The best media monitoring tools track where your brand, people and competitors appear across news, broadcast, podcasts and social media, then help you report on that coverage. Some focus on social and web mentions, others on TV and radio, and the largest suites add media databases and analysis. Eleven options follow in no particular order.
Coverage you don't see might as well not exist. A great interview on regional radio or a critical article in a trade paper both matter, and both are easy to miss.
Media monitoring tools catch them for you. The eleven tools below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own website, read this week. My guide to tracking brand mentions with social listening covers the social side in more depth.
Media monitoring tools at a glance
I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the site names a free plan, a free version, a free account or an open source edition. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to try it, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agility PR Solutions | PR and comms platform | Reports grounded in indexed coverage | Not stated |
| BrandMentions | Brand monitoring tool | Web and social brand mentions | Trial only |
| Cision | Media intelligence suite | Enterprise PR and comms | Not stated |
| Critical Mention | Earned media suite | TV, radio and podcast mentions | Not stated |
| Isentia | Media intelligence | Asia Pacific coverage | Not stated |
| Meltwater | Media monitoring software | One view of all coverage | Not stated |
| Mention | Social listening and monitoring | Social plus web mentions | Trial only |
| Onclusive | Media monitoring and analysis | Measuring PR impact | Not stated |
| Signal AI | Reputation and risk intelligence | Global reputation and risk | Not stated |
| Streem | Media monitoring and insights | Australian media coverage | Not stated |
| TVEyes | Broadcast media monitoring | TV and radio monitoring | Trial only |
Eleven media monitoring tools to compare
Agility PR Solutions
Best for: PR teams who want reports built on a database of indexed coverage, with an AI agent that works in plain language.
BrandMentions
Best for: Small brands and agencies who want web and social mentions tracked for reputation, competitor watching and media monitoring at once.
Cision
Best for: Large communications teams who want AI-powered media monitoring and intelligence, including threat detection for brands.
Critical Mention
Best for: Comms teams who want broadcast, news, podcast and social monitoring in one earned media suite, now part of Onclusive.
Isentia
Best for: Organisations across Asia Pacific who want media monitoring and insights from a regional specialist with an AI suite for communicators.
Meltwater
Best for: Marketing and comms teams who want news, social, print and broadcast coverage in one media monitoring platform instead of separate tools.
Mention
Best for: Marketers and agencies who want social listening and media monitoring together, now owned by Agorapulse, with a free trial to start.
Onclusive
Best for: PR teams who want media monitoring, analysis and measurement plus press reviews and AI brand visibility from one provider.
Signal AI
Best for: Reputation and risk teams who want real-time media intelligence across 226 markets and more than 120 languages.
Streem
Best for: Australian comms teams who want media monitoring, insights and reporting, social tools and outreach from one provider.
TVEyes
Best for: Teams who need global broadcast and media monitoring from a TV and radio specialist, with a free trial to test it.
Which tool for which job
- Small brands watching web and social: BrandMentions or Mention.
- TV, radio and podcasts: TVEyes or Critical Mention.
- Enterprise PR and comms: Cision.
- Reputation and risk: Signal AI.
- Australia and Asia Pacific: Streem or Isentia.
- Reports built on indexed coverage: Agility PR Solutions.
Monitoring has a copyright side
A press summary from The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on PRCA v The Newspaper Licensing Agency [2013] UKSC 18 explains that the question in the appeal was whether customers of the monitoring service Meltwater need a licence to receive its service if a monitoring report is made available only on the provider's website. The Court referred that question to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling.
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The lesson for buyers is simple: news content is licensed, and monitoring sits on top of that. Ask any provider how licences for the coverage it shows you are handled, especially if you share clippings around the business.
Social listening or media monitoring?
Social listening tools watch social platforms, forums and the open web. They're quick to set up and suit brands that live online.
Media monitoring suites add print, broadcast and licensed news, plus analysis for PR reporting. They suit teams who need to prove the value of earned coverage.
Questions to ask in a demo
- Which sources are covered: news, print, TV, radio, podcasts?
- How quickly do new mentions appear?
- Can we monitor competitors as well as ourselves?
- How are content licences handled for sharing?
- What reports can we send to leadership?
- Does it cover the countries and languages we need?
PR and reporting agencies can see how I handle a white label guest post service without involving the end client.
Signs you need media monitoring
- You hear about coverage from customers. Set up alerts.
- PR results are hard to prove. Add reporting.
- A crisis caught you off guard. Monitor in real time.
- Competitors get press you miss. Track them too.
Do you make media monitoring or PR tools? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on media monitoring tools
Decide which coverage matters before you compare tools. A local business needs local press and social, while a national brand needs broadcast and print too, and paying for sources you'll never read is waste.
Then set up alerts for your brand, your spokespeople and two or three competitors, and review them weekly. My guide to digital PR with SEO shows how to turn coverage into search visibility too.
Frequently asked questions
What are media monitoring tools?
They're tools that track mentions of a brand, person or topic across news, broadcast, podcasts and social media, and report on that coverage.
What's the difference between media monitoring and social listening?
Social listening focuses on social platforms and the web. Media monitoring adds print, broadcast and licensed news, plus PR reporting.
Do media monitoring services need content licences?
News content is licensed, and the UK Supreme Court's PRCA v NLA case turned on whether customers needed a licence to view monitoring reports on a provider's website.
Can I monitor TV and radio mentions?
Yes. Some providers specialise in broadcast monitoring for TV and radio.
Is there free media monitoring?
Several tools offer free trials, which is a good way to test coverage before committing.
Can these tools track competitors?
Yes. Most let you set up searches for competitor names alongside your own brand.
