vendor's own pricing page, then converted each entry plan to the same unit, the cost per 1,000 mentions. Analysis and alerts count for 20%. Ease of setup and user feedback (public reviews, contract terms, cancellation) count for 15% each.
Brand24 keeps the score from our full Brand24 review: 3.5 out of 5. We read public user reviews starting with the negative ones. The same complaints keep coming back: annual contracts that renew without warning at the enterprise vendors, mention quotas that run dry before month end, and Instagram, TikTok and Facebook coverage that's thinner than the sales page suggests.
- Source coverageSocial networks, news, blogs, forums, reviews, video, podcasts: what the tool actually reads.25%
- Analysis and alertsSentiment, spike alerts, update frequency, image recognition.20%
- Clear pricing and accessPublic price, cost per 1,000 mentions, free trial, credit card or not.25%
- Ease of setupTime to build a first useful query and read the results.15%
- User feedback and contractPublic reviews, recurring complaints, lock-in, auto-renewal, refunds.15%
No affiliate link changes a score or a rank.
Listening tools change owners and prices every year. Get the updates
Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics meets the core criterion at the lowest entry price in this ranking. It monitors news, blogs, forums and websites, plus X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Bluesky and Threads. Review sites come as an add-on.
Basic costs $49 a month, billed annually: 3 keyword rules, 5,000 mentions a month and 2 users, so about $9.80 per 1,000 mentions. The catch is refresh rate. On Basic, mentions update every 12 hours, every 6 hours on Essential ($169), and continuously only from Advanced ($299). If you need crisis monitoring, Advanced is the real starting point.
The trial runs 14 days with no credit card. We didn't find enough public reviews to call a trend, so use the trial to judge support yourself.
- Reddit, Bluesky and Threads on the Basic plan
- 2 users from $49
- 14-day trial, no card
- ✓Low entry price with real web coverage
- ✓Clear plan ladder from Basic to Enterprise
- ✓Full trial without a card
- ✗12-hour refresh on Basic
- ✗These prices need annual billing
- ✗Review sites cost extra
The first tool to try if you're starting from scratch. Move to Advanced once you need to react within the hour: that's where continuous updates start.
Awario
Awario gives you the most mentions per dollar here. Starter is $29 a month billed annually ($49 month to month) for 3 topics and 30,000 new mentions a month. That's under $1 per 1,000 mentions, about ten times cheaper than Mentionlytics Basic. Keywords inside each topic are unlimited, so your brand, its common misspellings and your product names can all sit in one topic.
Public reviews are mostly positive (4.2 out of 5 across 18 reviews): fast support, easy setup, fair price for a small business. The complaints: charges without notice, a refused refund, and missing platforms, Facebook and Instagram first. One thing to check: the pricing grid lists export on Starter, but the vendor's own FAQ says export is for Pro and Enterprise users.
- 30,000 mentions for $29/mo billed annually
- Unlimited keywords inside each topic
- Trial without a credit card
- ✓Lowest cost per mention
- ✓Easy setup, per user reviews
- ✓10 seats from the Pro plan
- ✗Facebook and Instagram coverage criticized
- ✗Export on Starter is unclear
- ✗Complaints about surprise charges
The best volume for the price, by far. If your brand lives on Instagram or Facebook, check during the trial that those mentions actually show up before paying for a year.
Brand24
Brand24 lists the longest set of sources in this ranking: Facebook, Instagram, X, news, blogs, Reddit, LinkedIn, Medium, Quora, YouTube, TikTok, reviews, Twitch, newsletters and podcasts. If someone mentions you in a podcast episode or a newsletter, this is the tool most likely to catch it.
Price is the brake. Individual costs $199 a month billed annually for 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions, close to $100 per 1,000 mentions. Team ($299) makes more sense: 10,000 mentions and unlimited users. One negative review sums up the risk: the quota burned during setup, before monitoring even started. Our full Brand24 review covers its other limits, and Brand24 pricing breaks down each plan.
- Podcasts, newsletters and Twitch covered
- Unlimited users from the Team plan
- 14-day trial, no card
- ✓Widest coverage in the ranking
- ✓Public pricing from Individual to Enterprise
- ✓Trial without a credit card
- ✗3 keywords and 2,000 mentions at $199
- ✗Noise eats the quota fast
- ✗Hard mention caps on every plan
The right pick if you need to hear everything, audio and video included, and you go with Team or above. On a small budget, Awario or Mentionlytics do more for less.
YouScan
YouScan's Starter plan costs $499 a month billed annually, for 3 topics and up to 15,000 mentions. It covers supported social networks, blogs, forums, reviews and online news. Beyond that, unlimited plans are configured to your needs, by quote.
Its selling point is image analysis (Visual Insights): spotting your brand in a photo even when no one names it in the caption. Heads up: it isn't in Starter; it's included in the Unlimited plan and an add-on elsewhere. And there's no trial, only a demo. At 15,000 mentions for $499, you pay roughly $33 per 1,000 mentions, or $5,988 a year.
- News, forums and reviews in the entry plan
- Image analysis add-on
- Unlimited plans to grow into
- ✓Broad coverage from the entry plan
- ✓Clear entry price
- ✓Room to scale with custom plans
- ✗Image analysis not in Starter
- ✗No free trial
- ✗Annual commitment at $499/mo
Worth it if images matter for your brand and you get Visual Insights written into the quote. Otherwise you're paying a premium for listening that Brand24 or Mentionlytics also do.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite bought Talkwalker in 2024, and its listening engine now goes by Lumen by Talkwalker. But the full engine is Enterprise only, by quote. Self-serve plans get basic listening.
In practice: Standard ($99 per user per month, billed annually) includes basic social listening. Professional ($199) lets you search up to 30 days of conversations with Quick Search. Thirteen months of history and advanced listening come with Enterprise. For a team of three, Professional is $597 a month. If you're moving off Hootsuite, our switch from Hootsuite page lists the alternatives.
- Publishing and listening in one tool
- 30-day Quick Search on Professional
- Talkwalker engine on Enterprise
- ✓No extra tool if your team already uses it
- ✓14-day trial
- ✓Public pricing on the base plans
- ✗Advanced listening by quote only
- ✗Per-user pricing adds up fast
- ✗13-month history only on Enterprise
A fair entry point if Hootsuite is already your publishing tool. For real brand monitoring, a dedicated tool from this ranking costs less than one more seat.
What a social listening tool really costs per year
Pricing pages don't compare cleanly: one counts keywords, another topics, a third seats. Here are the entry plans converted to the same unit, at official prices before tax.
Cost per 1,000 mentions
Awario: under $1 ($29 for 30,000). Mentionlytics: $9.80 ($49 for 5,000). Brand24: about $30 on Team ($299 for 10,000), close to $100 on Individual. YouScan: about $33 ($499 for 15,000). Same unit, a 1-to-100 spread.
Annual budget
Awario Starter: $348. Mentionlytics Basic: $588. Hootsuite Standard: $1,188 per user. Brand24 Individual: $2,388. YouScan Starter: $5,988. Meltwater and Brandwatch show no price at all: you find out after the demo.
The listening add-on tax
At Sprout Social, Listening is an add-on from the Standard plan up, with no listed price. At Agorapulse, listening (formerly Mention) is an add-on to Advanced or custom plans, through sales. At Hootsuite, full listening is Enterprise. The suite's sticker price is never the price of listening.
- Does the quota count keywords, topics or queries?
- How many mentions per month, and what happens when you hit the cap?
- How often do new mentions come in?
- Are Instagram, TikTok and Facebook really covered on your plan?
- Is the contract annual, and when is the cancellation deadline?
- Are image recognition or review sites a paid add-on?
Other options worth knowing
These names show up in every search. They're not ranked because their listening is sold by quote or as an add-on with no public price, or because they only cover part of the job. Here's when they're worth a look.
Meltwater: listening, media monitoring and AI visibility
By quoteMeltwater bundles social listening, media monitoring and, new this year, AI Visibility Tracking (how your brand shows up in AI answers), starting with its Starter plan. Pricing is tailored, there's no self-serve trial, and the minimum contract is 12 months. It's the right pick for a large PR team that wants media, social and AI in one contract. Public reviews (1.7 out of 5 across 17 reviews) mostly flag auto-renewal: the contract renews unless you cancel within three months of the end date. Planning an exit? See switch from Meltwater.
- Price
- By quote, 12-month minimum
- Best for
- Enterprise, PR teams
Brandwatch: the enterprise standard, no price, no trial
By quoteBrandwatch sells plans "from standard to enterprise" only after a demo: no price, no trial. Public reviews are rough (1.9 out of 5 across 22 reviews): pushy sales follow-up, disputed renewals, hard-to-reach support, and one customer citing 12k a year with missing features. It's the right pick for a large enterprise with the budget for a demo and a negotiated contract. Negotiate the exit clause before you sign.
- Price
- Demo only
- Best for
- Large enterprises
Sprout Social: Listening as an unpriced add-on
Add-onSprout Social starts at $79 per seat per month billed annually ($99 monthly) on Essentials, then $199, $299 and $399. Listening is an add-on from the Standard plan up, and its price isn't listed: you need a demo. The trial lasts 30 days. A figure gets passed around in comparison posts, but it doesn't come from Sprout: ask for a written quote. Weighing an exit? See switch from Sprout Social.
- Price
- From $79/seat, Listening extra
- Trial
- 30 days
Agorapulse Listening: what happened to Mention
AcquiredSince mid-2026, Mention is no longer sold as a standalone product. Bought by Agorapulse, it became Agorapulse Listening, an add-on to Advanced or Tailored plans, sold through the sales team. Legacy Mention plans can't be bought anymore. Agorapulse runs $79, $119 or $149 per user per month billed annually, with 30 days free and no card, but Advanced Listening has no listed price. Former Mention customer? See switch from Agorapulse for alternatives.
- Price
- Add-on by quote, Advanced plan
- Status
- Mention no longer sold alone
Talkwalker Alerts, Google Alerts and F5Bot: free stopgaps
FreeTalkwalker Alerts is one of the best free alternatives to Google Alerts: it watches news, blogs, forums, websites and X, in 22 languages. It doesn't cover Instagram or TikTok. F5Bot is a free option for Reddit and Hacker News keyword alerts, handy for B2B and dev tools. They're the right pick for a solo founder or tiny team with no budget yet. Stack these for a first pass, then move to a paid tool once you need to measure.
- Price
- Free
- Limit
- No Instagram or TikTok
Onclusive Social: the former Digimind
RenamedDigimind, the French listening vendor, is now Onclusive Social after its acquisition by Onclusive. No public price. If an older list recommends Digimind, this is where it went: ask Onclusive for a quote and the current feature list before comparing.
- Price
- By quote
- Formerly
- Digimind
What makes brand monitoring fail
These mistakes come up again and again in reviews and forums. None of them show on the pricing page.
Burning your quota during setup
VolumeA query that's too broad ("apple", "review", or your brand if it's a common word) pulls in thousands of mentions that have nothing to do with you. On a 2,000-mention plan, the month can be gone in two days. One user also complained about missed alerts when the brand name is a common word: the noise buries the signal.
- Risk
- Quota gone before month end
Signing an annual deal with no exit date
ContractAt the quote-only vendors, contracts often run 12 months and renew on their own unless you cancel in time, sometimes three months before the end date. One customer also reports a 25% jump when billing switched to US dollars. Put the cancellation deadline in your calendar the day you sign.
- Habit
- Calendar the cancellation deadline
Assuming all of Instagram and TikTok is covered
CoveragePlatforms limit data access. X has restricted its API, Instagram is mostly monitored through hashtags (Meta caps it at 30 unique hashtags per account over 7 days), and TikTok has no open listening API. A "TikTok and Instagram" claim needs checking during the trial, with your own keywords.
- Instagram cap
- 30 hashtags per account per 7 days
Buying a suite for listening sold as an add-on
PriceSprout Social, Hootsuite and Agorapulse show a starting price, but full listening is an add-on or a quote-only plan. If brand monitoring is your main need, compare the total "suite plus add-on" price with a dedicated tool: for the same budget, the dedicated tool usually covers more sources.
- Ask for
- The add-on price, in writing
Get more from your listening tool without paying more
A few settings that change the quality of your monitoring, whatever tool you pick.
Build queries with exclusions before you switch them on
QuotaWrite your query with the words to exclude (namesakes, job posts, your own account) before collection starts. On Awario, put your brand's variants and misspellings in the same topic: keywords are unlimited there, only topics count.
- Win
- Less noise, quota saved
Run three trials side by side on the same keywords
FreeMentionlytics and Brand24 give you 14 days with no card, and Awario a no-card trial too. Start all three the same day with the same keywords and compare what comes in from Reddit, Instagram and the news. By the end of the trials you know which tool actually sees your brand.
- Cost
- $0 for 14 days
Only pay annually after one month on monthly
PriceAnnual billing saves money: $29 instead of $49 at Awario, $199 instead of $249 at Brand24. But one month on monthly tells you if your quota holds. Paying $50 extra once beats locking in a year on a plan that's too small.
- Gap
- Up to 40% cheaper annually
Keep a free alert as a safety net
FreeEven with a paid tool, keep a Talkwalker Alerts or Google Alerts on your brand. It's free, uses no quota, and now and then catches a news story your main query filtered out.
- Cost
- Free
Piping brand alerts into Slack or an n8n workflow? Get our next automation guides
Keep going
These pages pick up where this one stops, on the social media side.
Your questions about social listening
What's the difference between social listening and social monitoring?
Monitoring counts and flags mentions: who talked about you, where, when. Listening goes further: it reads tone, spots rising topics and helps you decide what to do. Every ranked tool does both; free alerts only do monitoring.
What's the best free social listening tool?
There's no complete free one. Talkwalker Alerts and Google Alerts are free but they're alerts, not analysis, and Talkwalker Alerts skips Instagram and TikTok. F5Bot covers Reddit for free. To try a real tool at no cost, Mentionlytics and Brand24 give you 14 days with no card, and Awario offers a no-card trial.
What's the cheapest social listening tool for a small business?
Awario, at $29 a month billed annually for 30,000 mentions, under $1 per 1,000. Mentionlytics starts at $49 billed annually with wider coverage, including Reddit, Bluesky and Threads. Avoid a 12-month quote-only contract until you know your real mention volume.
Does Hootsuite include social listening?
Yes, in two tiers. Plans from $99 include basic listening, and 30-day Quick Search comes with Professional ($199). Full listening, built on Talkwalker which Hootsuite bought in 2024, is Enterprise only, by quote.
Does Sprout Social include social listening?
Not in the base price. Listening is a separate add-on available from the Standard plan ($199 per seat, billed annually) and up, priced through a demo. Get the add-on price in writing before comparing Sprout with a dedicated tool.
Is Mention still available?
Not as a standalone product. Agorapulse bought Mention, which is now Agorapulse Listening, an add-on to Advanced or Tailored Agorapulse plans sold through sales. Legacy Mention plans are no longer for sale.
Which tool can find my logo in images?
YouScan, through its Visual Insights add-on, which spots a brand in a photo even with no text. It's not included in the $499 Starter plan, so ask for it explicitly in the quote.
Can I track how my brand shows up in ChatGPT answers?
Yes, that's the new front in 2026. Meltwater includes AI Visibility Tracking in all its plans, and Brand24 also positions itself on LLM visibility tracking. It complements social listening, it doesn't replace it.