You're scrolling through social media, and there's your competitor getting roasted in the comments. Meanwhile, your brand? Radio silence. But here's the thing—you'd never know any of this was happening unless you're actively listening.
That's where social listening tools come in, and honestly, you can't ignore them anymore. But with so many social media monitoring tools out there, how do you pick the right one? We've done the heavy lifting and ranked the top social listening software for 2025.
Here's why social media listening platforms are more important than ever:
The conversation volume is overwhelming
Trends on social media now "appear and disappear in the blink of an eye", and there's no way you can manually keep up. These tools scan millions of posts daily and surface only the stuff that matters to your brand.
Competitive intel that's useful
You're not just listening to chatter about your own brand—you're getting insight into how people really feel about your competitors. Spot their weaknesses, find market gaps, and improve your approach with better solutions.
You get insights that help
While basic monitoring shows you mentions, social listening digs into the why behind those mentions. It analyzes sentiment, spots themes, and turns all that data into strategic intelligence that helps you make better decisions.
Crisis management that's proactive
One viral post can damage your brand in hours, but the right social media monitoring and tracking software gives you early warning alerts so you can address issues before they escalate.
How we ranked these social listening tools
We looked at real-time capabilities, data coverage, analysis depth, and how well they integrate with your existing workflow. The best social media management tools don't just collect data—they turn it into action.
The top-ranked social listening tools for 2025
1. Sked Social
Most social listening tools are either expensive or completely separate from your content workflow. Sked Social changed that approach.
Sked Social has officially added Social Listening to its feature set. This powerful, AI-driven tool is designed to help social media managers monitor brand sentiment, analyze audience trends, and benchmark competitors—all without the enterprise-level price tag .
Here's what makes Sked Social's listening features different:
Key features:
- AI-powered insights, trend monitoring, influencer analysis, and campaign-specific sentiment reports—all in a single, presentation-ready platform
- AI to deliver competitor insights, tracking up to 20 rivals on audience engagement, strategy, and posting trends
- Presentation ready PDF reports in moments—Ready to share with your team
- Unlike competitors, Sked gives all plans some social listening functionality—listening isn't only for huge enterprises
What sets it apart: You're not buying another isolated tool. Uncover brand sentiment, understand your audience, and outpace competitors with AI-driven insights, and easy, presentation-ready reports—all in one, actionable social listening . You can go from discovering a trending conversation to creating and scheduling responsive content in the same platform.
The pricing approach: Elements of social listening are available on all plans, which start at US$49/month . Compare that to enterprise tools that cost thousands—it's refreshing.
Best for: Teams who want social listening that integrates with their content workflow instead of being another expensive add-on tool.
2. Sprout Social
Sprout Social wraps listening into their all-in-one social media platform with a user-friendly approach.
Key features:
- Everything in one platform
- Smart Inbox for unified messaging
- Pre-built query templates
- Helpful customer support
Notable 2025 update: Smart Categories with visual charts for trend spotting.
How Sked Social compares: Both tools offer integrated social media management, but Sked Social's approach to social listening feels more natural within the content workflow. Plus, you get unlimited users without paying per seat.
3. Meltwater
If you're doing PR alongside social listening, Meltwater makes sense. It's traditional media monitoring that expanded to include social media.
Key features:
- Covers news, blogs, social media, and broadcast
- PR tools built in
- Automated briefings
- Proven scalability
Notable 2025 update: TikTok listening for public business handles.
How Sked Social compares: Meltwater excels at media monitoring, but if you're primarily focused on social media management, Sked Social's integrated approach means less switching between tools and more streamlined workflows.
Best for: PR teams who need media monitoring and social listening in one place.
Collaborate effortlessly, save time and spend less
Why settle for a lackluster social media management tool when you could be using Sked Social? With unlimited collaborator access, streamlined approvals and advanced auto-post technology that lets you schedule to all major platforms, Sked Social offers everything you need.
Get Started for FREE4. Sprinklr
Sprinklr monitors and analyzes conversations across 30+ social and digital channels, integrating with 400,000+ media sources and more than 1 billion websites. It's comprehensive but complex.
Key features:
- Extensive channel coverage
- Visual listening for images and videos
- AI-powered sentiment analysis
- Command center dashboards
How Sked Social compares: Sprinklr offers broader channel coverage, but Sked Social's strength is simplicity and integration. You get the social listening insights you need without the complexity of managing an enterprise-level platform.
Best for: Large enterprises that want everything in one unified platform.
5. Mention
Mention keeps it simple with real-time alerts whenever your keywords pop up anywhere online.
Key features:
- Instant notifications
- Clean interface
- Basic publishing capabilities
- Wide source coverage
Notable 2025 update: Emotion Analysis with better AI detection.
Best for: Small businesses who want straightforward monitoring without complexity.
6. Brand24
Brand24 gives you real-time monitoring across 25 million sources with solid analytics and sentiment analysis.
Key features:
- Easy setup
- Influence Score for high-impact mentions
- Slack and email alerts
- Good for market research
Best for: Growing businesses that need accessible monitoring with decent analytics.
7. Keyhole
If you're a marketing team focused on campaign tracking and trend prediction, Keyhole is focused on hashtag campaigns and predicting what'll go viral.
Key features:
- Hashtag performance tracking
- Predictive analytics for viral content
- Influencer identification
- Real-time Twitter and Instagram data
8. Brandwatch
The original social listening platform, Brandwatch's been at this since 2007 and has the data to prove it. They analyze hundreds of millions of posts in real-time with impressive historical coverage.
Key features:
- Massive data archives with years of history
- AI tool called Iris for pattern recognition
- Customizable dashboards
- Crisis management capabilities
How Sked Social compares: While Brandwatch offers extensive historical data, Sked Social focuses on actionable insights that connect directly to your content creation process. You won't get decades of data, but you'll get insights you can actually use right away.
9. Talkwalker
Now part of Hootsuite, Talkwalker brings AI-powered listening with strong visual recognition.
Key features:
- 30+ social networks and 150+ million web sources
- Visual listening for logos and images
- 187 language support
- Advanced analytics visualization
10. Awario
Awario's got Boolean search for precise monitoring plus a unique lead generation feature.
Key features:
- Advanced search filtering
- Awario Leads for sales opportunities
- Unlimited team members
- Real-time with historical data
11. Google Alerts
Still free, still basic, still useful for getting started.
Key features:
- Free
- Covers publicly indexed content
- Email notifications
- Two-minute setup
Best for: Anyone wanting to test out monitoring without spending money.
Time to stop guessing and start listening
The conversations about your brand are happening right now, whether you're listening or not. The question isn't whether you need social listening—it's whether you want to be part of those conversations or just hope they're going well.
Social listening has evolved from a nice-to-have to a business necessity. Whether you choose a comprehensive platform like Sked Social that combines listening with content management, or go with a specialized tool, the key is starting now.
Ready to transform your social media strategy from reactive to proactive? Get started with a 7-day free trial and see how Sked Social's integrated approach to social listening can help you understand your audience, spot trends before your competitors, and create content that actually connects with people.
Ready to see more social teams are choosing Sked Social?
Don't settle for tools that nickel and dime you for basic features. Get everything you need in one platform—without the premium price tag. Get started with a 7-day free trial.
