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CrowdTangle vs Meltwater

C

CrowdTangle

News

Social media insights and content monitoring platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Meltwater logo

Meltwater

News

Media intelligence and social listening platform

From
$15000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CrowdTangle crowdTangle was retired by Meta on 14 August 2024, per Meta's own transparency page (Internet Archive capture, 12 December 2024), with Meta Content Library and Content Library API offered as replacements; Meltwater real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • They diverge on capability: CrowdTangle covers Viral content tracking, Meltwater covers Media monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CrowdTangle and Meltwater actually diverge.

Attributes where CrowdTangle and Meltwater differ
AttributeCrowdTangleMeltwater
Starting priceOn request$15000/year
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded20112001

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (News).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CrowdTangle

  • Viral content tracking
  • Competitor monitoring
  • Brand mention tracking
  • Trending alerts
  • Custom dashboards
  • Team collaboration
  • Report generation
  • Facebook

Only in Meltwater

  • Media monitoring
  • Influencer discovery
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Competitive intelligence
  • PR analytics
  • Report automation
  • Crisis monitoring
  • Salesforce

Both cover

  • Social listening
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CrowdTangle

  • Viral content trackingnot Meltwater
  • Social listeningnot Meltwater
  • Competitor analysisnot Meltwater
  • Trend identificationnot Meltwater

Meltwater

  • Media monitoringnot CrowdTangle
  • Influencer researchnot CrowdTangle
  • Brand trackingnot CrowdTangle
  • Crisis managementnot CrowdTangle

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CrowdTangle

  • CrowdTangle was retired by Meta on 14 August 2024, per Meta's own transparency page (Internet Archive capture, 12 December 2024), with Meta Content Library and Content Library API offered as replacements

Meltwater

  • Real-time accuracy issues reported, particularly for niche industries or non-English content
  • Limited media contact database at 380,000-400,000 contacts compared to competitors like Cision
  • Cumbersome dashboard navigation and reporting interface requiring multi-step menu access for data exports
  • Annual contracts with limited ability to scale down; risky for businesses with fluctuating needs

Pricing, plan by plan

CrowdTangle

On request
  • Custom Plan$undefined/custom
    • Social monitoring
    • Competitor analysis
    • Trending content tracking

Meltwater

$15000/year
  • Essentials$15000/year
    • Core media monitoring
    • Brand mention tracking
    • Industry trend monitoring
  • Suite$25000/year
    • Media monitoring
    • Social listening
    • Cross-department analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose CrowdTangle if

  • You need viral content tracking.
  • You also want competitor monitoring.
CrowdTangle review

Choose Meltwater if

  • You need media monitoring.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want influencer discovery.
Meltwater review

Questions people ask

Is CrowdTangle or Meltwater better?
Neither clearly leads. CrowdTangle starts at On request and Meltwater at $15000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CrowdTangle or Meltwater?
CrowdTangle starts at On request and Meltwater at $15000/year.
Does CrowdTangle or Meltwater run on more platforms?
CrowdTangle runs on Web. Meltwater runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is CrowdTangle best used for?
CrowdTangle is most often used for viral content tracking, social listening, competitor analysis, trend identification. Of those, viral content tracking and social listening are not what Meltwater is typically brought in for.
What can CrowdTangle do that Meltwater cannot?
CrowdTangle covers Viral content tracking, Competitor monitoring, Brand mention tracking, Trending alerts. Meltwater covers Media monitoring, Influencer discovery, Sentiment analysis, Competitive intelligence. Both handle Social listening, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Meltwater: How much does Meltwater cost?

Meltwater does not publish pricing; all quotes require a sales call and annual contract. Median annual cost is approximately $25,000, with mid-market PR teams typically paying $15,000-$40,000 depending on users, coverage volume, and features.

Source
Meltwater: What sources does Meltwater monitor?

Meltwater monitors 200M+ online publications, 400,000+ traditional media sources, 20,000+ podcasts, TV/radio across all 210 US DMAs, and social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, WeChat, and Weibo.

Source
Meltwater: What languages does Meltwater support?

Meltwater provides global multilingual support with consistent accuracy across 100+ languages for sentiment analysis and content classification.

Source
Meltwater: Does Meltwater include journalist/media contact information?

Meltwater's media database includes approximately 380,000-400,000 contacts, smaller than competitors like Cision (1.1M). Media database and GenAI Lens are separate paid add-ons.

Source
Meltwater: Can I export Meltwater reports?

Yes, Meltwater generates custom dashboards and reports tailored to stakeholders. Mira AI assistant can generate summaries and insights from monitoring data.

Source
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