Keeping up with what people say online can feel like a lot, right? Especially when you’re trying to run a business. Conversations are happening everywhere, not just on the big social sites. Manually checking everything is just not realistic anymore. That’s where free social media listening tools come in. They help you catch what’s being said about your brand, your competitors, and what’s trending, without costing you a dime. We’ll look at some of the best free options available for 2025.
Key Takeaways
- Google Alerts is good for basic keyword tracking across the web and news, sending notifications straight to your email. It’s simple to set up and free, making it a good starting point for small businesses or individuals.
- AnswerThePublic helps you see what questions people are actually asking online about certain topics. It visualizes search data and can give you ideas for content, though it’s more about search queries than direct social conversations.
- BrandMentions offers a free plan that monitors mentions across the web and social media, providing alerts and basic analytics. It’s useful for keeping an eye on your brand’s online presence.
- Metricool provides a free tier that includes social media analytics and basic monitoring features. You can track mentions and get insights into your social performance.
- HubSpot’s Social Inbox, available with their free CRM, allows you to monitor mentions, keywords, and competitors across various social platforms, all within one dashboard.
1. Google Alerts
When you’re just starting out with social media listening, or if your needs are pretty basic, Google Alerts is a tool that’s hard to ignore. It’s been around forever, and it’s completely free. Basically, you tell it what words or phrases you want to track – like your brand name, a specific product, or even competitor names – and it sends you an email whenever those terms pop up on the web. Think of it as a simple notification system for mentions.
It’s super easy to set up. You just go to the Google Alerts website, type in your keyword, and choose how often you want to get emails (as it happens, once a day, or once a week) and where you want to get them from (news, blogs, web, etc.). This makes it a straightforward way to catch mentions you might otherwise miss.
However, it’s important to know its limits. Google Alerts isn’t really built for deep social media listening. It doesn’t do sentiment analysis, so you won’t know if a mention is positive or negative. It also has pretty basic filtering, and its coverage of social media platforms themselves is quite weak. You’re more likely to catch mentions from news sites and blogs than from actual social media posts.
Here’s a quick look at what it offers:
- Ease of Use: Extremely simple setup process.
- Cost: Absolutely free.
- Delivery: Alerts sent directly to your email.
- Scope: Covers news, blogs, web pages, and some other content.
While Google Alerts is a good starting point for basic web monitoring, it falls short for comprehensive social media tracking. It’s best for catching general mentions rather than engaging in nuanced social conversations.
2. AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is a really neat tool that helps you see what questions people are actually asking online about a specific topic. It’s not so much about tracking mentions of your brand directly, but more about understanding the curiosity around your industry or products. You type in a keyword, and it shows you a visual map of questions people are searching for on Google, broken down by ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’, and ‘how’.
This is super useful for content creators and marketers. Instead of guessing what your audience wants to know, you get direct insights from search data. It helps you brainstorm blog post ideas, FAQ sections, or even new product features. Think of it as a direct line to your potential customers’ minds.
Here’s a quick look at what it offers:
- Question Visualization: See all the questions related to your keyword in an easy-to-understand format.
- Comparison Data: Discover how your keyword compares to others in terms of search interest.
- Alphabetical Lists: Get a comprehensive list of questions and prepositions related to your keyword.
- Related Searches: Find other terms people are searching for that are connected to your main topic.
It’s a fantastic free resource for getting a pulse on public interest and tailoring your communication. You can find out what people are really trying to figure out, which is gold for content strategy. It helps you create content that directly answers those burning questions, making your brand more helpful and visible.
3. BrandMentions
BrandMentions is a solid choice if you’re looking to keep tabs on your brand’s online presence without breaking the bank. While their full suite of tools requires a subscription, they offer several free trackers that are surprisingly useful. Think of them as handy little widgets for specific tasks.
These free tools include:
- Social Mentions Tracker: This one keeps an eye out for mentions of your brand across social media platforms.
- Hashtag Tracker: Great for seeing how specific hashtags are being used and who’s using them.
- Brand Tracker: A more general tool to monitor mentions of your brand name.
- Social Media Tracker: This helps you keep an eye on your own social media activity and mentions.
The real power of BrandMentions, even in its free form, is its ability to catch conversations you might otherwise miss. It’s not just about direct tags; it’s about finding every mention, which is pretty important for managing your reputation and spotting opportunities.
While the paid plans offer more advanced features like real-time crawling and deeper analytics, the free tools provide a good starting point for small businesses or individuals just getting a feel for social listening. It’s a practical way to start understanding what people are saying about you online.
4. Tailwind
Tailwind started out primarily as a scheduling tool for Pinterest and Instagram, but it’s grown into something a bit more. While it excels at helping you plan and publish your content across these platforms, it also offers some decent monitoring capabilities, especially if you’re focused on visual social media. It’s a great option for getting a handle on how your content is performing and what your audience is responding to.
What Tailwind does well is give you insights into your own channels. You can see which posts are hitting the mark, what hashtags are actually bringing people in, and when your followers are most active. This helps you fine-tune your strategy without getting lost in a sea of data. It’s not exactly a deep dive into what everyone else is saying about your industry, but it’s really good for understanding your own performance.
Here’s a quick look at what you can track:
- Post Performance: See which pins and posts get the most engagement.
- Hashtag Analysis: Understand which hashtags are driving traffic to your content.
- Audience Insights: Get a feel for when your followers are online and most receptive.
- Competitor Benchmarking: Keep an eye on what similar accounts are doing.
If you’re heavily invested in Pinterest or Instagram, Tailwind is definitely worth checking out. The free plan is pretty generous, making it easy to test the waters. It’s not the most robust tool for tracking broad conversations happening online, but for maximizing your presence on specific platforms, it’s a solid choice. You can find more about social media management on this page.
While Tailwind isn’t a full-blown social listening platform that tracks every mention across the web, its strength lies in providing actionable analytics for your owned content on visual platforms. It helps you understand your audience and optimize your posting schedule effectively.
5. TalkWalker
TalkWalker is a pretty serious player in the consumer intelligence space. If you’re looking for something that goes beyond just social media mentions, this tool is worth a look. It monitors pretty much everywhere your brand might be talked about – not just the usual social networks, but also news sites, blogs, and even print and broadcast media. That’s a pretty wide net.
What really sets TalkWalker apart is its advanced features. You can use something called an advanced boolean catalog to really narrow down your searches and find specific conversations. It also offers visual listening, which is neat because it can spot your brand in images and videos, not just text. Plus, they have AI summaries that can help make sense of all the data it collects, giving you quick daily, weekly, or monthly overviews.
Here’s a quick rundown of what it offers:
- Comprehensive Media Monitoring: Tracks mentions across social, online news, print, and broadcast.
- Advanced Boolean Catalog: Allows for highly specific search queries.
- Visual Listening: Detects brand mentions within images and videos.
- AI Summaries: Provides digestible overviews of collected data.
- Influencer Finder: Helps identify and connect with industry influencers.
TalkWalker is definitely geared towards professionals who need deep insights and broad coverage. It’s not really a free tool anymore, with paid plans starting around $99 a month. They used to have free tools, but it seems like everything is behind a subscription now. So, if you’re a small business or just starting out, this might be more than you need. But for PR pros or larger teams, the power it offers could be a big deal.
While it’s a powerhouse, the lack of clear pricing on their website and the need to book a demo might be a bit of a hurdle for some. It’s a tool that means business, and you’ll likely pay for that level of detail.
6. Metricool
Metricool is a pretty neat tool that acts like a digital Swiss Army knife for your social media. It’s not just about scheduling posts, though it does that well. What’s really cool is how it bundles social listening into the mix. You get a unified inbox, which is handy for keeping track of comments, messages, and tags all in one place. Plus, it offers basic keyword tracking so you can keep an eye on what people are saying about your brand or industry.
It’s a great option if you’re looking for a tool that does a lot without breaking the bank. The free version is surprisingly robust and might be all you need to get started with monitoring mentions and identifying trending terms. If you need more, the paid plans are still quite affordable compared to some of the bigger players out there.
Here’s a quick look at what Metricool helps you do:
- Keep tabs on brand mentions.
- Manage interactions like comments and messages.
- Spot emerging trends and popular topics.
- Keep an eye on what competitors are up to.
- Get a basic understanding of online conversations.
While it might not have all the bells and whistles of enterprise-level listening platforms, Metricool offers a fantastic balance of features and price. It’s especially good for small businesses or individuals who want a straightforward way to monitor their online presence across multiple platforms.
7. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a really powerful tool, but it comes with a pretty hefty price tag, so it’s not exactly free. I almost left it off this list because of the cost, but it’s just so good for content marketers and PR folks who need to know what’s working and who’s talking about it. It’s like a deep dive into content performance and online conversations.
What BuzzSumo does well includes:
- Brand Monitoring: You can set up alerts for keywords, competitors, or your own products to catch mentions across social media, news sites, blogs, and even backlinks. It’s great for staying on top of what people are saying.
- Content Discovery: It helps you find articles and topics that are performing well in your industry. This is super useful for figuring out what kind of content to create next.
- Influencer Identification: You can find people who are talking about your topics or sharing your content, which is handy for outreach.
- Competitor Analysis: See how your content stacks up against competitors, track their top-performing stuff, and compare your share of voice.
While BuzzSumo is a powerhouse for content strategy and influencer research, its cost means it’s not for everyone. If you’re on a tight budget, there are other tools on this list that handle basic mentions and trends just fine. However, if you’re serious about content and can swing the price, the 7-day free trial is definitely worth checking out to see its depth.
8. SmarterQueue
SmarterQueue is a tool I’ve actually used before, and honestly, it made managing social media feel a lot less like a chore. It’s pretty straightforward to get going with, and the ability to have content publish and then re-publish automatically is a real time-saver. For most small businesses, it covers all the bases.
You can check out how individual posts are doing and see which ones are getting the most attention. It also keeps an eye on your "evergreen" content, showing you how it performs over time, which is neat. Plus, you get to look back at your social media history and track any mentions or tags that come your way.
While you can’t monitor competitors directly unless you’re on a pricier plan, the good news is that those plans aren’t as expensive as some other options out there. It starts around $84.99 a month, which is pretty reasonable.
SmarterQueue really shines when you’re managing just one or a few brands. It’s not overly complicated, it’s easy on the wallet, and it cuts out a lot of the usual fuss. It might not be a full-blown enterprise listening platform, but if you just need to keep up with what people are saying and spot emerging trends, this could be just the ticket.
They offer a 14-day free trial, and it only starts counting down after you’ve set up your posting schedule and put your first post in line. So, you get a good amount of time to poke around and see if it fits your needs before committing.
9. Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics is a pretty solid tool if you’re looking to really dig into what people are saying about your brand online. It goes beyond just social media, keeping an eye on blogs, forums, and news sites too. This gives you a much bigger picture of your online reputation.
One of the standout features is its advanced Boolean search. This lets you get super specific with your searches, so you’re not wading through a ton of irrelevant mentions. You can really fine-tune what you’re looking for, which is a lifesaver when you’re trying to track specific campaigns or competitor activity.
Here’s a quick look at what it offers:
- Comprehensive Monitoring: Tracks mentions across major social platforms, blogs, forums, and news sites.
- Advanced Search: Utilizes Boolean operators for highly precise monitoring.
- Sentiment Analysis: Helps you understand the general feeling behind mentions.
- Lead Generation: The leads feed can point you towards potential new customers.
While Mentionlytics doesn’t have a free plan, they do offer a 14-day free trial. This is a great way to test out its capabilities before committing. It’s not an all-in-one solution for publishing or managing your inbox, but for pure social listening, it’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you need detailed insights.
It’s important to remember that social listening isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about understanding that data and using it to make better decisions for your business. Mentionlytics provides the tools to help you do just that.
10. HubSpot
If you’re already knee-deep in HubSpot for your CRM or marketing automation, you’re in luck. Their Social Inbox feature acts as a pretty decent social listening tool, especially if you’re on the Professional or Enterprise plan. It lets you set up these things called ‘streams’ where you can keep an eye on mentions of your brand, what people are saying about specific keywords (mostly on X), and even what your competitors are up to across their social channels. You can even get email alerts, which is handy so you don’t miss anything important.
It’s a solid option for keeping tabs on conversations without needing a separate tool, provided you’re already a HubSpot user.
Here’s a quick look at what you can track:
- Brand mentions and reposts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X)
- Specific keywords (X)
- Competitor activity (based on their website and social profiles)
While HubSpot’s social listening capabilities are integrated and convenient for existing users, they might not offer the deep, cross-platform analytics that some specialized tools provide. It’s best for monitoring direct mentions and keywords rather than broad sentiment analysis across the entire web.
It’s a good starting point, especially if you’re trying to consolidate your marketing tools. You won’t get the super-detailed insights you might find elsewhere, but for basic monitoring and staying aware of who’s talking about you, it gets the job done.
Wrapping It Up: Start Listening Smarter
So, there you have it. Social listening tools are pretty important these days, not just for keeping an eye on what people are saying, but for actually understanding it and using that info to make better decisions. We looked at a bunch of free options, and while they can get you started, they often have limits. For real insights that can help your brand grow, you might need to think about investing in a paid tool down the line. The main thing is to figure out what you need, try out a few tools, and pick the one that helps you hear what truly matters. It’s all about turning those online chats into smart moves for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly are social listening tools?
Think of social listening tools as your online eavesdropping assistants. They scan the internet for mentions of your brand, products, or anything you’re interested in. They help you figure out what people are saying, how they feel about it, and what’s trending, so you can make smarter decisions for your business.
What’s the difference between social media monitoring and social listening?
Social media monitoring is like hearing someone call your name and reacting. You see a mention and respond. Social listening is like understanding the whole conversation – why they mentioned you, what others are saying, and what it means for the future. It’s about digging deeper than just spotting mentions to understand the bigger picture and plan ahead.
Are there any good free social listening tools available?
Yes, there are! Tools like Google Alerts are great for basic tracking of mentions across the web and news. AnswerThePublic helps you see what questions people are asking online. While these are helpful for getting started, they don’t offer the deep insights or wide coverage that paid tools provide.
How do these tools help with public relations (PR) and communication?
Social listening tools are super useful for PR and communication teams. They help you catch potential problems before they become big issues, see if your campaigns are working, and even find journalists or influencers who are talking about topics related to your brand. It’s like having an early warning system and a way to measure your impact.
Who benefits most from using social listening tools?
Pretty much anyone who wants to understand their audience better! This includes marketing teams trying to create better content, customer service teams wanting to improve support, PR folks managing brand image, and even product developers looking for ideas. If you care about what people think and say online, these tools are for you.
Can social listening tools help me understand customer feelings?
Absolutely! A big part of social listening is figuring out the ‘sentiment’ – whether people are feeling positive, negative, or neutral about something. Good tools can even detect sarcasm or more complex emotions. This helps you understand how your brand is perceived and where you might need to make improvements.