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Looking for a Syften alternative?

Syften sends keyword alerts from Reddit and many other communities, and leaves the replying to you or your own AI agent. Upthread focuses on Reddit threads that Google and AI answers cite, drafts replies, and tracks what they did.

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

On this page
  1. Why look beyond Syften
  2. Who should choose which
  3. Syften 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 Syften
  11. Reddit access is changing
  12. Questions
  13. Sources
  14. Related comparisons

Why people look beyond Syften.

Syften has run live keyword alerts for online communities since 2019. It watches Reddit next to Hacker News, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, GitHub, forums and the open web, and aims to deliver a Reddit match within about a minute, by email, Slack, RSS, API or webhook. 1

It filters noisy matches with AI and then steps aside. Syften is built to feed your own AI agent, running the model and instructions you trust, and says so plainly: "We provide the mentions and get out of the way." Choosing which thread deserves a reply, and writing it, stays with you or your agent. 1

Upthread is narrower and goes further on Reddit. Instead of every keyword match, it starts from the threads that rank in Google or get cited by AI engines for your buyer questions, scores them by priority, drafts two replies checked against the subreddit's rules, and records what each reply did once it was live.

Who should choose which.

Who should choose Syften

  • You want alerts from many communities, not just Reddit. 1
  • You already run your own AI agent and want it fed raw mentions. 1
  • You want to try the top plan free for 14 days without a card. 1

Who should choose Upthread

  • You want the Reddit threads Google and AI answers cite for your buyers' questions, not every keyword match.
  • You want drafts grounded in the thread and the subreddit's rules, checked before you see them.
  • You need proof for each reply: score, removals and citation history.

Syften in brief

Keyword alerts across online communities, with an MCP server for your own AI agent.

  • Calls itself "Live Keyword Alert Monitoring for Online Communities". 1
  • Watches Reddit, Hacker News, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Indie Hackers and other communities. 1
  • Plans cost $29.95, $49.95 and $119.95 a month. X monitoring adds $40 a month and YouTube $20. 1
  • Offers a 14-day free trial of the PRO plan, with no credit card required. 1
  • Works with your own AI agent rather than drafting replies itself: "We provide the mentions and get out of the way." 1
  • Says agencies can monitor multiple customers from one account. 1

Pricing, plan by plan.

Syften

Entry$29.95 a month
3 community filters with 100 results a day, 1 web filter with 5 results a day, 7 days of archive search, API access. 1
Standard$49.95 a month
20 community filters with 200 results a day, 5 web filters with 20 results a day, 30 days of archive search, Slack integration and AI filtering. X and YouTube monitoring are paid add-ons. 1
Syften PRO$119.95 a month
100 community filters with 500 results a day, 20 web filters with 50 results a day, full archive history, webhooks and MCP. 1
Tailor madeContact us
Custom solutions, such as building Syften into your own product or supplying your marketing team with data. 1
  • The free trial runs 14 days on the PRO plan, needs no credit card, and shows who mentioned you in the last 60 days as soon as you sign up. 1
  • X monitoring costs $40.00 a month extra and YouTube monitoring $20.00, on Standard and PRO. 1
  • On PRO, API and MCP archive searches share 1,000,000 fetched items per calendar month. 1

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.

Syften and Upthread, point by point.

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

What it watches

SourcesThey do more
SyftenReddit plus many other communities. 1
UpthreadReddit only.
Finding threadsDifferent approach
SyftenLive keyword alerts. 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
SyftenNo 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
SyftenNo 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
SyftenNone built in. Mentions go to your own AI agent. 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
SyftenNo 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
Syften$29.95 / $49.95 / $119.95 a month. X and YouTube cost extra. 1
Upthread$49 / $149 / $499 a month, or 2 months free yearly. A 7-day trial with Starter limits. No card required.

Switching from Syften.

Upthread's setup begins with your website, not a filter syntax. It reads your homepage and a few key pages, proposes keywords, negative keywords, competitors, buyer questions and focus subreddits with a reason for each, and after you set voice, disclosure, engines and country it starts the first runs. It is designed to take under three minutes.

What you bring across

  • Your filters. Turn the search terms into Upthread keywords, and add negative keywords for the noise you were filtering out.
  • Competitor names, products and domains. Add each competitor with its aliases so Upthread can match it in threads and in AI answers.
  • The subreddits that produced your best matches. Mark them as focus subreddits so their threads rank higher.
  • Your alert routing: a daily or weekly email digest on every plan, and a Slack webhook on Growth and Agency.

What works differently

  • Syften specializes in live delivery, alerting you to each new match across many communities. Upthread covers Reddit only and starts somewhere else: the threads that rank in Google or get cited by AI engines for your buyer questions, ranked by priority. 1
  • On PRO, Syften pushes matches to your own tools through webhooks and MCP. Upthread does the drafting itself: two variants per thread, grounded in the thread, its top comments, the subreddit's rules and your brand's facts. 1
  • Each reply you post gets a record in Upthread: its score, whether moderators took it down, and how the thread's AI citations moved before and after.
  • Syften also covers X, YouTube, podcasts, Stack Exchange and the open web. Upthread does not, so keep Syften running if those channels matter to you. 1

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. 2
  2. 9to5Mac reported that Reddit will start requiring a logged-in account for most of its content. 3
  3. Reddit's CEO said most unauthorized access to its content happens through the logged-out experience. 4

Syften and Upthread: questions.

Does Syften write Reddit replies?

Not by itself. It hands mentions to your own AI agent, which can draft replies with the model and instructions you choose. Upthread drafts two variants per thread and checks each against the subreddit's rules before you see it. 1

Is Syften cheaper than Upthread?

Yes. Syften starts at $29.95 a month and PRO is $119.95. Upthread starts at $49, and that price covers drafting, AI answer tracking and reply tracking as well as finding threads. 1

Can agencies run several clients in Syften?

Yes. It says agencies can monitor multiple customers from one account and tag filters for each client. Upthread's Agency plan covers 15 brands and 10 seats with shareable read-only reports, and has no white-label yet. 1

Does Upthread cover Hacker News or X like Syften?

No, Upthread is Reddit only. Syften's list runs from Hacker News and X to Bluesky, Mastodon, GitHub and podcasts, which is a good reason to keep it beside Upthread. 1

Does Syften track what AI answers say?

Its pages describe keyword alerts with an AI filter for noisy matches; checking what ChatGPT or Google's AI answers say about you is not on the list. Upthread checks Google AI Overviews and AI Mode twice a week and ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude weekly. 1

Sources

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

  1. [1]Syften homepage, checked Nov 5, 2026.
  2. [2]Engadget, checked Oct 29, 2026.
  3. [3]9to5Mac, checked Oct 29, 2026.
  4. [4]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.

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No card required. 7 days with Starter limits.