Competitive social media analytics
you need competitor benchmarking is the core design, not an add-on — every tier names a tracked-companies count.
you want the creators you already have tracked and paid per view — from $22/mo, unlimited team members, no annual contract.
Rival IQ publishes its pricing. Three tiers scale by number of tracked companies (10/20/40 — your own brand plus named competitors), months of data history, user seats and Social Listening saved searches; annual billing saves 15%.
Twelve months at that entry price is $2,868, against $264 for a year of Sway9 Starter — 10.9x the cost, before either of you adds a tier.
Read from Rival IQ’s own pricing page · source. Pricing in this category changes often — confirm with the vendor before you commit.
Rival IQ is a social analytics and competitive-benchmarking tool for marketers, tracking a brand's own accounts alongside named competitors' across networks, plus a social-listening layer. Caps are the whole story here: a growing roster pushes you into the next tier whether or not you use anything else in it. The common reasons for leaving:
Where Rival IQ caps how many creators each tier lets you track, Sway9 charges on how many creator accounts you track and nothing else. It picks up every TikTok and Instagram post from creators you already work with, refreshes them automatically, and computes spend and effective CPM as the views arrive — the reconciliation Rival IQ leaves you to do by hand.
Try Sway9 free →Same per-tier creator caps model as Rival IQ; the difference is scope — social media analytics and benchmarking rather than competitive social media analytics.
Socialinsider alternatives →It runs on a flat subscription rather than per-tier creator caps.
Storyclash alternatives →Same per-tier creator caps model as Rival IQ; the difference is scope — all-in-one social media management rather than competitive social media analytics.
Metricool alternatives →It runs on a flat subscription rather than per-tier creator caps.
Dash Hudson alternatives →| Feature | Sway9 | Rival IQ |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $22/mo | $239/mo (Drive) |
| Free plan | No — paid from $22/mo | No — 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Contract | Month-to-month, cancel any time | Monthly or annual (save 15%) |
| Pricing model | Priced on tracked accounts, never on seats | Tiered by creator count |
| Team members | Unlimited on every plan | Capped per tier |
| Creators you can track | Unlimited | 100–250 depending on tier |
| Auto view tracking (TikTok & Instagram) | Yes | Varies by plan |
| Pay-per-view CPM & spend automation | Yes, built in | Not the core model |
Those caps come bundled with real capability, and Rival IQ is the stronger pick when the job is one of these:
If that is the software you are actually shopping for, Rival IQ is the better buy and nothing on this page should talk you out of it.
Sway9 has no free plan: it starts at $22/mo, month-to-month, with unlimited team members. Rival IQ does not offer a free plan either.
$239/mo (Drive), taken from Rival IQ’s own pricing page on 2026-08-22. The full breakdown is in the pricing section above.
Sway9. Rival IQ caps how many creators each tier lets you track; Sway9 is priced on tracked accounts and computes spend and effective CPM as views come in, so nothing is reconciled by hand. Plans start at $22/mo with unlimited team members.
Sway9 is month-to-month and you can cancel any time. Note that Rival IQ is reported to require monthly or annual (save 15%), so check your current term before you move.
Beyond Sway9, the closest comparisons are Socialinsider, Storyclash, Metricool, Dash Hudson. Each targets a different job — Socialinsider for social media analytics and benchmarking, Storyclash for influencer content intelligence and benchmarking, Metricool for all-in-one social media management, Dash Hudson for visual social analytics and creator content.
Every plan is the full product, from $22/mo. Priced on tracked accounts, never on seats.
Get started Cancel any time · unlimited team members on every planEvery Rival IQ figure above was read off their own pricing page on 2026-08-22, not estimated. If they change it, this page is wrong until we re-check it — so confirm before you buy.