Free Social Listening Tools

Free social listening tools, with their real limits

13 tools, each with one honest free label. Answer two questions to find yours.

  • Checked
  • Every row dated and sourced
  • No affiliate links

The 13 tools sorted on this page

  • Google Alerts
  • Talkwalker Alerts
  • F5Bot
  • Social Searcher
  • Visualping
  • changedetection.io
  • Distill.io
  • MentionPilot
  • Brand24
  • Awario
  • Mention
  • Syften
  • Hootsuite

Free social listening tools, most free first

Free social listening tools that stay free are mostly single-purpose: Google Alerts and Talkwalker Alerts for web and news, F5Bot for Reddit, Social Searcher for one-off searches and Visualping for web pages. Most “free” listening platforms are trials. Use the filter to see each tool's free terms and the date we checked them.

Every tool listed here gets the same fields and the same published scoring formula. No affiliate links. About this site

Show
  1. Talkwalker AlertsFree alerts including X and forumsFree foreverEmail, RSS or Slack delivery onlyChecked · source (opens Talkwalker Alerts's site)
  2. changedetection.ioSelf-hosted open-source page change monitoringFree foreverFree: Unlimited if self-hostedChecked · source (opens changedetection.io's site)
  3. VisualpingTracking changes on specific web pagesFree foreverFree: 150 checks/month, 5 pagesChecked · source (opens Visualping's site)
  4. F5BotReddit and Hacker News keyword alertsFree foreverReddit, Hacker News and Lobsters onlyChecked · source (opens F5Bot's site)
  5. Social SearcherOne-off searches of social postsSources not publishedFree foreverFree: Unlimited searchesChecked · source (opens Social Searcher's site)
  6. MentionPilotSmall teams tracking brand and competitor mentionsOne-time allowanceFree: 100 mentions in total (they don't reset)Checked · source (opens MentionPilot's site)
  7. AwarioLow-cost high-volume mention trackingTrial onlyTrial sign-up: Email, no card (trial)Checked · source (opens Awario's site)
  8. SyftenFast Reddit and community keyword alertsTrial onlyTrial sign-up: Email, no cardChecked · source (opens Syften's site)
  9. Brand24Self-serve social and web mention trackingTrial onlyTrial sign-up: Email, no card (trial)Checked · source (opens Brand24's site)
  10. MentionAgorapulse users needing media monitoringTrial onlyTrial sign-up: Free trial or demoChecked · source (opens Mention's site)
  11. HootsuiteScheduling and managing many social accountsTrial onlyTrial terms not publishedChecked · source (opens Hootsuite's site)

Stars: our score from the vendor's own pages, the same formula for every tool. How we score

How we label free listening tools

Many lists file a 14-day trial and a free-forever plan under one “free” heading. Here every tool gets exactly one label.

  • Free forever

    An ongoing plan with no end date, usually with a cap.

  • Free with an account

    No charge if you already have the parent account, such as Google.

  • One-time allowance

    A free quota that never renews. Use it up, then upgrade or stop.

  • Free trial

    Paid features for a set number of days. Then you pay or lose access.

Best free social listening tool for each job

No single free tool covers everything. Pick by the question you want answered.

  • Is anyone talking about us on Reddit?

    F5Bot emails new posts and comments with your keyword. Our free Reddit alerts guide compares it with three other ways.

  • What's published about us on the web?

    Run Google Alerts and Talkwalker Alerts on the same keyword. They use different indexes, so each catches pages the other misses.

  • I want several sources in one place

    Social Searcher runs free searches but sends no alerts. MentionPilot's free plan puts one keyword's Google, Reddit, YouTube and Bluesky results in one feed.

  • Tell me when a page changes

    This is page monitoring, not mentions. Visualping and Distill watch a few pages for free; changedetection.io is free if you host it.

Where free social listening tools stop

Free plans work for one brand name. Hit two of these limits every week and a paid tool will likely save you time.

  • Volume

    Free plans cap keywords, searches or results. A brand, two products and a founder fill them fast.

  • History

    Free alerts start from today. Last month's thread will not show up.

  • Comments

    Much of the talk sits in replies. Check that a tool sees comments before you rely on it.

  • Team access

    Free plans are single-user. Forwarded alert emails turn into duplicate threads.

Want a routine instead of a dashboard? The free social listening workflow combines these tools in 30 minutes a week. To see which paid tools cover which source, our sister site maps brand monitoring by source.

Why some “free” tools are missing

  • TweetDeck (now X Pro)

    Paid since 2023. Dates and sources are on our ended free plans page.

  • AnswerThePublic

    Keyword research for content ideas. It does not tell you when someone mentions you.

  • Meta Business Suite

    Shows comments on your own accounts only, not mentions elsewhere.

  • Boardreader

    At our check on 11 Nov 2026 its site listed no plans and no alerts, so we could not label it.

How we rate free listening tools

Seven checks, equal weight, from each vendor's own pages. Nobody pays to be listed, and every tool gets the same formula. New to the topic? Start with what social listening is.

Ties: more sources first, then faster checks, then lower entry price, then A–Z.

How we check

  • Source coverage

    How many of 21 sources it watches: the web, news, forums, reviews, podcasts and each social and video network.

    None12 or more

  • Check frequency

    How often the entry plan checks for new mentions.

    Not publishedEvery 15 min

  • Live monitoring

    Whether it monitors in real time, not only on a schedule.

    Schedule onlyReal time

  • Value

    Mentions you get for each dollar of the entry plan.

    Quote only200+ per $

  • Free access

    What you can use before paying anything.

    Nothing freeFree forever

  • Clear pricing

    Whether you can see the price before talking to sales.

    Quote onlyPrice published

  • Analysis features

    Whether it sorts mentions for you: AI labels, your own categories, competitor tracking.

    NoneAll three

FAQ

Is Google Alerts still free?

Yes. Google sells no paid version. Create an alert at google.com/alerts, choose how often and which sources, and results arrive by email.

Does Brand24 have a free plan?

Not at our last check. Brand24 offers a time-limited trial, not an ongoing free plan. Filter the list above by "Trial only" to see its terms and check date.

Do free tools cover Reddit comments?

Some do. F5Bot says it watches posts and comments in every subreddit. MentionPilot does not collect Reddit comments, and Google Alerts only sends Reddit pages Google has indexed.

What's the difference between a free plan and a free trial?

A free plan has no end date but limits what you can do. A trial gives you more for a set number of days, then asks you to pay. A one-time allowance ends when its quota is used.

Can I do social listening entirely for free?

For one brand and a few keywords, yes: combine two or three free tools and check them on a schedule. It gets hard with many keywords, a team, or a need for history.