Brand24 vs Socialhose comes down to who reads the output. The two come up together in search and almost never in the same review, because they are sold to different people.
Brand24 is the tool one marketer buys to know, this week, when the brand is mentioned and how people feel about it. Socialhose is the tool an agency buys to run saved Boolean searches for many clients and send out a report with someone else's logo on it.
This comparison keeps that split in view. Brand24's prices were checked on 18 October 2026 on its pricing page. Socialhose's pricing page returned a server error on the same day, so we describe its model without quoting a number.
Key takeaways
- Brand24 is for one brand, fast. Keywords, sentiment, alerts, AI summaries. From $249 a month, $199 billed annually.
- Socialhose is for many clients, by Boolean query. Saved searches, unlimited users on team plans, white label reports.
- The deciding question: does the output go to you, or to a client with your logo on it?
- Neither is a competitive intelligence tool. They track what people say about a brand, not what rivals publish and pay to promote.
- Confirm the metered unit before you buy: keywords and mentions at Brand24, searches at Socialhose.
Who is each tool built for?
| Brand24 | Socialhose | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Small and mid-size teams that want mentions and sentiment without setup | Agencies and enterprises that run many searches for many clients |
| Query style | Keywords with required and excluded words, simple filters | Boolean search across sources, saved and reused |
| Sources | Social, news, blogs, forums, reviews, podcasts, video | Social, news, blogs, forums, broadcast and print in some plans |
| Users | 1 on Individual; unlimited from Team | Positioned around unlimited users on team plans |
| Alerts and reports | Email and in-app alerts, PDF reports, AI summaries and AI brand assistant on higher tiers | Real-time alerts, scheduled reports, white label options |
| Historical data | Limited on entry plans | Longer archives on higher plans |
| Pricing | Published, five tiers | Published tiers, quotes for larger volumes |
Choose Brand24 if one person needs to know when the brand is mentioned and how people feel about it, this week. Choose Socialhose if several people need saved Boolean searches across clients and a report that goes out with someone else's logo on it.
How much does Brand24 cost in 2026?
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Keywords | Mentions a month | Users | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | $249 | $199 | 3 | 2,000 | 1 | Every 12 hours |
| Team | $349 | $299 | 7 | 10,000 | Unlimited | Every hour |
| Pro | $499 | $399 | 12 | 40,000 | Unlimited | Real time |
| Business | $699 | $599 | 25 | 100,000 | Unlimited | Real time |
| Enterprise | From $1,499 | From $1,499 | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Real time |
API access costs $149 a month on top of any plan. AI sentiment analysis is on every tier; AI events detection, the AI brand assistant and AI topics start at Pro. Prices checked 18 October 2026.
Two things the table hides. First, the update frequency on Individual is every 12 hours, which is fine for reporting and slow for crisis response. Second, the keyword count is the real ceiling: three keywords on Individual means your brand name, one product and one competitor, and nothing else.
How does Socialhose price its plans?
Socialhose meters searches rather than keywords, publishes tiers and quotes larger volumes. Its pricing page was unreachable when we checked on 18 October 2026, so we are not going to type a number from memory. What we can say from its product positioning: Boolean search is the core, team plans are built around unlimited users, and white label reporting is a feature rather than an add-on. If you are evaluating it, ask for the current tiers and for what counts as one search, because that is where the cost moves.
Which has the better search?
Socialhose, if you need logic. Boolean queries with AND, OR, NOT and proximity operators let an agency define "client brand, but not the unrelated company with the same name, only in English, excluding job posts" once and reuse it. Brand24's keyword setup with required and excluded words covers most single-brand cases in a minute, but it does not scale to twenty clients with ambiguous names.
Brand24, if you need less setup. Most brands do not need Boolean. They need the mentions to arrive and the sentiment to be roughly right, and Brand24 does both out of the box.
Which has the better reporting?
For a report you read yourself, Brand24: PDF exports, AI summaries from Pro, and the AI brand assistant for questions in plain language. For a report you send to a client, Socialhose: scheduled delivery and white label options are the shape agencies pay for. Brand24 adds advanced reports on Business, which closes part of that gap at $599 a month billed annually.
What neither tool does
Both track what people say about a brand. Neither tracks what competitors do: which keywords they rank for, which ads they have run for four months, which Instagram formats carry their engagement. That is competitive intelligence, and it is a different job with different tools. Our guide to social media monitoring vs competitive intelligence draws the line.
The competitive intelligence tools comparison covers the other side.
If the question you are really asking is "what are my competitors doing", Pengu Insights starts free with 80 credits at sign-up and covers Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, the Meta Ad Library and the search side in one place. It does not do mention tracking, and we would rather say so than sell you the wrong category.
How to decide in five minutes
- Who reads the output? You: Brand24. A client: Socialhose.
- How many brands with ambiguous names? None: Brand24. Several: Socialhose.
- How fast do you need to know? Hourly or better on a budget: Brand24 Team. Real time: Brand24 Pro or Socialhose.
- Do you need an API? Brand24 charges $149 extra. Ask Socialhose what its tier includes.
- Is the job actually competitor research? Then neither; see the section above.
Frequently asked questions
Brand24 or Socialhose: which is better for an agency?
Socialhose for saved Boolean searches, many users and white label reports. Brand24 for one brand that needs mentions and sentiment this week.
How much does Brand24 cost in 2026?
Individual $249 ($199 annual), Team $349 ($299), Pro $499 ($399), Business $699 ($599), Enterprise from $1,499 annual. API $149 extra. Checked 18 October 2026.
How much does Socialhose cost?
Published tiers with quotes for larger volumes. The pricing page was down when we checked, so we do not quote a figure.
Does Brand24 have Boolean search?
Keywords with required and excluded words and filters, not full Boolean strings. Socialhose is Boolean-first.
Is there a cheaper alternative to both?
Google Alerts for free mentions. For competitor research rather than mentions, Pengu Insights from free.
What to do next
Write down who will read the report and how many brands you monitor. Those two answers pick the tool. If the report is about competitors rather than mentions, run one of them through the free website traffic checker first.
Then pull its keywords with the competitor keyword finder. That is the half of the job neither Brand24 nor Socialhose covers.
Written by
Founder of Pengu Insights. Competitive intelligence practitioner for DTC brands and marketing agencies.
