15 Social Listening Tools for Your Brand in 2025

Social media has evolved into the world’s biggest focus group. Conversations about your brand, competitors, or industry are happening 24/7 across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn. To capture these insights, brands rely on social listening tools platforms that track online mentions, analyze sentiment, and reveal emerging trends.

In this guide, we’ll explore what is social listening, why it matters, and the 15 best social listening tools for brands in 2025. Along the way, we’ll highlight different social listening software, platforms, and APIs that can help you stay ahead of the curve.

What Is Social Listening?

Before diving into tools, it’s important to understand the concept of social listening.

Social listening goes beyond monitoring mentions. It’s about analyzing the context and sentiment behind conversations, helping brands answer questions like:

• How do people feel about your brand or product?
• What trends are shaping your industry?
• Which influencers or communities are driving conversations?
• Where are potential risks to your brand reputation?

Unlike monitoring, which focuses on tracking mentions and responding in real time, social listening tools enable proactive, strategic decision-making.

Why Social Listening Tools Matter in 2025

As platforms multiply and digital noise grows, manually tracking mentions is no longer possible. Social listening platforms help brands by:

• Analyzing sentiment across millions of conversations.
• Spotting trends early before they peak.
• Tracking competitors to find opportunities and weaknesses.
• Protecting brand safety by detecting harmful associations.
• Measuring campaign impact through share of voice and engagement trends.
  
  

To make the most of these benefits, let’s explore 15 leading social listening software tools you can leverage this year.

15 Best Social Listening Tools for Brands in 2025

Below is a breakdown of leading platforms. Each tool is categorized with strengths, ideal use cases, and unique features.

1. Brandwatch

Brandwatch remains a market leader in social listening software.

• Key Features: Advanced sentiment analysis, trend spotting, customizable dashboards.
• Best For: Enterprises needing deep consumer insights.
• Strengths: Large data coverage, AI-driven analytics, integrates with CRM tools.

2. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is both a social listening tool and engagement platform.

• Key Features: Audience analysis, competitor benchmarking, unified social inbox.
• Best For: Mid-sized brands managing engagement and insights together.
• Strengths: Easy-to-use interface, strong customer support.

3. Talkwalker

Talkwalker offers robust social listening platforms for global brands.

• Key Features: Real-time alerts, image recognition, crisis monitoring.
• Best For: Companies needing brand safety and crisis control.
• Strengths: AI-powered analytics, broad media coverage including podcasts.

4. Meltwater

Meltwater combines media intelligence with social listening software.

• Key Features: Media monitoring, competitor analysis, influencer tracking.
• Best For: PR and communications teams.
• Strengths: Strong legacy in media monitoring plus social data integration.

5. Hootsuite Insights

Hootsuite Insights, powered by Brandwatch, extends beyond scheduling into social listening tools.

• Key Features: Sentiment analysis, share of voice reports, customizable dashboards.
• Best For: Brands already using Hootsuite for scheduling.
• Strengths: Easy integration with publishing workflows.

6. Mention

Mention is a lightweight social listening tool for real-time brand tracking.

• Key Features: Keyword alerts, influencer discovery, competitive benchmarking.
• Best For: Startups or small businesses.
• Strengths: Affordable, user-friendly dashboards.

7. Zoho Social

Zoho Social adds social listening software features to its management suite.

• Key Features: Keyword monitoring, custom streams, reporting.
• Best For: Small businesses seeking all-in-one solutions.
• Strengths: Cost-effective, integrates with Zoho CRM.

8. NetBase Quid

NetBase Quid is a premium social listening platform.

• Key Features: Deep consumer intelligence, sentiment trends, predictive analytics.
• Best For: Enterprises in retail, finance, or healthcare.
• Strengths: Strong data visualization and AI insights.

9. Awario

Awario provides flexible social listening tools for growing brands.

• Key Features: Real-time alerts, sentiment analysis, competitor tracking.
• Best For: Agencies and small to mid-sized businesses.
• Strengths: Affordable pricing tiers, intuitive reporting.

10. Keyhole

Keyhole excels in hashtag and campaign monitoring.

• Key Features: Hashtag tracking, influencer analytics, campaign measurement.
• Best For: Brands running hashtag-driven campaigns.
• Strengths: Strong focus on campaign ROI.

11. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo blends content intelligence with social listening software.

• Key Features: Content discovery, influencer identification, trend alerts.
• Best For: Content marketers and PR professionals.
• Strengths: Unique content-driven insights.

12. Agorapulse

Agorapulse integrates social listening platforms with publishing and engagement.

• Key Features: Monitoring streams, sentiment tagging, inbox management.
• Best For: Social media managers who need balance between engagement and listening.
• Strengths: Cost-effective, user-friendly.

13. YouScan

YouScan is a visual-focused social listening tool.

• Key Features: Visual recognition, influencer discovery, trend detection.
• Best For: Brands reliant on visual content like fashion or food.
• Strengths: Strong AI for image analysis.

14. Synthesio

Synthesio, part of Ipsos, offers enterprise-grade social listening software.

• Key Features: Consumer panel data integration, multilingual sentiment analysis.
• Best For: Global brands with diverse audiences.
• Strengths: Combination of social data and survey research.

15. Phyllo Social Listening API

Phyllo’s Social Listening API helps brands integrate listening directly into their systems.

• Key Features: API-driven access to influencer and audience conversations, scalable data pipelines.
• Best For: Brands building custom workflows with in-house analytics.
• Strengths: Flexible, developer-friendly, ensures compliance.

👉 Learn more about Phyllo’s Social Listening API and how it powers custom social media intelligence.

Comparison Table: Social Listening Tools at a Glance

How to Choose the Right Social Listening Tool

With so many social listening platforms, choosing the right one depends on your goals, budget, and team needs.

Key Considerations

• Scope of data: Do you need global coverage or niche monitoring?
• Ease of use: Can your team adopt it quickly?
• Integration: Does it connect with your CRM, publishing tools, or BI dashboards?
• Pricing: Match the software tier to your business size.
• Custom workflows: Do you need APIs like Phyllo Social Listening API for tailored solutions?

For sensitive industries or brand partnerships, also explore Influencer Vetting for Brand Safety and Social Media Intelligence to layer additional protection.

Role of Social Listening in Brand Safety and Intelligence

Social listening tools don’t just give insights—they protect your reputation.

• With Social Screening, brands can pre-vet influencers and campaigns to avoid risks.
• Social media intelligence platforms synthesize data from listening, monitoring, and sentiment analysis to inform leadership decisions.
• Tools like Phyllo’s API extend beyond dashboards, enabling developers to embed intelligence across the brand ecosystem.

Conclusion

In 2025, social listening tools are no longer optional—they are essential for brand growth and protection. Whether you’re a startup tracking mentions or a global enterprise analyzing sentiment shifts, there’s a solution tailored to your needs.

From affordable tools like Mention to enterprise solutions like Brandwatch or NetBase Quid, and flexible APIs like Phyllo, brands now have unprecedented power to understand and act on digital conversations.

FAQs

1. What is social listening?

Social listening is the process of tracking and analyzing online conversations about your brand, industry, or competitors to uncover sentiment, trends, and actionable insights.

2. What’s the difference between social listening and monitoring?

Monitoring tracks mentions in real time for immediate responses. Listening goes deeper, analyzing sentiment and patterns for long-term strategy.

3. Which social listening tools are best for small businesses?

Mention, Zoho Social, and Awario are affordable options with easy-to-use dashboards.

4. What social listening software is ideal for enterprises?

Brandwatch, Talkwalker, NetBase Quid, and Synthesio offer enterprise-grade analytics and coverage.

5. How do social listening platforms help with influencer marketing?

They identify influential voices driving conversations. Paired with Influencer Vetting for Brand Safety, they ensure partnerships align with your values.

6. Can APIs be used for social listening?

Yes, APIs like Phyllo’s Social Listening API allow brands to integrate listening data into custom dashboards, workflows, and analytics pipelines.

7. What are the key benefits of social listening tools?

They help with sentiment analysis, competitor tracking, campaign measurement, crisis prevention, and trend spotting.

8. How do I pick the right social listening software?

Evaluate based on data scope, ease of use, integrations, cost, and whether you need dashboards or API-driven solutions.