What's the best free way to monitor Reddit for my keywords?
F5Bot's free tier covers five keywords on Reddit, Hacker News, and Lobsters by email. Meg's free plan includes Reddit and X lead scans with intent scoring until the credits run out.
Comparison
Tools to find customers on Reddit and X, compared
Short answer: for free keyword alerts on Reddit and Hacker News, use F5Bot. To watch many communities with AI filtering, use Syften. For broad social listening with an API, use Octolens. For Reddit-only lead generation with DM automation, Redreach. For Reddit and X leads with reply drafts in your voice, plus your own social posts, use Meg.
By the Meg team · Prices and features checked on each company's own website on 24 October 2026 · We make Meg, so weigh this accordingly.
Side by side
| Platforms | Starting price | AI filtering | Reply help | Automation on your account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5Bot | Reddit, Hacker News, Lobsters | Free (5 keywords, personal use); paid from $12.99/month | Gold plan and up | No | No |
| Syften | Reddit, Hacker News, Indie Hackers, GitHub, Product Hunt, forums, Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and more; X is a $40/month add-on; no LinkedIn | $29.95/month; 14-day trial | Standard plan and up | No | No |
| Octolens | Reddit, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky, Hacker News, GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV, review sites, and more | $159/month billed yearly; 7-day trial | Relevance score, buy-intent and sentiment tags on every plan | No | No |
| Redreach | See redreach.ai (prices load in the browser) | Intent filtering | Reply suggestions you post yourself | Optional DM automation through a browser extension | |
| Meg | Reddit and X | Free (6,000 credits); paid from $29.99/month | Intent score and label on every lead | Up to three reply drafts in your voice; you post | None. Meg never posts, replies, or DMs |
Who each tool suits
F5Bot: free alerts for a few keywords
F5Bot emails you when your keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News, or Lobsters. The free tier allows five keywords for personal use. Paid tiers add more keywords, instant alerts, Slack and Discord webhooks, and AI filtering from the Gold plan ($49.99/month). It doesn't cover X or help you reply.
Syften: many communities, filtered
Syften watches a long list of communities and the public web, with AI filtering on Standard ($49.95/month) and up and alerts by email, Slack, RSS, API, or webhook. X costs an extra $40/month. It's a strong pick if your customers are spread across niche communities; it doesn't draft replies.
Octolens: social listening with an API
Octolens covers the widest set of platforms here, including LinkedIn and TikTok, and tags mentions for relevance, buy intent, and sentiment. API, webhooks, and an MCP server come on every plan. At $159/month billed yearly it's aimed at brands and teams rather than solo founders.
Redreach: Reddit lead generation
Redreach focuses on Reddit: high-intent conversations, threads that already rank on Google, and reply suggestions you post from your own account. Alerts go to email, Slack, Telegram, or a webhook. It also offers a browser extension for automated Reddit DMs, which some founders will want and others will avoid.
Meg: Reddit and X leads, plus your own posts
Meg's Hunter searches Reddit and X together for posts from the last 15 days, scores buying intent, and drafts replies in your voice that you send yourself. It can run daily with Telegram alerts. The same workspace drafts LinkedIn, X, and Instagram posts in your voice. It covers fewer platforms than Syften or Octolens and has no API.
How to choose
- Where do your customers ask for help? If it's Hacker News or niche forums, Syften or F5Bot. If it's Reddit and X, Meg or Redreach plus an X tool.
- Do you want alerts or answers? Alert tools tell you a post exists. Redreach and Meg also help you write the reply.
- How do you feel about automation? Automated DMs can work, and can also get accounts flagged. Meg deliberately does none.
- Budget. Start with free tiers: F5Bot's free plan, or Meg's free credits.
Want to try it by hand first? The free Reddit & X search builder writes the searches for you.
Questions
Which tools cover X (Twitter)?
Of these, Octolens and Meg include X; Syften offers it as a paid add-on. F5Bot and Redreach don't cover X.
What happened to GummySearch?
It closed on 30 November 2025. See our GummySearch alternative page for details.
Related
Try Reddit and X lead finding free
Add your product, review the Hunt Pack, and run a scan.