7 Best Mention and Brand24 Alternatives in 2026
Priced out of both? The 7 best Mention and Brand24 alternatives in 2026: AyeWatch, Awario, Mentionlytics, Talkwalker Alerts and more, side by side.
By AyeWatch Team9 min read
Mention and Brand24 used to be the two obvious picks for affordable brand monitoring. After Agorapulse acquired Mention in 2025 it stopped selling the cheap self-serve plans, and Brand24's entry plan is $199/mo billed annually for three keywords.
If you shortlisted both and balked at either price, here are seven tools that cover mentions for less, or cover them differently.
Quick comparison: best Mention and Brand24 alternatives
| Product | Best for | Starting price | Key difference | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AyeWatch | Brand, competitor and topic alerts for small teams | Free Preview, then $9/mo | Mentions, topics, pages and social media, from $9 | Read |
| Awario | Affordable social listening for small teams | $29/mo (billed annually) | Boolean listening with reports, from $29 | Read |
| Mentionlytics | Budget listening with AI-visibility tracking | $49/mo (billed annually) | Budget listening plus AI-visibility tracking | Read |
| BrandMentions | Budget mention and competitor tracking | $79/mo (billed annually) | Web and social mentions, competitor research | Read |
| Talkwalker Alerts | A free Google Alerts upgrade with Boolean search | Free | Free mention emails with Boolean search | Read |
| Syften | Founders tracking community mentions affordably | $29.95/mo | Community mentions for founders | Read |
| Meltwater | PR teams wanting monitoring, outreach and reports | Custom pricing (annual contract) | Monitoring, outreach and reporting suite | Read |
Starting prices are the lowest paid plan listed on each vendor's site, checked October 2026.
Best overall alternative
1. AyeWatch
AyeWatch is an AI internet monitor. Describe what you want to hear about in plain English, such as complaints about your product or a competitor's launch, and it alerts you with a short summary when matching posts or coverage appear on the web or on social platforms.
Best for: Brand, competitor and topic alerts for small teams.
- Web and social in one account. Internet monitors cover the web; X, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok monitors cover social.
- Context in the rule. "Posts where customers complain about our billing, not posts that only tag us" instead of keyword lists with exclusions.
- Beyond mentions. Monitor a competitor's pricing page or a regulator's notices next to your brand.
- Alerts, not dashboards. Push, email, Slack, Discord or webhooks, plus a daily digest.
Pricing: Free Preview with no card. Pro is $9/mo with hourly monitoring. Pro+ is $19/mo and unlocks ASAP mode.

Try AyeWatch as your Mention and Brand24 alternative
Describe a topic, paste a URL or monitor social media. Free Preview, no card.
Start free →Why teams choose AyeWatch
- Plain-English rules. Matches are judged by meaning, so you describe the mention you care about instead of tuning keyword exclusions.
- Pricing a small team can expense. Pro is $9/mo for up to 50 monitors. Pro+ is $19/mo for up to 200 monitors with ASAP mode.
- Pages as well as mentions. Webpage monitors cover changes on specific URLs, which neither Mention nor Brand24 offers.
Monitor: "Reddit posts about Acme billing problems"
Rule: "Alert me when customers describe being double-charged or unable to cancel. Ignore our own posts and giveaway threads."
AyeWatch vs Mention and Brand24
| Feature | AyeWatch | Mention and Brand24 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free Preview, then $9/mo | Mention: $599/mo (annual contract) / Brand24: $199/mo (billed annually) |
| Core job | Alerts on mentions, topics, pages and social media | Mention: listening with reports / Brand24: listening with AI insights |
| How matches are found | Semantic AI against your rule | Both: keywords you define |
| Sentiment and share-of-voice reports | No | Both: yes |
| Specific page changes | Yes | Both: no |
| Free option | Free Preview, no card | Mention: free trial / Brand24: 14-day free trial |
When Mention and Brand24 is still the better pick: If you report sentiment, share of voice and reach to clients or leadership, both tools are built for that and AyeWatch is not: it has no analytics dashboards. Of the two, Brand24 is cheaper and publishes its prices; Mention suits teams that want listening only and can sign an annual contract.
Best budget social listening
2. Awario
Awario tracks social platforms, news, blogs and forums with Boolean search, sentiment and reports.
Best for: Affordable social listening for small teams.
Strengths
- Low entry price
- Boolean search with many keywords per topic
- White-label reports and API on all plans
Weaknesses
- Starter is three topics and one user
- Smaller data coverage than enterprise tools
- Keyword matching needs careful tuning
Pricing: $29/mo (billed annually) (Free trial).
Pick it if you need real social listening on a small-team budget.
3. Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics tracks news, blogs, reviews, forums and social platforms with sentiment, share of voice and alerts, plus an add-on that tracks how AI assistants mention your brand.
Best for: Budget listening with AI-visibility tracking.
Strengths
- Low entry price
- AI visibility tracking
- White-label reports on higher plans
Weaknesses
- Basic plan updates every 12 hours
- AI visibility costs extra
- Mention caps on lower plans
Pricing: $49/mo (billed annually) (14-day free trial).
Pick it if you want budget listening with an AI-visibility option.
4. BrandMentions
BrandMentions tracks mentions across the web and social media, with sentiment analysis, email alerts and competitor research.
Best for: Budget mention and competitor tracking.
Strengths
- Low entry price
- Real-time email alerts
- Competitor research tools
Weaknesses
- Starter is five keywords and one user
- No monthly billing on Starter
- Short trial
Pricing: $79/mo (billed annually) (7-day free trial).
Pick it if you want affordable web and social mention tracking for a small team.
Best free option
5. Talkwalker Alerts
Talkwalker Alerts is a free keyword alert service that sends new web mentions by email or RSS, with Boolean operators, source types and language choices.
Best for: A free Google Alerts upgrade with Boolean search.
Strengths
- Completely free
- Boolean search and RSS delivery
- Language and frequency controls
Weaknesses
- Basic alerts, no analytics
- Limited social coverage
- Keyword matching, not meaning
Pricing: Free (Free).
Pick it if you want a free, slightly smarter Google Alerts.
6. Syften
Syften monitors keywords across Reddit, Hacker News, Indie Hackers, GitHub, Product Hunt, Bluesky and Mastodon, with X and YouTube as paid add-ons.
Best for: Founders tracking community mentions affordably.
Strengths
- Low-cost entry plan
- Very fast Reddit alerts
- Slack, API and AI filtering on higher plans
Weaknesses
- No LinkedIn coverage
- Tight daily result limits on the entry plan
- X and YouTube cost extra
Pricing: $29.95/mo (14-day free trial).
Pick it if you look for leads and mentions in developer and startup communities.
Best for enterprise PR
7. Meltwater
Meltwater is a media intelligence suite that combines news and social monitoring, PR outreach and analytics, sold as quoted annual packages.
Best for: PR teams wanting monitoring, outreach and reports.
Strengths
- Wide news and social coverage
- Journalist database and PR workflow
- Plans from small teams to global
Weaknesses
- No published prices and 12-month minimums
- Expensive for small teams
- Add-on modules raise the total
Pricing: Custom pricing (annual contract) (Demo only).
Pick it if you run PR and want monitoring, outreach and reporting in one contract.
FAQ
What is the best Mention and Brand24 alternative?
For alerts on mentions, competitors and topics without a dashboard contract, AyeWatch. For full social listening on a small budget, Awario. For enterprise PR with outreach, Meltwater.
Is there a free Mention and Brand24 alternative?
Talkwalker Alerts is free for web mentions by email or RSS, though it has no analytics and limited social coverage. AyeWatch has a Free Preview with no card. Mention and Brand24 only offer trials.
Is Mention still available?
Yes, but Agorapulse acquired it in 2025, removed its publishing features and stopped selling the cheap self-serve plans. Listening plans are now sold on annual contracts.
Mention or Brand24: which is cheaper?
Brand24, by a wide margin. Its entry plan is $199/mo billed annually, against $599/mo on an annual contract for Mention, both checked October 2026.
Which tool is right for you?
- You want alerts on your brand, competitors and topics for a small team: AyeWatch.
- You need sentiment reports with public pricing: Brand24.
- You want listening-only monitoring on an annual plan: Mention.
- You want real social listening on a small budget: Awario.
- You only need free mention emails: Talkwalker Alerts.
- You run enterprise PR: Meltwater.
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