Brand24 Alternatives: Best Brand Monitoring Tools for 2026

Brand24 is a popular social listening tool, but it's not the only option—and for many startups, it's not the best one. Whether you're concerned about pricing, looking for deeper media monitoring capabilities, or need better AI-powered insights, there are compelling alternatives worth considering.

This guide breaks down the best Brand24 alternatives in 2026, comparing features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you find the right brand monitoring solution for your needs.

What Brand24 Does Well (And Where It Falls Short)

Brand24 excels at social media monitoring. It tracks mentions across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social platforms, providing real-time alerts and basic sentiment analysis. For teams focused purely on social listening, it's a solid choice.

Where Brand24 struggles:

• Limited traditional media coverage: Minimal tracking of press mentions, news articles, and editorial coverage
• Weak AI search visibility: No tracking of brand mentions in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or other AI answer engines
• Basic analytics: Sentiment analysis is rudimentary compared to enterprise alternatives
• Pricing jumps: Plans scale quickly from $149/month to $399/month with limited features in between
• Social-only focus: If you care about earned media beyond social, you'll hit limits fast

For startups balancing earned media, social presence, and AI visibility, a more comprehensive solution often delivers better ROI.

Top Brand24 Alternatives

1. AuthorityTech – AI Visibility + Earned Media Monitoring

Best for: Startups optimizing for AI search visibility and performance-based earned media What it does differently:

AuthorityTech isn't just a monitoring tool—it's a performance-based earned media platform that tracks brand mentions across traditional media, social platforms, and AI answer engines. Instead of paying for monitoring alone, you get earned media placements optimized for AI visibility.

Key features:

• AI search monitoring: Track brand citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, SearchGPT, and other answer engines
• Traditional + social media tracking: Comprehensive coverage across news outlets, blogs, podcasts, and social platforms
• Performance-based pricing: Pay for results (media placements + visibility), not just monitoring
• Visibility optimization: All earned media is optimized for AI search (GEO/AEO)
• Audit tool: Free AI visibility audit at app.authoritytech.io/visibility-audit

Pricing: Performance-based model (starts at $1,500/month for placements + monitoring) Ideal for: Founders who want monitoring + earned media execution in one platform, with a focus on AI search visibility.

2. Meltwater – Enterprise Media Intelligence

Best for: Enterprises with large budgets and complex media monitoring needs What it does differently:

Meltwater is a comprehensive media intelligence platform combining social listening, traditional media monitoring, and influencer analytics. It's powerful but expensive, making it a better fit for larger companies than startups.

Key features:

• Broad media coverage (news, blogs, social, broadcast)
• Advanced sentiment analysis and competitive benchmarking
• Influencer identification and outreach tools
• API access for custom integrations

Pricing: Custom (typically $15,000–$50,000+ annually) Ideal for: Enterprises with dedicated PR teams and substantial budgets.

3. Mention – Affordable Social + Web Monitoring

Best for: Bootstrapped startups needing basic brand tracking on a budget What it does differently:

Mention focuses on simplicity and affordability. It monitors social platforms, news sites, blogs, and forums, delivering real-time alerts without overwhelming users with features they won't use.

Key features:

• Real-time alerts across social, web, and news
• Boolean search for precise mention tracking
• Basic sentiment analysis
• Competitor tracking
• Simple, intuitive interface

Pricing: $41/month (Solo), $83/month (Pro), $149/month (ProPlus) Ideal for: Solo founders and small teams who need straightforward monitoring without enterprise complexity.

4. Critical Mention – Broadcast + Digital Monitoring

Best for: Brands that care about TV, radio, and podcast mentions What it does differently:

Critical Mention specializes in broadcast monitoring (TV, radio, podcasts) alongside digital and social tracking. If your brand is getting traditional media coverage and you need to track it comprehensively, this is a strong choice.

Key features:

• TV, radio, and podcast monitoring
• Social media and online news tracking
• Real-time alerts with video/audio clips
• Sentiment analysis and competitive benchmarking
• Reporting dashboards

Pricing: Custom (typically $2,000–$10,000+ annually) Ideal for: Brands with significant broadcast media presence.

5. Brandwatch – Enterprise Social Listening + Consumer Intelligence

Best for: Large brands focused on consumer research and social trends What it does differently:

Brandwatch (now part of Cision) is a social listening powerhouse with deep consumer intelligence capabilities. It goes beyond basic monitoring to analyze audience demographics, trends, and sentiment at scale.

Key features:

• Advanced social listening with AI-powered insights
• Consumer segmentation and trend analysis
• Image and video recognition for visual brand tracking
• Influencer identification
• Custom dashboards and reporting

Pricing: Custom (typically $20,000+ annually) Ideal for: Enterprises prioritizing deep consumer insights and social trend analysis.

6. Sprinklr – Unified Customer Experience Management

Best for: Enterprises managing customer experience across all channels What it does differently:

Sprinklr is more than a monitoring tool—it's a unified customer experience platform covering social listening, care, engagement, and advertising. It's overkill for pure brand monitoring but powerful for companies managing customer relationships at scale. (See also: How to prove pr roi beyond vanity metrics)

Key features:

• Omnichannel listening (social, messaging, reviews, communities)
• AI-powered insights and automation
• Customer care and engagement tools
• Advertising and marketing campaign management

Pricing: Custom (typically $30,000+ annually) Ideal for: Large enterprises unifying customer experience across channels.

7. Awario – Affordable Social Listening for SMBs

Best for: Small businesses needing cost-effective social monitoring What it does differently:

Awario delivers solid social listening capabilities at startup-friendly prices. It tracks social platforms, news sites, blogs, and forums, with lead generation features for identifying sales opportunities.

Key features:

• Social media, news, blog, and forum monitoring
• Boolean search and filtering
• Sentiment analysis
• Lead generation (identify potential customers mentioning competitors)
• Competitor tracking

Pricing: $29/month (Starter), $89/month (Pro), $299/month (Enterprise) Ideal for: Small businesses balancing cost and functionality.

How to Choose the Right Brand24 Alternative

Ask yourself:

1. What channels matter most? (See also: Why traditional pr agencies collapsing) (See also: How to get press coverage for startup)

• Social-only: Awario, Mention
• Traditional + social: Meltwater, Critical Mention, AuthorityTech
• AI search: AuthorityTech (only option with AI visibility tracking)

2. What's your budget?

• Under $100/month: Mention, Awario
• $500–$2,000/month: AuthorityTech, Critical Mention
• $2,000+/month: Meltwater, Brandwatch, Sprinklr

3. Do you need monitoring or execution?

• Monitoring-only: Brand24, Mention, Awario
• Monitoring + earned media: AuthorityTech

4. How important is AI visibility?

• Critical: AuthorityTech (tracks AI citations)
• Not a priority: Any tool listed

5. Enterprise or startup?

• Startup: Mention, Awario, AuthorityTech
• Enterprise: Meltwater, Brandwatch, Sprinklr

The AI Visibility Gap: What Most Tools Miss

Here's what most brand monitoring tools—including Brand24—don't track: AI search visibility.

In 2026, AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and SearchGPT are delivering billions of queries. When users ask "What's the best [X]?" or "How do I [Y]?", these engines cite brands based on their earned media footprint, not traditional SEO.

The problem: Most monitoring tools track social media and news, but they don't show you whether your brand is being cited in AI-generated answers. You're blind to one of the fastest-growing discovery channels. The solution: AuthorityTech tracks brand mentions across traditional media, social platforms, *and* AI answer engines, giving you a complete picture of your visibility. Plus, all earned media secured through the platform is optimized for AI citation (GEO/AEO), maximizing your chances of being referenced in AI answers.

If AI visibility matters to your business—and in 2026, it should—this is a capability gap worth closing.

Why Monitoring Alone Isn't Enough

Brand24 and most alternatives are passive tools. They tell you when you're mentioned, but they don't help you *get* more mentions. For startups, that's a problem.

The opportunity cost:

You're paying $150–$400/month to watch mentions happen. Meanwhile, you still need to:

• Secure earned media placements (hire an agency or do it yourself)
• Optimize content for AI search (most agencies don't even know how)
• Track performance across traditional, social, and AI channels

The alternative:

Performance-based earned media platforms like AuthorityTech combine monitoring with execution. You get media placements, AI visibility optimization, and comprehensive tracking in one platform—paying for results, not just alerts.

For many startups, this shift from monitoring to performance-based earned media delivers better ROI than any monitoring-only tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the limitations of Brand24?

Brand24's limitations include limited traditional media coverage, weak AI search visibility, basic sentiment analysis, and pricing jumps from $149/month to $399/month, making it less comprehensive than some alternatives. It primarily focuses on social media, neglecting earned media in news or AI search.

What is AI visibility and why is it important?

AI visibility refers to tracking brand mentions in AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini; it is important because these platforms are increasingly shaping online information consumption. AuthorityTech is an example of a platform that can help with AI visibility.

How does AuthorityTech differ from Brand24?

AuthorityTech differs from Brand24 by offering AI search monitoring, traditional and social media tracking, and performance-based pricing, whereas Brand24 focuses primarily on social media monitoring. AuthorityTech optimizes earned media for AI search (GEO/AEO).

Is Meltwater a good fit for small businesses?

Meltwater, while powerful, is generally not the best fit for small businesses due to its high cost and complexity. It is more suitable for enterprises with large budgets and complex media monitoring needs, whereas solutions like AuthorityTech or Mention may be more appropriate for startups.

What is performance-based pricing in media monitoring?

Performance-based pricing in media monitoring means you pay for tangible results, such as media placements and increased visibility, rather than just access to monitoring tools. AuthorityTech uses this model, starting at $1,500/month, aligning costs with achieved outcomes.

Final Recommendations

If you need affordable social monitoring:

→ Mention or Awario (both under $100/month)

If you care about traditional media + AI visibility:

→ AuthorityTech (performance-based, includes monitoring + execution)

If you need broadcast monitoring (TV/radio):

→ Critical Mention

If you're an enterprise with a big budget:

→ Meltwater or Brandwatch

If you just need something better than Brand24 for social:

→ Awario (similar features, lower price)

Brand24 is fine for basic social listening, but in 2026, most startups need more: traditional media tracking, AI visibility monitoring, or performance-based earned media execution. The right alternative depends on your channels, budget, and whether you want passive monitoring or active growth.

Choose the tool that fits your strategy—or better yet, choose the platform that delivers results, not just alerts.

Want to see where your brand stands in AI search?

Run a free visibility audit: app.authoritytech.io/visibility-audit