brand24 alternative: Best 12 social listening tools for 2025

While Brand24 offers a solid foundation for social listening, its feature set or pricing might not perfectly align with every organisation's unique goals. Perhaps you need more advanced AI filtering, deeper consumer intelligence capabilities, or a more budget-friendly option for a growing startup. The good news is the market is rich with powerful platforms, each tailored to specific use cases. Finding the right Brand24 alternative means matching a tool’s strengths to your precise business needs, whether that's tracking brand sentiment, generating leads, or performing in-depth competitor analysis.

This guide is designed to simplify your search. We provide a direct comparison of 12 leading social listening tools, moving beyond marketing claims to offer a practical analysis. For each platform, you'll find a concise summary, key feature comparisons, pricing details, and honest pros and cons to help you make an informed decision quickly. To effectively evaluate these tools, it helps to have a foundational knowledge of how they gather data; understanding social media scraping provides valuable context on the underlying technologies. Let's dive into the alternatives that can deliver the specific insights your brand needs to thrive.

Its key differentiator is the use of plain-English AI filters and scoring. Instead of drowning you in irrelevant mentions, ForumScout surfaces only high-impact conversations, providing clear explanations for why a match is relevant. This intelligent sorting allows teams to quickly identify sales leads, address customer service issues, or spot competitor weaknesses.

Key Features & Use Cases

• AI-Powered Filtering & Scoring: Reduces noise by prioritising mentions based on relevance, intent, and context, saving significant manual review time.
• Actionable Analytics: Delivers sentiment analysis, Plutchik emotion breakdowns, share-of-voice tracking, and a competitive weakness finder to inform marketing strategy and product development.
• Lead Generation & Engagement: Uncovers buying signals and direct customer queries, allowing sales and community teams to engage high-intent prospects directly from the platform.
• Affordable & Transparent Pricing: With plans starting at just £15/month and a no-card-required 7-day free trial, it’s exceptionally accessible for budget-conscious teams.

Best for: Startups, SMBs, and marketing agencies seeking a cost-effective yet powerful social listening tool to generate leads and perform competitive analysis.

Pros:

• Highly affordable pricing structure designed for smaller businesses.
• Intelligent AI filtering significantly reduces noise and surfaces actionable mentions.
• Broad source coverage ensures you don’t miss key conversations on forums and social media.
• Rich analytics, including emotion analysis and a competitor weakness finder.

Cons:

• Hourly updates may not be sufficient for real-time crisis management.
• Native integrations are limited; requires Zapier/Make for most CRM connections.
• Mention and retention limits on lower tiers may require upgrades or add-ons for high-volume users.

Website: https://forumscout.app

The standard plans offer basic listening with a limited data history (7-30 days), which is ideal for real-time campaign tracking. For deeper, more extensive social listening akin to dedicated tools, Hootsuite offers an enterprise-level add-on, "Listening powered by Talkwalker". This transforms the platform into a powerful analytics tool, though it requires a conversation with their sales team and a significant budget increase. The per-seat pricing model can also escalate costs as your team grows.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Teams seeking a unified platform for social media management and basic-to-enterprise listening.
• Pros:
  • Unified workflow for publishing, engagement, and monitoring.
  • Scales from basic listening to enterprise-grade via the Talkwalker add-on.
  • Low-friction start with a 30-day free trial on self-serve plans.
• Cons:
  • Advanced listening capabilities are locked behind an expensive enterprise add-on.
  • Per-seat pricing can become costly for larger teams.
• Website: https://www.hootsuite.com/plans

The platform's strength lies in its AI-powered Blue Silk engine, which delivers sophisticated sentiment analysis, trend spotting, and image recognition. Unlike many tools, Talkwalker plans typically include unlimited users, making it suitable for cross-departmental collaboration. However, there is no public list pricing; access is granted through custom enterprise quotes, which places it at a significantly higher price point than Brand24. This makes it an excellent choice for large corporations but likely overkill for smaller teams. For a deeper analysis, you can explore other Talkwalker alternatives that might better suit smaller budgets.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Large enterprises and agencies needing comprehensive global consumer intelligence and advanced AI insights.
• Pros:
  • Extensive global data coverage across social media, web, news, and forums.
  • Powerful AI features for deep sentiment, trend, and image analysis.
  • Enterprise-grade governance and integration capabilities with major martech stacks.
• Cons:
  • No transparent pricing; requires enterprise sales engagement and custom quotes.
  • Complexity and cost make it unsuitable for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Website: https://www.talkwalker.com/pricing

Unlike self-serve tools, Brandwatch is geared towards organisations with dedicated analyst teams. Its powerful features come with a higher total cost of ownership, as pricing is not publicly listed and typically requires a significant investment and professional setup. The platform's strong UK presence and support options make it particularly suitable for larger British and European organisations that prioritise local, high-touch service and robust data governance.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Enterprise-level organisations and large agencies needing in-depth consumer intelligence and UK-based support.
• Pros:
  • Enterprise-grade governance and exceptionally broad data coverage.
  • Powerful, customisable dashboards and reporting features.
  • Strong UK presence and dedicated support options suited to larger organisations.
• Cons:
  • Pricing is not publicly listed and represents a significant investment.
  • Requires considerable onboarding time and often professional setup.
• Website: https://www.brandwatch.com/pricing/

The platform’s strength lies in consolidating diverse media types, which is a significant advantage over social-only tools. For UK-based public sector bodies, Meltwater is often a preferred choice due to its presence on procurement frameworks like G-Cloud, simplifying the purchasing process. However, this enterprise focus means pricing is entirely bespoke and requires a sales consultation, placing it at a higher price point than many competitors. Furthermore, while the core offering is robust, accessing full print and broadcast monitoring typically involves expensive add-ons that can substantially increase the overall investment.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Enterprises and public-sector organisations needing consolidated PR and social media monitoring.
• Pros:
  • Strong integration of PR and social coverage in one platform.
  • Procurement-friendly for UK government and public bodies (G-Cloud presence).
  • Extensive media monitoring capabilities, including print and broadcast add-ons.
• Cons:
  • Pricing is bespoke, quoted via sales, and generally high.
  • Print and broadcast monitoring add-ons can significantly increase costs.
• Website: https://www.meltwater.com/en/pricing

The Listening module allows you to create detailed topics, analyse sentiment, and set up crisis alerts to stay ahead of reputational risks. A key advantage is the ability to create reporting widgets that combine listening data with other social media metrics. However, access to this functionality requires purchasing it as an add-on through an account manager, as it isn't included in the standard self-serve plans. Like other platforms in this category, its per-seat pricing model can become a significant expense for larger teams.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Businesses already invested in the Sprout Social ecosystem seeking to add advanced listening capabilities.
• Pros:
  • Polished UI and strong team collaboration features.
  • Integrates listening into publishing and analytics workflows seamlessly.
  • Powerful reporting that combines multiple data sources.
• Cons:
  • Listening is not included on core self-serve plans and must be purchased separately.
  • Per-seat pricing can add up for larger teams.
• Website: https://sproutsocial.com/features/social-media-listening/

While Mention previously offered several self-serve plans, its focus has shifted towards its mid-market and enterprise "Company" plan. This tier provides advanced listening features, historical data access, and in-depth review monitoring, but requires engagement with their sales team for a custom quote. This positions it as a more comprehensive solution for organised teams rather than a simple, entry-level tool, though it offers a clear path for scaling monitoring efforts.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: SMBs and mid-market companies needing robust reputation management and review monitoring.
• Pros:
  • Extensive source coverage, including more than 75 review sites.
  • Strong team collaboration features and white-label reporting options.
  • Transparent enterprise starting price point is often stated by the vendor.
• Cons:
  • Self-serve plans are no longer the primary focus, pushing buyers towards sales engagement.
  • Advanced features like historical data are locked behind the higher-tier Company plan.
• Website: https://mention.com/en/pricing/

The platform is praised for its quick setup and user-friendly interface, allowing teams to start tracking brand mentions, keywords, and competitors in minutes. Features like Boolean search enable precise query building, while white-label PDF reports are a valuable addition for agencies serving multiple clients. While it may lack the extensive integrations and deep historical data of top-tier tools, Awario provides a robust feature set that delivers significant value, especially for those looking for affordable social listening solutions.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: SMEs and agencies needing a powerful, budget-friendly social listening tool with generous mention limits.
• Pros:
  • Excellent value for money with clear public pricing.
  • Easy and fast to set up, with a user-friendly interface.
  • Offers Boolean search and white-label reporting features.
• Cons:
  • Fewer enterprise-level integrations compared to market leaders.
  • Historical data access is more limited than dedicated enterprise platforms.
• Website: https://awario.com/pricing/

The platform is built for deep consumer intelligence, supported by its AI-powered Insights Copilot which helps summarise trends and anomalies in data. Unlike many competitors that gate user seats, YouScan's plans include unlimited users, exports, and reports, making it a collaborative and scalable solution. While its entry-level pricing is higher than some basic tools, the value is clear for businesses that heavily rely on visual presence and user-generated imagery for marketing insights.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Consumer brands needing to track visual mentions and analyse user-generated images.
• Pros:
  • Best-in-class visual listening with logo, object, and scene recognition.
  • AI-powered Insights Copilot to speed up analysis.
  • Unlimited users and reports included on all plans.
• Cons:
  • Entry-level pricing is higher than many text-focused listening tools.
  • Advanced features are part of higher-tier plans or add-ons.
• Website: https://youscan.io/pricing/

BuzzSumo’s strength lies in its simplicity and integration with its core content features. You can set up alerts for brand mentions, keywords, new backlinks, or mentions by specific journalists directly within the platform. While its social listening depth isn't as comprehensive as dedicated enterprise tools, it provides more than enough data for most content and PR campaigns. The platform offers transparent pricing with a generous 30-day free trial, allowing teams to fully evaluate its capabilities before committing.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: Content marketing and PR teams who need integrated content research and brand monitoring.
• Pros:
  • Combines powerful content discovery with robust brand and keyword alerts.
  • Excellent for tracking journalist mentions and identifying PR opportunities.
  • Transparent pricing plans and a 30-day free trial.
• Cons:
  • Social listening capabilities are less extensive than specialised monitoring tools.
  • Alert limits and integration options are tied to specific pricing tiers.
• Website: https://buzzsumo.com/monitoring/

The tool’s strength lies in its clear, publicly available plans and transparent quotas, which remove the guesswork often associated with enterprise software pricing. Higher-tier plans unlock powerful features like Boolean search for more precise queries, real-time updates for immediate alerts, and access to up to 10 years of historical data. This makes it a scalable solution that can grow with a company's monitoring needs, from basic tracking to in-depth historical analysis.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: SMBs and agencies needing a unified tool for brand, social, and review monitoring with reporting capabilities.
• Pros:
  • Clear public pricing and transparent plan structure.
  • Includes white-labelling and real-time updates on higher tiers.
  • Monitors a wide range of sources, including web, social, and review sites.
• Cons:
  • Mention caps on lower plans may be restrictive for high-volume brands.
  • Fewer third-party integrations compared to more established enterprise suites.
• Website: https://brandmentions.com/pricing.php

The platform is designed to give PR and communications professionals a unified view of their brand's presence across both traditional and social media. The core strength remains its PR tools, with social listening functioning as a valuable, albeit separate, add-on. Access to social listening and other features like broadcast monitoring is available upon request and requires a custom quote, which means it’s geared towards organisations with a dedicated PR budget rather than small businesses looking for a simple monitoring tool.

Key Details & Features:

• Best for: PR and communications teams seeking to integrate earned media monitoring with social listening.
• Pros:
  • Single, unified workflow for PR and social media monitoring.
  • Combines a powerful media database with social listening capabilities.
  • Organisation-wide access once the necessary add-ons are enabled.
• Cons:
  • Social listening is an expensive add-on and priced by quote only.
  • Potential for metric discrepancies between Muck Rack and the integrated Keyhole views.
• Website: https://muckrack.com/pricing

Brand24 Alternatives — Top 12 Comparison

The central challenge is finding a tool that not only collects mentions but also helps you make sense of them without a dedicated analyst. This is where the true value of a modern Brand24 alternative lies: its ability to cut through the noise and deliver signals that directly influence business outcomes. It’s about moving from passive monitoring to active, data-informed engagement.

• For Enterprise-Scale Analytics: If you have a significant budget and require deep consumer intelligence for market research, platforms like Brandwatch or Talkwalker are unmatched in their data scope and analytical power.
• For Integrated Social Media Management: Teams that need listening as part of a broader content scheduling and engagement workflow should look at the add-ons offered by Sprout Social or Hootsuite.
• For PR and Media Monitoring: Professionals focused on journalist relationships and earned media will find specialised tools like Muck Rack or Meltwater better suited to their specific needs.
• For Growth-Focused SMBs: If your primary goal is to leverage conversations for lead generation, competitor analysis, and customer feedback without the enterprise price tag, a more focused tool is essential.

This final category is where our top recommendation, ForumScout, truly shines. It was designed to address the core needs of startups, agencies, and SMBs by prioritising actionable insights over a deluge of raw data. While Brand24 provides a solid foundation for mention tracking, ForumScout excels with its powerful AI filtering, which allows you to find high-intent conversations and sales opportunities in plain English, a significant step up from complex Boolean queries.

Its focus on turning social listening into a revenue-generating activity sets it apart. The platform is built not just for observation but for action, helping you identify potential customers, track competitor sentiment, and gather authentic product feedback efficiently. Migrating is remarkably straightforward: use the free trial to set up your core keywords, then leverage the AI to refine your queries. Connect it to your existing workflows via webhooks with Zapier or Make, and you can start piping high-value mentions directly into your CRM or team chat, delivering immediate, tangible value.

Ready to see how a smarter Brand24 alternative can transform online conversations into tangible growth? ForumScout helps you find and engage with high-intent customers discussing your product, competitors, or problem space. Start your 7-day free trial of ForumScout today and discover the opportunities you've been missing.