Brand24 vs Rival IQ Comparison 2026
Brand24 watches the web for a keyword, whichever accounts mention it, and alerts you with sentiment and reach attached, from $199 a month with no free tier. Rival IQ instead tracks a set of named competitors on the same metrics side by side, starting at $239 a month for ten tracked companies and one seat. The choice is not depth but direction: Brand24 tells you who is talking about you, Rival IQ tells you how you stack up against rivals you name yourself.
At a glance
- Brand24 starts cheaper, at $199.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Brand24 | Rival IQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $199 | From $239 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
Brand24
Alerts when your name turns up anywhere
Brand24 watches social networks, news, blogs, forums and podcasts for a keyword and tells you when it moves, with sentiment and reach attached. For a creator that is the difference between hearing about a video that mentioned you and not. The entry plan is priced for a business rather than for a person, which is the honest reason most individuals stop at the trial.
Our note
The API costing extra on every tier is the detail buried furthest down the page, and it changes the total for anybody planning to pipe mentions elsewhere. For a solo creator, a saved search and an alert do most of this for nothing.
Only on this side
- Covers brand deals & sponsorships
- Works with Podcast
- Works with Reddit
Rival IQ
Benchmark your social against named rivals
Rival IQ is built around comparison rather than reporting: you name the companies you measure yourself against, and it tracks all of them on the same axes. That framing is why agencies and social teams buy it and why a solo creator usually will not. Historical depth and the number of tracked accounts are what separate the plans. Private analytics for accounts you own are an addition to the public benchmarking, not the point of it.
Why people weigh these two
- Rival IQ instead of Brand24
- Rival IQ watches social activity too but frames it as benchmarking your accounts against named rivals, and at $239 it sits in the same business price range as Brand24.
- Brand24 instead of Rival IQ
- Brand24 alerts on where a name turns up rather than tracking a chosen set of named rivals on the same axes over time.
Which one should you pick
Pick Brand24 if the job is knowing when your name comes up anywhere on the web, not only on social, and reacting to sentiment as it happens. It costs less to start, $199 a month against Rival IQ's $239, though API access adds another $99 on any tier.
Pick Rival IQ if an agency or social team has to report how a client compares to four named competitors, month after month, with real metrics rather than mentions. It costs more and the entry tier is a single seat, so a second person means jumping to $349, and a solo creator comparing themselves to three rivals can do the same work by hand for the difference.
Common questions
- Which one is cheaper?
- Brand24, at $199 a month against Rival IQ's $239 for the entry Drive plan. Brand24 also charges an extra $99 for API access on any tier, which is worth adding before the totals are final.
- Do these two track the same thing?
- Not quite. Brand24 watches the whole web, social included, for mentions of a keyword you choose, with sentiment attached. Rival IQ instead benchmarks your own accounts against named competitors on the same metrics, which is a comparison tool rather than a mention tracker.
- Is either one built for a solo creator?
- Neither, really. Brand24's $199 a month entry plan is stated as priced for a business, and Rival IQ's $239 a month buys a single seat aimed at an agency or social team reporting on client comparisons.
- Which one supports more than one person on the account?
- Rival IQ's Drive plan is one user, and a second person means moving to Engage at $349 a month. Brand24's listing does not describe per-seat pricing on its Individual tier, though higher tiers add more capability as the price rises.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.