Best social video listening tools (2026): Archive, Syncly, Brandwatch, Meltwater, YouScan and Noodle4.
Social listening used to mean reading captions and hashtags. Video listening means analysing what is shown and said in the video itself, and the comments under it. Here is how the main tools compare, and what each one costs.
The short answer.
Video social listening finds and analyses posts on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube by what is shown and said in the video, not only the caption and hashtags. Archive and Syncly are built around it, and larger platforms such as Brandwatch, Meltwater and Talkwalker describe some video analysis too. Noodle4 analyses and classifies video, images, text and comments across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube (Shorts and long-form), Reddit and X, publishes its pricing, charges on usage from £99 a month, and is available through the platform, an API and MCP.
Last updated 14 October 2026.
What video listening is
A lot of brand conversation now happens in short video. A creator can show your product, say its name wrong, compare it with a rival and never write your brand in the caption. A tool that reads only text will miss all of that.
Video listening tools try to close the gap. They look at the frames, listen to the audio, read any on-screen text and, in the better tools, read the comments under the video too. The tools differ a great deal in how many of those they do and how deep they go.
The tools compared
| Tool | What it analyses in video | Comments | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noodle4 | Video, images and text: visuals, audio and on-screen text, with classification and custom checks | Yes. Classifies comments using the video as context | Published. Usage-based, from £99 a month. Content review from $0.05 per video |
| Archive | Says its AI watches video, listens to audio and reads text. Detects untagged brand appearances | Video sentiment analysis is listed. Comments are not described | Not published. Demo booking |
| Syncly | Per its own article: logo and visual analysis, audio-to-text, on-screen text | Not described in the sources | $259 a month Starter, per Syncly’s own article |
| YouScan | Audio monitoring of YouTube videos. Visual analysis is described for images | Not described in the sources | Starter from 499 a month billed annually. Unlimited by quote |
| Brandwatch | Logo detection in video, per Syncly’s description | Not described in the sources | Not published. Median about $50,000 a year, per Vendr |
| Meltwater | Keyframe analysis and speech-to-text on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, per Syncly’s description | Not described in the sources | Not published. About $15,000 a year or more, per Syncly |
| Mentionlytics | Not described in the sources I found | Not described in the sources | Not checked |
This table shows what each vendor says about its own product, or what a third-party source says where the vendor does not. We have not tested the other tools, so check details with each vendor.
What to look for
- Visual, audio and on-screen text. Does it analyse all three, or only one? A product shown but never named, or named but never shown, needs both.
- Comments. Video listening is incomplete without the audience’s reaction. Check whether comments are analysed, and whether the tool understands them in the context of the video.
- Custom classification. Can you define your own categories and rules, or are you limited to a fixed list?
- Pricing you can see. Can you work out the cost for your volume before you talk to sales?
- Access. Can you use it in an app, through an API and in AI tools, or only in a dashboard?
The tools one by one
Archive. Archive Radar is built around video listening. Its homepage says its AI watches video, listens to audio and reads text, and that it detects brand appearances in posts even without tags, across TikTok, Instagram including Stories and Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It lists video sentiment analysis. Pricing is not published.
Syncly. Syncly describes logo and visual analysis, audio-to-text transcription and on-screen text overlays. It lists a Starter plan at $259 a month in its own article, which we could not confirm on a pricing page. It also launched an MCP.
Brandwatch, Meltwater and Talkwalker. Large enterprise platforms. Per Syncly’s description, Brandwatch offers logo detection in video, Meltwater combines keyframe analysis with speech-to-text, and Talkwalker detects logos in video frames. Because that source is a competitor, treat the detail as unverified. Contracts are typically annual.
YouScan. Audio monitoring that summarises spoken mentions in YouTube videos, plus visual analysis of images such as objects, scenes and logos. Its pricing page lists a Starter plan and a quote-based Unlimited plan, and does not mention video or audio analysis.
Mentionlytics. A budget social listening tool. We could not find a primary source that describes video analysis, so we have not made a claim either way.
What it costs
Prices are hard to compare because vendors package them differently. Brandwatch has a median of about $50,000 a year according to Vendr, on annual contracts. Meltwater and Talkwalker are quoted at five figures a year in Syncly’s article. Archive does not publish a price. YouScan lists a Starter plan from 499 a month billed annually, with its fuller plan by quote.
Noodle4 publishes its pricing and charges on usage, not seats. It starts at £99 a month, with a £5 free credit once approved, and content review from $0.05 per video depending on size. You can estimate the cost of your own volume before you talk to anyone. We have not compared like-for-like totals, because the tools include different things, so run the same job through each one.
Platform, API and MCP
Where you can use the results matters as much as what the tool finds. Noodle4 is available in three ways: in the platform, through an API for your own systems, and through MCP, so you can ask about your content, creators, campaigns and social intelligence from Claude, Cursor or any MCP client. It also connects to Slack and Slack Connect.
Syncly has announced an MCP too, so ask each vendor how analysis and classification are exposed, and what each call costs.
How to choose: a short pilot
- Pick one brand and thirty videos. Include videos where the product is shown but not named, named but not shown, and not tagged at all.
- Run the same videos through each tool. Ask every vendor for a trial or a sample on your content.
- Check what each found. Count the mentions found, and open the flagged moments to see whether they are right.
- Compare the comments. See whether comments are classified, and whether they make sense given the video.
- Price your real volume. Videos and comments a month, then the full cost, including onboarding and support.
What Noodle4 includes
Noodle4 is a full social intelligence platform, not only a video tool. It reviews text as well as video and images, and it includes:
- Text, video and image review. Reads captions, on-screen text, spoken words, images and comments, so the whole piece of content is understood.
- Taxonomies. Organise content and comments into your own categories, so results match how your team thinks.
- Visual-level SKU tracking. Spot products and SKUs as they appear in videos and images, not only when they are named in text.
- Classifications. Every piece of content and every comment is classified by topic, type and relevance.
- Anomaly detection. Flags unusual spikes and shifts, so you see what is trending before it spreads.
- Slack and Slack Connect. Reviews, risks and reports go to your team’s channels, and to shared channels with partners.
- MCP. Ask about your creators, campaigns and social intelligence from Claude, Cursor or any MCP client.
- API. Send content in and get structured results back from your own systems.
That covers social listening, brand monitoring, influencer screening and monitoring, content review and reporting in one place. It is priced on usage, not seats, from £99 a month.
Sources
Checked 14 October 2026. Mostly vendor-published, so claims are stated, not verified.
- Archive: homepage (vendor’s own claims). Archive Radar: video social listening; says its AI “watches video, listens to audio, and reads text”. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts. No pricing published; pricing links go to a demo booking page.
- YouScan: product page (vendor’s own claims). Audio Monitoring for YouTube videos. Visual analysis described for images; video not stated.
- YouScan: pricing page. Starter from 499 a month billed annually; Unlimited by quote. Video and audio analysis not listed on the pricing page.
- Syncly: Top video social listening tools for 2026. Published by Syncly, one of the tools compared. Source for the Talkwalker, Brandwatch, Meltwater and Sprinklr video descriptions and the price figures marked “per Syncly”. Its own pricing table and FAQ do not agree for Brandwatch.
- Vendr: Brandwatch pricing. Median about $50,000 a year across 40 purchases, range $19,542 to $81,200, annual contracts.
How we know this
These notes come from building Noodle4’s review and listening pipelines, not from a published academic sample. Cost curves, intent splits, and ASR collisions are from internal R&D and client-shaped tests. They will not match every category. We include them because the failure mode is structural — not because one campaign is universal.
Alex Gray-Johnson is Co-Founder at noodle4, with 8 years in AI classification models and marketing.
Frequently asked questions
What is social video listening?
It is monitoring social video for brand and product mentions by analysing what is shown and said in the video, and the comments, not only the caption and hashtags.
What is the best social video listening tool?
It depends on what you need. Archive and Syncly are built around video. Brandwatch, Meltwater and Talkwalker suit large enterprises. Noodle4 suits teams that want video, images, text and comments classified, with public usage-based pricing and API and MCP access.
Do Brandwatch, Meltwater and YouScan analyse video?
Their own pages and third-party descriptions say they do to some extent, such as logo detection, keyframe analysis, speech-to-text or audio monitoring of YouTube. How deep it goes varies, so test it on your own content.
How much does social video listening cost?
From published plans in the hundreds of dollars a month, to enterprise contracts of $15,000 to over $50,000 a year. Noodle4 starts at £99 a month and charges for usage.
Can I use video listening data in Claude or my own systems?
With Noodle4, yes: through the API and through MCP. Ask other vendors how they expose their data.