Top 10 Social Listening Tools in 2025

Understanding the target audience's real needs and meeting them in the best possible way is one of the critical tasks for any marketing team. Social listening tools are expected to play a bigger role in the future, with 39% of companies investing over $100K in social listening. 

New and existing social listening tools are constantly improving their capabilities, such as collecting brand mentions, audience analysis, visual insights, sentiment detection, competitor monitoring, reputation management, consumer trend tracking, etc.

That is really great and helpful for companies striving to grow their marketing expertise. But on the other hand, it is becoming more and more challenging to choose the best social listening tool from many worthy options. We have tried to select ten platforms that best suit the market's current needs and provide the most advanced social listening experience.

1. YouScan

YouScan is a social media listening tool that enables brands to monitor and analyze content across the web.

What sets YouScan apart is its advanced visual analytics, enabling it to detect brand logos and real-life product usage in images, capturing objects, scenes, people, and activities. These insights reveal customer behavior and values. With extensive media channel coverage, YouScan offers a comprehensive view of your audience.

Other strengths of the platform include a smart AI engine that helps you organize information exactly as needed. It accurately sorts the audience, spots trends, categorizes and filters mentions across many categories, and detects positive or negative consumer attitudes.

Key features

• Visual insights: Advanced image recognition capabilities detect logos, products, and real-world brand interactions in user photos, offering insights beyond text.

• Insights copilot: This ChatGPT-powered feature enables brands to extract data-driven insights quickly through easy-to-ask questions.

• Customizable dashboards: Intuitive and fully customizable interface that adapts to various team needs for streamlined data tracking.

Pros

• Offers unique image recognition for a complete view of visual brand mentions.

• User-friendly dashboards for easy data analysis and insights.

• Word of mouth (WOM) filter is highly effective, allowing you to separate genuine user opinions from promotional content.

Pricing

• Starter plan: $299/month – Essentials like text-based search, sentiment analysis, and integrations.

• Unlimited plans: Custom pricing – Full access to image recognition, unlimited mentions, and advanced analytics for larger teams.

Best for

Ideal for brands needing detailed text and visual insights to enhance brand monitoring, customer engagement, and competitive analysis.

2. Brandwatch

Image source: G2

Brandwatch is a social media listening and management tool that offers a suite for consumer intelligence and influencer marketing. It’s also one of the more expensive ones.
Brandwatch is also an integrated platform for social media management, providing publishing and advertising.

Many features are paid add-ons, yet major companies rely on this tool for in-depth audience insights. Brandwatch’s AI analyzes data automatically, revealing reasons behind trends and spikes, enabling timely responses to shifts in consumer sentiment.

Key features

• Consumer intelligence: Industry-leading AI analyzes massive data sets to reveal insights on brand sentiment and emerging trends.

• Social media management: A single dashboard for content management, audience engagement, and performance tracking across social platforms.

• Influencer marketing: Streamlines influencer discovery and campaign management with access to over 30 million influencers.

Pros

• Real-time alerts for trend monitoring and brand protection.

• Customizable dashboards for personalized insights.

• Extensive network and platform integrations for seamless social management.

Pricing

Brandwatch offers customizable plans for different user needs (you must request a demo - no pricing is available on their website)

Best for

Enterprises seeking a powerful tool for in-depth consumer insights, influencer marketing, and multi-channel social media management.

3. Brand24

Image source: G2

Unlike most of its competitors, Brand24 is suitable not only for large enterprises but also for small businesses. It offers a basic set of features that allows you to track and respond to your brand mentions in real time. It shows you a history of mentions on social media, allowing you to track what your audience is saying about your company and your products, detecting its sentiment in a rapidly changing market. You can join these discussions and respond quickly, avoiding reputational risks.

Key features

• AI brand assistant: Provides tailored recommendations and competitor insights for data-driven decisions.

• Anomaly detector: Alerts users to unusual spikes in mentions, enabling proactive response to emerging trends or crises.

• Sentiment analysis & voice share: Tracks brand sentiment and market visibility compared to competitors.

• Influence & presence scores: Measures reach and impact of specific sources, helping identify key influencers.

Pros

• Real-time alerts for immediate brand monitoring.

• Advanced AI features for topic analysis and actionable insights.

• Easy-to-generate, customizable reports for competitive analysis.

Pricing

• Individual: $119/month – 3 keywords, 2K mentions, basic AI features.

• Team: $159/month – 7 keywords, 10K mentions, hourly updates.

• Pro: $239/month – 12 keywords, 40K mentions, real-time updates.

• Enterprise: $399/month – 25 keywords, 100K mentions, tailored for large agencies.

Best for

Perfect for businesses, agencies and PR professionals needing AI-enhanced social media tracking, competitor analysis, and reputation management.

4. Digimind

Image source: Surfer Editor

Digimind is an advanced intelligence platform that provides social listening, competitive intelligence, and trend tracking to help brands understand consumer insights and market dynamics. Their visual recognition capabilities aren’t as praised as YouScan’s but are still available and do the trick if your focus isn’t on visual engagement.

Key features

• Brand reputation & crisis detection: Monitors brand perception and anticipates potential crises.

• Competitive intelligence: Tracks competitor activities and analyzes industry positioning.

• Trend & campaign analysis: Identifies emerging trends and measures campaign effectiveness with real-time data.

• Customizable reports: Presentation-ready, tailored reports for easy sharing and insights.

Pros

• Extensive multi-platform tracking and real-time alerts.

• Detailed, presentation-ready reports.

• Customizable dashboards for personalized data analysis.

Pricing

Digimind offers custom pricing based on business needs, with demos available upon request.

Best for

Ideal for large enterprises and agencies requiring robust consumer insights, competitive intelligence, and brand reputation management across digital channels.

5. Sprout Social 

Image source: G2

Sprout Social is designed to process social media data and transform it into actionable insights, not only for marketing but also – as they claim – for other areas of business. With tools for engagement, analytics, listening, and influencer marketing, Sprout Social simplifies managing social media at scale. Their diversified analytics of brand mentions is designed to suggest business ideas for the growth of their client companies.

Key features

• Unified inbox: Streamlines message management with smart AI-driven classifications and prioritization.

• AI-enhanced listening: Captures key consumer insights and identifies trends.

• Advanced reporting: Provides detailed, customizable reports to track performance and share results.

• Seamless integrations: Partners with platforms like Salesforce, Google My Business, and Shopify.

Pros

• Real-time monitoring and sentiment detection.

• Customizable AI-driven analytics for strategic insights.

• Trusted by top brands for easy onboarding and intuitive interface.

Pricing

• Standard: $199/month – For small teams.

• Professional: $299/month – For high-engagement needs.

• Advanced: $399/month – For complex workflows.

• Enterprise: Custom pricing – For large-scale operations.

Best for

Ideal for brands and agencies managing multi-platform social media, engagement, and in-depth analytics at scale.

6. Talkwalker  

Image source: G2

Talkwalker is a social listening and media monitoring platform designed to give brands a comprehensive view of online conversations, brand sentiment, and competitive positioning. Distinctive features of this global platform are video recognition and speech analytics capabilities, which make it possible to analyze not only text and images but also TV and radio content. Talkwalker monitors a relatively large number of social media channels. Still, they do not have access to channels from marketplaces, which may be important for some types of businesses.

Key features

• Next-gen social listening: Uses AI-powered insights to analyze trends and brand mentions across 150 million websites, social networks, and 187 languages.

• Visual recognition: Identifies brand mentions in images and videos, offering a fuller view of consumer engagement.

• Conversation clusters: Group related topics to reveal underlying trends and new audiences.

Pros

• Wide-ranging data sources for in-depth analysis.

• Real-time alerts and custom reporting for responsive strategy.

• Seamless integration across teams with unlimited user access.

Pricing

Talkwalker’s packages—Listen, Analyze, Business, and Premium—offer varied levels of social listening and insights. To obtain pricing for a specific package, you’ll need to book a demo, where Talkwalker’s experts tailor the experience to your needs.

Best for

Enterprises and agencies needing extensive social data, crisis management, and market insights across multiple regions.

7. Meltwater

Image source: G2

Meltwater is an advanced social listening and media intelligence platform that turns extensive social, consumer, and media data into actionable insights. Like many other front-rank social media listening platforms, Meltwater was designed to ensure that marketers always stay in tune with consumers in an ever-changing market. The tool offers a systematized collection and comprehensive analysis of brand-related media conversations.

Key features

• Media intelligence: Monitors brand mentions across media and social channels for 360° visibility.

• Social listening & analytics: Tracks trends and sentiment to guide business decisions.

• Customizable reporting: Tailored reports offer detailed performance metrics.

• Influencer & sales intelligence: Identifies key influencers and sales insights to strengthen market positioning.

Pros

• Extensive data integration and custom reporting.

• User-friendly tools for cross-department insights.

• Continuous expert support and training.

Pricing

Meltwater offers Essentials, Suite, and Enterprise packages, tailored to various business needs. Pricing is available upon request via demo.

Best for

Ideal for brands seeking comprehensive media intelligence, from small teams to global enterprises needing tailored insights across departments.

8. NetBase Quid

Image source: Surfer Editor

NetBase Quid offers a platform for consumer and market intelligence, combining generative AI with real-time data to provide brands with actionable insights.

Visual analytics capabilities help you track when your brand appears on images, allowing you to capitalize on the most interesting and popular user-generated content, such as on platforms like Instagram. 

Key features

• Quid discover: Organizes data from diverse sources to reveal future trends and opportunities.

• Quid monitor: Tracks millions of conversations in real-time across multiple channels.

• Quid predict: Analyzes weak signals to identify emerging themes and trends.

Pros

• Natural language processing (NLP)  makes conversation analysis more efficient.

• Predictive analytics to stay ahead of market changes.

• Integrates with existing business intelligence systems.

Pricing

NetBase Quid provides custom pricing based on business needs. Request a demo for detailed information.

Best for

Ideal for companies needing predictive insights and comprehensive consumer intelligence.

9. BuzzSumo

Image source: G2

BuzzSumo is a comprehensive content discovery and analysis platform that helps you track trending topics and monitor social media mentions. It's perfect for spotting what content is captivating audiences and understanding the impact of online conversations. With BuzzSumo, you can set up alerts for specific brands, topics, or keywords, ensuring you stay updated on the latest trends.

Key features

• Content discovery: Generates topic ideas based on high-engagement trends.

• Influencer research: Identifies influential journalists and content creators.

• Monitoring: Tracks mentions, backlinks, and competitors for timely insights.

Pros

• Comprehensive influencer database.

• Real-time alerts and content performance tracking.

• Data-driven topic and keyword suggestions.

Pricing

Plans start at $199/month, with packages for teams and enterprises. Free trial available.

Best for

Perfect for content marketers, PR professionals, and agencies seeking powerful outreach and monitoring tools.

10. Keyhole

Image source: G2

Keyhole is an enterprise-grade social listening tool that helps you understand your audience by tracking hashtags, keywords, and influencers. It offers features like volume predictions to anticipate when posts might go viral, allowing for timely strategic actions. The platform provides deep analytics for monitoring social accounts and optimizing your posting schedule.

Key features

• Social listening: Track mentions, trends, and competitor insights across major networks.

• Campaign analysis: Monitor hashtags, keywords, and influencer metrics in one dashboard.

• Scheduling and publishing: Create, schedule, and optimize posts across channels seamlessly.

Pros

• In-depth audience and sentiment analysis.

• Comprehensive campaign performance and competitor tracking.

• Centralized reporting with customizable insights.

Pricing

Available upon request via a demo.

Best for

Ideal for marketing teams, agencies, and nonprofits aiming to refine their social engagement and brand monitoring efforts.

What should I consider when choosing the best social listening tool?

Here are the most important factors to consider when choosing from the top social listening tools.

Platform coverage

Are you missing conversations because your social listening tool doesn't cover all the right platforms? This is a common issue. Some tools only focus on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but what if your target audience is also on niche forums or blogs?

For example, if you’re in the tech industry, you may want a tool that covers platforms like Reddit, Quora, and specialized tech forums. Broader platform coverage ensures you don’t miss out on valuable insights. Look for a tool that gives you a wide reach—capturing not just social media chatter but also blog posts, news articles, and even review sites.

Real-time monitoring

Real-time monitoring is essential for tracking social media conversations as they happen, especially in industries where quick responses can protect your brand’s reputation. With real-time alerts, you can engage with customers or address negative sentiment before it escalates. Without this feature, you risk missing critical opportunities.

Sentiment analysis

Are people loving your brand or quietly turning away without you even noticing?

Sentiment analysis solves that mystery by determining whether the online chatter is positive, negative, or neutral. But here’s the catch—some tools can misinterpret emotions, especially when dealing with sarcasm or slang.

Your brand could be mentioned in what seems like a positive context, but the underlying tone might be negative. A good sentiment analysis feature is essential for getting an accurate read on how customers really feel about your brand. Tools like YouScan offer advanced sentiment analysis, helping you navigate the tricky waters of online opinion.

Data accuracy

There’s nothing more frustrating than thinking your tool is monitoring everything, only to find out later that it missed key conversations. Maybe your brand name was spelled wrong, or a product was mentioned in a different context. Data accuracy can make or break the value of your social listening efforts.

You need a tool that captures mentions even with variations in spelling or phrasing. For instance, if your brand name has multiple spellings, like “Sophia Oilfield” versus “SophiaOilfield,” a tool with low accuracy might miss one of these variations entirely. This could lead to gaps in your reporting and missed opportunities.

Customizable dashboards and reporting

Customizable dashboards can save you a ton of time and headaches. Organizing the data in a way that’s relevant to your goals is key to making actionable decisions.

For example, a marketing team might want to focus on sentiment trends, while a sales team could be more interested in mentions related to competitors. Tools like YouScan offer highly customizable dashboards, so you can display exactly the data that matters to your stakeholders without overwhelming them with irrelevant information.

Competitor monitoring

Do you really know what your competitors are up to? If not, you could be missing out on valuable insights. Monitoring competitor mentions gives you an edge and helps you spot industry trends and areas where your brand could stand out.

What if your competitor is getting great feedback on a new feature?

You’d want to know about that as soon as possible so you can strategize accordingly. Tools like Mention allow you to track your competitors’ activities across major social media platforms, giving you the upper hand.

Pricing and scalability

Here’s a tough question: how much should you really be spending on a social listening tool?

Prices can range from $50 to thousands of dollars per month, depending on the tool’s features and the size of your business. But cost isn’t the only concern—scalability matters too.

You can't choose a low-cost tool that works well for now only to find out later that it can’t handle your business's growth. You need a tool that can scale with your evolving needs. Some tools charge based on the number of mentions or users, so make sure to pick one that offers flexible pricing options.

Conclusion

Social listening tools offer invaluable insights, from real-time audience engagement to competitive analysis, enabling brands to stay relevant and responsive. By choosing a tool that matches your brand’s unique needs—whether for comprehensive platform coverage, accurate sentiment analysis, or competitor monitoring—you empower your team to act on data that drives results.

Are you ready to find the perfect fit for your business? 

Request a demo of YouScan to see how it can support your social listening strategy with advanced features and customizable dashboards tailored to your needs. 

Request a demo and discover how YouScan can elevate your brand's presence today.

FAQs

What is a social listening tool?

A social listening tool tracks online mentions of your brand, competitors, or industry keywords across various platforms, providing insights into audience sentiment and trends.

Which social listening tool is best?

The best tool depends on your needs. Options like YouScan excel in sentiment analysis and customizable dashboards, while tools like Sprout Social focus on unified social media management.

What are social listening strategies?

Social listening strategies involve tracking brand mentions, analyzing customer sentiment, monitoring competitors, and identifying trends to guide marketing, customer service, and product development.

What is an example of social listening?

An example is tracking mentions of a product launch to gauge customer reactions, then using the feedback to refine marketing messaging or improve the product.