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F5BotUpthread

Looking for an F5Bot alternative?

F5Bot emails you when your keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters. Upthread does a different job: it finds the threads Google and AI answers surface, helps you reply, and tracks what each reply did.

Last checked Nov 5, 2026. Every fact about F5Bot is numbered to its source at the bottom of the page.

On this page
  1. Why look beyond F5Bot
  2. Who should choose which
  3. F5Bot in brief
  4. Pricing, plan by plan
  5. Point by point
  6. What it watches
  7. Replying
  8. After you post
  9. Price and plans
  10. Switching from F5Bot
  11. Reddit access is changing
  12. Questions
  13. Sources
  14. Related comparisons

Why people look beyond F5Bot.

F5Bot has watched Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters for keywords since 2017, and it is free to start with no card. For a founder who wants an email the moment their product or a rival gets named, that is hard to beat. 1

The search for an alternative usually starts at work. The free tier and Silver are for personal, non-commercial use, so monitoring for a business means Gold at $49.99 a month, and an agency watching many clients lands on Platinum at $214.99. 2

At that point the question changes from "was I mentioned?" to "which threads are worth answering, and did my answer help?" That is the gap Upthread is built for: it ranks the Reddit threads Google and AI answers already show your buyers, drafts a reply you post yourself, and tracks what the reply did.

Who should choose which.

Who should choose F5Bot

  • You only need to know when your keyword is mentioned, and a free email alert is enough. 1
  • You also watch Hacker News and Lobsters. Upthread covers Reddit only. 1

Who should choose Upthread

  • You want the threads Google and AI answers already show your buyers, ranked by priority, not every new mention.
  • You want help writing replies that follow each subreddit's rules.
  • You want a record after you reply, not only an alert before it: each reply's score, removals and the thread's citations.

F5Bot in brief

Keyword alerts for Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters, with a free plan.

  • Monitors Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters for your keywords and emails you when they show up. 1
  • Free to use, with no credit card required. 1
  • Paid tiers: Silver $12.99, Gold $49.99 and Platinum $214.99 a month. Diamond starts at $500 a month. 2
  • The free tier is for personal use only, and Silver for personal, non-commercial use. 2
  • AI filtering includes the first $10 a month of token usage, then bills by usage. 2
  • Platinum is the tier it lists for agencies. 2

Pricing, plan by plan.

F5Bot

Free$0
5 keywords, alerts up to 2 hours after a match, 7 days of match history. Personal use only. 2
Silver$12.99 a month, or $143 a year
20 keywords, 100 alerts a day, alerts within 5 minutes. Personal, non-commercial use. 2
Gold$49.99 a month, or $549 a year
200 keywords, instant or scheduled alerts, 90 days of history, RSS and JSON feeds, AI filtering. 2
Platinum$214.99 a month, or $2,364 a year
300 keywords, 200,000 alerts a day, API and webhooks. Listed for agencies. 2
DiamondFrom $500 a month
Custom limits, for enterprises. 2
  • AI filtering includes the first $10 a month of token usage. Usage beyond that is billed on top of the plan. 2
  • Yearly plans give one month free. 2

Upthread

Starter$49 a month
1 brand, 25 keywords, 25 buyer questions, 3 engines, 150 drafts a month, 1 seat. Discovery: Daily.
Growth$149 a month
3 brands, 100 keywords, 75 buyer questions, All engines, 600 drafts a month, 3 seats. Discovery: Every 6 hours.
Agency$499 a month
15 brands, 500 keywords, 300 buyer questions, All engines, 2,500 drafts a month, 10 seats. Discovery: Every 6 hours.

Yearly billing gives 2 months free. Every workspace starts with a 7-day trial on Starter limits, with no card. See full pricing.

F5Bot and Upthread, point by point.

Each row sets a sourced fact about F5Bot next to what Upthread does, grouped by what you would check first.

What it watches

PlatformsThey do more
F5BotReddit, Hacker News and Lobsters. 1
UpthreadReddit only.
Finding threadsDifferent approach
F5BotAn email alert when a keyword appears in a new post or comment. 1
UpthreadThreads from Google results and AI citations, ranked by priority, plus threads that name your brand: Google results from the past 24 hours and threads you open, labelled by type. It sees what Google has indexed, not every new comment.
AI answersUpthread does more
F5BotNo AI answer tracking listed. 1
UpthreadGoogle AI Overviews and AI Mode twice a week, from live Google results. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude weekly through their APIs, labelled API.
How it reads RedditDifferent approach
F5BotNo Reddit data source stated. 1
UpthreadBuilt on your own logged-in browser, so Reddit's move to logged-in-only viewing doesn't break it. Discovery comes from Google results and AI citations, with no Reddit API.

Replying

DraftingUpthread does more
F5BotAlerts only. No reply drafts listed. 1
UpthreadTwo drafts per thread, grounded in the thread, its top comments, the subreddit's rules and your facts. A lint and an AI judge check each one first.

After you post

After postingUpthread does more
F5BotNo outcome tracking listed. 1
UpthreadScore over time, moderator removals, and the thread's citation history before and after your reply. Links carry UTM tags for your own analytics.

Price and plans

PriceDifferent approach
F5BotFree tier. Paid tiers $12.99 to $214.99 a month, Diamond from $500. 2
Upthread$49 / $149 / $499 a month, or 2 months free yearly. A 7-day trial with Starter limits. No card required.

Switching from F5Bot.

Setup starts from your website address and is built to show your first results in under three minutes: Upthread reads your site, suggests keywords, competitors, buyer questions and subreddits for you to edit, then runs its first discovery. The browser extension is optional.

What you bring across

  • Your keyword list. Add the same terms as Upthread keywords during setup, plus negative keywords to drop noise.
  • The competitors you were watching. Upthread tracks them by name and alias, in threads and in AI answers.
  • Your alert habit. A daily or weekly email digest lists new high-priority threads and new mentions of your brand, and Growth and Agency add Slack alerts, including complaints and support questions that name you.

What works differently

  • F5Bot sends an email for each new post or comment that matches. Upthread puts threads in an inbox ranked by Google rank, AI citations, buying intent and freshness, so you see the best ones first. 1
  • Upthread covers Reddit only. Keep F5Bot if you also need Hacker News or Lobsters alerts.
  • Upthread drafts replies, two variants by default, and checks each against the subreddit's rules. You still post from your own account.
  • After you post, Upthread records the reply's score, whether moderators removed it, and the thread's citation history.

How Reddit access is changing

Reddit is closing its public API and moving toward logged-in viewing. This matters for any tool that reads Reddit, so each comparison states only what the tool itself says about its data source.

  1. On Oct 29, 2026, Reddit said it will shift to a primarily logged-in experience, starting with tests in select markets outside the US. 3
  2. 9to5Mac reported that Reddit will start requiring a logged-in account for most of its content. 4
  3. Reddit's CEO said most unauthorized access to its content happens through the logged-out experience. 5

F5Bot and Upthread: questions.

Is F5Bot free for business use?

Its free tier is for personal use only, and Silver for personal, non-commercial use. F5Bot points business monitoring to Gold, at $49.99 a month. 2

Does F5Bot draft Reddit replies?

No reply drafts are listed. F5Bot sends alerts when your keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters. 1

Can I use F5Bot and Upthread together?

Yes. Some teams keep a free keyword alert for raw mentions and use Upthread to decide which threads to answer and to track the replies. The two don't conflict.

Which is cheaper for an agency?

F5Bot lists Platinum at $214.99 a month for agencies, an alerts-only plan with 300 keywords. Upthread's Agency plan is $499 a month for 15 brands and 10 seats, with drafting, AI answer tracking and shareable client reports. 2

Does Upthread track Hacker News?

No. Upthread covers Reddit only. F5Bot watches Hacker News and Lobsters as well as Reddit, so keep it if those matter to you. 1

Sources

We read each page on the date shown. F5Bot's own pages are named, not linked. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will fix it.

  1. [1]F5Bot homepage, checked Nov 5, 2026.
  2. [2]F5Bot pricing page, checked Nov 5, 2026.
  3. [3]Engadget, checked Oct 29, 2026.
  4. [4]9to5Mac, checked Oct 29, 2026.
  5. [5]CyberInsider, checked Oct 30, 2026.

Run your first discovery, then judge for yourself.

Enter your website. Upthread drafts your brand profile, suggests buyer questions and subreddits, and runs your first discovery.

Start free trialSee pricing

No card required. 7 days with Starter limits.