Best Social Listening Software in 2026

Brandwatch is a consumer intelligence platform for large brands and research teams. It draws on a long archive of social posts, so research teams can track trends and audiences over time, not only today. We placed it here because it fits large brands and research teams more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is no. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on contract scope match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Sprout Social is a social management suite with listening for social teams that also publish and reply. It links listening to publishing and replies, so a mention found in listening can be answered in the same workspace. We placed it here because it fits social teams that also publish and reply more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is free trial. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on listening add-on price match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Brand24 is a brand monitoring tool for small and mid-sized brands. It tracks mentions and sentiment in one dashboard, with alerts when volume or sentiment shifts. We placed it here because it fits small and mid-sized brands more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is $199 per month, and the free plan status is free trial. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on monthly mention limits match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Meltwater is a media intelligence platform for pr and media teams. It suits PR teams that need social mentions and news coverage in one place, with contacts for outreach. We placed it here because it fits pr and media teams more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is no. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on contract scope match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Talkwalker is a consumer intelligence platform for global brands and visual listening. It covers many sources and languages, and it can spot logos and images, not only text mentions. We placed it here because it fits global brands and visual listening more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is no. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on contract scope match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Mention is a monitoring tool for mid-market listening teams. It tracks brand, competitor, and industry mentions, with alerts that keep a team on top of spikes. We placed it here because it fits mid-market listening teams more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is free trial. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on plan limits match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Awario is an affordable listening tool for budget conscious solo users and startups. It gives small teams Boolean control over queries at a low price, which suits careful monitoring on a budget. We placed it here because it fits budget conscious solo users and startups more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is $29 per month, and the free plan status is free trial. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on monthly mention limits match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.

Hootsuite is a social management suite for teams that publish and listen in one place. It suits teams that already publish through Hootsuite, because listening, scheduling, and replies share one workflow. We placed it here because it fits teams that publish and listen in one place more directly than a general tool that covers the same area only in passing. It runs on web, iOS, and Android, so most readers can try it on the device they already use.

Starting price is see website, and the free plan status is free trial. If you are testing this category, start with the free option or the lowest paid tier and check whether the limits on plan tier match your real workload. Paid tiers usually add more capacity, team controls, or longer history, so the upgrade decision should follow a week or two of real use, not a feature list alone.