Directory
Google Alerts
Quick answer
Google Alerts is a free Google tool that emails notifications when new web content matches a chosen search term. Its listed options are automatic or manual source selection and a result quality filter. The site shows no payment flow, pricing page or paid tiers, so the price is $0. It lists no AI engines, no API and no specific source coverage, so it works as a plain keyword match delivered by email rather than a monitoring platform.
Best for
Anyone who wants free, zero-setup email alerts on a search term.
Not for
A team that needs competitor comparison, evidence across specific communities, or AI answer tracking, which Google Alerts does not list.
Facts
Pricing
- Free: $0/mo
From Google Alerts's website, checked Oct 2026.
How MarketHQ compares
| Feature | MarketHQ | Google Alerts |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free (paid from $29/mo) | $0/mo |
| Free plan or trial | Free tier, no card required | Not published |
| Sources covered | Hacker News, GitHub, RSS, Stack Overflow, Dev.to, Lobsters, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, Perplexity, Product Hunt, Broader web crawl, Bluesky | Not published |
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek | Not published |
| API / MCP | Yes, on every paid plan | Not published |
Alternatives
- MarketHQ: tracks brand mentions across communities, news, blogs, social and AI answers, with gap analysis and action plans.
- Brandwatch: A large team that needs broad social coverage and has budget for an enterprise suite.
- BuzzSumo: Content and PR teams that want mention monitoring alongside content research and influencer discovery.
- Cision: PR and communications teams that need broadcast, print and journalist-outreach tools alongside AI visibility tracking.
- Contify: A market-intelligence team that wants multilingual news and filings coverage with sales battlecards.
- Critical Mention: PR teams that need broadcast monitoring and AI brand visibility in one place.
- Isentia: PR and communications teams in the APAC region that need broadcast and print monitoring alongside AI View.
- Meltwater: PR and communications teams that need broad media, social and AI-signal coverage in one suite.
- Mention: Small marketing teams that want one broad mention feed across the web, social and news.
- Onclusive: A PR or comms team that wants media monitoring bundled with multi-engine AI visibility tracking.
- Prowly: A PR team that wants pitching, media monitoring and AI-citation targeting in one toolkit.
- Pulsar: A global brand that needs audience intelligence across many languages and regional social platforms.
- Signal AI: Enterprise risk, reputation and comms teams that need licensed premium media data and entity-level analysis.
- Synthesio: Enterprise research teams that want consumer intelligence across social, search and ecommerce signals.
- Talkwalker Alerts: A team that only wants free alerts for brand, topic or competitor mentions, delivered by email, RSS or Slack.
- TVEyes: A PR or comms team that needs TV, radio, podcast and online video mention monitoring with API access.
Related
- Best AI visibility and brand monitoring tools: category shortlists with a disclosed method.
- Glossary: definitions of the terms that come up when comparing tools like this one.
Sources
- Google Alerts: https://www.google.com/alerts (checked Oct 2026)