CrowdTangle alternatives in 2026, compared

No single tool replaces everything CrowdTangle did. The right choice depends on who you are: a publisher tracking accounts, a researcher studying platforms, or a brand team watching mentions. Here are nine options and who each one is for.

Updated October 2026

SocialWire publishes this page, so read it knowing that. Competitor details come from their own websites and press coverage, checked in October 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

The tools, one by one

SocialWire

Built for publishers and newsrooms. You follow lists of public accounts across Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, YouTube and Bluesky, and every post is scored against its own account's typical post. It adds alerts, search, follower tracking, AI reports and a Claude or ChatGPT connection. Plans start at $99 a month with a 14-day free trial, and you can start without a sales call. It covers fewer platforms than the enterprise tools and doesn't do web articles or long-range forecasting.

NewsWhip, now part of Sprout Social

The most complete paid option for tracking stories across the web and social. Its Spike product covers web articles plus Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and Substack, with more than seven years of history and predicted interactions. Sprout Social bought NewsWhip in July 2025. Pricing isn't published; you start by requesting a demo. SocialWire vs. NewsWhip.

Meta Content Library

Meta's official replacement. Access goes through an application to ICPSR at the University of Michigan and is limited to researchers at qualified academic and nonprofit institutions. Meta later said journalists at nonprofit news organizations can apply. Most commercial newsrooms can't use it. At launch it couldn't track follower counts over time or build public dashboards. SocialWire vs. Meta Content Library.

Socialinsider

Analytics and competitor benchmarking for brand and agency social teams, covering Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. Plans run from about $82 to $199 a month for 20 to 40 accounts, with a 14-day free trial. A good fit if you mainly track brands; it doesn't cover Threads.

BuzzSumo

Content research for PR and content teams: which articles and topics get shared, plus journalist outreach tools. Plans run from $199 to $999 a month, and the Facebook Analyzer is included from the $499 Suite plan up.

Junkipedia

A free tool from the Algorithmic Transparency Institute for tracking public accounts across 15 platforms, including fringe ones. It's aimed at disinformation research, and you apply for access with an institutional email.

Arbiter

A newer AI tool from the nonprofit SimPPL that clusters posts into narratives and tracks harmful narratives across eight platforms. It was free for newsrooms during its trial phase, according to Nieman Lab.

Brand24 and Meltwater

Mention-tracking and media-monitoring suites for brand and PR teams. Useful for knowing who is talking about a name or keyword. Neither is built to rank a list of accounts by overperforming posts.

How to choose

• You run a newsroom or publication and want CrowdTangle's list workflow back: SocialWire.
• You need web articles, many platforms and forecasting, and have an enterprise budget: NewsWhip.
• You're an academic or nonprofit researcher: apply for Meta Content Library, and look at Junkipedia.
• You track misinformation narratives: Arbiter or Junkipedia.
• You're a brand team benchmarking competitors: Socialinsider.