Tools like CrowdTangle, judged in one line each

Tools like CrowdTangle are in demand for an obvious reason: CrowdTangle itself is gone. Meta switched it off on August 14, 2024, and a lot of reporters, fact-checkers and social editors have been opening the old bookmark out of habit ever since. Nothing on the market today is a clean copy. Each tool below covers a slice of what CrowdTangle did, and each gets one honest verdict.

The list

1. AyeWatch

Verdict: the one you can sign up for today without writing a grant proposal.

AyeWatch is an AI internet monitor. You type what you care about as a sentence, and it pings you when something new matches, with a summary and the sources attached. It watches news and the open web, specific URLs, and accounts or searches on X, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

It does not touch Facebook and does not count likes or shares. If your timeline habit was "tell me when this story moves", it fits. If it was "which page got the most interactions", it does not. Paid plans start at $9 a month, and the Free Preview is three runs, no card.

2. Meta Content Library

Verdict: the official sequel, with a bouncer at the door.

Meta Content Library is Meta's research tool, and it is free. The catch is eligibility: you need to be with an academic institution or a nonprofit whose main purpose is research, and the Secure Data Access Center reviews your application. It covers public Facebook, Instagram and Threads content. For a newsroom without a research affiliation, the door stays shut.

3. NewsWhip

Verdict: for people who want to know what will trend before it does.

NewsWhip mixes real-time web and social feeds with public engagement data and leans into prediction. It also has an API and more than seven years of historical engagement data. Pricing is by demo, which tells you who it is built for.

4. Lumen by Talkwalker

Verdict: enterprise listening, now wearing a new badge.

Talkwalker has renamed itself Lumen by Talkwalker as it moves closer to Hootsuite. It covers social, digital and AI channels with analytics on top. Also demo-only. Big brand teams will feel at home; a two-person desk will feel outnumbered.

5. Brandwatch

Verdict: research-grade data with a research-grade budget.

Brandwatch, now paired with Cision, pitches a large archive of consumer opinion plus AI and APIs. It is strong for long-range consumer research. It is not the quick, cheap alert feed most former CrowdTangle users miss.

6. Awario

Verdict: classic keyword listening at a small-team price.

Awario is $49 a month, or $29 a month billed annually, for three topics with unlimited keywords in each, 30,000 new mentions a month and one seat. It has Boolean search, CSV export and PDF reports. You will spend time tuning keywords, which is the trade for the low price.

The one-line summary table

So which tab do you keep open

If your daily job is spotting new claims, statements or stories across X, Reddit, TikTok, Instagram and the news, start with AyeWatch. It is the only tool here that is self-serve, cheap and judges posts by meaning instead of keyword hits. You describe a beat once, and the alerts arrive by push, email, Slack or Discord.

If your job is measuring engagement on Facebook pages, nothing self-serve does that now. Apply to Meta Content Library if you qualify, or budget for an enterprise tool.

FAQ, the short version

Is CrowdTangle coming back? Meta's page says it has not been available since August 2024, and it points researchers to Meta Content Library instead.

Does anything track Facebook like CrowdTangle did? For approved researchers, Meta Content Library. Nothing on this list sells that to the general public.

The longer breakdown of each option lives in AyeWatch's guide to CrowdTangle alternatives.