Overview

The service targets sales-signal detection, customer feedback, competitor monitoring, market intelligence, customer support, and campaign-impact measurement. Its useful distinction is pairing keyword alerts across six sources with alerts when someone comments on a tracked Reddit or Hacker News conversation. That makes it a stronger fit for teams monitoring community discussions than for those who need conversation-level tracking across every network.

The maker says monitoring refreshes per second; notifications usually arrive within seconds, though temporary congestion can delay them by up to a minute. Treat that as timely monitoring rather than guaranteed instant response. Included and excluded keywords and language filters help narrow results.

Key features

Alerts, filtering, and sentiment

Keyword monitoring covers Reddit, Hacker News, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Alerts can go by email, Slack notification, or API webhook. Webhooks send each result as a JSON-encoded HTTP POST, making them suitable for systems that accept custom POST requests. AI labels detected keyword sentiment as positive, negative, or neutral: a useful triage signal, but not a detailed interpretation of each mention.

Conversation tracking and integrations

Users can track Reddit or Hacker News posts and comments and receive an alert when someone adds a comment. That is valuable for following specific discussions, but the feature does not extend to the other monitored sources. The hosted MCP server works with compatible clients using a KWatch API key; the maker names Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, and VS Code. Webhook and MCP traffic is encrypted with TLS, and MCP access can be revoked by revoking the API key.

Coverage boundaries

LinkedIn and Facebook comments are not monitored, Facebook groups must be public, and YouTube keyword alerts check titles and descriptions rather than video audio. Instagram and TikTok are not monitored. These boundaries matter if a campaign depends on comments, private groups, spoken video content, or those unsupported networks.

Pricing

KWatch.io has a free plan and paid plans billed monthly. All plans cap keyword alerts and tracked conversations by source, so compare the allowances against the networks and discussion volume you actually need.

Plan	Price	What it includes
Free	0.00 USD per free, billed monthly	2 Reddit keyword alerts, 2 Hacker News keyword alerts, 0 tracked conversations, basic support.
Essential	19.00 USD per month	20 alerts each for Reddit and Hacker News; 2 each for X and YouTube; 1 each for Facebook and LinkedIn; 2 tracked conversations each on Reddit and Hacker News; AI analysis, filtering, and basic support.
Business	79.00 USD per month	100 alerts each for Reddit and Hacker News; 10 each for X and YouTube; 5 each for Facebook and LinkedIn; 10 tracked conversations each on Reddit and Hacker News; API, webhooks, Slack, MCP, bulk import, team management, and basic support.
Enterprise	199.00 USD per month	500 alerts each for Reddit and Hacker News; 50 each for X and YouTube; 25 each for Facebook and LinkedIn; 50 tracked conversations each on Reddit and Hacker News; API, webhooks, Slack, MCP, bulk import, team management, and advanced support.
Agency (Multi-Client)	Custom pricing	Multi-client management, custom keyword-alert and conversation limits, API, webhooks, Slack, and MCP.

Free is a narrow way to start: it offers only four keyword alerts across Reddit and Hacker News and no tracked conversations. Essential suits an individual or small team needing modest coverage across sources and a couple of tracked threads, but does not include the listed API, webhook, Slack, MCP, bulk-import, or team-management features. Business is the first plan listing those integrations and team tools, with substantially larger quotas. Enterprise raises those quotas and adds advanced support; it is the better fit when those capacities and support matter. Agencies needing multi-client management can request custom pricing and limits.

Platforms

KWatch.io runs on the web and offers API access. The hosted MCP server adds a route for compatible clients, including Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, and VS Code. The supplied platform coverage does not include native mobile or desktop apps.

Who it's for

Choose KWatch.io if your work centers on keyword alerts across Reddit, Hacker News, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube, especially when following Reddit and Hacker News conversations is important. Its filters and sentiment labels can help teams sort mentions, while webhook delivery can feed custom systems. Look elsewhere if you need Instagram or TikTok monitoring, comment monitoring on LinkedIn or Facebook, YouTube audio analysis, or conversation tracking beyond Reddit and Hacker News.

Pros and cons

Pros

Combines keyword monitoring with thread alerts: Reddit and Hacker News conversation tracking can catch new comments on discussions already being followed.
Useful alert routes and integrations: Email, Slack, webhooks, API, and MCP support let teams route results into different workflows, with Business and Enterprise listing the broader integration set.
Filters and sentiment labels: Included and excluded terms, language filters, and positive, negative, or neutral labels help narrow and triage results.

Cons

Free cannot track conversations: Its two alerts per supported source are limited to Reddit and Hacker News, with zero tracked conversations.
Conversation coverage is narrow: Only Reddit and Hacker News offer tracked-thread comment alerts.
Some source activity is out of reach: LinkedIn and Facebook comments are excluded, Facebook groups must be public, YouTube checks text metadata rather than audio, and Instagram and TikTok are unsupported.
Quotas rise by plan: Teams with heavier monitoring needs must move beyond Essential, and the agency option requires custom pricing.

Alternatives

Brand24 is a paid alternative with a free trial and apps for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows as well as web and API access. Its Individual plan is 249.00 USD per month, billed $ 199 per month annually, for 3 keywords, 2K mentions per month, 1 user, and updates every 12 hours. Choose it when those broader app platforms and stated mention allowance fit better than KWatch.io's lower-cost, source-specific plans.

dig has a free plan with 10 credits per month and a Pro plan at 25.00 USD per month for 50 credits per month, influencer vetting, crisis detection, and trend discovery. Pick it when those stated capabilities and credit-based plans are a closer match.

Mentionlytics is a paid web and API option with a free trial; its Basic plan is 49.00 USD per month and includes 3 keyword rules and 5k monthly mentions. It may suit readers who prefer that stated rules-and-mentions allowance.

Social Searcher offers a free web plan without registration or login, with 100 real-time searches per day, 1 monitoring, and 500 saved posts per month. Choose it for that no-login free-search approach.

BrandMentions is a paid web service with a free trial; its Starter plan is 99.00 USD per month billed annually and includes 5 tracked keywords and 5,000 mentions per month. It is an option when those stated limits suit the monitoring need.

Awario is a paid web alternative with a free trial. Its Starter plan is 29.00 USD per month billed annually and includes 3 topics, unlimited keywords per topic, 30,000 new mentions per month, and 5,000 stored mentions. Consider it when topic-based monitoring and those mention limits fit better.

Syften is a paid web and API service with a free trial; its Entry plan is 29.95 USD per month billed monthly and includes 3 community filters, 100 community results per day, 1 web filter, 5 web results per day, and 7-day archive search. It is worth considering for that stated community-and-web filter structure.

Harken is a free, open-source MIT option for self-hosting, with no per-seat pricing. Choose it when self-hosting and avoiding per-seat charges matter more than KWatch.io's hosted service.

For more options, browse AI Social Listening Tools and Social Media Listening Software.

Verdict

KWatch.io is a sensible choice for teams that want affordable, multi-source keyword alerts and specifically need to follow Reddit or Hacker News conversations. Its sentiment labels, filters, and integration options add practical ways to triage and route results. Choose another service if your monitoring depends on unsupported networks, broader conversation tracking, or deeper coverage of comments and video content.

	KWatch.io	Magpie
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	$19/mo	Free
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Web	Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$19/mo	—
Sentiment analysis	Yes	—

KWatch.io vs Magpie

KWatch.io

Magpie