Brand24 vs BuzzSumo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Brand24 and BuzzSumo share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and BuzzSumo starts cheaper, at $159 a month against $199 a month.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Brand24 grades higher on value for money. BuzzSumo grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Brand24
Social listening across social networks, news, blogs and podcasts
BuzzSumo
Content research, media monitoring and journalist outreach
Which one is for you
Pick Brand24 if
- Fits if you run PR or marketing and need to hear about a complaint before it spreads
- Works for teams who want many people on one plan, as Team has unlimited users
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to schedule and publish posts, as it only listens
- Pricey if you're one person, as Individual is $199 a month billed yearly for 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions
- Not for you if your audience lives on LinkedIn, YouTube or TikTok and you're on Individual, which leaves them out
- Tight if you need fresh data, as Individual refreshes every 12 hours; real-time, AI tools and exports start on Pro at $399
- Watch out: the API is $149 extra on Pro and Business, reviews start at Pro and podcasts at Business
Pick BuzzSumo if
- Fits if you look for topics and formats that already earn shares and links
- Works for digital PR teams finding journalists and tracking their coverage
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one person, at $159 a month on yearly billing for one user
- Skip it if you want articles written or scored, as it does research only
- Tight if you need the journalist database or the API: one starts at PR & Comms for $239, the other is priced on request
- Watch out: cancelling isn't refunded, and plans run to the end of the paid term
- Not for you if you want a free plan, gone since February 2023; the trial is 50 searches
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABrand24Fair | 2.2GPABuzzSumoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGraded against its listed alternatives, the big social suites, not schedulers. Individual is $199 a month billed annually for 1 user and 3 keywords, dear for one person. Team at $299 has unlimited users, so a small team pays about what those suites charge for two or three seats. | DContent Creation is $159 a month on yearly billing, $199 monthly, for one user, well past where this category's dearest tenth starts ($99). The journalist database needs PR & Comms at $239, and the API is priced on request. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Two weeks is enough to see what turns up for your brand name, and going over a plan's mentions prompts an upgrade talk rather than a charge. | CNo free plan since February 2023. New users get a trial of Suite limited to 50 searches, and nothing on record says it needs a card. |
| Features | CIt does listening fully: mentions from social, news, blogs, forums and podcasts, sentiment, spike alerts, influencer ranking and share of voice. But it's a smaller job than this category's, with no posting or inbox, and Individual leaves out LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and reach. | CThe Content Analyzer, idea, topic and question tools, a brief generator, keyword and backlink tools, alerts and a Chrome extension. It does content research, but that's only part of this category's job: it writes, scores and publishes nothing. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. You pick the keywords, capped by plan, then work through mentions, sentiment and reach. Individual only refreshes every 12 hours, and real-time updates and the AI tools that sum it all up start on Pro. | BNo rating on record, but there's nothing to set up to start: type a topic, URL or domain and it lists the most shared content. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with push alerts on your phone and Slack or Microsoft Teams alerts. The API costs an extra $149 on Pro and Business. No desktop app, which an A needs. | BWeb plus a Chrome extension, with no desktop or phone app. It sends alerts to Slack, has an RSS feed for Zapier or IFTTT on Enterprise, and offers Account and Search APIs priced separately. |
| Best for | hearing what people say about your brand | finding content that already earns shares and links |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Brand24 and BuzzSumo. How we grade
Where they differ
- BuzzSumo also covers research, keyword research, backlink analysis and link outreach.
At a glance
| Brand24 | BuzzSumo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $199 per month, billed annually ($249 billed monthly) | $159 per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free trial of the Suite plan, limited to 50 searches |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Brand24 Global Inc. | BuzzSumo Ltd |
| Price read from | brand24.com | buzzsumo.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Brand24
- Each plan caps keywords and monthly mentions; Individual allows 3 keywords, 2,000 mentions and 1 user. Going over prompts an upgrade talk, not a charge.
- Individual leaves out LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and reach tracking; reviews and newsletters start at Pro and podcasts at Business.
- Individual refreshes every 12 hours and Team hourly; real-time updates, the AI tools and PDF or Excel exports start at Pro.
- API access costs an extra $149 on Pro and Business and is included on Enterprise; annual billing is set up by contacting Brand24.
BuzzSumo
- There has been no free plan since February 2023; new users get a trial of Suite limited to 50 searches.
- Cancelling stops renewal but is not refunded: annual and monthly plans run to the end of the paid term.
- The journalist database starts at PR & Comms, and the API is priced on request.
- Invoicing is only for Enterprise plans paid yearly; all other plans are paid by card.
Key features
Brand24
- Mention monitoring
- Tracks keywords on Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, news and blogs on every plan; LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok from Team, reviews and newsletters from Pro, podcasts from Business.
- Reach, sentiment and emotions
- Sentiment on every plan, reach from Team, and from Pro emotion analysis, advertising value equivalency and a presence score for the brand.
- AI insights and Brand Assistant
- Automatic insight reports, topic analysis and a chat assistant that answers questions from your monitoring data, from the Pro plan.
- Alerts and anomaly detection
- Storm alerts and custom notifications for sudden jumps in mentions or reach, with push notifications in the mobile app and Slack or Teams alerts.
- Influencer and competitor analysis
- From Pro, ranks the most influential authors and sites in a discussion; projects can be compared side by side to measure share of voice.
- Reports and exports
- Daily and weekly email reports on every plan; PDF, Excel and PowerPoint exports and white-labelled reports start at Pro.
BuzzSumo
- Content Analyzer
- Search any topic, URL or domain to see its most shared and linked content, with up to five years of engagement history depending on plan.
- Content ideas and briefs
- The Content Ideas Generator, Topic Explorer and Question Analyzer surface topics, headlines and forum questions, and the Brief Generator turns them into briefs.
- Keyword and backlink tools
- A keyword tool with search volume and cost per click, and a Backlink Analyzer that follows new links to a domain or URL over time.
- Journalist database
- From PR & Comms up, find journalists writing on a topic, build media lists of 20 to 600 journalists by plan, and draft pitches with an AI tool.
- Monitoring alerts
- Alerts for brand, keyword, content, backlink, competitor and journalist mentions by email, and into Slack from PR & Comms up.
- Chrome extension and API
- A Chrome extension shows engagement and backlinks for any article while you browse, and Account and Search APIs are priced separately.
Plans
Brand24
Individual$199
per month, billed annually ($249 billed monthly)
3 keywords, 2,000 mentions a month, 1 user, updates every 12 hours and AI sentiment analysis.
Team$299
per month, billed annually ($349 billed monthly)
7 keywords, 10,000 mentions a month, unlimited users, hourly updates, reach tracking, and LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok sources.
Pro$399
per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
12 keywords, 40,000 mentions a month, real-time updates, the AI Brand Assistant, events detection, and AI insights and topics for 2 projects.
Business$599
per month, billed annually ($699 billed monthly)
25 keywords, 100,000 mentions a month, AI insights for 5 projects, unlimited AI topics, advanced reports and a client success lead.
Enterprise$1,499
per month and up, billed annually
Custom keyword and mention limits, unlimited AI insights, dedicated consulting and the AI Visibility module. Arranged with sales.
BuzzSumo
Content Creation$159
per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)
1 user, unlimited searches, 2 alerts, Content Analyzer, trending feeds, Question Analyzer and 2 years of history.
PR & Comms$239
per month, billed annually ($299 billed monthly)
5 users and 5 alerts, plus the journalist database and outreach, coverage reports, Slack alerts and 3 years of history.
Suite$399
per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
10 users and 10 alerts, plus the YouTube Analyzer, the advanced Chrome extension, article uploads and 5 years of history.
Enterprise$999
per month, billed annually only
30 users, 50 alerts, an RSS feed for Zapier or IFTTT, journalist search by state and early access to new features.
Ways to pay less
Brand24
- Annual discount
Up to 3 months free with annual billing
Brand24's pricing page says annual billing gives up to 3 months free: Individual is $199 a month billed annually against $249 monthly, and Business $599 against $699.
BuzzSumo
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
BuzzSumo's pricing page lists a 20% saving for paying annually: Content Creation is $159 a month billed yearly against $199 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
Discounts for NGOs and charities
BuzzSumo's pricing FAQ says it offers discounts to NGOs and registered charitable non-profits; buyers are asked to contact the team.
- Education
Discounts for classroom use
The same FAQ offers discounts to educational institutions that use BuzzSumo in the classroom, arranged by contacting BuzzSumo.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Brand24 or BuzzSumo?
As of Oct 23, 2026, BuzzSumo is cheaper to start with: $159 a month, against $199 a month for Brand24. Brand24 starts at $199 per month, billed annually ($249 billed monthly), and BuzzSumo starts at $159 per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Brand24 or BuzzSumo?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither Brand24 nor BuzzSumo has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Brand24 and BuzzSumo run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Brand24 lists iOS and Android apps and only BuzzSumo lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.