How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Share of voice software splits into two camps: listening tools that count mentions of your brand versus competitors across the web, and benchmarking tools that compare engagement on brand-owned social accounts. Know which number your boss wants before you buy.
- Brand24, Mentionlytics, Awario and Rival IQ publish their prices, so a small team can start for well under $500 a month. Brandwatch, Talkwalker and Meltwater are sold by quote only.
- Keyword and mention caps are the real constraint on cheaper plans. Brand24's entry plan covers 3 keywords, which means one brand and two competitors.
- Sprout Social only adds listening to paid seats from Standard ($199 per seat per month) upward, and Listening itself is a separately priced add-on.
- YouScan's entry plan starts at $499 a month billed annually, which puts AI image recognition within reach of mid-size brands.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Brandwatch | Enterprise consumer research | See website | No |
 Talkwalker (Lumen by Talkwalker) | Hootsuite users needing deep listening | See website | No |
 Meltwater | PR teams tracking social and news together | See website | No |
 Sprout Social | Teams that want publishing and listening in one tool | $199 per seat/month (billed annually) plus Listening add-on | Free trial (30 days) |
 Brand24 | Small businesses tracking a few rivals | $199/month (billed annually) | Free trial (14 days) |
 YouScan | Brands with lots of visual content | $499/month (billed annually) | Free trial |
 Rival IQ | Benchmarking owned social accounts against competitors | $239/month (billed monthly) | Free trial |
 Mentionlytics | Budget listening with competitor tracking | $69/month | Free trial (14 days) |
 Keyhole | Campaign and hashtag share of voice | See website | Free trial (14 days) |
 Awario | Lowest-cost mention tracking | €29/month (billed annually; prices shown in local currency on the vendor site) | Free trial (7 days) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best software for social share of voice
#1Brandwatch
Best for: Enterprise consumer research4.4/5 on
G2 (730 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit brandwatch.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Brandwatch is the tool insights teams pick when share of voice is one metric among many. Its Consumer Research product tracks mentions across more than 100 million online sources, and the company positions it for benchmarking against competitors in real time. You build a query per brand, group them, and the platform charts each brand's slice of the conversation over any period you choose.
The payoff is precision. Boolean search lets an analyst strip out noise (a competitor whose name is also a common word, for example), which matters because a share of voice number is only as honest as the queries behind it.
The catch is cost and effort. Brandwatch does not publish prices, and most buyers report annual contracts negotiated through sales. A marketing manager who just wants a monthly pie chart will pay for a lot of research power they never touch.
What we like- Very large source coverage across social, news, blogs and forums
- Flexible Boolean queries for clean competitor sets
- Strong historical data for trend comparisons
Watch out for- Quote-only pricing with annual contracts
- Steep learning curve for casual users
#2
Talkwalker (Lumen by Talkwalker)
Best for: Hootsuite users needing deep listening
Visit talkwalker.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Hootsuite bought Talkwalker in 2024, and the listening product now goes by Lumen by Talkwalker. For a team already scheduling posts in Hootsuite, that's the main draw: Hootsuite says Lumen shows untagged mentions, share of voice against competitors and sentiment over time, all close to where the social team already works.
Talkwalker has long offered specialized report templates, including share of voice and brand health reports, with white-label options that agencies use for client decks. Its image recognition is useful for consumer brands whose logo shows up in photos far more often than their name shows up in captions.
Buyers should expect a sales-led process. There is no published price list, and the rebranding means some documentation still uses older plan names.
What we like- Ready-made share of voice and brand health report templates
- Visual listening that spots logos in images
- Ties into Hootsuite publishing workflows
Watch out for- No public pricing
- Product naming has shifted since the Hootsuite acquisition
#3Meltwater
Best for: PR teams tracking social and news together4.1/5 on
G2 (2,677 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit meltwater.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Meltwater makes the most sense when the person asking for share of voice is in PR, not social. Its media monitoring covers online news, print, broadcast and podcasts alongside social channels, with real-time alerts, sentiment and share of voice metrics in customizable dashboards. That lets a communications lead show earned media share and social share side by side.
For mid-size companies with a PR agency or in-house comms function, the combined view saves stitching exports together each month.
Meltwater does not publish list prices. Pricing depends on users and modules, so a team that only needs social share of voice may find itself paying for media coverage it doesn't use.
What we like- Combines social listening with news, print, broadcast and podcast monitoring
- Share of voice metrics and custom dashboards built in
- Useful for communications reporting to leadership
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing
- Contracts usually run annually
#4Sprout Social
Best for: Teams that want publishing and listening in one tool4.4/5 on
G2 (6,880 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit sproutsocial.com
Starting price$199 per seat/month (billed annually) plus Listening add-on
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Sprout Social is the pick for teams that would rather not run a separate listening contract. The Standard plan ($199 per seat per month, billed annually) includes keyword monitoring with 10 brand keywords per group, while Professional ($299 per seat) adds extensive competitor, tag and paid insights. The Listening add-on, available from Standard upward, brings AI topic grouping, sentiment scoring and spike alerts.
The strength is that your share of voice reporting lives next to your publishing calendar and inbox. Social managers get one login, one set of reports and one vendor to deal with. The 30-day trial requires no credit card, which is generous for this tier.
The weakness is math. Per-seat pricing means a five-person team on Professional is already near $1,500 a month before the Listening add-on, which Sprout prices through sales. The Essentials plan ($79 per seat) does not include brand keywords at all, so it won't measure share of voice.
What we like- Clean interface most social managers already know
- Competitor insights on Professional and above
- Strong reporting for stakeholder decks
Watch out for- Listening is a separately priced add-on
- Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for larger teams
#5Brand24
Best for: Small businesses tracking a few rivals4.6/5 on
G2 (366 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit brand24.com
Starting price$199/month (billed annually)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Brand24 is one of the few listening tools a small business can buy without talking to a salesperson. The Individual plan costs $199 per month billed annually ($249 monthly) and covers 3 keywords, 2,000 mentions a month and one user, with updates every 12 hours. Team, at $299 per month annually, raises that to 7 keywords, 10,000 mentions and unlimited users.
For share of voice, those keyword counts are the planning number. Three keywords means your brand plus two competitors, with nothing left over for product names or campaign hashtags. Most companies tracking a real competitive set will land on Team or Pro ($399 per month annually, 12 keywords and real-time updates).
Brand24 is quick to set up and the dashboards are easy for non-analysts to read. The trade-off is depth: query control and historical data are lighter than enterprise suites, so heavy research teams outgrow it.
What we like- Transparent published pricing
- Unlimited users from the Team plan up
- AI sentiment analysis on every plan
Watch out for- Entry plan limited to 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions a month
- Real-time updates only from Pro
Starting price$499/month (billed annually)
Free planFree trial
YouScan sits between budget monitors and enterprise suites. Its Starter-3 plan starts at $499 per month billed annually, and larger brands move to Unlimited plans with optional add-ons such as Visual Insights (image analysis), Audience Insights, unlimited custom dashboards and API access.
The visual angle is what sets it apart. A beverage or apparel brand often appears in photos without being named, and text-only tools miss that entirely, which skews share of voice in favor of brands that people tag more often. Reviewers on Capterra and Software Advice rate YouScan's customer support highly.
The honest catch: the image recognition that makes YouScan distinctive is an add-on, not part of the entry price. Budget for it if visual share of voice is the reason you are buying.
What we like- AI image recognition available as an add-on
- Published entry price
- Strong reviewer scores for support
Watch out for- Visual Insights and API access cost extra
- Entry plan is expensive for very small teams
#7Rival IQ
Best for: Benchmarking owned social accounts against competitors4.5/5 on
G2 (49 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit rivaliq.com
Starting price$239/month (billed monthly)
Free planFree trial
Rival IQ measures a different kind of share of voice. Instead of counting every mention on the web, it tracks the official handles of up to 10 companies on its Drive plan ($239 per month) and compares their posting volume, engagement and content performance. If your question is "who is winning the conversation on our competitors' own channels," this is the cleaner answer.
Plans are flexible. You can pay monthly, save 15% annually, add 5 more tracked companies for $50 a month and add users for $10 a month each. Engage ($349) adds 2 social listening saved searches, Facebook Ads reporting and a Google Data Studio connector.
The weakness is coverage. On Drive, you won't see earned mentions from customers at all, so pair it with a listening tool or step up to Engage if you need both views.
What we like- Built around competitor benchmarking
- Month-to-month plans with 15% off annual
- Cheap add-on users at $10 a month each
Watch out for- Social listening only starts on the $349 Engage plan
- Entry plan includes just 1 user and 6 months of history
Starting price$69/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Mentionlytics is a sensible first listening tool for a small marketing team. The Basic plan is $69 per month for 5,000 mentions, Essential is $169 for 15,000 and Advanced is $299 for 50,000, according to the vendor's own comparison pages. Both monthly and yearly billing are available, and the 14-day trial asks for no card.
The tool covers the basics share of voice depends on: keyword and competitor tracking, sentiment and reporting. It's a good fit for a regional business or a single-brand ecommerce company that wants a monthly competitive snapshot without a contract.
Watch the mention caps. A competitor with a viral moment can burn through 5,000 mentions quickly, and once the cap hits, your share of voice numbers stop being complete for that month.
What we like- Low entry price
- Monthly and yearly options
- Free trial without a credit card
Watch out for- Basic plan capped at 5,000 mentions a month
- Smaller vendor with less brand recognition in enterprise procurement
#9Keyhole
Best for: Campaign and hashtag share of voice4.3/5 on
G2 (70 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit keyhole.co
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Keyhole started as a hashtag tracker and still shines when share of voice is tied to a specific campaign or event. A brand running a launch hashtag can watch its share against a rival's campaign in real time, then report reach and engagement afterward.
Muck Rack acquired Keyhole in 2024. That's good news for PR teams already on Muck Rack, since social campaign data and journalist outreach can sit with one vendor. Keyhole offers a 14-day free trial.
The downside for a buyer is pricing clarity. Third-party sites quote very different figures, and we could not confirm current plan prices on the vendor's own pages, so request a quote that spells out tracker limits before committing.
What we like- Strong hashtag and campaign tracking
- Account analytics alongside keyword listening
- Now backed by Muck Rack's PR platform
Watch out for- No clear public price list
- Sales process may route through Muck Rack
#10Awario
Best for: Lowest-cost mention tracking3.9/5 on
G2 (48 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit awario.com
Starting price€29/month (billed annually; prices shown in local currency on the vendor site)
Free planFree trial (7 days)
Awario is the cheapest way on this list to start measuring mention-based share of voice. Its pricing page lists Starter at €29 per month billed annually (€49 monthly), Pro at €89 annually (€149 monthly) and Enterprise at €249 annually (€399 monthly). A 7-day free trial is available.
It includes Boolean search, which is unusual at this price and important for clean competitor queries. A freelancer, a small agency or a founder who wants to see whether the brand is gaining ground on two or three rivals can do that here for less than a single Sprout Social seat.
The trade-off is depth. Reporting is simpler, and the AI analysis is thinner than what Brand24 or YouScan offer. US buyers should also confirm the billing currency before purchase, since the pricing page can display euros.
What we like- Lowest published entry price on this list
- Boolean search for precise queries
- Annual billing saves up to 40%
Watch out for- Fewer reporting and AI features than pricier rivals
- Prices displayed in euros for some regions
How we chose
We started with the two ways businesses actually calculate social share of voice: counting brand mentions against competitor mentions across social and the web, and comparing performance of brand-owned accounts. Every tool here supports at least one of those methods directly. We did not include general social schedulers whose analytics only cover your own posts.
For each product we read the vendor's pricing page and product documentation, checked plan limits such as keywords, mentions, tracked companies and seats, and reviewed public feedback on G2, Capterra and Reddit. We weighed integrations, data history, contract terms and fit for US small and mid-size teams. Where a vendor does not publish prices, we list "See website" rather than repeat third-party estimates. We did not run hands-on tests.
What to check before you sign
Decide which share of voice you mean
Mention share (your brand's share of all brand mentions in the category) and engagement share (your owned posts' share of total engagement among competitors) can tell opposite stories. Listening tools like Brand24, Brandwatch and Mentionlytics measure the first. Rival IQ measures the second. Pick based on the question leadership keeps asking.
Count your keywords first
Write down your brand, every competitor you care about, and product or campaign names. That number decides your plan more than any feature list. A 3-keyword plan sounds fine until you realize each competitor eats one slot.
Check mention caps and update speed
Cheaper plans cap monthly mentions and refresh every few hours. If a cap runs out mid-month, your share of voice for that period is wrong, not just incomplete. Ask what happens at the cap: does collection stop, or do you pay overage?
Ask about contracts and data export
Published-price tools usually allow monthly billing. Quote-based platforms tend toward annual terms. Before signing, confirm you can export raw mentions to CSV or through an API, so your historical share of voice data leaves with you if you switch.
Budget for add-ons
Image recognition, extra users, API access and listening modules are often sold separately. Sprout Social's Listening and YouScan's Visual Insights are two common examples.
Frequently asked questions
What is social share of voice?
Social share of voice is your brand's portion of the total social conversation in your category, usually expressed as a percentage. The most common formula divides your brand's mentions by the combined mentions of your brand and a defined set of competitors. Some teams use engagement or reach instead of raw mention counts.
Can I measure share of voice for free?
You can calculate a rough version by hand using native platform search, but it won't be consistent or complete. Most tools on this list offer free trials (Sprout Social's runs 30 days, Brand24's and Mentionlytics' 14 days), which is enough to pull a one-time baseline.
How many competitors should I track?
Three to five is practical for most small and mid-size businesses. Track the companies your customers actually compare you with, not every company in the industry. More brands means more keywords and mentions, which pushes you into pricier plans.
Which tool is cheapest for share of voice?
Among tools with published pricing, Awario has the lowest entry price, followed by Mentionlytics at $69 a month. Check the mention caps, since a low price paired with a small cap can produce incomplete numbers for busy categories.
Do I need an enterprise tool like Brandwatch or Meltwater?
Usually not, unless you track many brands across several countries, need years of historical data, or report earned media share to executives alongside social. Most small and mid-size teams get what they need from Brand24, Mentionlytics, YouScan or Sprout Social's Listening add-on.
How often should I report share of voice?
Monthly works for most teams, with weekly checks during launches or campaigns. Short windows swing wildly when a single viral post lands, so compare trends over a quarter before drawing conclusions.
Sources we checked (15)
- https://sproutsocial.com/pricing/
- https://brand24.com/prices/
- https://awario.com/pricing/
- https://www.rivaliq.com/pricing/
- https://youscan.io/youscan-vs-brandwatch/
- https://youscan.io/youscan-vs-talkwalker/
- https://www.mentionlytics.com/compare/mentionlytics-vs-talkwalker/
- https://www.brandwatch.com/social-media-glossary/share-of-voice/
- https://blog.hootsuite.com/twitter-analytics-guide
- https://mention.com/en/blog/hootsuite-vs-talkwalker/
- https://www.vendr.com/marketplace/meltwater
- https://keyhole.co/top-3-socialbakers-alternatives/
- https://awario.com/blog/best-social-listening-tools/
- https://www.capterra.com/p/173036/YouScan/
- https://www.softwareadvice.com/social-media-monitoring/youscan-profile/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.