Brand24 is often the first listening tool a team buys. The prices are on the page, the trial needs no card, and you can track your brand the same afternoon. For a small team watching a few keywords, that is hard to beat.
Then the account grows, and you hit a wall. It is usually one of five: the mention cap, refresh speed, languages and regional news, mentions inside images and video, or the number of people who need access. Each wall has a different fix, and sometimes the fix is a bigger Brand24 plan.
So this guide is organized by the limit you hit, not by vendor. Find your limit, see which tools remove it and what that costs, then read the full profiles of eight alternatives.
Sources: Brand24 prices, Awario pricing and Scano pricing, checked October 2026.
Which limit did you hit?
Brand24 is a well-liked product. It scores 9 out of 10 on TrustRadius, though from only 26 ratings. Teams rarely leave because it is bad; they leave because their needs grow past the plan they can justify.
Mention cap
Ran out of keywords or mentions. Awario, Mentionlytics and BrandMentions give more room per dollar. See the fixes
Refresh speed
News reaches you hours late. Faster updates cost more almost everywhere. See the fixes
Languages and news
Your audience is not English-first. Scano and Determ cover news; check sentiment on your own samples. See the fixes
Images and video
Your brand appears in photos, stories and clips. Scano, YouScan and Talkwalker read visuals. See the fixes
Team size
More people need access. Several tools include unlimited users. See the fixes
Switching
Worried about losing history? Six steps to move without gaps. Read the steps
Limit 1: Mention caps and keywords
Every Brand24 plan caps both keywords and mentions. According to its pricing page, Individual allows 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions a month. Team allows 7 keywords and 10,000 mentions, Pro 12 and 40,000, and Business 25 and 100,000.
Seven keywords go fast. Your brand, two product names and four competitors, and you are full. Add a campaign or a crisis week and the mention cap becomes the next wall.
Here is what roughly the same budget buys elsewhere. Prices are per month on annual billing, from each vendor's pricing page.
| Plan | Price / mo | Mentions / month | Keywords or topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand24 Team | $299 | 10,000 | 7 keywords |
| Brand24 Pro | $399 | 40,000 | 12 keywords |
| Awario Starter | $29 | 30,000 new | 3 topics |
| Awario Pro | $89 | 300,000 new | 15 topics |
| Mentionlytics Advanced | $299 | 50,000 | 15 keywords |
| BrandMentions Pro | $249 | 30,000 | 20 keywords |
| Determ Command | $416 | 10,000 | 10 topics |
| Scano Starter | $417 | 10,000 | 5 themes |
| Scano Professional | $1,097 | 150,000 | 15 themes |
A "topic" or "theme" can hold many keywords, so the columns are not one-to-one. Compare plans at the volume you actually need, such as 10,000 or 50,000 a month, not at the cheapest tier.
Tools that fix it: Awario for the most mentions per dollar, Mentionlytics and BrandMentions for Brand24-style self-serve with bigger middle plans. If you stay on English social media, Brand24 Pro may be the simplest fix.
Limit 2: Refresh speed
On Brand24, how often new mentions arrive depends on what you pay. Individual updates every 12 hours, Team every hour, and real-time updates start on Pro at $399 a month billed annually. Reviewers on TrustRadius list having to pay more for faster updates among their complaints.
For a comms team, a 12-hour delay can mean hearing about a story after your CEO does. The catch is that the self-serve alternatives use the same model.
| Tool | Slowest plan | Faster updates from |
|---|---|---|
| Brand24 | Every 12 hours (Individual) | Hourly on Team, $299/mo; real time on Pro, $399/mo |
| Mentionlytics | Every 12 hours (Basic) | Every 6 hours on Essential, $169/mo; continuous on Advanced, $299/mo |
| BrandMentions | Daily (Starter) | Hourly on Pro, $249/mo; real time on Expert, $399/mo |
Sources: Brand24, Mentionlytics, BrandMentions. Annual billing.
Tools that fix it: if speed is your only problem, price the faster tier of the tool you know first. If you need to hear about spikes without watching a feed, look for alerts. Scano sends spike signals when volume or negativity jumps, plus a daily digest each morning, to email and Telegram.
Limit 3: Languages and regional news
Most self-serve tools are built around keyword search in text. That works well for English social media. It works less well when your audience reads regional news in local languages or talks in Telegram channels.
Sentiment is the other gap. Reviewers on TrustRadius raise sentiment accuracy as an issue. In languages other than English, check sentiment on your own samples before you trust any dashboard.
Tools that fix it:
- Scano covers news sites, social networks, messengers, blogs, forums and reviews across 1M+ sources in 20+ languages. It is strongest in Türkiye, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Gulf, and covers Telegram channels and VK. Sentiment uses dedicated models for English, Turkish, Arabic, Russian, Kazakh, Persian, Hebrew and French.
- Determ puts news sites and social media in one tool, with an archive back to 2020.
- Talkwalker is the enterprise option, though reviewers ask for better forum coverage in non-English markets.
If you are new to the category, our guide to media monitoring vs social listening explains which job each tool type does.
Limit 4: Images and video
Many brand mentions never appear as text. Your name sits on a story slide or a creator says it out loud in a video. A keyword search cannot find that.
Tools that fix it:
- Scano uses OCR to read text in images and video frames, and speech-to-text to transcribe what people say in videos and stories, including Telegram video notes. See Visual Insights.
- YouScan offers Visual Insights, but on its quote-only Unlimited plan, not on Starter.
- Talkwalker lists image and video recognition, with quote-only pricing.
To test this fairly, find a branded photo or story and see whether each tool picks it up without a text mention. Our guide to image and video monitoring shows what to look for.
Limit 5: Team size
Brand24 Individual has a single user. Team and the plans above it allow unlimited users, so if this is your only wall, upgrading inside Brand24 fixes it.
Some alternatives are tighter on seats than Brand24 Team, which changes the real price once clients or colleagues need access.
| Tool | Users on entry plan | Room for a team |
|---|---|---|
| Brand24 | 1 (Individual) | Unlimited from Team, $299/mo |
| Awario | 1 (Starter) | 10 on Pro, unlimited on Enterprise |
| Mentionlytics | 2 (Basic) | 10 on Essential, unlimited from Advanced |
| BrandMentions | 1 (Starter) | 2 on Pro, 10 on Expert |
| Determ | Unlimited | Every plan |
| YouScan | Unlimited | Every plan |
| Talkwalker | Unlimited on Core | Quote-only |
| Scano | Unlimited | Every plan, plus iOS and Android apps |
Tools that fix it: Scano, Determ and YouScan include unlimited users on every plan. Talkwalker's Core plan does too.
The 8 tools in detail
Scano comes first because it is ours; we hold it to the same standard as the rest.
1. Scano
Scano is an AI media monitoring and social listening platform. It is the step up for teams whose coverage lives in news, in several languages, and inside images and video.
Features
- News plus social in one feed, including Telegram channels and VK alongside Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
- Image and video monitoring: OCR for text in images and video frames, and speech-to-text for videos and stories.
- AI sentiment with dedicated models for eight languages, including Turkish, Arabic and Russian.
- AI Analyst: ask questions about your mentions in plain language and get answers that link to the source posts.
- Daily digest and spike signals to email and Telegram.
- 13 analytics reports, theme comparison and share of voice, with exports to Excel, Word and PDF and scheduled reports on your template.
- Smart tags that classify mentions automatically.
- Unlimited users on every plan, plus iOS and Android apps.
Pricing
Prices are public on scano.me/price. Annual billing saves 15%.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Themes | Mentions / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $490 | $417/mo | 5 | 10,000 |
| Professional | $1,290 | $1,097/mo | 15 | 150,000 |
| Business | $2,290 | $1,947/mo | 25 | 500,000 |
| Enterprise | from $3,900 | from $3,315/mo | 40+ | 1,000,000+ |
Archive collection (history backfill) covers 6 months on Professional and 12 months on Business.
Downsides
- No print, TV or radio monitoring, and no journalist contact database or press release distribution. Scano builds a journalist directory from bylines, but you bring your own contacts.
- Mention caps are hard limits: you top up or upgrade when you reach them. There are no surprise overage bills, but Starter's 10,000 mentions fill fast for a busy brand.
- A smaller review footprint than the big suites, so you will rely more on your own trial.
Best for: PR and marketing teams and agencies that need news and social coverage in several languages, including mentions inside images and video, at a published price.
2. Awario
Awario is the budget alternative. It gives far more mentions per dollar than Brand24, and the trial needs no card.
Features
- Monitoring of social media, news, blogs, forums and the web, with sentiment and reach
- Sales-lead finding from social conversations
- Unlimited keywords inside each topic, and Boolean search on all plans
- Up to 1,000,000 new mentions a month on the top plan
Pricing (awario.com/pricing): Starter costs $49 a month, or $29 billed annually, for 3 topics, 30,000 new mentions and 1 user. Pro costs $149, or $89 billed annually, for 15 topics, 300,000 mentions and 10 users. Enterprise costs $399, or $249 billed annually, for 100 topics, 1,000,000 mentions and unlimited users.
Downsides
- Stored history is capped per topic: 5,000 mentions on Starter, 15,000 on Pro and 50,000 on Enterprise.
- Starter has a single user, so a team needs Pro.
- The pricing page's FAQ says data export is for Pro and Enterprise only.
Best for: solo marketers and small teams that hit Brand24's mention caps and want the cheapest way past them.
3. Mention
Mention is a long-running listening tool that Agorapulse bought in 2025. It now sells one plan for companies.
Features
- Monitoring of Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube and the web
- Review monitoring across 75+ review sites
- Sentiment, competitor benchmarking and share of voice
- A dedicated account manager and custom onboarding
Pricing: The pricing page lists a single Company plan with no price figure. Yearly billing gives two months free, and you can start a free trial.
Downsides
- No public price, so you cannot compare costs without talking to sales.
- Historical data is a paid add-on, not part of the plan.
- Its publishing and reply features are being retired after the Agorapulse deal.
Best for: teams already on Agorapulse, or teams that want review-site monitoring in the same tool.
4. Determ
Determ, formerly Mediatoolkit, is a Croatian monitoring tool for news and social media with unlimited users and keywords.
Features
- Monitoring of news sites and social media
- AI features on every plan
- Unlimited users and keywords
- Archive back to 2020
Pricing (determ.com/pricing): Expand costs $299 a month, or $249 billed yearly, for 5 topics and 5,000 mentions. Command costs $499, or $416 billed yearly, for 10 topics and 10,000 mentions. The trial lasts 5 days, or 14 days after a demo.
Downsides
- Mention caps are low: 5,000 a month on Expand, half of Brand24 Team at a similar price.
- Only 3 months of history by default.
- A short self-serve trial.
Best for: small comms teams that want news and social in one simple tool, with many users.
5. YouScan
YouScan is a social listening platform known for visual analytics, which finds brands and scenes in images.
Features
- AI sentiment and trend detection
- Insights Copilot, an AI assistant for questions about your mentions
- Visual Insights and Audience Insights on the top plan
- Unlimited users
Pricing: Starter 3 costs $499 a month, billed annually only, for 3 topics, 15,000 mentions a month and 10 Copilot questions a month. The Unlimited plan, with API, Visual Insights and Audience Insights, is quote-only. There is a demo, not a self-serve trial.
Downsides
- Image recognition sits on the quote-only top plan, not on Starter.
- Annual billing only, and 3 topics is tight for a brand plus competitors.
- No media database or press release tools.
Best for: marketing and insights teams that care most about social media and visual brand presence.
6. Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics is a self-serve monitoring tool with a price ladder close to Brand24's. It pairs keyword monitoring with tracking of your own social profiles.
Features
- Keyword monitoring across web and social, plus your own social profiles (10 on Basic)
- AI emotion analysis from Advanced, and AI mention clustering from Pro
- Customizable reports from Pro
- 14-day free trial with no credit card
Pricing (mentionlytics.com/pricing), billed yearly: Basic is $49 a month as a limited-time offer (was $69) for 3 keywords, 5,000 mentions and 2 users. Essential is $169 for 10 keywords and 15,000 mentions. Advanced is $299 for 15 keywords and 50,000 mentions, and Pro is $499 for 25 keywords and 100,000. Business costs $749 for 40+ keywords and 200,000+ mentions, and Enterprise starts at $1,299.
Downsides
- Like Brand24, refresh speed depends on the plan: continuous updates start on Advanced.
- Historical data and extended review monitoring are add-ons.
- The $49 Basic price is marked as a limited-time offer.
Best for: small teams that want Brand24-style self-serve pricing with more mentions on the middle plans.
7. BrandMentions
BrandMentions is a web and social monitoring tool with generous keyword limits and published prices.
Features
- Web and social media monitoring with AI sentiment
- Multilingual AI sentiment and an AI assistant from Pro
- Boolean search from Expert
- API access and full historical data on Enterprise
Pricing (brandmentions.com/pricing): Starter costs $99 a month billed quarterly, or $79 billed annually, for 5 keywords, 5,000 mentions and 1 user. Pro costs $299, or $249 billed annually, for 20 keywords and 30,000 mentions. Expert costs $499, or $399 billed annually, for 50 keywords, 75,000 mentions and 10 users. Enterprise starts at $1,299, or $1,099 billed annually. Paid plans have a 7-day free trial.
Downsides
- Starter updates once a day and keeps 3 months of history; Pro keeps 6 months and Expert 12.
- Seats are tight: 1 user on Starter, 2 on Pro.
- Boolean search, which most teams need for clean results, starts on Expert.
Best for: teams that need many keywords at a mid-range price and can live with seat limits.
8. Talkwalker (by Hootsuite)
Talkwalker is an enterprise social listening platform that Hootsuite agreed to acquire in 2024. It is the big step up from Brand24, in both depth and price.
Features
- Social listening with AI sentiment and trend detection
- Image and video recognition
- Alerts and historical data on higher plans
- Unlimited users on the Core plan
Pricing: Quote-only across Core, Analyze and Business plans (pricing page), with no free trial. Vendr reports a median of $13,298 a year.
Downsides
- Reviewers on TrustRadius call it "pretty expensive" and "hard to master."
- Reviewers ask for better forum coverage in non-English markets.
- Sales-led buying with an annual contract, the opposite of Brand24's self-serve model.
Best for: larger social teams already on Hootsuite with an enterprise budget. For more options at this tier, see our Talkwalker alternatives guide.
Prices and plans checked October 2026. Vendr figures are buyer-reported medians, not list prices.
How to switch without losing history
Your mention history is your reporting baseline. Plan the move so next month's report can still compare.
- Export before your plan ends. Download your mentions and the reports you send most often. Note your renewal date so you are not billed for another period.
- Copy your queries. Save every keyword, exclusion and competitor you track. They are the hardest thing to rebuild from memory.
- Check how far back the new tool goes. History differs a lot: Determ's archive reaches back to 2020, while BrandMentions keeps 3 to 12 months by plan and Mention sells history as an add-on. Scano collects 6 months of archive on Professional and 12 on Business.
- Run both tools for the same week. Pick a week you know well, such as a launch, and count which key articles and posts each tool finds.
- Check your languages and visuals. Read 20 mentions per language and judge the sentiment. Then look for a branded photo or story with no caption.
- Rebuild one real report. Time it, and check you could send it to a manager or client without rework. Then cancel the old plan.
Free options and trials
No free tool replaces Brand24. Google Alerts is a useful free backstop for news, blogs and the web, in the language and region you pick. But it has no social media, no sentiment, no reports, and it cannot read images or video.
We found no free plan on the pricing pages of the tools above. What you can get for free is a trial:
- Brand24: 14 days, no card needed.
- Mentionlytics: 14 days, no card needed.
- BrandMentions: 7 days on paid plans.
- Awario: a free trial with no card needed.
- Determ: 5 days, or 14 days after a demo.
- Scano: a trial workspace on your own brand after a short demo.
The upgrade path in one view
For simple news and social tracking with many users, look at Determ. For an enterprise listening contract, compare Talkwalker and YouScan. And if your only problem is volume on English social media, a bigger Brand24 plan may be the simplest step.
Scano is not the cheapest step from Brand24. It is the one that widens what you can see: regional news, local-language sentiment, and brand mentions that never appear as text. Every plan includes unlimited users, and the prices are public.
Book a Scano demo and we'll set up a trial workspace on your own brand and competitors, so you can run it side by side with Brand24 for the same week.
FAQs
What are the best Brand24 alternatives?
It depends on the limit you hit. Awario is the budget pick for more mentions. Mentionlytics and BrandMentions are close self-serve alternatives. Determ suits small comms teams, YouScan and Talkwalker suit social teams with bigger budgets, and Scano suits teams that need news and multilingual coverage, including images and video.
Is Scano cheaper than Brand24?
No. At 10,000 mentions a month, Scano Starter costs $417 a month billed annually, and Brand24 Team costs $299. The extra buys regional news in local languages, Telegram and VK, image and video monitoring, and dedicated sentiment models for languages such as Turkish, Arabic and Russian.
What is the cheapest alternative to Brand24?
Awario starts at $29 a month billed annually for 3 topics and 30,000 new mentions, with 1 user. Mentionlytics Basic is $49 a month billed yearly as a limited-time offer, and BrandMentions Starter is $79 a month billed annually.
Does Brand24 have a free plan?
No. Brand24 offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. After that, plans start at $199 a month billed annually for 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions.