As a legacy platform, Brandwatch has long been a popular option for social media marketing and consumer intelligence. But it certainly isn’t the right choice for every social media team.
While there are plenty of other social media platforms, few truly compete with this legacy player. And just one social media solution outperforms Brandwatch in most categories.
Below, we’ll compare the top Brandwatch alternatives in terms of features, capabilities, and pricing. By the end, you’ll be able to choose the ideal social media tool for your team.
Want to skip ahead and try the top tool on the list? Sign up for Agorapulse to try our social media management and social listening platform at no cost for 30 days.
- Agorapulse
- Meltwater
- Sprinklr
- Sprout Social
- Hootsuite
- Keyhole
- Brand24
What Is Brandwatch?
Brandwatch is a social media, consumer intelligence, and influencer marketing suite. It’s designed for publishing content, monitoring trends, and connecting with brand partners.
It supports all major social media networks, along with channels like Reddit, Tumblr, and WhatsApp. Plus, its listening tools look for brand mentions on blogs, forums, and news sites.
Key Brandwatch features
Brandwatch offers three product suites:
- Consumer Intelligence has AI-powered tools for tracking brand mentions, spotting popular topics, and managing sentiment analysis. This suite also has an enterprise solution with live data feeds and Salesforce integration.
- Influencer Marketing has tools to identify influencers, force relationships, and oversee campaigns. It also offers automated reporting to track the campaign’s success.
- Social Media Management has tools for publishing content, managing engagement, and handling social listening. It also has social analytics and benchmarks for reporting on performance.
Brandwatch pricing breakdown
The three product suites all have separate pricing, which means you can purchase them individually. However, the website doesn’t list standard pricing. You’d have to contact sales to get a quote.
Potential downsides of Brandwatch
While Brandwatch is a robust platform with powerful social media tools, it isn’t the right choice for everyone. It’s geared towards enterprise customers and large brands, making it less ideal for small brands.
Its social media scheduling tools also leave a lot to be desired. As several G2 reviewers explain, Brandwatch doesn’t allow users to post to multiple social networks at once, slowing down content creation.
Plus, Brandwatch’s influencer marketing tool may not stack up against others on the market. As this G2 reviewer states, “the influencer feature is still weak.”
Many G2 reviewers report glitches with the platform’s consumer intelligence tool. These issues may result in reports displaying incorrect data or teams having to redo their work.
Brandwatch’s customer support can be unreliable. As this G2 reviewer describes, support can be slow during social media crisis situations—which is when you need it the most.
Best Brandwatch Alternatives for Social Media Management
Whether you need a more reliable social media management platform or you want a tool for smaller teams, you have other options to consider. Let’s take a look at the top Brandwatch alternatives.
1. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is an all-in-one social media management solution designed for teams of all sizes. We offer plans for everyone, from individuals and small teams to international brands and large agencies.
Whether you need to collaborate with team members or clients, our platform simplifies the process. Agorapulse lets you set up approval workflows, assign social inbox items, and share content calendars with clients.
Key Agorapulse features
Agorapulse’s publishing calendar makes it easy to post to any number of social profiles at one time. Since you can easily customize each post for each network, you can optimize content while still saving time.
When you need clients and other stakeholders to approve content, you don’t necessarily have to onboard your entire team. Instead, our shared calendars let you share scheduled and published content externally.
Our social listening tool monitors brand mentions and keywords across social media and various websites. The trend reports and sentiment analysis ensure you always know how people feel about your brand.
With our social ROI reports, you see exactly how much value every network, profile, and campaign generates for your brand. These reports also attribute conversions and revenue to specific social posts, helping guide your content strategy.
Our employee advocacy tool gives you extra power to expand the reach of your content. With this tool, you can activate your brand advocates, share content more widely, and track the results of every campaign.
Agorapulse pricing breakdown
Agorapulse offers five plans, most of which include one user and 10 social profiles. You can add more users or social profiles as necessary, and you can also add social listening to any paid plan.
Here’s how Agorapulse pricing works when you pay yearly:
- Free: $0 for one user, three social profiles, and up to 10 scheduled posts
- Standard: $49 per user per month for unlimited posts and essential social media tools
- Professional: $79 per user per month for team workflows and other pro scheduling tools
- Advanced: $119 per user per month for shared calendars and other advanced social tools
- Custom: Custom price for unlimited social profiles and shared calendars for large brands and agencies
Brandwatch vs. Agorapulse
Brandwatch has some capabilities that Agorapulse doesn’t, including consumer intelligence and influencer marketing. However, Agorapulse outperforms Brandwatch and other legacy tools in most other areas.
Consider Agorapulse as a Brandwatch alternative when you want a single platform for all your social media marketing needs, from publishing and engagement to listening and reporting—including social ROI data you won’t find anywhere else.
Plus, with a 96% user satisfaction rating, our support team is available to help around the clock. All our paid plans include guaranteed response times, and we reply in 30 minutes or less on average.
2. Meltwater
Meltwater is a social media and market intelligence platform. It uses AI technology to collect and analyze data, helping marketing teams identify insights and develop a more competitive media strategy.
Key Meltwater features
Like Brandwatch, Meltwater offers several product suites. In addition to social media management and social listening, the platform also has solutions for influencer marketing, including AI-powered creator discovery.
The platform also has tools for consumer and media intelligence to help teams spot brand mentions and do market research efficiently. And its sales intelligence helps with competitive intelligence and outreach.
Meltwater pricing breakdown
Meltwater has three plans. Essentials includes a single product, while Suite is for multiple integrated tools. Enterprise is a custom plan with a suite of solutions.
The company doesn’t share pricing information publicly. To get a quote, you’d have to contact sales.
However, our Meltwater pricing research led to a quote of $15,000 for four users and 16 social profiles. Your mileage may vary based on your team’s needs.
Brandwatch vs. Meltwater
Both Brandwatch and Meltwater are enterprise solutions designed for teams that need a social media management tool with media and audience intelligence. On the surface, they appear similar.
However, Meltwater offers far more capabilities. Consider Meltwater when you want a tool that offers everything Brandwatch does, plus media relations and sales intelligence.
3. Sprinklr
Sprinklr is a platform for customer-facing teams with solutions for both marketing and customer service. Each of its product suites is AI-powered to help teams improve productivity and scale execution.
Key Sprinklr features
With Sprinklr Social, teams can manage social media and engage with customers across 30+ channels. This product suite also includes social listening, employee advocacy, and paid social management.
With Sprinklr Marketing, teams can connect with influencers and manage campaigns. And with Sprinklr Insights, teams can analyze insights from consumers and competitors.
Sprinklr pricing breakdown
Sprinklr has separate pricing tables for its social media management and consumer intelligence offerings. Sprinklr Social has two self-serve options:
- Social media management only starts at $199 per seat per month when paid annually.
- Social media management and customer service starts at $299 per seat per month when paid annually.
If you want an enterprise plan or if you want pricing for Sprinklr Insights, you’d have to contact sales. Both of these options have custom Sprinklr pricing as their capacity and capabilities vary.
Brandwatch vs. Sprinklr
Compared to Brandwatch, Sprinklr has far more capabilities. In addition to social media management, consumer intelligence, and influencer marketing, Sprinklr offers paid social management and customer support.
Consider Sprinklr as a Brandwatch alternative if you’re seeking a single platform to manage your social media marketing, influencer marketing, market research, and customer service—and you want advanced AI tools to boost productivity.
4. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management platform with solutions for social listening, employee advocacy, and influencer marketing. It’s designed for teams of all sizes and has collaboration and automation tools.
Key Sprout Social features
Unlike Brandwatch, Sprout Social has a single product suite for managing social media publishing, engagement, and reporting. The platform positions listening, advocacy, and influencer marketing as add-ons.
In addition, Sprout Social has AI and automation tools to help teams work faster. The platform’s AI tools help with producing social media content, creating automated workflows, and analyzing social insights.
Sprout Social pricing breakdown
Sprout Social pricing is based on the number of users you need to onboard. Here’s the breakdown for the platform’s four main plans (when paid annually):
- Standard: $199 per seat per month for five social profiles and essential social media tools
- Professional: $299 per seat per month for unlimited social profiles and X trend analysis
- Advanced: $399 per seat per month for unlimited social profiles and advanced social tools
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for large brands and agencies
Influencer marketing and social listening are considered premium solutions, available as add-ons only. Our research found that Sprout Social charges an additional $999 per month for AI-powered listening alone.
Brandwatch vs. Sprout Social
Compared to Brandwatch, Sprout Social has far fewer features and capabilities. It lacks the market research and social intelligence tools that Brandwatch offers.
However, Sprout Social has more comprehensive social media tools. Consider Sprout Social when you want an AI-enhanced platform for social media management—and want the option to add on influencer marketing.
5. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a complete social media management platform with plans for both individuals and teams. It works with all major social networks, and it also integrates with over 100 marketing and sales tools.
Key Hootsuite features
With its scheduling, engagement, listening, and reporting tools, Hootsuite’s main product suite has all the social media management basics covered. Like Sprout Social, Hootsuite offers several advanced add-ons that are only available with the platform’s top-tier Enterprise plan.
Along with organic social media tools, Hootsuite has several options for ads. With Hootsuite, teams can boost organic posts on multiple channels, manage social ads, and access paid social analytics.
Hootsuite pricing breakdown
Hootsuite has three plans:
- Professional: $99 per month for a single user and 10 social accounts
- Team: $249 per month for three users and 20 social accounts
- Enterprise: Custom price for five users and 50 social accounts
All plans include basic social listening only. If you want advanced listening, you have to pay for an extra add-on. However, you won’t find any official information about Hootsuite pricing for add-ons.
Brandwatch vs. Hootsuite
Brandwatch has a wider range of tools and capabilities overall. For example, Hootsuite lacks influencer marketing and consumer intelligence tools.
However, Hootsuite has a more robust platform for managing paid and organic social media. Consider Hootsuite as a Brandwatch alternative when paid social is a key focus for your brand—and you don’t mind paying extra to add on social listening.
6. Keyhole
Keyhole is a social media insights platform with tools for publishing and listening. Its plans support teams of all sizes, including social media teams of one.
Essential Keyhole features
With Keyhole’s analytics tools, teams can access historical data, competitor benchmarking, and optimization recommendations. The platform also offers social listening with influencer tracking capabilities.
In addition, Keyhole offers social media scheduling. However, the platform supports publishing for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X only.
Keyhole pricing breakdown
Keyhole has four plans: Start for individuals, Grow for small teams, Scale for growing teams, and Enterprise for large brands and agencies. Each product suite is priced separately based on this plan structure.
For example, suppose you’re a one-person social media marketing team who needs publishing, listening, and reporting. You’d pay $198.33 per month with an annual plan. Here’s the breakdown:
- $0 for publishing to Facebook and Instagram
- $157.50 per month for listening
- $40.83 per month for analytics
Brandwatch vs. Keyhole
Compared to Brandwatch, Keyhole is much more basic. While Keyhole does have social media management, listening, and analytics, it lacks the influencer marketing tools Brandwatch offers.
Consider Keyhole when you want a simpler option for social media management and you don’t mind purchasing a separate platform for connecting with creators and managing influencer campaigns.
7. Brand24
Brand24 is a social listening tool designed to measure brand awareness, analyze the competition, and uncover customer insights. Its AI-powered tools find and analyze insights from across social media and the web.
Key Brand24 features
With Brand24, teams can monitor brands across millions of online sources and analyze sentiment in real time. Teams can also track reach, measure brand awareness, and identify conversational trends.
As a consumer intelligence tool, Brand24 also helps teams pinpoint customers’ preferences and make more informed decisions. The platform has robust reporting, making it easy to keep stakeholders in the loop.
Brand24 pricing breakdown
Each of Brand24’s four plans supports a different number of keywords and mentions. Aside from the Individual plan, all include unlimited users. Here’s the pricing breakdown for yearly plans:
- Individual: $119 for three keywords and 2,000 mentions per month
- Team: $159 for seven keywords and 10,000 mentions per month
- Pro: $239 for 12 keywords and 40,000 mentions per month
- Enterprise: $399 for 25 keywords and 100,000 mentions per month
Brandwatch vs. Brand24
Compared to Brandwatch, Brand24 is missing several core capabilities. Brand24 doesn’t have the social media management or influencer marketing tools that Brandwatch offers.
Consider Brand24 as a Brandwatch alternative when you just need a solution for social listening and market research—and you plan to manage social media marketing and influencer marketing on a separate platform.
Next Steps to Try Brandwatch Alternatives
Brandwatch may be a popular choice for large brands and agencies. But with its missing social media publishing tools and enterprise pricing, it may not be the right tool for your team.
Of all the Brandwatch alternatives we covered, Agorapulse is the best all-in-one social media management solution for teams of all sizes. From cross-profile publishing and social inbox management to advanced social listening and customizable social reports, Agorapulse has all the tools you need to manage social media for one, 10, or 100 profiles.
Ready to see if Agorapulse is the right Brandwatch alternative for your team? Try Agorapulse for free.