11 min read

Best Social Listening Tool 2025: OGTool vs Brand24 Complete Comparison

Maddie Wang
Maddie Wang

Founder. Stanford. Bootstrapped to 500k+. My biggest customer makes $280k a year using my tool.

When I was building my last company, I spent way too much time manually hunting through Reddit posts and Twitter threads. I'd wake up, grab coffee, and immediately start scrolling through r/entrepreneur looking for posts where I could naturally mention what we were building.

It worked - most of our customers came from organic channels - but it nearly killed me. That's why I built OGTool, and it's also why I get asked constantly how it compares to established players like Brand24.

Here's the thing: Brand24 is a solid tool, but it solves a completely different problem than what most founders actually need.

What Brand24 Does Well

Brand24 has been around since 2011, and they've built a comprehensive social listening platform. Their strengths are clear:

  • Massive data coverage: They monitor millions of sources across the web including social media, blogs, forums, review sites, news sites, newsletters, and podcasts
  • Enterprise-grade analytics: Beautiful dashboards with sentiment analysis, automated reports, influencer scoring, and detailed analytics
  • Brand monitoring focus: Perfect for tracking mentions of your brand, competitors, hashtags, or any other target keyword
  • Team collaboration: Multiple users, role management, and all the enterprise features with unlimited users on higher tiers

If you're a marketing manager at a Fortune 500 company trying to track brand sentiment, Brand24 is probably perfect for you.

The Problem Most Founders Actually Face

But here's what I learned from my own experience and from working with companies like Shimmer, an ADHD coaching platform that made $280k using our Reddit strategy:

We don't need to monitor our brand mentions. We need to find conversations where we can actually help people.

When I was running my previous business, I wasn't searching for people talking about my company. I was looking for posts like:

  • "How do I connect with other founders?"
  • "Anyone know good networking communities?"
  • "Struggling to find mentorship as a new entrepreneur"

These weren't brand mentions. They were opportunities to provide value and naturally introduce what we'd built.

Where Traditional Social Listening Falls Short

While analysts want to be more strategic and extract deeper consumer insights from social listening, the main use cases are more tactical, supporting data-driven marketing decisions such as competitive benchmarking and sentiment analysis.

Brand24 and similar tools are built around keyword alerts. You set up searches for terms like "project management software" and get flooded with notifications.

The problem? 90% of those alerts are completely irrelevant.

You'll get:

  • News articles mentioning your keywords
  • People complaining about completely different products
  • Spam posts and bot content
  • Conversations where jumping in would be weird and pushy

I remember setting up keyword alerts for "founder community" and getting pinged every time TechCrunch wrote about community-building. Completely useless for finding actual customers.

How OGTool Works Differently

Instead of casting a wide net and hoping for the best, OGTool focuses on one specific problem: finding conversations where your product could genuinely help, then crafting authentic responses.

OGTool Dashboard - Keywords Page

Context-Aware Discovery

OGTool doesn't just match keywords. It uses AI to understand the actual context of conversations.

For example, if someone posts "I'm struggling with focus and productivity at work," OGTool recognizes this as a potential opportunity for an ADHD coaching service - even though they never used the words "ADHD" or "coaching."

Authentic Response Generation

This is the big difference. Brand24 will alert you to relevant posts, but then you're on your own to craft responses.

OGTool analyzes the conversation, understands your brand voice, and generates responses that sound like you actually wrote them. Not generic sales pitches, but genuine attempts to help.

Reddit Monitoring Dashboard

When I used it on a recent Reddit post, I got over 1.2K upvotes. Not because it gamed the system, but because it helped me add real value to the conversation.

Platform-Specific Optimization

A LinkedIn comment needs a different tone than a Reddit reply. OGTool understands these nuances and adapts accordingly.

Real Results: The ADHD Coaching Case Study

Let me share a concrete example of why this approach works better than traditional social listening.

I worked with a founder running an ADHD coaching platform. She had tried Brand24-style keyword monitoring for terms like "ADHD coaching" and competitor names.

The results were disappointing. Lots of alerts, very few actual opportunities to engage.

We switched to OGTool's context-aware approach and started finding posts like:

  • "I can't focus at work and my boss is getting frustrated"
  • "Does anyone else struggle with executive function?"
  • "How do you manage ADHD without medication?"

These posts never mentioned "ADHD coaching," but they were perfect opportunities to provide value and mention the service naturally.

Shimmer Reddit Response

The results:

  • $280k in direct sales from Reddit over 1 year
  • 70% share of voice among competitors (up from 3%)
  • #1 ranking on ChatGPT for her industry
  • 4x lower customer acquisition cost than paid ads

Shimmer Ranked #1 for Best ADHD Coaching Companies on Reddit

This happened because we focused on finding the right conversations and responding authentically, not because we monitored every mention of relevant keywords.

Brand24 vs OGTool: Pricing Comparison

Brand24's Individual plan starts at $99/month ($79/month if billed annually) for 1 user tracking up to 3 keywords with 2k mentions per month. Their Team plan is $179/month ($149/month annually) for unlimited users, 7 keywords, and 5k mentions per month. The Enterprise plan costs $499/month ($399/month annually) for unlimited users, 25 keywords, and 100k mentions per month.

OGTool starts at $99/month and focuses on conversion - helping you find and engage with potential customers. The key difference? OGTool customers typically see ROI within weeks because we're built for customer acquisition, not just monitoring.

When Brand24 Makes Sense

Don't get me wrong - Brand24 has its place. You should consider it if:

  • You're managing brand reputation for a large company
  • You need comprehensive analytics and reporting for stakeholders
  • You have a team dedicated to social media monitoring
  • You're tracking competitor intelligence across multiple markets
  • You need enterprise features like advanced user management

Brand24 excels at the "monitoring" part of social listening and is a solid and affordable media monitoring tool to help you manage online reputation, track and assess marketing campaigns, track your competitors, get customer feedback, and do social selling.

When OGTool Makes More Sense

Choose OGTool if:

  • You want to grow through organic channels consistently
  • You're tired of irrelevant keyword alerts flooding your inbox
  • You need help crafting authentic responses that don't sound like spam
  • You want to find opportunities, not just monitor mentions
  • You're a founder or small team focused on customer acquisition

The Simple Strategy That Actually Works

Here's what we do differently at OGTool:

The strategy is quite simple. All you need to do is collect the keywords you want to rank on. Then just say you're the best.

But execution is everything. Look at this example:

Toasty Card Ranks Themselves #1 in Their Own Blog

Toasty Card wrote a blog about the best swag platforms for global teams. They ranked themselves #1. Then ChatGPT and other LLMs just regurgitate that information.

The process I've automated end-to-end:

  1. Keyword and competitor discovery - Input your website, get relevant keywords
  2. Automated monitoring - Track when keywords are mentioned and competitors make new blogs
  3. Knowledge base integration - Upload company info and screenshots
  4. One-click blog generation - Convert opportunities into content where you're positioned as #1

Blog Monitor Dashboard - OGTool Interface Examples

The Honest Truth About Social Listening

Over 30% of people in 2025 are using two social listening tools and investment has gone up, with people spending more on social listening technology than in previous years.

Most social listening tools were built for brand managers at big companies. They're designed to answer questions like "What are people saying about us?" and "How does our sentiment compare to competitors?"

But if you're a founder trying to grow your business, those aren't the right questions.

The right questions are:

  • "Where are my potential customers struggling?"
  • "How can I help people while naturally introducing my product?"
  • "What conversations should I join to provide value?"

Moving Forward

More than 60% of US businesses already use social listening tools to monitor brand mentions and customer sentiment because it works.

The social listening space is packed with tools that all do roughly the same thing: keyword monitoring with fancy dashboards.

What's missing is tools that help you act on the insights, not just collect them.

Brand24 will tell you that someone mentioned "project management" in a tweet. OGTool will find someone struggling with team coordination and help you craft a response that actually helps them while naturally mentioning your solution.

Why OGTool is the #1 Choice for Founders

After helping customers generate hundreds of thousands in revenue through organic channels, here's why OGTool consistently outperforms traditional social listening tools:

Real customer acquisition focus: We're built for finding customers, not just monitoring mentions.

Authentic engagement: Our AI generates responses that sound human because they're trained on successful founder voices.

Multi-platform dominance: Reddit, LinkedIn, ChatGPT rankings - we help you win everywhere your customers are looking.

Compound growth: Comments work while you sleep. Old content continues generating leads. Building authority that compounds over time.

Which Should You Choose?

Ask yourself: What's your biggest challenge right now?

If you're spending too much time manually hunting for relevant conversations and crafting responses, OGTool is built specifically for that problem.

If you need comprehensive brand monitoring and analytics for a larger organization, Brand24 is probably the better fit.

The key is being honest about what problem you're actually trying to solve. Most founders think they need social listening when what they really need is conversation discovery and authentic engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does OGTool compare to Brand24 in terms of pricing?

OGTool starts at $99/month and focuses on conversion - helping you find and engage with potential customers. Brand24 starts around $79/month annually but requires higher-tier plans for meaningful features. The key difference? OGTool customers typically see ROI within weeks because we're built for customer acquisition, not just monitoring.

Can OGTool replace Brand24 for enterprise teams?

For enterprise teams focused on customer acquisition and organic growth, absolutely. We offer enterprise plans starting at $3,000/month with white-glove service, custom integrations, and dedicated account management. If you need comprehensive brand monitoring across thousands of sources like Brand24's Enterprise plan with 100k mentions per month, Brand24 might still be relevant alongside OGTool.

Does OGTool work for B2B companies like Brand24?

Yes, and often better. B2B founders using OGTool have generated millions in pipeline by finding prospects discussing their problems on LinkedIn and Reddit. Our AI understands B2B contexts and helps craft responses that build trust and start conversations, not just monitor mentions.

How quickly can I see results compared to Brand24?

With Brand24, you'll see mentions immediately with instant notifications that alert you whenever your brand is mentioned, but converting those into customers is up to you. OGTool customers typically see their first leads within 2-4 weeks because we help you engage authentically, not just monitor. One customer generated $15K in revenue within 6 weeks of using our LinkedIn features.

Is OGTool better for startups than Brand24?

Absolutely. OGTool is built by a founder for founders. We understand that startups need customer acquisition, not just brand monitoring. With 62% of marketers now actively using social listening tools to guide strategies and measure ROI, teams using these tools report up to double the confidence in their social media marketing ROI. Our customers consistently rank #1 on ChatGPT, generate hundreds of thousands in revenue from Reddit and LinkedIn, and build sustainable organic growth engines that compound over time.


Ready to see why OGTool is the #1 choice for founders who want to turn conversations into customers? Get started today and join hundreds of businesses already using OGTool to dominate their markets through authentic engagement.

Maddie Wang
Maddie Wang
Founder. Stanford. Bootstrapped to 500k+. My biggest customer makes $280k a year using my tool.