Free Reddit alerts: four ways to track a keyword
F5Bot, a Google Alert, a saved search or MentionPilot's free plan. Which one sees comments, and what each misses.
- Checked
- Checked on each tool's own pages
- No timed tests claimed
Free Reddit alerts are easiest with F5Bot, which emails you when a keyword appears in a new Reddit post or comment. Three other free routes work too: a Google Alert limited to reddit.com, a saved Reddit search sorted by New, and MentionPilot's free plan. Reddit search RSS feeds stop working on 13 November 2026.
Free Reddit alert methods compared
| Method | Posts | Comments | Results arrive | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5Bot | Yes | Yes | Email: instant, batched or daily | Email only on the free plan |
Google Alert + site:reddit.com | Indexed pages only | Inside indexed threads | Favours popular threads | |
| Saved Reddit search, sorted by New | Yes | No | You open the bookmark | Nothing arrives unless you look |
| MentionPilot free plan | Yes | No | Feed and email alerts | One-time allowance |
| Tool | Free option | Free allowance | Check frequency | Sign-up | Limits | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5Bot | Free foreverPage: '$0 ... free forever' | Not publishedFree plan exists; its keyword count is not stated | Checked every few minutesDelivery: instant, batched or daily digest | Email, no card | Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters only | Checked source |
 MentionPilot | One-time free allowanceFree plan: 100 mentions in total; they don't reset | 100 mentions in total (they don't reset) | Up to every hourKeywords with few new mentions are checked less often | Email or Google, no card | Free: 1 keyword, 1 user, 60-day history | Checked source |
How to set up each free Reddit alert
1. F5Bot: posts and comments by email
- Sign up at f5bot.com with an email address. No card.
- Add one keyword per line: brand, products, misspellings.
- Start with the daily digest; switch to instant once a keyword stays quiet.
F5Bot matches inside longer words ("cat" matches "category"), so test a keyword for a day. Subreddit and exclude filters are paid flags.
2. Google Alert limited to reddit.com
- Open google.com/alerts and type
"your brand" site:reddit.com. - Under Show options, pick "At most once a day" and "All results".
- Check the preview, then click Create Alert.
3. Saved Reddit search
Search your keyword in quotes, sort by New and bookmark the page. Open it twice a week. It sees posts, not comments.
4. MentionPilot's free plan
MentionPilot's free plan watches 1 keyword across Google results, Reddit, YouTube and Bluesky (X on Pro and up), without Reddit comments: 100 mentions in total (they don't reset). For a team monitoring Reddit for months, see MentionPilot's guide to monitoring Reddit for brand mentions.
Reddit RSS feeds stop on 13 November 2026
Most older guides lead with a Reddit search RSS feed. That method is ending.
Shutdown announced
Reddit tells moderators it will drop RSS support, citing large-scale scraping.
RSS feeds stop
Search feeds stop working. Reddit says there is no replacement for feeds outside your own community.
Public API closes
Remaining public API access is reported to close as apps move to Reddit's Developer Platform.
Tips
A keyword that floods your inbox gets ignored. Start narrow, then widen.
Tip 1
Quote multi-word names
Use “blue harbor”, not blue harbor. Track the misspellings customers really type.
Tip 2
Add a buying-intent phrase
Phrases like “alternative to” plus a competitor find people asking for what you sell.
Tip 3
Exclude the wrong meanings
If your name is a common word, list the phrases that are never about you and filter them out.
More free tools for web, news and page changes are on our free social listening tools list. To fit Reddit into a weekly habit, see the free listening workflow.
FAQ
Is F5Bot really free?
Yes. F5Bot lists a free-forever plan with email keyword alerts and basic filters. Paid plans add keyword allowances, advanced filters, Slack or Discord delivery and RSS or JSON feeds.
Can I get Reddit alerts in Slack for free?
Not with F5Bot's free plan: Slack delivery is on its paid Gold plan. Google Alerts and a saved search don't post to Slack either. MentionPilot's pricing page shows which of its plans include Slack alerts.
Does Reddit have built-in keyword alerts?
Not for ordinary accounts. Reddit Pro added keyword tracking called Trends in January 2025 (reported by PPC Land), but we could not confirm on Reddit's own pages whether it sends alerts.
How do I monitor one subreddit only?
Open the subreddit, search inside it, sort by New and bookmark the page. In F5Bot, subreddit filters are a paid flag; on the free plan, scan the subreddit name in each email.