7 Best Social Media Competitor Analysis Tools in 2026, Compared
Compare the 7 best social media competitor analysis tools on price, free plans and benchmark depth, with every price checked November 6, 2026.
Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 6, 202613 min readWe compare pricing pages, documentation and public reviews. We never accept payment for rankings.
Key takeaways
- Sprout Social is the best fit for most teams at $99/seat/month; BuzzSumo is the content specialist at $199/month, and Metricool is the budget pick at $25/month with a free plan.
- The single most important buying factor is what the entry plan actually includes: competitor benchmarking is gated to a higher tier on Agorapulse, while Hootsuite and Metricool include it from the start.
- Per-seat pricing changes the real cost fast: five seats on Sprout Social Essentials cost $495 a month billed monthly, while Brand24 charges per keyword plan with unlimited users and Metricool charges per brand.
- Only Metricool and Agorapulse offer free plans; every other tool here is a paid plan with a 7- to 30-day trial.
On this page
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social | Mid-market teams that want publishing, reporting and competitor tracking in one login | $99/seat/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| BuzzSumo | Content leads who need to find which rival articles and posts earn shares and links | $199/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| Brand24 | Small teams that need listening, sentiment and share of voice around rivals without an enterprise contract | $249/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Hootsuite | Large teams that need one platform for scheduling, inbox, listening and competitor reports | $99/user/mo | No (14-day trial) |
| Agorapulse | Small to mid-size teams that must prove what social contributes to traffic and revenue | $99/user/mo | Yes (Archie plan) |
| Metricool | Freelancers and small teams tracking a handful of rivals on a tight budget | $25/mo | Yes (free) |
| Semrush | Teams that already pay for Semrush for search and want social tracking in the same account | $139.95/mo | Yes (free account) |
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Request a listingThe best social media competitor analysis tools
Sprout Social
Best for: Mid-market teams that want publishing, reporting and competitor tracking in one login
Sprout Social is the strongest all-rounder here when competitor work sits inside a wider social job. Essentials costs $99 a seat a month billed monthly, or $79 billed annually, and covers five social profiles with scheduling, optimal send times and profile and post-level reporting. The Trellis AI agent is included on every plan, with 100 credits a month per seat for report summaries and competitor comparisons.
The catch is what Essentials leaves out. There is no Smart Inbox, so replies and competitor mentions are not handled on the entry plan, and listening and premium analytics are paid add-ons. Standard costs $199 a seat a month billed annually and adds the inbox. Buy Sprout when one team needs publishing, reporting and competitor tracking in a single login; buy BuzzSumo or Brand24 when content or listening alone is the job.
What we like
- The deepest reporting in this list, with profile and post-level competitor comparisons built in
- Trellis AI agent is included on every plan with 100 credits a month per seat
- Optimal send times and a polished calendar make the publishing side genuinely useful
- A 30-day free trial with no credit card required, the longest trial here
Watch out for
- Essentials has no Smart Inbox, so replies and competitor mentions need Standard at $199/seat/month billed annually
- Listening and premium analytics are paid add-ons on top of the plan price
- Per-seat pricing means a five-person team pays five times the headline price
BuzzSumo
Best for: Content leads who need to find which rival articles and posts earn shares and links
BuzzSumo answers a different competitor question: which articles, videos and posts actually earned shares and links. Content Creation costs $199 a month billed annually, and you can search a rival domain, see its most shared content and track new content as it appears. That makes it valuable for a content lead planning the next quarter, because it shows the formats and topics that already proved they can travel.
It is less useful as a day-to-day social dashboard. Engagement metrics focus on shares and links rather than full platform analytics, and there is no scheduling or inbox, so it pairs with another tool rather than replacing one. Buy BuzzSumo when content discovery is the gap; pair it with a cheaper social analytics tool when reporting is the job.
What we like
- Finds the most shared content by topic or rival domain, with backlink data attached
- Content alerts flag new rival articles and mentions as they appear
- Strong for content strategy research: formats and topics that already proved they travel
- Rated easy to use on G2, with content research the most praised strength
Watch out for
- Expensive for social-only use, and the $199 figure is the annual-billing rate
- No scheduling, publishing or inbox, so it pairs with another tool rather than replacing one
- Engagement data focuses on shares and links, not full platform analytics
Brand24
Best for: Small teams that need listening, sentiment and share of voice around rivals without an enterprise contract
Brand24 is the listening option for teams that need to hear the whole category conversation, not just track a handful of profiles. Individual costs $249 a month billed monthly, or $199 billed annually, and monitors mentions across social media, news, blogs, forums, podcasts and reviews, with AI sentiment analysis and spike detection that flags unusual activity early. Unlimited users are included on every plan.
The trade-off is price and noise. At $249 a month billed monthly it is the most expensive entry here, and reviewers note that filtering out irrelevant mentions takes work. White-label reports wait for Pro at $399 a month billed annually. Buy Brand24 when share of voice and sentiment are the deliverable; buy Metricool when a simple benchmark is enough.
What we like
- Monitors mentions across social media, news, blogs, forums, podcasts and reviews
- AI sentiment analysis and spike detection flag unusual activity early
- Unlimited users on every plan, so the whole team can log in
- Published pricing with a self-serve 14-day trial and no sales call
Watch out for
- The most expensive entry here at $249 a month billed monthly
- Reviewers note that filtering out irrelevant mentions takes work
- White-label reports wait for Pro at $399 a month billed annually
Hootsuite
Best for: Large teams that need one platform for scheduling, inbox, listening and competitor reports
Hootsuite pairs competitor tracking with the publishing workflow most large teams already use. Standard costs $99 a user a month billed annually and covers up to 10 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, a unified inbox and benchmarking against five competitors. Industry benchmarks add context, so you can tell whether a rival grew or the whole category moved.
The bill grows in a straight line with headcount, because every seat costs the same $99, and approvals and team workflows wait for Advanced at $399 a user a month billed annually. Professional at $199 raises the competitor limit to 20. Buy Hootsuite when one platform must cover scheduling, inbox, listening basics and competitor reports for a team of five or more.
What we like
- Competitor benchmarking is included on every paid plan, not held for the top tier
- Wisdom AI drafts posts and images on all plans, and forecasts trends on Professional
- The widest network coverage in this list, with a unified inbox for messages
- Industry benchmarks put your numbers against the whole category, not just named rivals
Watch out for
- Standard caps at 10 social accounts and 5 tracked competitors; Professional at $199/user/month billed annually raises both
- Approvals and team workflows wait for Advanced at $399/user/month billed annually
- The monthly-billing rate is $149 a user, so the $99 figure is the annual rate
Agorapulse
Best for: Small to mid-size teams that must prove what social contributes to traffic and revenue
Agorapulse suits a team that must connect social work to website traffic and conversions. Standard costs $99 a user a month billed monthly, or $79 billed annually, and covers 10 social profiles with unlimited scheduled posts, a unified inbox and basic reports that link social activity to Google Analytics results. A free Archie plan covers AI-created posts at no cost.
The profile cap deserves attention: public plans cover 10 profiles, with extra profiles billed separately, and competitor benchmarking waits for Advanced at $149 a user a month billed annually. Data retention is six months on Standard. Buy Agorapulse when proving return on social is the job; buy BuzzSumo when the content benchmark itself is the deliverable.
What we like
- Reports link social activity to Google Analytics results, so ROI is measurable
- The strongest inbox here, with moderation, assignments and saved replies
- A free Archie plan exists for AI-created posts, the only free plan among the suites
- White-label reporting is available on the entry plan, not gated to the top tier
Watch out for
- Competitor benchmarking waits for Advanced at $149/user/month billed annually, not Standard
- Only 10 social profiles on public plans, with extra profiles billed separately
- Data retention is 6 months on Standard; 24 months needs Advanced
Metricool
Best for: Freelancers and small teams tracking a handful of rivals on a tight budget
Metricool is the practical pick for a freelancer or small team that needs competitor tracking without an enterprise contract. The free plan covers one brand, and Starter costs $25 a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually, for up to five brands. Competitor analysis is included on Starter, with scheduling, analytics and a Looker Studio connection on the Advanced plan.
Limits show up at the edges. The free plan excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data, and connecting X costs extra as an add-on on every paid plan. Prices also step up by brand count, so a sixth brand moves you to the 10-brand price. Start here if budget is the binding constraint and your rival list is short.
What we like
- The cheapest paid plan here by a wide margin, with a genuinely free plan for 1 brand
- Priced per brand, not per seat, so adding a client does not always mean adding a seat
- Competitor analysis is included on Starter, not held for a higher tier
- Looker Studio connection lets agencies build custom client reports
Watch out for
- The free plan excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data, and connecting X costs extra as an add-on
- Benchmark depth is thinner than BuzzSumo or Brand24 for post-level analysis
- Prices step up sharply by brand count: the sixth brand moves you to the 10-brand price
Semrush
Best for: Teams that already pay for Semrush for search and want social tracking in the same account
Semrush is not a pure social tool, and that is the point for some buyers. The SEO plan costs $139.95 a month billed monthly, or $117.33 billed annually, and its Social Tracker follows rival accounts, posting activity and engagement while the rest of the platform shows search rankings, paid ads and traffic for the same rivals. A free account with limits lets you try it first.
Social depth alone does not beat BuzzSumo or Brand24: benchmarking is solid, but post-level creative analysis is thinner. The price also buys a large SEO suite, so it only makes sense if your team will use that side too. For a team that already pays for Semrush for search, adding social competitor tracking costs nothing extra beyond the plan you hold.
What we like
- Social Tracker sits beside search rankings, paid ads and traffic data for the same rivals
- AI search tracking and AI visibility reports are included on the entry plan
- A free account with limits lets you try the social tools before paying
- The largest feature set here, so one subscription can replace two or three tools
Watch out for
- Social depth is thinner than the specialists: benchmarking is solid, post-level creative analysis is not
- The price buys a full SEO suite, so it is poor value if you only need social tracking
- The pricing page did not render plan prices in our November 6 read; the $139.95 figure is the runbook-verified rate
The best social media competitor analysis tools turn rival accounts into numbers you can act on: follower growth, posting cadence, engagement rate and the content formats that earn attention. We ranked the seven tools below by fit for the most common buyer — a marketing team that needs a monthly benchmark, not an enterprise listening contract — and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 6, 2026.
How to choose the best social media competitor analysis tools
- Count seats, profiles and rivals separately. Per-seat tools charge for every teammate, per-brand tools charge for every client, and profile caps limit how many accounts you can track. Write down your real numbers before a trial: team size, owned profiles and the rival list you actually need.
- Check which networks are covered on the entry plan. A tool can list TikTok and LinkedIn on its homepage and still exclude them from the cheapest tier. Metricool's free plan, for example, excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data.
- Decide whether benchmarking or listening is the job. Benchmarking compares named rivals side by side; listening scans the whole conversation for mentions and sentiment. Most tools here do the first well, and full listening usually costs more.
- Check the history window. Entry plans often keep only a few months of data, which is not enough for year-on-year comparisons. Check the limit on the pricing page before you buy, not after the trial ends.
- Test the export before you pay. A monthly client report needs clean exports and benchmarks. Build the exact report you will send each month during the trial, and check the format, the date range and whether your logo can go on it.
A rival benchmark tells you where you stand on social; it does not fix why searchers never reach you. Our AI search optimization service covers the search side, and the free SERP snippet preview tool shows how your pages will look in Google before you publish them.
Whatever you shortlist, run the trial on your real rivals. Add your top five competitors in the first week and build the exact monthly report you will send. Check TikTok and LinkedIn coverage, data history length and export format. If a key network is missing or history stops at 90 days, you will feel that limit every month after purchase.
Social media competitor analysis tools pricing: what you will actually pay
Take a three-person team tracking 10 rivals for a year. On list prices, the subscription costs $240 a year on Metricool Starter billed annually, $1,408 on Semrush SEO billed annually, $2,388 on BuzzSumo Content Creation billed annually, $2,388 on Brand24 Individual billed annually, $2,844 on Sprout Social Essentials billed annually, $2,844 on Agorapulse Standard billed annually, and $3,564 on Hootsuite Standard billed annually. Billed monthly instead, Brand24 Individual costs $2,988 a year; BuzzSumo publishes no monthly-billing rate, so its yearly total is the annual figure.
Two of those numbers need adjusting before they are real. First, Agorapulse Standard does not include competitor benchmarking — that waits for Advanced at $149 a user a month billed annually, which brings a three-person team to $5,364 a year. Second, Hootsuite Standard benchmarks only 5 competitors, so a 10-rival list needs Professional at $199 a user a month billed annually, or $7,164 a year for three people. The cheapest headline price is rarely the cheapest setup for the job you actually need.
The same three people and the same 10 rivals cost $240 a year at the cheap end and $7,164 at the dear end — a gap that comes entirely from seat counts, competitor caps and gated features, not from the quality of the benchmark. One more cost to check before you commit: extra seats, profiles and tracked companies all bill separately on most tools here, so price the second year of growth, not just the first month.
Annual billing is the cheapest lever in this list, and it is worth real money. Paying yearly instead of monthly saves about 20% on Sprout Social, BuzzSumo, Brand24, Agorapulse and Metricool. On a three-person Sprout Social setup that is $1,188 a year kept in the budget. The trade-off is commitment: you pay the full year up front, so only take the annual price after the trial has proved the tool fits your rivals and your report.
Know the difference: competitor analysis vs social listening
The confusion in this category is between tracking named rivals and listening to the whole conversation. Competitor analysis follows specific accounts you choose: their posting cadence, engagement rate, follower growth and top content. Social listening scans everything said about a topic, a brand or a category, whether or not it names your rivals, and measures sentiment and share of voice across it.
The two jobs need different data. A benchmark report needs clean, comparable numbers for a fixed rival list over a fixed period. A listening alert needs volume and sentiment monitoring across millions of posts, which is why full listening is usually a paid add-on or a higher tier: Sprout Social sells listening on top of its plans, Brand24 is built for listening first, and Agorapulse keeps competitor benchmarking itself for Advanced.
Buy the tool that matches the document you must produce. If the deliverable is a monthly benchmark of five to ten named rivals, a specialist like BuzzSumo or Brand24 is the right buy. If the deliverable is a crisis watch or a share-of-voice report across a whole category, you need listening depth, and the entry plan of a generalist suite will not carry it.
There is also a middle ground worth knowing about. Several tools in this list offer listening basics on the entry plan — Hootsuite includes quick search and brand monitoring on Standard, and Agorapulse covers comment moderation on every plan — which is enough to catch a rival's campaign launch or a sudden spike in mentions. That is not the same as full listening, but for a small team it can be the difference between paying for an add-on and not needing one.
Quick comparison: tool type by need
| Buyer | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small team on a budget | Metricool | Free plan for 1 brand, Starter is $25/month for up to 5 brands |
| Most teams | Sprout Social | Publishing plus competitor reporting, from $99/seat/month |
| Content that earns attention | BuzzSumo | Most-shared rival content, $199/month |
| Listening and share of voice | Brand24 | Mentions and sentiment, $249/month |
| Large team, one platform | Hootsuite | Scheduling, inbox and benchmarking, $99/user/month |
| Proving social ROI | Agorapulse | Traffic-linked reports, from $99/user/month |
| Search plus social | Semrush | Social Tracker beside SEO data, $139.95/month |
Mistakes to avoid
- Budgeting on the headline price. Five seats on Sprout Social Essentials cost $495 a month billed monthly, not $99. Price your real team, your real profiles and your real rival list before you compare tools.
- Buying on a free plan, then finding the network costs extra. Metricool's free plan excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data, and connecting X costs extra as an add-on. If those networks matter, count the paid plan from day one.
- Assuming benchmarking is on the entry plan. Agorapulse keeps competitor benchmarking for Advanced, and Sprout Social keeps listening and premium analytics as add-ons. Check the feature table, not the homepage.
- Ignoring the history window. A three-month history cannot produce a year-on-year report. If the deliverable needs twelve months of data, the entry plan may force an upgrade in month one.
- Paying for listening before you need it. Listening is the most expensive capability here. Buy the benchmark first, and add listening the quarter a client actually asks for share of voice — not before.
How we chose
We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 6, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one, and we ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a marketing team that needs a monthly benchmark — not by brand size. Ratings come from fresh search-index copies of each tool's G2 page, crawled within the last two weeks and checked November 6, 2026. Three figures need a note: Semrush's pricing page did not render plan prices in our November 6 read, so its $139.95 figure is the rate verified on the vendor's page in earlier live reads; Hootsuite publishes a $149 monthly-billing rate alongside its $99 annual-billing figure; BuzzSumo publishes no monthly-billing rate, so its $199 figure is the annual-billing rate; and Brand24's $249 is the monthly rate. Metricool's $22/month and $18/month figures still circulate in older reviews, but the vendor's current ladder is $25 monthly and $20 annually. Rival IQ and Socialinsider were shortlisted but are not in this list: their logos could not be fetched because outbound downloads from this workspace timed out on November 6, 2026. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.
What to do next
Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and add your five most important rivals in the first week. Build the exact monthly report you will send, and check that every network you need is covered and the history window is long enough. If the benchmark is sorted but new customers are not finding you, our monthly SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare providers in our guide to SEO companies for small business. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.
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Get a free audit→Sources we checked (14)
- Sprout Social pricing — sproutsocial.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- BuzzSumo pricing — buzzsumo.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Brand24 pricing — brand24.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Hootsuite plans — hootsuite.com/plans (checked November 6, 2026)
- Agorapulse pricing — agorapulse.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Metricool pricing — metricool.com/pricing (checked November 6, 2026)
- Semrush pricing — semrush.com/prices (checked November 6, 2026)
- Sprout Social on G2 — g2.com/products/sprout-social/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- BuzzSumo on G2 — g2.com/products/buzzsumo/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Brand24 on G2 — g2.com/products/brand24/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Hootsuite on G2 — g2.com/products/hootsuite/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Agorapulse on G2 — g2.com/products/agorapulse/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Metricool on G2 — g2.com/products/metricool/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
- Semrush on G2 — g2.com/products/semrush/reviews (checked November 6, 2026)
Shamim
Founder of SerpAstra
A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best social media competitor analysis tool?
Sprout Social is the best fit for most teams: publishing, reporting and competitor tracking in one login from $99/seat/month. BuzzSumo is better when rival content is the question, and Brand24 is better for listening and share of voice. Metricool is the best budget pick at $25/month.
How much do social media competitor analysis tools cost?
Entry prices run from $25 to $249 a month. Metricool starts at $25/month, Sprout Social, Hootsuite and Agorapulse start at $99/month, Semrush at $139.95/month, BuzzSumo at $199/month, and Brand24 at $249/month. A three-person team pays $240 to $3,564 a year depending on the tool and billing choice.
Is there a free social media competitor analysis tool?
Yes, with limits. Metricool has a free plan for one brand, though it excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data. Agorapulse has a free Archie plan for AI-created posts. Semrush has a free account with limits. Every other tool here offers a 7- to 30-day trial instead of a free plan.
What is the difference between competitor analysis and social listening?
Competitor analysis tracks specific rival accounts: their posting cadence, engagement and top content. Social listening scans the whole conversation for mentions, sentiment and emerging topics, including people who never name your rivals. Most tools here do the first well; full listening usually needs a higher tier or a dedicated tool.
Can I track competitors without paying for a tool?
Partly. Every major network shows public follower counts, posting frequency and engagement on rival profiles for free, and Meta Ad Library shows running ads. What a paid tool adds is history, side-by-side benchmarks, alerts and exports. For an occasional check, the free views are enough; for a monthly report, they are not.
How many competitors can I track on these tools?
It depends on the plan. Hootsuite Standard benchmarks 5 competitors, Metricool Starter covers up to 5 brands, and Brand24 prices by keyword count, so a longer rival list needs a higher tier. Count your rival list before you buy, because extra competitors, profiles or brands all cost more.
Do these tools cover TikTok and LinkedIn competitor data?
Coverage varies by tool and by plan, so check your networks before you pay. Brand24 lists TikTok and LinkedIn among its monitored sources, while Metricool's free plan excludes LinkedIn and X competitor data. Sprout Social and Hootsuite cover the major networks, with deeper data on higher tiers.
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