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Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads

Brandwatch vs HubSpot vs vidIQ

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Brandwatch

3.8

Free to start

HubSpot

4.1

From From $800/mo

vidIQ

4.1

From $19/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Brand, PR and insights teams at mid-sized and large companies, and the agencies that serve them.

Pick it if: Service businesses, agencies and B2B teams that need contacts, deals and marketing in one system.

Best valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Business owners, marketers and creators using YouTube to bring in customers or build an audience.

Overview

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
In one lineTracks what people say about your brand and competitors across social media and the web.A free CRM with AI agents that handle leads, support and content for you.Finds YouTube video ideas and keywords, and shows how to grow a channel.
Pricing modelPaidFreemiumFreemium
Starting priceSee websiteFrom $800/mo$19/mo
Free plan No Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Overall rating3.84.14.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
3.0
4.0
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
4.0
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
2.5
3.5
4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Access & platform
Free plan No Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
Desktop app No No–
Browser extension– Yes Yes
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files– Yes–
Understands images Yes––
Makes images No Yes Yes
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations– Yes–
Learns your brand or style– Yes–
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score7/ 1712/ 179/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Plans

Standard to EnterpriseOur pick

Custom

Companies buying one or more Brandwatch products.

Free

Free

Anyone who needs a CRM and basic marketing tools without a budget.

Free

Free

Trying it out on a new channel.

Marketing Hub StarterOur pick

$20/seat/mo, currently $7/seat/mo for new customers

Small teams ready to remove the branding and send more.

BoostOur pick

$19/mo, or $199/yr

Channels posting every week.

Marketing Hub Professional

From $800/mo billed yearly, or $890/mo

Marketing teams that need real automation.

MAX

$49/mo, or $468/yr

Busy channels that also want Shorts clipped.

Marketing Hub Enterprise

From $3,600/mo

Large teams with several brands or business units.

Enterprise

Custom

Brands and agencies with many channels.

Which plan to pickPricing is by quote for each product. Start with Consumer Intelligence if listening is the goal, and ask for a trial on your own brand searches before signing an annual contract.Run the free CRM for as long as you can; it covers most small businesses. Starter is the sensible first paid step when you want the branding gone and more sends. Only move to Professional when you have a specific automation in mind that will pay for the jump.Boost is the sweet spot for a business channel posting weekly. Stay on Free until you are publishing regularly, and only take MAX if you would otherwise pay for a separate clipping tool.

Key features

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Standout features
  • Consumer research
  • Iris AI
  • Real-time alerts
  • Social media management
  • Influencer marketing
  • Search and AI visibility
  • Free CRM
  • Breeze agents
  • Marketing email and forms
  • Workflows
  • Reporting
  • Data quality tools
  • Daily ideas
  • Keyword research
  • Title, description and thumbnail help
  • Competitor tracking
  • AI Coach
  • Shorts clipping

Pros and cons

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Pros
  • Huge data coverage and long history of online conversation
  • Iris AI saves time summarising and explaining trends
  • Detailed queries and dashboards for serious research
  • Listening, publishing and influencer tools from one company
  • One of the most generous free CRMs around
  • Marketing, sales and support share the same customer record
  • Breeze agents take over lead research, support answers and first drafts
  • Starter tiers are affordable per seat
  • Enormous library of integrations and agencies that know it
  • Ideas and competitor alerts are genuinely useful for planning
  • Chrome extension puts data right inside YouTube
  • Free plan and cheap entry plan
  • Mobile app for checking stats on the go
Cons
  • Expensive, with no public pricing and annual contracts
  • Query language and setup take training
  • Overkill for small businesses that only want brand alerts
  • Some users say summary charts are too high-level without analyst work
  • Professional and Enterprise are a steep jump, with onboarding fees on top
  • Marketing contacts are a separate limit, and costs rise with your list
  • Many AI features draw on a credit allowance that runs out
  • Weaker than Klaviyo for ecommerce behaviour-based email
  • Much of the coaching and AI advice is generic
  • AI features run on credits that can run out mid-month
  • Scores are estimates and do not always match real results
  • Plenty of upsell prompts on the free plan

Who each one is for

AttributeBrandwatchHubSpotvidIQ
Best for
  • Monitoring brand mentions and sentiment
  • Spotting a PR crisis early
  • Competitor and market research
  • Consumer insights for campaigns and products
  • Tracking leads and deals
  • B2B email marketing
  • Chatbots that answer customers
  • Keeping contact data clean
  • Deciding what video to make next
  • YouTube keyword research
  • Better titles, descriptions and thumbnails
  • Tracking competitor channels
You'll find it used by
  • Brand managers
  • PR and comms teams
  • Insights analysts
  • Agencies
  • Social media teams
  • B2B teams
  • Agencies
  • Consultants
  • Service businesses
  • YouTube creators
  • Small business owners
  • Content marketers
  • Agencies
  • Coaches and educators

Questions people ask

Which is better, Brandwatch, HubSpot or vidIQ?

They tie on our overall rating (Brandwatch 3.8/5, HubSpot 4.1/5 and vidIQ 4.1/5). Brandwatch is best for monitoring brand mentions and sentiment and spotting a PR crisis early. HubSpot is best for tracking leads and deals and B2B email marketing. vidIQ is best for deciding what video to make next and YouTube keyword research.

Which is cheaper, Brandwatch, HubSpot or vidIQ?

Brandwatch: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. HubSpot: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $800/mo. vidIQ: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19/mo.

Which is easier to use, Brandwatch, HubSpot or vidIQ?

vidIQ rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Business owners, marketers and creators using YouTube to bring in customers or build an audience.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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