BuzzSumo vs. Meltwater

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BuzzSumo
Score 9.8 out of 10
N/A
BuzzSumo is an influencer marketing platform focused on influencer location, author reports, content analysis for locating trends, and domain comparisons, useful for competitor analysis. The analysis engine is intentioned to track and optimize content marketing efforts. BuzzSumo was acquired by Brandwatch, which is now a Cision company (acquired February 2021).
$199
per month
Meltwater
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Meltwater Media Intelligence platform is a set of public relations software tools for media monitoring, social media monitoring, and collecting brand insights. The four areas of functionality are Monitor, Analyze, Distribute, and Engage. (Note that this product combines features from the vendor Meltwater's former Buzz, Press, and News products.)N/A
Pricing
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Editions & Modules
Content Creation
$199
per month
PR & Comms
$299
per month
Suite
$499
per month
Enterprise
$999
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Considered Both Products
BuzzSumo
Chose BuzzSumo
Current trending stories/ topics feature
Chose BuzzSumo
We still use SEMrush for our SEO and content department and don't use BuzzSumo much for social media these days so what BuzzSumo does for our agency it does better than the competitors and that's primarily advanced monitoring and the relevant data associated with placements …
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We have used TapInfluence and it is definitely better for finding influencers, but it does lack a lot of the other capabilities that are available with BuzzSumo.
Chose BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is an excellent tool because it incorporates a lot of different software functions into one.
Chose BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a great software because it does a little bit of everything, but it does not do some of the focuses super well, such as influencer marketing, etc.
Chose BuzzSumo
We have used TapInfluence which is much more expensive. It is definitely better in the influencer category, but BuzzSumo provides more functionality beyond that.
Chose BuzzSumo
I am not really sure of another software out there that does all of these things within one. It really is diverse and saves on additional subscriptions.
Chose BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is really the only solution for a fully functional social media application to help you succeed.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buffer is a tool that can be very useful for certain uses of Twitter, but in reality, it is very limited when you want to demand a little more. The pros actually weigh a lot, but the serious limitations in several regards do not allow us to give it a higher mark.

Chose BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is really the only platform we have used in the influencer niche, but it definitely works well for us.
Chose BuzzSumo
Hootsuite is lacking in some of the features available to help plan your content strategy which Buzzsumo helps to fill in the gaps.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo seems pretty far ahead of many of its competitors. Specifically, I find that its data pool is much more extensive and in-depth compared to mainstream competitors. For example, Buzzsumo seems to be more aware overall of tangential topics that are relevant to–but not …
Chose BuzzSumo
Mention was a lot more expensive and was very limited in the number of search terms. It also didn't count shared by content piece.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo is really easy to understand and does give a clear insight on trends and subjects to keep an eye on. It's a general tool that not only keeps up with keywords but with the subject in general, which is very convenient. Also, it doesn't need a big tutorial to get through, …
Chose BuzzSumo
  • Sprout Social and Salesforce are extremely expensive and don't offer the same powerful content marketing features that Buzzsumo offers for a third of the price
  • The crisis monitoring and social listening tools within Buzzsumo are much more user-friendly
  • The permissions in Sprout …
Chose BuzzSumo
I have found Buzzsumo to be great regarding its social aspect (finding influencers, popular content and getting shares), but in order to reach out to influencers you need to use other tools.

Also, Buzzsumo can be used to find socially popular content but other tools might be …
Chose BuzzSumo
I selected BuzzSumo because it had a few insights that Google Trends didn't. However, because Google Trends is free, I would recommend it to anyone who wants similar features, but can't afford to pay the price for BuzzSumo.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo is probably the best tool when it comes to social shares. Other tools like Ahrefs and Mention can get you similar data, but those tools have other focuses (social mentions and baclinks). If you want accurate social share counts for your blog and other companies, …
Chose BuzzSumo
Analytics only provides info on what is performing on our own site, Buzzsumo searches all of the internet to do that.
Chose BuzzSumo
Google Trends is amazing, but Busssumo gives you influencers. Trends will influence what you write. Buzzsumo influence who you write to. It is a difficult one to answer. Both are great, but I would happily pay for Buzzsumo.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo solves for the media monitoring challenge better than any alternatives.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo is much better than Socialbro at identifying industry influencers on social media.
Chose BuzzSumo
We use them in tandem. We’ve found little crossover between the two.
Chose BuzzSumo
Buzzsumo has more features when compared to Followerwonk. I only ever used Followerwonk to find new followers on Twitter and build out targeted lists. Buzzsumo I use endlessly for competitive research (social media, back links, social media influencers as well as top performing …
Chose BuzzSumo
While they show similar metrics to Buzzsumo, I like the visual aspect of Buzzsumo and the breakdown it has per channel. It's simple, but effective.
Meltwater
Chose Meltwater
We chose Meltwater because we can create actual queries and search on forums, which many other platforms lack. We found that other services tend to focus only on social media.
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater does not limit competitive searches in the same way that Crayon and Klue do. Meltwater also captures different sources of information than aggregation tools. While Meltwater doesn’t provide access to expert reports like a different platform that I rely on for deep …
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I believe they are fairly evenly matched, Meltwater has better search options but it really goes back and forth on who has the most updated contacts.
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater has more detail in its analytics, and is far more complex.
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater serves as an all-in-one platform, so it has benefitted us greatly in being able to service a variety of needs in one place. Having a streamlined platform is important to our team since it can feel counterproductive to visit a variety of products to service one …
Chose Meltwater
Cision PRWeb has a more robust toolset and provides more precise metrics and analysis, as well as a better media outreach database of journalists.
Chose Meltwater
I started using Meltwater because of a client. I do find it much easier to use than Cision. I hear good things about Muck Rack and recently had a demo. That's probably the one I would use if I were to leave Meltwater. Cision has always been difficult to use, in my opinion.
Chose Meltwater
I have tried several platforms but continue coming back to Meltwater. Even though we are a national company, I like the global reach that Meltwater offers.
Chose Meltwater
We actually use both Cision and Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform. I prefer Cision over Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform in that the analytics are better, plus the competitor tracking has made my job SO much easier. After working with the customer service/technical …
Chose Meltwater
I was looking for a full-service option. I did some research. What really sold me was the presentation. They offered products that were helpful, and I wasn’t even aware of them. It is more expensive than the other products that are out there, but you get more. The other …
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater is our primary tool, however, we have engaged TVEyes as broadcast media has not been a strength of Meltwater. We would love to see that change and use Meltwater for all needs.
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater is a do-everything platform so it automatically ranks above these two programs. That said, due to these two programs focusing on both incredibly thorough reporter contact databases and tv/radio monitoring, their specialties are reliable when needed.
Chose Meltwater
Cision and LexisNexis are better for accessing articles behind paywalls. I've found that social-specific tools like Sprout Social or Sprinklr seem to be better for monitoring social media mentions. However, Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform may have upped its "social game" …
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Sprout Social was only limited to social media publishing. Not what we needed as a PR firm that works in the media landscape.
Chose Meltwater
[In my opinion,] Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform]'s media database simply doesn't stack up to what Cision offers. It doesn't matter how nice the interface is if the data included in the database you're pulling from isn't complete or well organized. Cision can be clunky, …
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The functionality, customer service, and quality of databases are all better with Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform. I have used Cision in the past and have not been as happy with it.
Chose Meltwater
Crayon [Intel Pro] is slightly better, but not by much. If you are set on using a service like this, I'd choose it, but Crayon [Intel Pro] is more expensive. [In my opinion, it is] best to use an intern [where] you can target their efforts, not some hit-and-miss AI program.
Chose Meltwater
We've used Cision [PRWeb] for their media database for a long time, and then we've used TrendKite for media tracking [and] reporting, as well. While we're new to [Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform], [concerning] media tracking [and] reporting, it seems to be as good or …
Chose Meltwater
Cision acquired TrendKite which we loved. I was worried that TrendKite would not be supported as well so we switched to Meltwater.

Years ago Meltwater was a fine choice. Now ... it is so bad it's hard to even imagine how they get by with the state of the product and the very …
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater is the most expensive option with the worst customer service. Terrible experience.
Chose Meltwater
Meltwater is a fully reinforced software and its features outweigh the purpose of Mention, but they are similar in that they provide insight into where your brand is being discussed and who is talking about it. I was able to find what I needed out of Mention, within Meltwater, …
Chose Meltwater
We originally had Salesforce/Radian6 and switched to Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform to align with what other similar brands were using, and because at that time, Salesforce was experiencing technical issues. After a year and a half with Meltwater Media Intelligence …
Chose Meltwater
TrendKite is much more flexible with an unlimited amount of dashboards, searches, metrics on a particular dashboard, and more. There are pricing systems with all platforms sure, but to add broadcast is outrageous. Not to mention, their live chat staff has been rude in the past …
Best Alternatives
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Small Businesses
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
Cision Communications Cloud
Cision Communications Cloud
Score 6.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BuzzSumoMeltwater
Likelihood to Recommend
It's well suited for marketing agencies of all sizes who need to quickly monitor the placements of their clients in the media. It's helpful to professional content creators to see how existing content and topics are performing online. It's perhaps less appropriate for a single freelance user with a limited budget who could do much of that work for free online, albeit with far greater consumption of their most valuable resource - time.
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If you practice media relations in your role, Meltwater is helpful. You can do research to find relevant publications and journalists, build media lists, export them to share with a team or client and you can also keep notes on your campaigns. I like using it for research, although I do research outside the platform, as well, to be sure to be thorough (and some of the info in the database is outdated). I would say if you don't practice media relations, it's probably not as useful. There are other tools that do a better job if you want to search for media or social media mentions, for example. If you are looking for an all-in-one media relations tool that's relatively easy to use, Meltwater is probably a good fit.
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Pros
  • From Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit data, to large scale content analysis, influencers, trending news stories and media alerts, you get it all.
  • Helps me find the best topics for content writing, allows my organization to track word patterns.
  • Finding influencers and researching topics.
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  • Up to date contact information. It is actually relevant and active info, not always the case with others.
  • The user interface is better than most tools. While not perfect, it's pretty easy to figure out how to get what you want.
  • Their support is excellent. Anytime I've needed help I can call, but better than this, they proactively call and assist.
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Cons
  • Although I think it's hard, I'd like to see it being used for other mediums as well such as Twitch, etc.
  • It could have better backlink data to include more backlinks that each content piece has.
  • One or two more pricing tiers might work.
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  • Their tracking system for media mentions isn't perfect - we have stumbled across several posts mentioning our company/product that were not picked up by the platform. While frustrating, we send these URLs to our rep and their tech team ensures that that website will be monitored moving forward.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We have had great success with Meltwater Buzz the past 2 years. The reporting has been great for our board reports, seeing the conversations going on between our followers helps us to learn who our audience is and what we can do better on our social media. The analytics we see on Meltwater Buzz we could not get anywhere else
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Usability
The interface is a little clunky for me, especially on mobile. However, the directions are clear and it didn't take long for me to figure out how to use it. I just wish that things were a little more streamlined.
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Once you get some basic training it's pretty easy to use. I would like to see training manuals, or instructional videos to help me explore features I'm not currently using.
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Support Rating
The support we have received over the years has been wonderful. They have definitely demonstrated excellent customer service. We find the chat support to be the quickest and most useful for the day-to-day questions. A rep always responds very timely, answers our questions, and sends a follow-up to ensure we're maintaining success
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Our account rep at Meltwater went dark for a long time. Then, a couple of weeks ago, our new account manager reached out to set up a meeting. Apparently, they had a big shakeup in the company, and there were some personnel changes. Our new account rep was great in discussing the platform's capabilities that were available to us and even offered to schedule a follow-up meeting with his technical team to introduce our new social media team members to the platform and how it could help them with their jobs.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
Again, really in-depth and helpful for a program that is really easy to use.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Walked step by step through program. Very informative on a program that doesn't require much training.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
You are only allowed 15 users, so make sure you've identified who will have access to use the tool.
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Alternatives Considered
  • Sprout Social and Salesforce are extremely expensive and don't offer the same powerful content marketing features that Buzzsumo offers for a third of the price
  • The crisis monitoring and social listening tools within Buzzsumo are much more user-friendly
  • The permissions in Sprout Social get very confusion and setup has been a pain and the content analysis features aren't that intuitive
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Meltwater serves as an all-in-one platform, so it has benefitted us greatly in being able to service a variety of needs in one place. Having a streamlined platform is important to our team since it can feel counterproductive to visit a variety of products to service one client's needs. So, Meltwater has been essential in ensuring our needs are met through one destination.
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Return on Investment
  • It has had a positive return as it has allowed us to create better content and gain popularity online.
  • Though the cost is relatively high in my opinion, it has allowed us to make better organic content than we would have paid this cost on ads.
  • Helps us find influencers for campaigns.
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  • Improved PR reporting, for sure.
  • Competitor analysis for clients and ourselves.
  • A great ability to track the news and understand particular news drivers for certain industries, allowing us to get our client in front of the media at or before the perfect moment.
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