Media monitoring is the process of tracking what’s being said about a brand, person, product, or topic across different media channels. This includes online news sites, blogs, forums, and yes, social media too. For brands, this matters because people talk. They write reviews, post comments, share news, or start discussions that could affect your reputation or reveal useful insights.
Many people confuse media monitoring with social listening, but they serve different purposes. Media monitoring is more about collecting mentions and seeing what’s already been said. It helps you stay updated on brand mentions, press coverage, or customer feedback in real time. On the other hand, social listening looks at the bigger picture and analyses what those conversations mean for trends, brand perception, or future strategies.
Here’s a simple way to think about it. Media monitoring helps you react, while social listening helps you plan. Monitoring tells you where and when your brand was mentioned, so you can reply or report on it. Listening looks deeper into patterns and sentiment across the industry. They often work together, but if you’re just starting out, media monitoring is the one you’ll want to focus on first.
Trying to do media monitoring by hand is difficult. You would have to scroll through endless news feeds, search results, and social platforms every single day. And with the pace of online updates, you would still miss things. That’s why media monitoring tools are helpful. They track everything for you, alert you to key mentions, and give you a clearer view of where your brand stands.
No matter the size of your business, media monitoring tools can help you stay in the loop. You’ll know what people are saying, where your brand is showing up, and how the conversation is moving. That kind of awareness can help you respond faster, stay ahead of competitors, and make smarter decisions. It keeps your eyes open, even when you’re not watching.
1. HypeAuditor
HypeAuditor’s Media Monitor is a practical tool for brands that want to keep up with what’s being said across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. It works by continuously scanning posts based on the accounts, hashtags, or keywords you’ve selected, and curates a feed filled with the exact content you want to monitor. You can sort or filter this feed by content type, date, or performance, making it easier to track mentions, brand activity, and even competitor movements. This kind of media tracking software is especially useful if you’re running influencer or UGC campaigns and want a clear view of which posts are gaining traction.
The tool also helps you monitor your competitors by tracking mentions of their @handles and seeing what kind of posts they’re tagged in. This allows brands to study competitor strategies, spot trends, and discover gaps they can fill. You can use this insight to adjust your own campaigns or find new ways to engage audiences. It’s a straightforward way to stay aware of your position in the market without doing all the digging yourself.
Another strong point of Media Monitor is its ability to support UGC campaigns. You can follow how users are engaging with your branded hashtags, identify the best-performing posts, and reuse content that aligns with your brand message. This adds an extra layer of value for companies that rely on social media engagement as part of their marketing.
As one of the best social media monitoring tools, HypeAuditor’s Media Monitor gives brands a flexible and efficient way to track their presence across major platforms. From checking influencer performance to spotting trends and managing brand mentions, it’s a helpful companion for anyone working in influencer marketing, PR, or brand reputation.
Important Features: Brand mention tracking, Instagram/YouTube/TikTok post monitoring, custom feed with filters, competitor analysis, UGC tracking
Pricing: Available upon request.
Free Trial: Available with certain limitations.
Suitable Platforms: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok.
2. Meltwater
Meltwater offers one of the most comprehensive media monitoring tools, tracking conversations across news, social media, podcasts, TV, and radio. It tracks over 270,000 news sources worldwide and covers more than 15 social media channels, including blogs, reviews, and comments. With Meltwater, you can easily follow brand mentions, measure your share of voice across platforms, and analyze trends and sentiment. It’s perfect for tracking what’s being said about your brand and industry on a global scale, helping you stay on top of conversations that matter most. Whether it’s monitoring news outlets or social media, Meltwater provides a 360-degree view of your media presence and offers insights that help brands take informed action.
Important Features: Tracks mentions across news, social media, podcasts, TV, and radio, sentiment analysis, trends analysis, influencer and journalist monitoring
Pricing: Available upon request
Free Trial: Not specified
Suitable Platforms: Online news, social media (over 15 platforms), print media, podcasts, TV, radio
3. Brand24
Brand24 is a powerful tool that monitors brand mentions across various platforms, helping you keep track of what’s being said online. It’s particularly useful for reputation management, as you can track everything from individual mentions to popular hashtags and social media trends. The Presence Score feature allows you to track your brand’s popularity and evaluate the impact of different campaigns over time. With access to over 25 million online sources, Brand24 helps you stay on top of real-time conversations, turning negative comments into opportunities. It’s an ideal tool to manage brand perception and identify trends that might affect your business.
Important Features: Brand mentions tracking, Presence Score, AI-powered hashtag
Pricing: Starts from $149 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 14 days
Suitable Platforms: Social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, etc), blogs, news, reviews
4. Awario
Awario provides an in-depth social media monitoring tool that tracks mentions of your brand, competitors, or keywords across 13 billion pages daily. It’s particularly useful for competitor analysis, letting you benchmark your online presence against others in your industry. With real-time and historical data, you get a complete picture of how your brand is performing over time, not just in the present. The platform also allows you to fine-tune your search using Boolean queries, ensuring you capture the most relevant mentions. Its customizable PDF reports make it easy to visualize your brand’s media performance and share insights with your team.
Important Features: Real-time and historical data, Boolean search, competitor benchmarking, exportable reports
Pricing: Starts from $29 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes
Suitable Platforms: Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, news, blogs, forums, web
5. Zoho Social
Zoho Social is a social media monitoring tool designed for businesses and agencies to track brand mentions and interactions across social platforms. It offers advanced features like keyword search columns and hashtag tracking, making it easier to stay on top of relevant conversations. Zoho also integrates with Zoho CRM, letting you manage leads directly from social media interactions. Whether it's monitoring @mentions, customer reviews, or competitor activity, Zoho Social makes it simple to act on alerts from anywhere, with its iOS and Android apps ensuring you never miss a chance to engage. It’s ideal for businesses looking to consolidate social media management and brand tracking in one tool.
Important Features: Keyword and hashtag tracking, competitor lists, Zoho CRM integration, mobile app alerts
Pricing: Starts at $8/month, free plan available
Free Trial: Yes, free plan available
Suitable Platforms: X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, GMB, YouTube
6. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a well-known tool in the social media monitoring space, offering robust tracking capabilities for mentions across social media, news, and even podcasts. It stands out with its AI-driven visual recognition feature, allowing you to monitor your brand logo, images, and objects across videos, memes, and GIFs. This helps you stay aware of how your brand is being referenced, even in non-text formats. Hootsuite also tracks spikes in engagement, allowing you to act quickly during a crisis or capitalize on a trending topic. With its deep insights into sentiment and emotions, it’s an essential tool for brands aiming to maintain control over their online reputation.
Important Features: AI visual recognition for logo and images, sentiment analysis, crisis detection, trend prediction, engagement tracking
Pricing: Starts from $99 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 30 days
Suitable Platforms: Social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc), news websites, forums, podcasts
7. Mention
Mention gives you full control over your brand's media presence by tracking mentions from over 1 billion sources daily. This tool is versatile, letting you track brand mentions, hashtags, and specific keywords from various platforms, including news sites, blogs, and social media. One standout feature is its real-time monitoring, which ensures you never miss important conversations about your brand. With the ability to track mentions from the past two years, Mention offers a comprehensive view of your brand's journey across media, making it a great media monitoring tool for those who want to keep a close eye on brand perception over time.
Important Features: Tracks mentions across over 1 billion sources, sentiment analysis, past mentions tracking (up to two years), keyword and hashtag monitoring
Pricing: Starts from $41 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 30 days
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, etc)
8. Sprinklr
Sprinklr stands out with its ability to monitor over 400,000 online news channels, blogs, print, and broadcast media. It offers automated alerts that notify you about potential crises, giving you the opportunity to act before any reputational damage occurs. The platform also helps brands measure PR performance and compare their media coverage against competitors. With 15+ reputation categories, you can gain granular insights into public perception across multiple touchpoints, helping you make informed decisions. Sprinklr is a powerful tool for any business serious about protecting their brand reputation and optimizing PR strategies.
Important Features: Tracks over 400K news sources, automated crisis alerts, performance benchmarking, sentiment analysis
Pricing: Pricing available upon request
Free Trial: Yes, a free trial is available
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, print, broadcast media
9. Onclusive
Onclusive’s media monitoring tool covers over 6 million articles daily, offering extensive tracking across news, blogs, social media, TV, and radio. The tool uses AI and machine learning to filter out irrelevant content and provide only the most relevant mentions for your brand. You can monitor your brand’s coverage across 104 languages and over 130 markets, which is especially useful for global businesses. Onclusive’s use of sentiment analysis and NLP technology helps brands understand how their message is being received, offering clear insights into the tone and relevance of coverage. For those looking for a deep dive into news media monitoring tools, Onclusive provides comprehensive tracking and analysis.
Important Features: Covers 6 million articles daily, sentiment analysis, global reach (130+ markets), AI-powered filtering
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: Information not specified
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, and Twitter), TV, radio
10. Agorapulse
Agorapulse excels at proactive brand monitoring, alerting you when mentions surge or sentiment shifts. This helps you respond quickly to protect your brand reputation and improve customer experience. The platform also allows you to monitor direct mentions across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter), as well as track changes in audience reactions. Agorapulse’s historical insights feature lets you analyze long-term trends, making it easy to benchmark your performance and refine strategies. It’s a must-have for businesses looking to keep track of social media mentions with social media monitoring tools free and paid plans.
Important Features: Surge alerts, sentiment tracking, competitor monitoring, historical insights
Pricing: Starts at $79 per user/month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 30 days
Suitable Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube
11. Keyhole
Keyhole gives you access to real-time media monitoring across millions of websites, blogs, and forums, making it a great option for brands wanting to track mentions on less conventional platforms like Reddit and Quora. The platform’s hashtag and keyword tracking allows you to dive deep into discussions happening across the web, not just social media. By listening to millions of pages, Keyhole ensures that you capture all opportunities to engage with your audience. If you’re looking for a media monitoring tool that covers a broad range of content types and sources, Keyhole has you covered.
Important Features: Real-time tracking, hashtag and keyword monitoring, tracks mentions across 75 million websites
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: Yes, 14 days
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, forums, social media (Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, etc)
12. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a valuable tool for keeping track of brand mentions and competitor activity. It helps you monitor trending topics and the performance of your content across the web. With customizable alerts, BuzzSumo ensures you stay up to date on industry news and competitor actions without getting overwhelmed. The platform’s competitive tracking features let you monitor what others in your industry are doing, helping you stay one step ahead. If you're looking for tools for social media monitoring that also include content insights and competitive analysis, BuzzSumo is a solid choice.
Important Features: Competitor tracking, customizable alerts, content performance monitoring, trend tracking
Pricing: Starts at $199/month
Free Trial: Yes, a free trial is available
Suitable Platforms: Social media, blogs, news, forums
13. Eclincher
Eclincher allows you to track brand mentions and keywords across various platforms, offering a centralized dashboard to monitor and manage your reputation. It not only tracks social media mentions but extends coverage to news sites, blogs, forums, and review platforms, ensuring you stay on top of every conversation. Real-time notifications let you engage instantly, while sentiment analysis helps you gauge customer perception. By monitoring reviews and comments across key platforms, you can address negative feedback quickly and stay ahead of any potential issues. Whether you're tracking social media mentions or industry trends, Eclincher provides the tools you need for effective media monitoring tools.
Important Features: Real-time notifications, sentiment analysis, keyword and hashtag monitoring, reputation management
Pricing: Starts at $149/month
Free Trial: Yes
Suitable Platforms: Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc), news sites, blogs, forums
14. Sprout Social
Sprout Social simplifies social media monitoring by collecting brand mentions, comments, and keyword mentions from platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. This tool helps you stay on top of customer interactions in real-time, consolidating everything into one easy-to-manage inbox. The platform tracks metrics such as response times and engagement volumes, allowing you to improve your social media strategy over time. With Sprout Social, you ensure no customer concern goes unaddressed and that every brand mention is handled quickly. It’s one of the best media monitoring tools for managing both social media and customer relations.
Important Features: Multi-platform monitoring, Smart Inbox for interactions, response time tracking, engagement analysis
Pricing: Starts at $199/month
Free Trial: Yes, 30-day free trial available
Suitable Platforms: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook
15. Brandwatch
Brandwatch offers a robust suite of features for media monitoring, including tracking mentions, sentiment analysis, and competitor analysis. With access to over 100 million sources, it captures data from news sites, social media, blogs, and forums to give you a full view of brand activity. Brandwatch allows you to fine-tune your search using Boolean operators, ensuring you get only the most relevant results. With real-time tracking, you can respond quickly to mentions and gain valuable insights into both your brand and competitors' online performance. It’s an essential media monitoring tool for anyone wanting a competitive edge in brand visibility and reputation.
Important Features: Real-time tracking, Boolean search, sentiment analysis, competitor tracking
Pricing: Available upon request
Free Trial: Available upon request
Suitable Platforms: Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, etc), blogs, news
16. Cision
Cision’s media monitoring platform helps you track mentions of your brand, competitors, spokespeople, and industry news from a vast range of sources. With access to thousands of news outlets, podcasts, social platforms, and TV/radio stations, Cision ensures that you never miss an important mention. Its AI-powered React Score can instantly detect potentially harmful content, giving you the tools to act quickly and protect your brand. By comparing Mention Streams side by side, you get a clearer picture of your media coverage, making it easier to stay informed and responsive. Cision is definitely one of the top social media monitoring tools for businesses focused on comprehensive brand management.
Important Features: AI-powered risk detection, comprehensive media sources, real-time tracking, Mention Streams comparison
Pricing: Available by request
Free Trial: Not specified
Suitable Platforms: Social media, news, TV/radio, podcasts, print
17. Fedica (formerly Tweepsmap)
Fedica specializes in media monitoring tools for X (formerly Twitter), helping brands stay connected to relevant conversations and monitor brand mentions, campaigns, and product feedback. With automated alerts for keywords and accounts, you can easily track mentions and gather data without spending time searching manually. Fedica’s automated guerilla marketing reports provide insights into demographics, geography, and engagement trends, all delivered in concise email briefs. This tool is perfect for brands looking to stay on top of fast-moving social media platforms and spot new opportunities in real-time.
Important Features: Automated reports, keyword and account monitoring, demographic and geographic insights, real-time alerts
Pricing: Starts at $10/month, free plan available
Suitable Platforms: X (formerly Twitter)
18. Talkwalker
Talkwalker offers real-time social media monitoring to track mentions of your brand, products, or services across major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. By analyzing these mentions, Talkwalker helps you understand your audience’s needs and act on them quickly, making it easier to respond to customer concerns and trends. The platform also provides valuable insights into engagement patterns and sentiment, allowing you to make more consumer-centric decisions. As one of the best media monitoring tools, Talkwalker’s data-driven approach is perfect for businesses that want to stay ahead of the conversation and act proactively.
Important Features: Real-time tracking, sentiment analysis, engagement tracking, audience insights
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: Not specified
Suitable Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
19. Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics is a powerful media monitoring tool that helps you track what’s being said about your brand, competitors, or industry across a vast range of platforms. With its news media monitoring capabilities, you can collect news stories from millions of sources globally, providing you with a comprehensive view of brand mentions. The tool also offers social media monitoring features, enabling you to discover user-generated content (UGC) and track posts related to your brand or products. The automated news clipping service allows you to save mentions in image format, making it easy to reference them whenever you need. If you're looking for a free social media monitoring tool, Mentionlytics offers various plans with the flexibility to scale up as needed.
Important Features: Real-time tracking, news media and social media monitoring, automated news clipping, sentiment analysis
Pricing: Starts from $41 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 14 days
Suitable Platforms: News, social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, blogs)
20. Determ
Determ combines AI technology with real-time media monitoring to track brand mentions, viral content, and audience sentiment across social media platforms. With its ability to detect shifts in sentiment quickly, this tool allows you to act fast and prevent potential crises from escalating. It goes beyond just tracking mentions by providing insights into how audiences engage with your brand, tracking likes, shares, and comments. With instant alerts, you’ll know what’s happening and be able to respond quickly. For businesses looking to track the best social media monitoring tools for small business, Determ is an excellent option for staying on top of brand perception and competitive activity.
Important Features: Real-time mentions, sentiment tracking, engagement monitoring, AI-powered insights
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: Yes, upon request
Suitable Platforms: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook
21. BrandMentions
BrandMentions helps you monitor online discussions about your brand, competitors, and products across news, blogs, and social media. It tracks over 35 million mentions daily and offers both real-time and historical data, so you can stay informed about long-term trends. The tool allows you to set alerts for spikes in mentions, helping you manage reputation and act quickly when needed. Whether you're tracking Twitter hashtags or monitoring news outlets, BrandMentions gives you a comprehensive view of your brand’s presence across the web. It's a great option if you want to leverage media monitoring tools for improving brand strategy.
Important Features: Tracks 35+ million mentions daily, real-time and historical data, spike alerts, social media and news monitoring
Pricing: Starts from $129 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, limited free version available
Suitable Platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, blogs, news
22. Prowly
Prowly offers advanced media monitoring by tracking mentions across over 2.5 million outlets, including paywalled content and discussion forums. It monitors mentions and hashtags across major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter), and provides a comprehensive view of brand activity. The platform is designed to help PR teams manage real-time crises, spot trends, and understand media presence in both local and global contexts. Prowly's custom dashboards and AI-powered email notifications make it easy to spot any potential issues early, helping you manage your media presence effectively. This is a tool worth considering if you're looking for a social media monitoring tool to boost your brand's PR strategy.
Important Features: Tracks mentions across 2.5 million outlets, real-time PR insights, crisis detection, social media and print media monitoring
Pricing: Starts at $258/month (billed annually)
Free Trial: Yes, 7 days
Suitable Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, forums
23. Muck Rack
Muck Rack is a media monitoring tool that combines AI with human expertise to track mentions of your brand, products, and spokespeople across a wide variety of media sources. It offers detailed filters to narrow your search based on keywords, topics, or publication type, ensuring you only see the most relevant results. With over 35,000 publication licenses, Muck Rack tracks digital news, print, social media, podcasts, and TV/radio content. It also offers automatic alerts to keep you informed of unexpected spikes in coverage. For those needing both social media monitoring tools and traditional media tracking, Muck Rack offers a comprehensive solution.
Important Features: AI-powered monitoring, 35,000+ publication licenses, real-time alerts, multi-platform coverage
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: No
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, print, podcasts, social media, TV, radio
24. Isentia
Isentia provides a comprehensive media monitoring solution that tracks brand mentions across print, online, broadcast, and social media platforms. Its cloud-based platform offers real-time media tracking with rich analytics, customizable reporting, and alerting features. Isentia’s monitoring capabilities span traditional media and social media channels, helping businesses stay informed 24/7. The platform is ideal for those looking to track their brand’s presence in both global and local contexts. With its powerful search capabilities, Isentia is a great option for companies looking for an all-in-one media monitoring tool to streamline brand tracking.
Important Features: Real-time media monitoring, cross-platform tracking, customizable reporting, 24/7 coverage
Pricing: Not publicly available
Free Trial: Not specified
Suitable Platforms: News, blogs, social media, TV, radio
Conclusion
It’s important to know what people are saying about your brand, and media monitoring tools can make that easier. They help you track mentions across social media, news, and other places, so you're always in the loop. With real-time updates and sentiment tracking, you can quickly get a sense of how people feel and respond when needed. This keeps you in control of your brand’s reputation.
Many of these tools also help you listen to what’s happening in your industry or with your competitors. Instead of just following brand mentions, you get to see what’s trending and what others are doing. A good tool makes all of this simpler, so you can stay on top of things without missing a beat.
