6 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools That Still Work

With so many conversations happening across social networks, keeping track of what people say about your brand can be overwhelming — and the best paid tools aren’t cheap. The good news is you can cover the basics for free. Here are the most useful free and freemium social monitoring options, updated for today (several tools from a few years ago, like Nutshell Mail and SocialMotus, have since shut down, so this list sticks to what actually still works).

1. Google Alerts

The simplest free option. Enter your brand name, product or any keyword, and Google emails you whenever it appears on a web page it indexes. It’s genuinely useful for catching blog posts, news articles and forum mentions. The limitation: it only sees content Google crawls, so it misses most posts on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn. Treat it as your free baseline, not your whole strategy.

2. TweetDeck / X Pro

For real-time monitoring on X (Twitter), the native dashboard — now branded X Pro (formerly TweetDeck) — lets you build columns for keywords, hashtags, mentions and lists so you can watch conversations live. Note that full access now sits behind X’s premium subscription, but the platform’s own advanced search remains free and powerful for spot-checking mentions.

3. Native Platform Search & Notifications

Don’t overlook the free tools built into each network. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube all let you follow hashtags, turn on mention notifications, and search your brand name directly. It’s manual, but for a small brand a few minutes a day of native searching catches most of what matters — at zero cost.

4. Hootsuite (Free Trial + Streams)

Hootsuite lets you monitor engagements and keyword streams across multiple networks from one dashboard. While it’s now a paid platform, its free trial is a great way to set up brand and keyword monitoring, and see the value of a proper dashboard before committing. Be warned: the more streams you add, the more cluttered the interface gets — start with just your brand name and top competitors.

5. Brand24 (Free Trial)

Brand24 is the leading affordable listening tool, and its free trial lets you monitor mentions across social media, news, blogs, forums and podcasts with AI sentiment analysis. Even on trial you’ll immediately see the difference a dedicated tool makes versus manual searching — real-time alerts, sentiment, and an influence score for each mention.

6. Mention & Awario (Freemium / Trials)

Mention and Awario both offer trials (and Mention has a limited free tier) covering social networks and the web. Awario is the best-value paid option once you’re ready to commit — starting around $29/month — and Awario Leads can even surface sales opportunities from monitored conversations. Use the free trials to compare which interface and coverage suit you best.

Free vs Paid: What to Expect

Honestly, no genuinely free tool matches the depth of a paid platform. Free options (Google Alerts, native search, trials) are perfect for a small brand, a side project, or testing the waters. But if monitoring becomes central to your work — tracking sentiment, competitors and share of voice at scale — budget for a paid tool. Our full monitoring-tools guide compares the best paid options, and it pairs well with good social media management habits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a completely free social monitoring tool?
Google Alerts is fully free for web mentions, and native platform search costs nothing. For social-specific listening, the practical route is the free trials of Brand24, Mention, Hootsuite or Awario — genuinely free ongoing social listening with real depth doesn’t really exist.

Why aren’t the old tools (Nutshell Mail, SocialMotus, TweetDeck classic) here?
Because they’ve shut down or changed. Nutshell Mail and SocialMotus were discontinued, and the classic free TweetDeck is now X Pro behind a subscription. This list only includes options that still work today.

Can I monitor social media with just free tools?
For a small brand, yes — combine Google Alerts, native platform search and notifications, and the occasional free trial. As your needs grow, a paid tool saves time and catches far more.