Effective competitor analysis does not have to be about enterprise-level tools that cost an arm and a leg. While the premium solutions can reach up to thousands annually, small and medium businesses need budget-friendly alternatives that provide similar insights. Following is a curated list of some cost-effective competitor analysis tools below $300 per month, and many of them even offer free plans.
Competitors App: All-in-One Monitoring on a Budget
Competitors App performs deep, cross-channel monitoring of social media, blogs, websites, and email. It’s like reading your daily briefing on competitors’ moves and actions.
How It Helps
- Monitors blog posts, social media updates, ads, reviews, and changes to websites.
- Includes a centralized dashboard to track competitor activity.
- Enables easy team collaboration with in-app note-taking and alerts.
Standout Feature
Its Activity Feed provides a rollup of all the mentions and publications from each competitor across different channels. It’s effortless to keep up with, and no need to manage a ton of different tools.
Pricing
From $19.90/month/competitor. For full functionality, plan on $29.90/month/competitor.
Ahrefs: Unparalleled SEO and SEM Insights
Overview
Ahrefs is like the charging bull for taking down competitors in the arena of SEO, backlinks, and content strategy. It’s the go-to tool for finding content gaps and optimizing organic search visibility.
How It Helps
Identifies gaps in your content by identifying where competitors rank and you do not. Monitors the backlinks of competitors for the replication of successful link-building methodologies. Provides organic share-of-voice changes for enhanced targeting of your audiences.
Standout Feature
How the Content Gap Analysis Tool helps discover untapped keyword opportunities with the identification of gaps within your content strategy versus your competitors.
Pricing
Plans start at $129/month; free tier available that includes limited SEO insights.
Visualping: Website Changes Made Visible
Visualping automates tracking of competitor website updates, such as pricing adjustments, new pages, or UX tweaks. AI-powered summaries highlight the relevance of changes.
How It Helps
- Tracks updates to pricing, job openings, and design elements.
- Provides insights into competitors’ UX and conversion strategies.
- Alerts include visual highlights of page changes for quick evaluation.
Standout Feature
AI-powered summaries save time by analyzing what changes actually matter to your business.
Pricing
Free plan includes 150 checks/month; paid plans start at $10/month.
Brand24: Social Media and Brand Sentiment Analysis
Brand24 is one of the best services to track mentions about competitors’ brands on social media, news, and blogs. Get insights into sentiment, reach, and audience engagement.
How It Helps
- Sentiment analysis uncovers how audiences view competitors.
- Tracks social media performance metrics, including share of voice and engagement.
- Helps hone your messaging based on the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Standout Feature
Sentiment and mention monitoring for the improvement of one’s brand positioning.
Pricing
$99/month to start; more advanced features from $179/month.
SparkToro: Audience Insights for Targeted Campaigns
SparkToro finds where your competitors’ audiences are hanging out online, from podcasts to social media platforms. It’s ideal for refining your targeting and sponsorship efforts.
How It Helps
- Finds influential platforms and channels frequented by your competitors’ audience.
- Identifies topics and interests for better content alignment.
- Highlights sponsorship opportunities in niche markets.
Standout Feature
It pinpoints the overlap in audiences and platforms for you to prioritize ad opportunities.
Pricing
Free plan available with 20 searches/month; paid plans start at $50/month.
Mailcharts: Email and SMS Marketing Insights
Mailcharts covers competitive analysis in email and SMS marketing. Its insights delve into automation workflows, strategies, and timing of campaigns.
How It Helps
- Tracks the design of competitor emails, the cadence, and discount strategies.
- Provides examples of automation workflows to enhance your campaigns.
- Monitors SMS messaging to refine your mobile outreach.
Standout Feature
The Journeys Feature reveals competitors’ triggered email sequences, such as cart abandonment campaigns, making it easier to adapt effective techniques.
Pricing
Starts at $149/month; free plan includes access to 1,000 email samples.
vidIQ: YouTube Video Marketing
vidIQ is designed for YouTube channel analysis and showcases how competitors optimize their videos, use keywords, and interact with their audiences.
How It Helps
- It helps to keep track of competitors’ posting frequency and performance of their content.
- Provides suggestions for keywords and performs video tag analysis to help optimize SEO.
- Evergreen content is underlined using the VPH metric.
Standout Feature
The Chrome extension integrates directly into YouTube, displaying performance metrics for any video.
Pricing
Free plan available; paid plans start at $10/month.
Official Ad Libraries: Free PPC Insights
Platforms like Meta, TikTok, and Google Ads offer free ad libraries to monitor competitors’ active campaigns.
How It Helps
- Identifies popular features or promotions your competitors emphasize.
- Inspires ad copy and design ideas to fit your audience.
- Shows the trends of investment in PPC to enable resource allocation efficiently.
Unique Selling Proposition
EU transparency legislations draw data on demographics and geographics for ads in European territories.
Price
Totally free.
BuiltWith: Explore Competitors’ Tech Stacks
BuiltWith shows the technology used by competitors on their websites, including analytics tools, advertising platforms, and hosting services.
How It Helps
- Discovers specific advertising platforms utilized by competitors.
- Finds prospects using competitors’ tech stacks for lead generation.
- Competitors’ technology-related market share tracking.
Highlighting Feature
The Analytics and Tracking section lists the platforms competitors use for retargeting and analytics.
Pricing
Free-basic features; paid plans begin from $295/mo.
ChatGPT: AI-Powered Data Analytics
ChatGPT is an all-in-one solution for data analysis, coming up with content ideas, and summarizing customers’ feedback.
How It Helps
- Analyzes competitor reviews and retrieves strengths and weaknesses.
- Summarizes social media trends and engagement strategies.
- Builds data visualizations of the insights it finds on competitors.
Standout Feature
Automates review analysis, adding visual charts showcasing recurring customer sentiments.
Pricing
Free plan available; premium features start at $20/month.
Final Thoughts
Competitor analysis has no reason to drain your wallet. Whether freemium or inexpensively priced, these tools will help businesses of all sizes observe and outrank their competitors on every available marketing channel. Thus, you’ll be able to make strategic tweaks, gather useful data, and always be one step ahead.