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Social Media · head to head

Talkwalker vs X

Talkwalker logo

Talkwalker

Social Media

Consumer intelligence to accelerate your brand

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
X logo

X

Social Media

The renamed and restructured Twitter, now merged into Elon Musks xAI, with paid verification and metered API access

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only X has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Talkwalker no pricing published on website; all tiers require requesting custom quote; X verification no longer signals identity or notability, only a paid subscription, so users cannot rely on the blue check the way they could before 2023.
  • They diverge on capability: Talkwalker covers Social listening, X covers Posts and reposts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Talkwalker and X actually diverge.

Attributes where Talkwalker and X differ
AttributeTalkwalkerX
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree to use, paid X Premium tiers and metered developer API
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebiOS, Android, Web
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Social Media).

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 Talkwalker

  • Social listening
  • Image recognition
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Influencer identification
  • Crisis detection
  • Hootsuite
  • Salesforce
  • Tableau

Only in X

  • Posts and reposts
  • X Premium
  • Grok integration
  • Spaces
  • Direct messages
  • Creator monetisation

What people use each for

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

Talkwalker

  • Brand monitoringnot X
  • Competitive intelligencenot X
  • Crisis managementnot X
  • Campaign measurementnot X
  • Market researchnot X

X

  • A brand or public figure needing verified status and reduced ads, now purchased rather than earned editoriallynot Talkwalker
  • A developer building a bot or analytics tool who needs to budget for paid API tiers rather than assume free accessnot Talkwalker
  • A researcher who previously used the free academic API and now needs to evaluate whether the paid tier is affordablenot Talkwalker
  • An advertiser assessing brand safety given content moderation changes since the 2022 acquisitionnot Talkwalker

Where each one falls short

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

Talkwalker

  • No pricing published on website; all tiers require requesting custom quote

X

  • Verification no longer signals identity or notability, only a paid subscription, so users cannot rely on the blue check the way they could before 2023.
  • API access for developers moved from largely free to a paid tier structure, and the free tier is restrictive enough that most third-party apps and bots have shut down or moved elsewhere.
  • Advertiser spend has been volatile since the ownership change, with several major advertisers pausing campaigns over content moderation concerns, which affects the reliability of ad-supported reach.
  • The 2025 merger into xAI folds the platforms user data and infrastructure into an AI company, which is a materially different data relationship than existed under the previous corporate structure.
  • Content moderation policy has shifted significantly since 2022, and organisations with brand safety requirements need to reassess the platform rather than assume Twitter-era policies still apply.

Pricing, plan by plan

Talkwalker

On request
  • ListenFree
    • Social listening
    • Sentiment analysis
    • Alerts
  • AnalyzeFree
    • Advanced analytics
    • AI insights
    • Benchmarking
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Full platform
    • API access
    • Custom integrations

X

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Ad-supported feed, posting, following, direct messages
  • Premium$8/month
    • Verification badge, edit posts, reduced ads, longer posts, revenue share eligibility
  • Premium+$40/month
    • Largest reply prioritisation, ad-free timeline, higher usage limits

Which should you pick?

Choose Talkwalker if

  • You need social listening.
  • You also want image recognition.
Talkwalker review

Choose X if

  • You need posts and reposts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want x premium.
X review

Questions people ask

Is Talkwalker or X better?
Neither clearly leads. Talkwalker starts at On request and X at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Talkwalker or X?
X has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Talkwalker and Free for X.
Does Talkwalker or X run on more platforms?
Talkwalker runs on Web. X runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use X for free?
Yes. X has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Talkwalker starts at On request.
What is Talkwalker best used for?
Talkwalker is most often used for brand monitoring, competitive intelligence, crisis management, campaign measurement. Of those, brand monitoring and competitive intelligence are not what X is typically brought in for.
What can Talkwalker do that X cannot?
Talkwalker covers Social listening, Image recognition, Sentiment analysis, Influencer identification. X covers Posts and reposts, X Premium, Grok integration, Spaces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Talkwalker: How much does Talkwalker cost?

Talkwalker does not publish pricing on its website. The platform offers three plans (Core, Analyze, Business) but requires contacting sales for a custom quote.

Source
X: Is X the same company as Twitter?

It is the renamed and restructured successor. Twitter Inc became X Corp after Musks 2022 acquisition, and X Corp itself was merged into xAI in March 2025.

Talkwalker: Does Talkwalker offer a free trial?

Talkwalker offers a free demo consultation, but pricing and trial terms require contact with the sales team.

Source
X: Is verification still free?

No. Verification is now part of the paid X Premium subscription, not a free editorial mark of notability.

Talkwalker: What is included in Talkwalker's Core plan?

The Core plan includes social listening, media monitoring, custom dashboards, AI summaries, AI Agent, and LLM Insights with unlimited users, but specific pricing is not disclosed.

Source
X: Can I still use the API for free?

A limited free tier exists but is restrictive; meaningful volume access requires a paid tier, priced well above the old free and standard API access.

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