Top 20 Social Listening Tools for 2025 to Track Conversations and Trends

​Keeping up with online conversations is essential. People talk about your brand on social media platforms, blogs, forums, news sites, and podcasts. The right social listening tools help you sort through all this information and find useful insights.

Marketers use social listening tools to spot new trends, understand how people feel, compare their brand to competitors, find important influencers, and get quick feedback on campaigns. When used effectively, these tools can show you the real opinions and highlight where conversations are going.

In this post, I’ll cover the top 20 social listening tools for 2025. This detailed reviews will  help you choose the platform that matches your needs and budget. Lets get into it.

Quick Comparison Table

Note: Platforms and features are summarised from official documentation and user reviews. Some tools offer additional data sources or modules at an extra cost.

What are Social Listening Tools?

Social listening tools help businesses anticipate issues and spot opportunities by tracking public conversations across social networks, blogs, forums, news sites, and other online channels about your brand, competitors, or industry.

According to Statista, people post over 500 million tweets on X (formerly Twitter) daily. Brands receive billions of direct mentions each month across social media, blogs, and news sites. With so much conversation happening quickly, businesses need advanced social listening tools to make sense of it all. By analyzing these conversations in real time, organizations can gain valuable real-time insights, improve marketing, develop better products, and manage reputations more effectively.

Detailed Reviews of the Best Social Listening Tools for 2025

1. Brand24 – Broad Monitoring & Sentiment Tracking

Brand24 is a well-known listening platform. It monitors conversations in real time across social networks, blogs, forums, and news sites. The platform collects mentions from over 25 million online sources.

Key features

• Wide data coverage: Track mentions from social channels, news articles, blogs and more.
• Sentiment analysis & reach: Measure brand sentiment and quickly identify reputational risks.
• Custom alerts: Receive notifications for spikes or specific keywords.
• Hashtag tracking: Monitor campaign hashtags across platforms.

Pros

• Broad coverage ensures you don’t miss conversations.
• User‑friendly interface makes setup simple for small businesses.

Cons

• Historical data retention may be limited on lower‑tier plans.
• Large volumes of data require filtering to remove noise.

Best for: Brands of all sizes needing comprehensive web and social monitoring.

2. Missinglettr – Drip‑Campaign‑Driven Listening

Missinglettr is best known for automated social media drip campaigns. It turns blog posts into a series of pre-scheduled social updates. The tool includes lightweight listening that surfaces mentions within connected profiles and gives basic sentiment context.

Key features

• Drip campaigns: Automatically generate and schedule posts from blog content to maintain a consistent presence.
• Keyword monitoring: Track mentions of your brand names or keywords on connected accounts.
• Sentiment insights: Basic positive/negative/neutral sentiment classification.
• Campaign tuning: Adjust drip campaigns based on how the audience interacts with published content.

Pros

• Great for content marketers and bloggers who already use Missinglettr for automated promotion.
• Integrates listening insights directly into the campaign dashboard.

Cons

• Only monitors connected networks (no broad web crawling).
• Limited analytics compared with dedicated listening tools; primarily focused on content promotion.

Best for: Bloggers, solopreneurs and small businesses seeking to repurpose blog content and get lightweight listening feedback.

3. Iconosquare – Analytics & Hashtag Bench-marking

Iconosquare began as an Instagram analytics tool focused on tracking posts and engagement specific to that platform. Now, it includes analytics and management for Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X. Its social listening features, distinct from basic analytics, let users monitor competitor activity and analyse hashtag performance across these networks. This makes Iconosquare a good fit for organisations seeking not just to measure results against industry trends, but also to differentiate between engagement metrics and listening insights, such as share of voice.

Key features

• Industry benchmarks: Compare your social metrics against sector averages to gauge share of voice and engagement.
• Hashtag analytics: Track hashtags relevant to your brand or campaign; monitor posts, reach and engagement.
• Competitor monitoring: Analyse competitors’ follower growth, engagement spikes and content strategies.
• Data‑rich reports: Export charts and graphs to share with stakeholders.

Pros

• Excellent for brands that need deep analytics and competitive comparisons.
• Professional interface with comprehensive reports.

Cons

• Pricing may be high for small teams.
• Limited to mainstream social networks; does not scan forums or news sites.

Best for: Brands and agencies focused on metrics and bench-marking, especially on Instagram.

4. Later – Instagram & TikTok Insights

Later is primarily a visual content scheduling tool. Its listening suite, focused on Instagram and TikTok, provides concise, actionable insights instead of overwhelming users with excessive data.

Key features

• Brand health & sentiment: Visual dashboards display positive, neutral, and negative mentions.
• Fan identification: Automatically spot top advocates and influencers within your audience.
• Trend discovery: Surface trending topics and hashtags on Instagram and TikTok.
• Competitor watch & progress tracking: Compare your performance to similar accounts over time.

Pros

• User‑friendly interface geared toward visual‑first brands.
• Provides highlights without requiring complex data analysis.

Cons

• Currently limited to Instagram and TikTok; other networks are on the roadmap.
• Enterprise‑level pricing may put it out of reach for small brands.

Best for: Visual brands and creators focused on Instagram and TikTok, seeking quick, digestible listening insights.

5. Brandwatch – Predictive Insights & Unlimited Queries

Brandwatch is an enterprise-level platform with deep analytics and wide data coverage. It monitors over 100 million sources. The platform uses AI to identify trends and predict emerging topics.

Key features

• AI‑driven trend analysis: Identifies emerging topics and patterns in conversations across social and web.
• Custom dashboards & unlimited queries: Build detailed Boolean searches and dashboards tailored to your needs.
• Predictive insights: Forecast how conversations will evolve to inform campaigns.
• Integrations: Connect with Hootsuite, Google Analytics and other social media marketing tools.

Pros

• Powerful analytics ideal for enterprises and data‑driven teams.
• Vast data coverage including social, news, forums and reviews.

Cons

• Premium pricing with a steep learning curve.
• It may be overkill for small organisations.

Best for: Large enterprises and agencies that require advanced analytics, predictive insights, and customisable dashboards.

6. Talkwalker – Visual listening and virality maps

Talkwalker stands out for its visual listening features, which let users analyse text, images, and video. It is the only tool that offers virality maps to show how content spreads across social media platforms. Talkwalker tracks conversations on social media, blogs, forums, and even broadcast media, making it a strong choice for businesses that want detailed multimedia monitoring.

Key features

• Visual recognition: Identify logos and products in images and videos.
• AI‑driven insights & trend detection: Spot emerging topics and shifts in sentiment across multiple channels.
• Virality maps: Visualise how content spreads across platforms.
• Crisis alerts & spike analysis: Receive real‑time notifications when conversation volume or sentiment spikes.

Pros

• Comprehensive coverage, including broadcast TV and podcasts.
• Unique visual‑listening and virality mapping features.

Cons

• Enterprise‑level pricing may not suit small budgets.
• Interface can be complex; training is recommended.

Best for: Brands that need visual content monitoring and global coverage, such as consumer goods, sports, or fashion companies.

7. Meltwater – Media Intelligence & Social Listening

Meltwater combines traditional media monitoring with modern social listening tools. It captures mentions across news, blogs, social channels and podcasts, providing a holistic picture of brand coverage.

Key features

• Cross‑media monitoring: Simultaneously track news, social, broadcast and podcasts.
• Historical data: Access historical conversation data to study trends over time.
• Sentiment & influencer analysis: Understand audience sentiment and identify influential accounts.
• Automated reports: Receive regular reports summarising key metrics.

Pros

• Extensive media and social coverage on one platform.
• Strong reporting and customer support.

Cons

• High price point for smaller businesses.
• Some users report a learning curve when building reports.

Best for: PR teams and enterprises needing cross‑media monitoring and reporting.

8. Mention – Real‑Time Monitoring & Competitive Insights

Mention monitors over 1 billion sources, including social media, blogs, news sites, and forums, for real‑time brand mentions. It emphasises immediacy and competitive analysis.

Key features

• Real‑time alerts: Get instant notifications when your brand is mentioned online.
• Competitor bench-marking: Compare share of voice and sentiment against competitors.
• Influencer identification: Surface influential voices and track engagement.
• Multi‑language support: Monitor conversations in various languages.

Pros

• Wide source coverage and live monitoring.
• Easy‑to‑use dashboard suitable for teams of all sizes.

Cons

• Historical data on lower tiers is limited.
• Complex queries require manual filtering for relevancy.

Best for: Businesses that need real‑time alerts and competitive intelligence without heavy analytics.

9. Keyhole – Hashtag & Volume Forecasting

Keyhole specialises in hashtag and keyword tracking, making it popular for campaign monitoring. It analyses conversations on platforms such as X (Twitter), Instagram and TikTok and provides volume predictions.

Key features

• Enterprise‑grade listening: Monitor hashtags, keywords and influencers across multiple networks.
• Audience insights: Identify who is engaging with your topics and measure sentiment.
• Volume predictions: Predict when posts will go viral to plan content in advance.
• Automated reporting: Export campaign reports with engagement and reach metrics.

Pros

• Intuitive dashboard with real‑time analytics and exports.
• Powerful for measuring campaign hashtags and influencer performance.

Cons

• Limited to data provided by platform APIs; cannot access private groups.
• Pricing may be steep for basic hashtag tracking.

Best for: Marketers running hashtag campaigns, Twitter chats or influencer programs.

10. Awario – Multilingual & Geo‑targeted Listening

Awario offers real‑time monitoring of brand and keyword mentions in any language or location. Its search filters and influencer identification features make it ideal for global brands.

Key features

• Real‑time multilingual monitoring: Track brand and keyword mentions across social and web, regardless of language.
• Influencer & lead identification: Find influential users and potential leads through search filters.
• Sentiment analysis: Gauge positive, negative or neutral tone.
• Email alerts & reports: Receive notifications and export listening data.

Pros

• Supports multilingual and geo‑targeted listening; great for international brands.
• Affordable for small businesses compared with enterprise tools.

Cons

• The user interface may feel dated; customising queries takes practice.
• Lacks some advanced AI‑driven trend predictions found in higher‑end tools.

Best for: SMEs and agencies that need global listening across multiple languages at a reasonable price.

11. Hootsuite – All‑in‑One Management with Basic Listening

Hootsuite is primarily a social management platform, but it offers listening features through customisable streams. Users can set up feeds to track mentions, hashtags and keywords across X, Reddit, news, blogs, and Quora.

Key features

• Stream dashboards: Monitor brand mentions, keywords and hashtags across supported platforms.
• Multi‑network integration: Connect and listen across multiple accounts in one interface.
• Scheduled reporting: Receive trend reports over time.
• Team collaboration: Assign conversations to team members for response.

Pros

• Integrated with Hootsuite’s publishing and engagement tools; convenient for existing users.
• Simple stream setup for quick listening.

Cons

• Limited to recent data and supported platforms; not a dedicated listening tool.
• Advanced listening features require higher‑tier or add‑on plans.

Best for: Teams already using Hootsuite for scheduling and engagement who need lightweight listening.

12. Agorapulse – Custom Filters & Extended History

Agorapulse is a social management suite that includes advanced listening modules. It monitors mentions and keywords across multiple platforms and allows custom search filters.

Key features

• Cross‑platform monitoring: Track mentions and hashtags on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and more.
• Custom search filters: Create precise listening queries to isolate campaign conversations.
• Sentiment tracking & alerts: Receive notifications for sentiment spikes or changes.
• Up to two years of historical data: Analyse trends over longer periods.

Pros

• Integrated with publishing and reporting tools; consolidates social management.
• Provides competitive insights and user‑friendly dashboards.

Cons

• Advanced listening is available only on higher‑tier plans.
• Initial setup may require fine-tuning searches.

Best for: Agencies and social teams wanting an all‑in‑one solution with robust listening and multi‑client management.

13. Sprout Social – AI‑Powered Consumer Insights

Sprout Social combines management and listening with AI assistance. Its platform allows you to build sophisticated listening queries without Boolean logic and surfaces insights with built‑in sentiment and trend analysis.

Key features

• AI‑assisted query builder & crisis alerts: Craft complex queries easily and receive alerts for spikes or crises.
• Consumer research & trend analysis: Identify audience interests and market trends to inform product development.
• Competitive monitoring: Track how competitor content is performing and adjust your strategy accordingly.
• Integrated publishing & engagement: Transition seamlessly from insights to action.

Pros

• Rich AI features make advanced listening accessible without complex query syntax.
• Unified dashboard for listening, publishing and analytics.

Cons

• Premium pricing with listening available as part of custom plans.
• It may offer more functionality than small teams require.

Best for: Medium to large businesses seeking deep insights, crisis management and competitor intelligence within one platform.

14. Dash Social – Visual‑First Listening & Trend Prediction

Dash Social (formerly Dash Hudson) leverages AI to analyse visual content and surface trends. Its listening suite focuses on trending keywords and sentiment across major social platforms and visual content.

Key features

• AI‑powered listening: Tracks keywords, hashtags and competitor mentions with sentiment analysis across Instagram, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and Reddit.
• Visual trend prediction: Uses AI to determine which visuals and keywords resonate with audiences.
• Competitor monitoring: See what your competitors and industry counterparts are sharing.
• User‑friendly interface: Designed for time‑strapped marketers; includes planning, reporting and listening features in one dashboard.

Pros

• Combines content scheduling, reporting and listening; ideal for fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands.
• Provides visual insights that help refine creative assets.

Cons

• The listening module is newer and may be less robust than established tools.
• Enterprise‑level pricing and demo‑based on-boarding.

Best for: Visual‑centric brands (e.g., beauty, fashion, lifestyle) wanting to understand how visuals and keywords influence audience sentiment.

15. ListenFirst – Instagram‑Focused Social Listening

ListenFirst offers analytics and listening across multiple platforms, with a strong emphasis on Instagram. It helps brands analyse conversations to understand what audiences care about most and to track sentiment and visual trends.

Key features

• Instagram conversation analysis: Measure audience engagement and topics generating the most discussions.
• Cross‑platform insights: Aggregate data from Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• Visual trend tracking: Identify visual themes and content trends to inform creative direction.
• Customizable dashboards: Tailor reports to highlight metrics that matter to your team.

Pros

• Strong Instagram analytics coupled with cross‑platform listening.
• Flexible dashboards for different teams (executives vs. analysts).

Cons

• Interface may require training to use effectively.
• Sentiment analysis can be less granular than advanced AI platforms.

Best for: Media, entertainment and visual brands that prioritise Instagram conversations but need cross‑platform insights.

16. Storyclash – Influencer-Centred Listening

Storyclash began as an influencer marketing platform and now offers AI‑powered social listening tools. It tracks mentions, keywords and competitor activity while highlighting content tied to influencers and trends.

Key features

• AI‑powered search: Precisely filter social content by keywords, URLs, images or profiles.
• Influencer tracking: Identify creators talking about your brand and monitor their content.
• Competitor & trend surfacing: See how campaigns perform relative to competitors and surface relevant conversations.
• Campaign integration: Connect listening data with influencer campaign management.

Pros

• Combines influencer discovery with listening, making it perfect for campaign optimisation.
• User‑friendly interface and strong creator search capabilities.

Cons

• Campaign reporting may lack the depth of dedicated analytics tools.
• The messaging section can become cluttered, and some integrations (e.g., Shopify) are missing.

Best for: Brands investing heavily in influencer marketing who want to monitor creator‑driven conversations alongside campaign management.

17. Sprinklr – Comprehensive & Visual Listening

Sprinklr is a customer‑experience management suite with enterprise social listening tools. Its tools monitor over 25 social channels and user‑generated content, recognising visual brand mentions in images and video.

Key features

• Visual & video recognition: Detect logos and products in photos and videos.
• AI‑powered sentiment and intent analysis: Understand customer sentiment and underlying intentions.
• Crisis alerts: Automatically detect unusual spikes in conversation or negative sentiment.
• Enterprise integrations: Connect with CRM, customer care and marketing suites.

Pros

• Extensive data coverage and advanced analytics, including user‑generated content.
• Highly customisable dashboards and workflows to suit large teams.

Cons

• Complex interface with a steep learning curve.
• Premium pricing; support response times vary by user.

Best for: Large enterprises and regulated industries requiring visual monitoring and deep analytics.

18. Reputation (Social Suite) – Unified Listening & Reputation Management

Reputation’s Social Suite provides a unified dashboard for social listening tools, reviews and customer feedback across numerous platforms. It allows brands to monitor and respond to conversations on social networks, video sites and news outlets from one place.

Key features

• Multi‑platform coverage: Listen across Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, YouTube, Vimeo, news sites and RSS feeds.
• Centralised dashboard: Condense feedback and reviews for efficient response.
• Reputation scoring: Integrate social sentiment into overall reputation metrics.
• Engagement tools: Respond to social comments and reviews directly from the platform.

Pros

• Streamlines workflow by combining social listening with review management.
• Ideal for multi‑location businesses needing to monitor cross‑channel feedback.

Cons

• Metrics can be less detailed than those from pure listening tools.
• Excludes some review sites (e.g., Yelp) from monitoring, leaving gaps.

Best for: Brands focused on customer experience and reputation management, particularly in hospitality, retail and healthcare.

19. Mentionlytics – AI‑Driven Monitoring & Social Intelligence

Mentionlytics is an AI‑powered social media monitoring tool that helps businesses track online conversations across social networks, blogs, news sites and forums. It emphasises actionable insights through sentiment analysis, competitor analysis and influencer identification.

Key features

• Sentiment analysis & competitor bench-marking: Assess brand perception and compare with competitors.
• Influencer identification: Highlight key voices driving conversations.
• Social intelligence advisor: AI helper that surfaces important trends and recommendations.
• Multi‑platform coverage: Monitor X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and blogs.

Pros

• User‑friendly interface with efficient customer support.
• Consolidates relevant information, saving social teams time.

Cons

• Learning curve due to the breadth of features; more detailed documentation would help.
• Cannot restrict certain keywords from specific networks.

Best for: Agencies and medium‑sized businesses seeking an accessible yet comprehensive listening solution with AI‑driven insights.

​20. SocialChamp – Real‑time Mentions & Bulk Scheduling

SocialChamp is mainly a social media management platform with modules for social listening and automation. It helps with content scheduling, bulk uploads, and performance analytics. SocialChamp also lets organizations monitor brand mentions and get configurable alerts about relevant online discussions.

Key features

• Alerts and notifications: Real‑time alerts for mentions and keywords across connected social accounts.
• Automated publishing & RSS: Bulk upload posts and integrate RSS feeds to recycle evergreen content.
• Permissions & team controls: Manage user roles, approve posts, and coordinate teams.
• Reporting & analytics: Generate performance reports and export them as PDF; track clicks, likes, comments, and retweets.

Pros

• Combines management and listening on a single platform, making scheduling and monitoring more efficient.
• Affordable entry‑level pricing and a generous free tier for small teams.

Cons

• Listening features are limited to connected accounts; it doesn’t crawl the wider web.
• Some users report occasional scheduling glitches and a less intuitive mobile app (from user reviews).

Best for: Small to mid‑sized teams wanting an all‑in‑one management tool with basic listening capabilities.

Final Thoughts & Choosing the Right Listening Tool

In summary, social listening is essential for any organisation that wants to stay competitive online. Start by figuring out which platforms are most important for your industry, how much detail you need, and which tool fits your current setup and can grow with you. These steps will help you turn social media conversations into valuable insights, guide your strategy, and protect your brand reputation.

• Coverage: Determine whether you need a tool that scans the entire web or one that focuses on specific networks. Tools like Brand24, Talkwalker, and Sprinklr cast the widest net, whereas others specialise in visual platforms or a small set of networks.
• Depth of insights: AI‑powered platforms such as Sprout Social and Brandwatch excel at trend prediction and crisis alerts, while more budget‑friendly tools provide basic sentiment analysis.
• Integration with workflow: If you already use management software like Hootsuite or Agorapulse, their listening modules may be sufficient and cost‑effective. For robust analytics and cross‑media monitoring, consider standalone suites like Meltwater or Dash Social.
• Budget & team size: Startups and SMEs may lean toward affordable options like SocialChamp, Awario, or Mention, whereas large enterprises often require the scalability and customisation of Brandwatch, Sprinklr, or Reputation.

Test free trials and demos to see how each platform finds relevant conversations, how easy it is to use, and how helpful their support team is. Picking a tool that aligns with your marketing goals will help you turn online discussions into actionable insights and create a better customer experience.