If you are searching for a free Brandwatch alternative, start with a reality check. Nobody gives away research-grade consumer intelligence, and Brandwatch itself does not publish a price: its plans page offers a free demo and a conversation with sales. What you can get for free is a way to find out when people mention your name, your shop or your hobby project, with nothing to install and alerts that land on your phone. That is where AyeWatch fits.
What "free" means in social listening
Most tools in this category offer one of two things at no cost:
- A time-limited trial. Brand24 gives you 14 days. Awario and Mentionlytics also offer free trials. After that you pay, and the cheapest yearly plans start at $29 (Awario), $49 (Mentionlytics) and $199 (Brand24) a month.
- A small free allowance. AyeWatch has a Free Preview with three monitoring runs across up to three topics, checked daily or slower. It needs no credit card. The runs do not renew, so think of it as a real test rather than a free plan.
Neither is the same as a tool you can use forever without paying. If someone promises free Brandwatch-level research, read the fine print.
Why a phone-first tool suits most people
Brandwatch is built for analysts at desks: dashboards, query builders, reports. If you run a small online store, a podcast or a game server, you do not want another tab. You want a buzz in your pocket when something happens.
AyeWatch runs in the browser and has native apps for iOS and Android. Your monitors, alerts and daily digest sync across all of them, so you can set a monitor up on a laptop and read alerts on the bus. Nothing runs on your own machine, and nothing stops when you close the browser.
How to set one up in a few minutes
- Sign up with email or Google.
- Choose what to watch. "Internet" covers news, blogs and forums. You can also pick a platform: an X profile or search, a subreddit, a YouTube channel, LinkedIn posts, an Instagram hashtag or a TikTok profile.
- Describe it in normal words, for example: "People on Reddit or TikTok asking whether my candle shop ships to Canada. Skip giveaway posts."
- Leave the speed on Auto, which checks more often when the topic is busy and less often when it is quiet.
When something new matches, you get a push notification with a short summary of what was said and where.
What you give up compared with Brandwatch
Brandwatch Consumer Research keeps a searchable archive of posts going back to 2008 and lets analysts segment audiences and build dashboards. AyeWatch does none of that. It does not chart sentiment over the last five years, and it starts watching from the day you create a monitor. If you need that history for a report, Brandwatch or a similar suite is still the right buy.
If you outgrow the free preview
The paid plans are short and published:
| Plan | Monthly price | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $9 | Up to 50 monitors, hourly checks, Slack, email and API |
| Pro+ | $19 | Up to 200 monitors and ASAP mode |
| Max | $39 | ASAP mode |
| Ultra | $99 | ASAP mode |
There is no contract, and you can cancel when you like.
Quick answers
Is Brandwatch free? No. It sells plans after a demo and lists no prices on its site.
Do I need to install anything? No. AyeWatch works in a browser, and the phone apps are optional.
Will it spam me? Alerts fire only when a new item matches what you described, and you can mute or pause any monitor.
If you want to test it on one topic tonight, start a Free Preview and see what turns up.