Octolens vs TrueScrape for developer brand monitoring
Octolens is a mention monitor built for developer and B2B companies, and it is the most complete one here: X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Hacker News, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV and app reviews on every plan, scored for relevance and sentiment by AI, delivered by Slack, email, webhooks, an API or an MCP server. The cost is a plan: Pro is $159 a month billed annually for 10 keywords and 15,000 mentions, and Scale is $499. If you need X and LinkedIn, or you want a relevance score rather than a keyword match deciding which mentions matter, that is the trade to make. If you are watching a handful of terms and want them in code at a few dollars a month, it is a lot of product to pay for.
Octolens figures read from their own pages on 2026-10-31. Pricing moves. Check before you rely on it.
What does Octolens do better?
X and LinkedIn, which we cannot watch
Both are on every Octolens plan. For B2B and developer products they are often where a launch gets discussed and where a complaint spreads. Our monitors watch neither, at any price.
AI relevance, sentiment and tagging on every plan
Each mention is scored for relevance and sentiment and tagged, so a common-word brand does not bury you in noise. We match the term as a whole word and stop there: no relevance score, no sentiment, no tags. If your name is also an ordinary word, that difference decides the choice.
GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV and app reviews
Octolens includes GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV and reviews on Trustpilot, the App Store and Google Play on Pro, with podcasts, newsletters, news and the web on Scale. None of those are among our seven sources.
Two years of history and an hourly refresh as standard
Pro keeps two years of data and refreshes hourly; Scale is real-time. We keep mentions for 90 days, check every six hours by default, and charge more credits the more often you check.
How do Octolens and TrueScrape compare, side by side?
5 of 9 rows go to Octolens.
| Axis | TrueScrape | Octolens | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| X and LinkedIn | Neither is monitored. | Both, on every plan. | Octolens |
| Relevance and sentiment | None. Whole-word match on the term, ignoring case. | AI relevance scoring, sentiment and tagging on every plan. | Octolens |
| Other sources | Reddit, Hacker News, Bluesky, YouTube, Threads, plus Instagram and TikTok hashtags. | Reddit, HN, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV and app reviews; podcasts, news and the web on Scale. | Octolens |
| Threads and Instagram | Both: Threads search and the term’s Instagram hashtag. | Threads is not listed; Instagram is named in their FAQ but not in the plan table. | Us |
| Price | No plan. Ten terms on all seven platforms every 6 hours is about 8,400 credits a month, around $10.50 at $1.25 per 1,000. | Pro $159 a month billed annually (10 keywords, 15,000 mentions); Scale $499 a month billed annually. | Us |
| Webhooks, API and MCP | All three on every account, with signed webhooks for new posts only. | All three on every plan, plus Slack and email alerts. | Depends |
| Speed | Every 6 hours by default, every hour at the fastest; hourly costs six times the default. | Hourly on Pro, real-time on Scale. | Octolens |
| History | Mentions kept for 90 days. | Two years on Pro, unlimited on Scale. | Octolens |
| Trying it | A free checker with no account, then 1,000 credits once on signup. | A 7-day trial with Pro features and up to 5,000 mentions, no card. | Depends |
Choose Octolens if
- You need X or LinkedIn mentions.
- Your brand is a common word and you need relevance scoring to make the feed usable.
- You want sentiment, tagging, and GitHub, Stack Overflow and app reviews in one place.
- A team will work the feed together and a yearly plan is easy to approve.
Choose TrueScrape if
- You watch a few terms and $159 a month billed annually is more than the job is worth.
- TikTok, Instagram or Threads matter: we read Instagram and TikTok hashtags and search Threads.
- You want to try before committing: the free checker at /tools/brand-mentions needs no account, and "Watch this term" turns a search into a monitor with an unread feed. No seats, no plan.
- You are building on it: one POST /v1/monitors, signed webhooks carrying new posts only, and the same API key and credits as every other endpoint.
Questions people actually ask
- How much does Octolens cost?
- Pro is $159 a month billed annually, with 10 keywords, 15,000 mentions, two years of history and an hourly refresh. Scale is $499 a month billed annually, with 40 keywords and 50,000 mentions. Extra keywords and mentions are sold on top, and there is a 7-day trial with no card. Read from octolens.com/pricing on 2026-10-31.
- Does Octolens monitor X and LinkedIn?
- Yes, both are on every plan, along with Reddit, Hacker News, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, GitHub, Stack Overflow, DEV and app reviews. We monitor neither X nor LinkedIn, so if those are where your brand is discussed, Octolens covers what we cannot.
- How do I get mentions into my own code or agent?
- Octolens has an API, webhooks and an MCP server on every plan. Ours is one POST /v1/monitors with a term and an optional webhook_url; webhooks are signed and carry only posts not seen before, and agents use the create_monitor and get_monitor_mentions MCP tools. Docs are at /docs/monitors.
- What is the honest case against us here?
- Octolens covers X and LinkedIn, scores every mention for relevance and sentiment, and keeps two years of history. We do none of that. We fit when you watch a few terms, care about TikTok, Instagram or Threads, and want them in code for a few dollars a month instead of a yearly plan.
How do you see who mentions your brand right now?
The free brand mention checker shows recent mentions with no account. Brand mention monitoring covers what a watched term costs, and how to track brand mentions without a subscription compares the paid tools.
Sources: Octolens pricing · Mention monitors docs · Our pricing
The free grant is 1,000 credits and needs no card. It is sized to answer whether the data is good enough, which is the only question worth resolving before you commit.