2026 Best Software Awards are here!See the list

Best Media Monitoring Software in 2026

Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings

30 Analysts and Data Experts
16,200+ Authentic Reviews
163+ Products
Unbiased Rankings
Learn more about G2's scoring methodology

Best Media Monitoring Software At A Glance

Leader:
Highest Performer:
Easiest to Use:
Top Trending:
Best Free Software:
Show LessShow More
Easiest to Use:
Top Trending:
Best Free Software:

Buyer's Guide: Media Monitoring

No filters applied
163 Listings in Media Monitoring Available
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Meltwater to be extremely user-friendly, with helpful features and excellent support for seamless navigation.

Users find Meltwater's exceptional customer support and training resources invaluable for maximizing their user experience.

Users appreciate the user-friendly features of Meltwater, making it easy to create reports and utilize tools effectively.

Users note that improvement is needed in Meltwater's relevance and platform coverage, especially for smaller organizations.

Users find the steep learning curve of Meltwater challenging, making it hard to utilize features effectively.

Users find the interface not intuitive, making new searches and integrations challenging and time-consuming.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users value the ease of use of AlphaSense, appreciating its intuitive design and efficient access to insights.

Users value the powerful search functionality of AlphaSense for its effectiveness in financial research and market intelligence.

Users appreciate the top-notch content and user-friendly interface of AlphaSense for efficient research and analysis.

Users struggle with search functionality, often finding it difficult to locate relevant and quality content amidst overwhelming information.

Users often find insufficient information when trying to access comprehensive market research and brokerage reports on AlphaSense.

Users note usage limitations due to missing features from acquisitions, affecting the overall effectiveness of AlphaSense.

View All Pros and Cons
G2 Advertising
Sponsored
G2 Advertising
Get 2x conversion than Google Ads with G2 Advertising!
G2 Advertising places your product in premium positions on high-traffic pages and on targeted competitor pages to reach buyers at key comparison moments.
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized TVEyes
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the ease of use of TVEyes, finding setup simple and features user-friendly for efficient media monitoring.

Users find the easy clipping feature of TVEyes highly efficient for quickly sourcing and sharing news segments.

Users value the effective mentions tracking of TVEyes, enabling timely responses to media coverage and trends.

Users express frustration with clip length limitations and editing features, impacting their ability to efficiently create content.

Users find the outdated design of TVEyes makes it feel clunky and challenging to use effectively.

Users often struggle with the ineffective search functionality of TVEyes, making it frustrating and time-consuming to find relevant content.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized Semrush
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Semrush's all-in-one marketing tool invaluable for SEO, content creation, and competitor analysis.

Users find Semrush to be very easy to use, with an intuitive interface and well-organized tools for SEO tasks.

Users find the keyword research capabilities of Semrush invaluable for targeting the right audience effectively.

Users find Semrush to have a high price point that can be prohibitive for small businesses and individuals.

Users find Semrush to have high pricing, with additional costs for features and limited guidance on usage.

Users find Semrush to be a high-cost solution for small businesses, often feeling it's overpriced for its features.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the ease of use of Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence, benefiting from its intuitive design and customizable features.

Users value the comprehensive data integration and streamlined interface of Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence for effective insights.

Users value the intuitive design of Brandwatch, enhancing usability for both new and experienced team members.

Users find the interface limited in features, making it challenging to access essential insights easily.

Users face platform limitations like restricted entry views and poor sentiment analysis, hindering overall efficiency and experience.

Users report a steep learning curve with Brandwatch, requiring time to become familiar with its extensive features.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized YouScan
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users praise exceptional customer support at YouScan, noting the helpfulness and expertise of the support team.

Users find YouScan to be easy to use with excellent support, enhancing social listening and brand tracking efforts.

Users find YouScan's platform to be easy to use, with an intuitive interface enabling quick mastery of features.

Users face a steep learning curve for advanced features, making it challenging to fully utilize YouScan's capabilities.

Users face a steep learning curve that complicates mastering YouScan's advanced features and functionalities.

Users experience slow performance with YouScan, particularly with delayed query responses and dashboard refresh rates.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized Brand24
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Brand24, facilitating easy tracking of online brand mentions and insights.

Users appreciate the ease of use of Brand24, finding it simple to track brand mentions and generate reports.

Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Brand24, making tracking online brand mentions effortless and efficient.

Users find filtering problems frustrating, requiring repeated setups and lacking efficient project organization tools.

Users experience data inaccuracy, leading to confusion and necessitating frequent adjustments that complicate project management.

Users experience issues with irrelevant content appearing in Brand24, leading to confusion and wasted time.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Muck Rack's intuitive interface enhances usability, streamlining media relations and outreach management effortlessly.

Users value the comprehensive and frequently updated database of Muck Rack for its accuracy and effectiveness in PR.

Users highlight the extensive database and media monitoring tools of Muck Rack, enhancing PR efforts and insights.

Users struggle with data inaccuracy, facing incorrect emails and unverified contacts that hinder effective outreach.

Users find the search functionality inconsistent, requiring exact spelling and often returning irrelevant results.

Users find difficult navigation in Muck Rack, requiring time to learn and complicating the process for efficient use.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized Dataminr
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users value the ease of use of Dataminr, praising its quick data consolidation and customizable alerts for effective monitoring.

Users value the efficiency of Dataminr for timely alerts, enhancing safety and productivity across multiple locations.

Users value the efficiency improvement from Dataminr, enabling quicker incident analysis and streamlined information gathering.

Users often face inefficient alerts from Dataminr, resulting in information overload and the need for careful filtering.

Users face information overload with Dataminr due to excessive notifications that require meticulous filtering and customization.

Users struggle with a lack of customization in Dataminr, hindering their ability to tailor notifications effectively.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find CisionOne's ease of use impressive, enhancing targeted media research with a sleek design and centralized database.

Users find CisionOne extremely helpful for audience insights and reliable media outreach, enhancing their experience significantly.

Users value the efficient media outreach capabilities of CisionOne, enhancing connections with relevant journalists.

Users report data inaccuracy issues with CisionOne, often missing coverage and encountering unreliable metric reports.

Users find CisionOne not intuitive, describing its interface as complicated and difficult to navigate.

Users struggle with difficult reporting tools in CisionOne, finding them less user-friendly and inefficient for public relations.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users value the helpful support from the Critical Mention team, enhancing their media monitoring experience significantly.

Users value the responsive customer support from Onclusive, which enhances their overall experience and satisfaction.

Users appreciate the exceptional coverage reports from Onclusive, which are visually appealing and enhance stakeholder presentations.

Users find limited coverage frustrating, especially with missing mentions from certain outlets and difficulties in searching through reports.

Users find the navigation difficult, struggling with limited search functionality and challenges in locating specific content.

Users experience clip issues, including false flags and difficulty in searching through reports for specific mentions.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
G2 recognized Ahrefs
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users value the thorough keyword research capabilities of Ahrefs, making SEO analysis comprehensive and effective.

Users love the feature-rich dashboard in Ahrefs, providing comprehensive SEO insights and continuous innovation.

Users find Ahrefs to be easy to set up, making it accessible for beginners in SEO analytics.

Users find Ahrefs to be too expensive, especially with the limited credits required for essential features.

Users find the high costs of Ahrefs burdensome, limiting usage due to expensive credit requirements.

Users feel the limited features of Ahrefs do not justify its high price, seeking enhancements for better value.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users appreciate the ease of use of Newswire, benefiting from its simple setup and intuitive distribution processes.

Users praise Newswire for its efficient distribution process, enabling effective targeting and engagement with media outlets.

Users commend the excellent coverage quality of Newswire, achieving effective media targeting and engagement for their campaigns.

Users find Newswire's offerings expensive, often feeling the costs outweigh the benefits, especially for budget-conscious companies.

Users note incomplete media coverage from Newswire, which limits engagement and reduces effective audience reach.

Users report inconsistent distribution support with Newswire, leading to delays and inefficiencies in reaching audiences.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Avatar Image
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users commend the excellent customer service from the Mention team, enhancing their overall experience with the platform.

Users praise the ease of use of Mention, highlighting its intuitive design and straightforward functionality.

Users appreciate the easy integrations of Mention, enhancing collaboration and streamlining workflows with other platforms seamlessly.

View All Pros and Cons
Product Description
Pros and Cons

Users find Agility PR Solutions to be extremely easy to use, enhancing their PR efforts effortlessly.

Users value the responsive customer support from Agility PR Solutions, ensuring efficiency and ease of use.

Users find the reporting tools extremely helpful, noting their ease of use and invaluable support from the team.

Users note limited functionality in keyword searches, as access to full articles and updated contacts is restricted.

Users note data inaccuracy in journalist searches and inconsistencies in the completeness of contacts within Agility PR Solutions.

Users find the interface not intuitive, making access and customization challenging, which hinders efficiency.

View All Pros and Cons

Learn More About Media Monitoring Software

Best Media Monitoring Software in 2025: Expert Picks, Comparisons & Tools

In a digital-first world, tracking media mentions is more than a PR necessity, it’s a business imperative. Whether you’re managing brand reputation, analyzing public sentiment, or benchmarking competitors, the right media monitoring software gives you the power to act quickly and strategically. But with dozens of platforms on the market, how do you choose the best one for your business?

This comprehensive guide ranks the best media monitoring software in 2025, fit for businesses of all sizes. From real-time alerts to multilingual support and sentiment tracking, we’ll compare features that matter, so you can find the tool that’s best aligned with your goals.

What Is Media Monitoring Software?

Media monitoring software helps you track and analyze mentions of your brand, competitors, or industry across a wide range of media channels. These may include:

  • Online news outlets and digital publications
  • Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok
  • Forums and discussion boards like Reddit or Quora
  • Blogs and niche content platforms
  • Podcasts, radio, and even broadcast TV (in some cases)

The best platforms not only detect mentions but also organize data using AI-powered tools like sentiment analysis, image recognition, and natural language processing. This makes it easier to understand context and trends without combing through thousands of raw mentions manually.

Best Media Monitoring Software in 2025: Quick Comparison

Here’s a snapshot of the top tools available this year, comparing their best use cases, features, pricing, and ratings:

  1. Meltwater - Best for Enterprise media teams. Meltwater offers Global media reach, AI alerts, and in-depth intelligence. (Pricing: Custom Quote | G2 Rating: 4.2)
  2. Brand24 - Ideal for small businesses (SMBs). Brand24 is a budget-friendly option that offers affordable plans and real-time social and web tracking. (Pricing: From $79/month | G2 Rating: 4.6)
  3. Cision - A longtime favorite for PR professionals. Cision has a global press database, robust analytics, and extensive journalist outreach tools. (Pricing: Custom Quote | G2 Rating: 4.0)
  4. Mention - Best for real-time social monitoring. Mention is a lightweight tool that tracks online mentions influencer tracking, multilingual data, and trend alerts. (Pricing: From $49/month | G2 Rating: 4.5)
  5. Talkwater - Best for deep brand analytics. Talkwater is a consumer intelligence platform that offers visual recognition, sentiment insights, and customizable reports. (Pricing: Custom Quote || G2 Rating: 4.3)
  6. Sprout Social - Ideal favorite among social media managers. Sprout Social offers social listening, publishing, custom workflows, and team collaboration. (Pricing: From $249/month | G2 Rating: 4.4)

Why Businesses Use Media Monitoring Tools

Media monitoring isn’t just about tracking brand mentions, it’s a strategic function that impacts PR, marketing, customer service, and competitive intelligence.

  • Reputation Management: Immediate alerts on crisis mentions, customer complaints, or viral trends help teams act fast and prevent issues from escalating.
  • Campaign Performance: Measure earned media outcomes in terms of volume, reach, and tone to evaluate PR ROI.
  • Competitive Benchmarking: Understand where competitors are getting coverage and what’s resonating with their audience.
  • Content Ideation: Discover trending topics and recurring questions in your industry to inform blog and social strategy.

In short, media monitoring tools turn noisy conversations into actionable insights that keep your team informed and ahead of the curve.

Who Needs Media Monitoring Software?

Media monitoring tools are versatile and serve various departments and industries:

  • Public Relations teams use it to track campaign success and journalist engagement.
  • Marketing leaders use sentiment and brand share-of-voice to shape positioning.
  • Customer experience teams can monitor social media for real-time support signals.
  • Executives use dashboards to stay informed on brand performance and market perception.
  • Startups and solopreneurs can track niche mentions without hiring full PR agencies.

Whether you’re a Fortune 500 or a scrappy DTC brand, media monitoring has become table stakes for brand health and growth.

Key Features to Look For in Media Monitoring Software

When evaluating tools, don’t just compare pricing, look at the features that align with your specific needs:

  • Real-Time Alerts: Instant notifications on new mentions to react quickly.
  • Sentiment Analysis: Automated tagging of mentions as positive, negative, or neutral.
  • Multilingual Monitoring: Vital if your brand or customers operate globally.
  • Influencer Identification: Discover which voices are shaping your brand’s narrative.
  • AI-Powered Insights: Summarize, score, or flag mentions that need attention.
  • Custom Dashboards: Visualize coverage data in executive-friendly formats.
  • Historical Tracking: Compare month-over-month shifts in brand awareness or tone.
  • Exportable Reports: Essential for sharing wins with stakeholders.

Expert Tips for Choosing the Right Media Monitoring Tool

Selecting a media monitoring platform isn’t just about flashy dashboards. Consider these expert-backed criteria:

  • Industry Relevance: Some tools are better for tech, finance, or health sectors.
  • Scalability: Will the tool grow with your team or campaign volume?
  • Support and Training: Look for onboarding, account managers, and 24/7 chat.
  • Integration Options: Can you push alerts into Slack, Zapier, or your CRM?
  • Transparent Pricing: Avoid platforms that surprise you with overage charges.

A good tip is to request a trial and test real-world use cases, such as a product launch or a company announcement, to see if the platform captures your coverage effectively.

How G2 Helps You Find the Best Tool for Media Monitoring

G2 is your shortcut to software decisions backed by real users. Within the Media Monitoring category, you’ll find:

  • Peer-reviewed insights: Pros, cons, and features from similar teams
  • Visual comparison charts: Side-by-side feature breakdowns and pricing
  • Use case examples: How others in your industry apply these tools
  • Filters for customization: Narrow down by company size, location, and more

When trust and transparency matter, G2 delivers the data and confidence you need to make an informed software decision.

Summary: What’s the Best Media Monitoring Tool for You?

Let’s wrap up with recommendations based on your goals and team size:

  • For small teams or solopreneurs: Start with Brand24 or Mention—they’re affordable, easy to use, and get the job done.
  • For fast-scaling startups or agencies: Consider Cision or Sprout Social, especially if influencer outreach and report generation matter.
  • For global enterprises or regulated industries: Meltwater or Talkwalker provide unparalleled coverage and compliance.
  • Need a free solution to start?: Google Alerts won’t give insights, but it will notify you of basic mentions instantly.

No matter your budget or industry, platforms like G2 help ensure you’re investing in tools that actually deliver value.

FAQ: Media Monitoring Software in 2025

What is media monitoring software used for?

Media monitoring software is used to track mentions of your brand, competitors, or industry across digital platforms like news sites, social media, blogs, and forums. It helps businesses manage brand reputation, evaluate PR campaigns, and gather strategic insights.

Which media monitoring tools are best for small businesses?

Brand24 and Mention are highly rated for small businesses due to their affordable pricing, real-time tracking, and easy-to-use dashboards. Both platforms offer strong coverage of online and social channels with sentiment analysis and influencer tracking.

Can media monitoring tools track TV and radio?

Yes, some enterprise-level tools like Meltwater and Talkwalker offer monitoring across broadcast media, including TV and radio. These features often rely on voice-to-text conversion and are available in custom enterprise plans.

How does sentiment analysis work in media monitoring software?

Sentiment analysis uses AI to evaluate whether a mention is positive, negative, or neutral. It helps teams quickly gauge public perception and respond to PR risks or highlight favorable mentions.

What’s the best free tool for media monitoring?

Google Alerts is a good starting point for basic keyword monitoring. It sends email alerts when your search terms appear online but lacks sentiment analysis, reporting, or social media tracking.

What factors should I consider before choosing a media monitoring tool?

You should assess media channel coverage, real-time alerts, sentiment analysis, multilingual capabilities, pricing, customer support, and integrations with tools like Slack or Salesforce.

Last updated on June 18, 2025