Brand monitoring tools: 8 picks with prices and limits

Brand monitoring tools compared: the shortlist

The brand monitoring tools worth pricing for a small team are Brand24, Awario, BrandMentions, Mentionlytics, Octolens, Syften, F5Bot and Mention (mention.com). On monthly billing, the plans below run from $29.95 a month for Syften Entry to $249 a month for Brand24 Individual, as read on October 24, 2026. Mention's pricing page prints no dollar figure.

Vendors print prices on different billing bases and count in their own units, so each row names its basis and keeps each unit as printed. Mentionlytics's monthly figure comes from its page data, which is why it reads about $169. X (formerly Twitter) is a named source for Brand24, Octolens and Mention.

Brand24 for teams that want one tool

Brand24 fits a team that wants social networks, news, blogs, Reddit, sentiment and reports in one tool. A keyword is any word or phrase it watches for, such as a brand name, product or domain. A mention is one result that contains a keyword, such as a post, forum thread or news article. The five plans differ in both counts:

• Individual: $249 a month billed monthly, $199 a month billed annually; 3 keywords, 2K mentions a month, 1 user.
• Team: $349 a month billed monthly, $299 a month billed annually; 7 keywords, 10k mentions, unlimited users.
• Pro: $499 a month billed monthly, $399 a month billed annually; 12 keywords, 40K mentions.
• Business: $699 a month billed monthly, $599 a month billed annually; 25 keywords, 100K mentions.
• Enterprise: from $1499 a month, billed annually; custom limits.

Sources differ by plan: LinkedIn, Medium, Quora, YouTube and TikTok start at Team, reviews, Twitch and newsletters at Pro, and podcasts at Business. Daily and weekly email reports come on every plan, and white-label, PDF and PowerPoint reports start at Pro.

The 14-day free trial needs no credit card and runs on Pro features. Annual billing starts with a contact after the trial. The Brand24 review covers the limits, including Facebook Groups, which Brand24 says it does not collect.

Lower-priced dashboards: Awario, BrandMentions and Mentionlytics

Awario Starter is $49 a month billed monthly or $29 a month billed annually. Awario counts topics, each a keyword or group of keywords: Starter allows 3 topics, 30,000 new mentions a month and 1 team member, and its pricing table marks data export as not included on Starter.

BrandMentions Starter allows 5 keywords, 5k mentions a month and 1 user. Its Monthly view reads $99 a month and labels that figure billed quarterly; billed annually, Starter is $79 a month. BrandMentions says it never charges more than the plan price and, at the limit, contacts you about an upgrade.

Mentionlytics Essential allows 10 keyword rules (each a keyword, a phrase or a set of included and excluded keywords), 15k monthly mentions and 10 users, at $141 a month billed yearly. Its Basic plan carries a limited-time offer on the page, so Basic gets no figure here.

Community trackers for founders: Syften, F5Bot and Octolens

Syften monitors the public web and communities such as Reddit, Hacker News, Bluesky and Mastodon. Entry is $29.95 a month for 3 community filters (each a search query) and 100 community results a day, and Syften says it aims for at most a 1-minute delay on Reddit. X and YouTube monitoring are add-ons on Standard and PRO, at +$40.00 and +$20.00 a month.

F5Bot watches Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters, comments included. Its free plan is for personal use, with 5 keywords and alerts up to 2 hours late. Gold, for professionals and small businesses, is $49.99 a month billed monthly or $549 a year, with 200 keywords and instant or scheduled alerts.

Octolens Pro is $199 a month billed monthly or $159 a month billed annually, for 10 keywords and 15,000 mentions; extra mentions cost $0.013 each and extra keywords $10 each, with a spend cap in settings. For Reddit alone, see the Reddit monitoring tool guide.

Mention and Brandwatch: tools sold by demo

Mention and Brandwatch print no price. Mention's pricing page shows one plan, Company, with buttons for a demo and a free trial. Mention says it is no longer sold on its own, and its trial button opens an Agorapulse page. Mention's home page says Agorapulse has acquired Mention.

Brandwatch describes its plans per product, not per price, and its plans page offers a free demo; its price is on request. Neither belongs beside a list price as a like-for-like row.

Best social listening tools: choosing by names, sources and speed

The best social listening tool for a small team is Brand24 when one tool must cover social networks, news, blogs, Reddit and reports, and Syften or F5Bot Gold when the work is Reddit and Hacker News. Count the names first, then the sources, then the speed. A brand, a product, a domain and two competitors already use five keywords, more than Brand24 Individual's 3 and within Team's 7.

Speed differs by plan. Brand24 updates Individual every 12 hours, Team every hour and Pro and above in realtime, which it defines as up to 15 minutes. F5Bot's free plan can be up to 2 hours late; Gold sends instant or scheduled alerts.

Last, count who reads the results: Brand24 sends email reports on every plan and starts white-label reports at Pro. The picks:

• Brand24 for a team that wants social networks, news, blogs, Reddit, sentiment and reports in one tool, from $249 a month billed monthly.
• Syften or F5Bot Gold for founders watching Reddit and Hacker News.
• Awario for a low entry price and a high monthly cap on new mentions: Starter is $49 a month billed monthly, capped at 30,000.
• Mention and Brandwatch for teams that buy through a demo.

One business name needs free alerts first: see free brand monitoring tools and brand monitoring tools for small business. Brand24 can be tried free for 14 days, with no credit card required.