Brand Monitoring & Social Listening in 2026
Mention alerts and listening platforms across news, social, forums, and review sites.
Listening platforms are built for marketers counting share of voice. Reputation defense needs the opposite: a low-volume, high-consequence alert on the one post that becomes a crisis, including the closed forums general listening tools never index.
| Vendor | What it is | Pricing | Biggest limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agorapulse | Social media management platform whose Advanced Listening add-on tracks brand and competitor mentions across social, news, and forums. | $79/mo billed annually ($99/mo billed monthly) | Real social listening (Advanced Listening) is a separate paid add-on with no published price, requires booking a demo |
| Awario | Self-serve social listening tool crawling over 13 billion web pages daily, with published pricing starting at $29 per month. | $49/mo ($29/mo billed annually) | Only 1 team member included on the Starter tier, collaboration requires upgrading to Pro or higher |
| Brand24 | AI-powered social listening tool tracking brand mentions across social media, news, blogs, and reviews in real time. | $249/mo ($199/mo billed annually) | Lowest Individual tier caps at only 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions per month |
| BrandMentions | Real-time brand monitoring tool tracking mentions across social media, news, blogs, and review sites, with fully published tiered pricing. | $79/mo billed annually ($99/mo billed quarterly) | Entry Starter tier limited to 1 user and only daily update frequency, not real-time |
| Brandwatch | Consumer and social intelligence platform for researchers and social teams, owned by Cision and sold on custom-quoted plans. | Quote only | No pricing figures published anywhere, every tier requires a sales conversation |
| Determ | Croatian media and social monitoring platform with published euro pricing from 99 euro per month and unlimited users on every tier. | EUR 99/mo (EUR 990/yr) | Entry Focus tier caps at just 1 topic and 1,000 monthly mentions, a low ceiling beyond single-brand tracking |
| Google Alerts | Free Google tool that emails you when new web content matching a chosen search term appears in Google Search. | $0 | No social media, forum, or review-site coverage beyond what Google indexes and surfaces |
| Hootsuite Listening | Hootsuite's social listening and insights module, powered by rebranded Talkwalker (Lumen), bundled as an Enterprise-tier platform feature. | Quote only | The listening feature itself is Enterprise-only, no published price, requires a sales demo |
| Meltwater | Enterprise media intelligence platform bundling PR, social monitoring, and AI visibility tracking on sales-quoted plans. | Quote only | Zero published pricing anywhere on the site, every tier is Contact Sales only |
| Mention | Media and social listening tool now sold as a single quote-only Company plan under Agorapulse ownership. | Quote only | No public pricing at all, every plan requires a sales demo to get a quote |
| Mentionlytics | AI-powered brand monitoring platform tracking mentions across social media, news, blogs, and forums with tiered mention volume plans. | $49/mo billed annually | Entry Basic tier caps at only 3 keyword rules and 5,000 mentions/month, thin for active brands |
| Muck Rack Social Listening | Enterprise PR and media intelligence platform whose Social Listening module absorbed Keyhole after Muck Rack acquired it. | Quote only | Keyhole no longer exists as an independently purchasable, lower-cost product |
| Onclusive Social | Enterprise social listening and competitive intelligence platform, formerly standalone tool Digimind, now rebranded under Onclusive. | Quote only | No published pricing anywhere on the site, demo and sales process required |
| Prowly | PR and media monitoring platform, now operated as the Semrush AI PR Toolkit following Prowly's acquisition by Semrush. | $149/mo billed annually | Prowly brand identity is being phased out in favor of Semrush AI PR Toolkit, creating naming confusion for existing customers |
| Social Searcher | Free social media search engine for finding public mentions, hashtags, and profiles across major networks without registration. | $0 | No historical archive, scheduled alerts, or sentiment scoring beyond basic search |
| Sprout Social | Publicly traded social media management suite with brand keyword monitoring built in and a deeper Listening add-on. | $79/seat/mo billed annually ($99/seat/mo monthly) | Per-seat pricing multiplies quickly for teams larger than a couple of people, unlike flat-fee monitoring tools |
| Talkwalker | Consumer intelligence and social listening platform, rebranded Lumen by Talkwalker, sold only through custom-quoted plans. | Quote only | No published pricing on any tier, all three plans (Core/Analyze/Business) require a custom quote |
| YouScan | AI social listening platform known for image recognition (Visual Insights), sold only through a custom demo-based quote. | Quote only | No pricing published anywhere on the site, both plan tiers require a sales demo to get a quote |
10 of 18 publish a rate card. Prices read off each vendor's own page, dated on the individual review. Methodology.
Agorapulse
PricedSocial media management platform whose Advanced Listening add-on tracks brand and competitor mentions across social, news, and forums.
Read reviewAwario
PricedSelf-serve social listening tool crawling over 13 billion web pages daily, with published pricing starting at $29 per month.
Read reviewBrand24
PricedAI-powered social listening tool tracking brand mentions across social media, news, blogs, and reviews in real time.
Read reviewBrandMentions
PricedReal-time brand monitoring tool tracking mentions across social media, news, blogs, and review sites, with fully published tiered pricing.
Read reviewBrandwatch
QuoteConsumer and social intelligence platform for researchers and social teams, owned by Cision and sold on custom-quoted plans.
Read reviewDeterm
PricedCroatian media and social monitoring platform with published euro pricing from 99 euro per month and unlimited users on every tier.
Read reviewGoogle Alerts
PricedFree Google tool that emails you when new web content matching a chosen search term appears in Google Search.
Read reviewHootsuite Listening
QuoteHootsuite's social listening and insights module, powered by rebranded Talkwalker (Lumen), bundled as an Enterprise-tier platform feature.
Read reviewMeltwater
QuoteEnterprise media intelligence platform bundling PR, social monitoring, and AI visibility tracking on sales-quoted plans.
Read reviewMention
QuoteMedia and social listening tool now sold as a single quote-only Company plan under Agorapulse ownership.
Read reviewMentionlytics
PricedAI-powered brand monitoring platform tracking mentions across social media, news, blogs, and forums with tiered mention volume plans.
Read reviewMuck Rack Social Listening
QuoteEnterprise PR and media intelligence platform whose Social Listening module absorbed Keyhole after Muck Rack acquired it.
Read reviewOnclusive Social
QuoteEnterprise social listening and competitive intelligence platform, formerly standalone tool Digimind, now rebranded under Onclusive.
Read reviewProwly
PricedPR and media monitoring platform, now operated as the Semrush AI PR Toolkit following Prowly's acquisition by Semrush.
Read reviewSocial Searcher
PricedFree social media search engine for finding public mentions, hashtags, and profiles across major networks without registration.
Read reviewSprout Social
PricedPublicly traded social media management suite with brand keyword monitoring built in and a deeper Listening add-on.
Read reviewTalkwalker
QuoteConsumer intelligence and social listening platform, rebranded Lumen by Talkwalker, sold only through custom-quoted plans.
Read reviewYouScan
QuoteAI social listening platform known for image recognition (Visual Insights), sold only through a custom demo-based quote.
Read reviewSentinel Grid Monitoring
DefendMyRep runs sentinel grid monitoring as one protocol inside a measured engagement rather than a standalone subscription, because monitoring on its own solves a third of a reputation surface.
The standing engagement opens with a private call.
A single conversation, signed under non-disclosure, with the principal who would own your matter. You leave with a printed posture assessment and the engagement letter, whether or not you retain us.