MentionLytics vs. SproutSocial: Which Is the Right Choice? (2025 review)

Choosing between MentionLytics and SproutSocial can significantly impact how effectively a business monitors its social media presence and engages with its audience. These leading social listening platforms offer distinct approaches to tracking brand mentions, analyzing sentiment, and generating actionable insights from social data.

This detailed comparison draws from extensive platform documentation, pricing information, and verified user experiences to help you make an informed choice.

Both tools promise comprehensive social media monitoring, but they differ notably in their data sources, core capabilities, and pricing structures.

While MentionLytics emphasizes broad web monitoring beyond social networks, SproutSocial focuses on deeper social media management features and team collaboration tools. Understanding these key differences is essential for organizations looking to invest in a social listening solution that aligns with your specific needs.

Pricing & Plans

MentionLytics and Sprout Social offer distinctly different pricing structures, with MentionLytics providing more flexible entry points starting at $41/month for its Basic plan, while Sprout Social’s Standard plan begins at $199 per seat monthly. Both platforms allow monthly or annual billing, with annual subscriptions offering cost savings.

Core Plans and Features

MentionLytics scales from Basic ($41/month) through Essential ($116/month), Advanced ($208/month), Pro ($333/month), and Agency ($499/month) to Enterprise ($795/month). Each tier progressively increases keyword rules, mention volumes, and user counts. Notable features include unlimited users in Agency and Enterprise plans.

Sprout Social’s structure is seat-based, ranging from Standard ($199/seat/month) to Advanced ($399/seat/month), with custom Enterprise pricing. Social listening isn’t included in base plans – it’s a significant add-on starting at $999/month.

Trial Access and Demos

Both platforms offer free trials and demo options. MentionLytics provides a full-featured trial across all plans, while Sprout Social’s trial includes basic features but excludes social listening capabilities. Demo sessions are available from both companies’ sales teams for detailed platform exploration.

Add-ons and Extensibility

MentionLytics offers add-ons like extensive review monitoring and historical data access. Their new Premium Managed Service (available for Pro plans and above) provides full consultancy support. Sprout Social charges $25 per extra social profile and $999/month for social listening functionality.

Payment and Billing

MentionLytics accepts credit cards and PayPal, but PayPal is restricted to yearly subscriptions. Sprout Social offers more payment flexibility, accepting credit cards, PayPal, checks, wire transfers, and ACH transfers.

Refund Policies

Sprout Social maintains a strict no-refund policy for canceled subscriptions during active terms. Customers must pay any remaining fees for the subscription period. MentionLytics’ refund policy isn’t publicly disclosed, suggesting potential flexibility for case-by-case situations.

For businesses prioritizing social listening capabilities, MentionLytics offers better value with built-in features across all plans, while Sprout Social’s solution might be more suitable for enterprises needing comprehensive social media management with optional listening capabilities.

Features

Dashboard & Interface

Both platforms offer modern, data-rich dashboards with distinct approaches to data visualization. MentionLytics presents a clean interface focused on real-time mention monitoring, while SproutSocial’s dashboard emphasizes comprehensive social analytics with multiple customizable widgets. The layout difference reflects their core strengths – MentionLytics prioritizes instant brand monitoring, while SproutSocial focuses on deeper social media management capabilities.

Alert Creation & Setup

MentionLytics implements a straightforward alert creation process that guides users through brand, competitor, and industry tracking options. Users can define keywords, select sources, and set email recap frequencies, with the added benefit of testing result samples before finalizing. SproutSocial offers a more sophisticated approach with AI-assisted query building and pre-built templates for various monitoring scenarios, though it takes 3-5 minutes to display initial results.

Metrics & Analytics

MentionLytics delivers comprehensive web and social mention tracking, capturing detailed metrics including website rankings, social engagement, and extensive demographic data. SproutSocial’s strength lies in its social-first analytics, offering deeper platform-specific metrics but showing limitations in web monitoring depth. Both platforms provide sentiment analysis, though MentionLytics claims an 80% accuracy rate across multiple languages.

Data Sources & Coverage

MentionLytics offers broader source coverage, including TikTok and radio/TV monitoring (USA only). SproutSocial excels in social media depth but lacks certain key platforms like TikTok. For historical data, SproutSocial provides impressive Twitter archives dating to the platform’s inception, while MentionLytics offers historical data as an add-on service. Both tools support multiple languages, though specific language counts aren’t publicly disclosed.

Reporting Capabilities

Both platforms provide extensive reporting options. MentionLytics focuses on share of voice and influencer analysis, while SproutSocial offers premium analytics with customizable reporting for up to 25 recipients. Report scheduling options are more flexible with SproutSocial, including spike alerts and both weekly and monthly options. MentionLytics provides daily scheduling alternatives but offers fewer customization options.

AI & Collaboration Features

MentionLytics leverages AI for mention clustering, emotion analysis, and anomaly detection, plus includes a Social Intelligence Advisor. SproutSocial’s AI capabilities focus on operational efficiency with optimal send times and ViralPost features. For collaboration, SproutSocial provides more robust tools including message approval workflows and case management, while MentionLytics offers basic mention assignment capabilities.

MentionLytics emerges as the stronger option for comprehensive brand monitoring across diverse channels, while SproutSocial excels in social media management with deeper platform-specific features and collaboration tools. Organizations prioritizing broad source coverage should lean toward MentionLytics, while teams focused primarily on social media management will find more value in SproutSocial’s specialized features.

Customer Service

MentionLytics Customer Service

MentionLytics provides a focused help center with 41 articles spanning 8 key categories, making it easy for users to find specific information about core features like mentions tracking and analytics. The platform stands out by offering native support in three languages – English, Spanish, and Greek – though this may limit its accessibility for users speaking other languages.

Support options include email assistance, live demos, and a chat assistant, providing multiple channels for getting help. While there’s no 24/7 support mentioned, the company offers a dedicated training course to help users master the platform. Account manager support is restricted to higher-tier Agencies and Enterprise plans, which could be limiting for smaller businesses needing personalized guidance.

Takeaway: MentionLytics’ customer service is best suited for Spanish or Greek-speaking organizations that need comprehensive social listening support and can make the most of their focused training resources.

Sprout Social Customer Service

Sprout Social maintains an extensive help center with detailed categories covering every major social platform and feature, from AI automation to social listening. While the help center is primarily in English, the site can be translated into multiple languages through Google Translate, offering a workable solution for international users.

The platform provides comprehensive 24-hour support Monday through Friday via live chat, phone, and ticket systems. Training resources include pre-recorded webinars and product guides, allowing users to learn at their own pace. Account manager access isn’t restricted to specific tiers, making personalized support more accessible across the board.

Takeaway: Sprout Social’s customer service structure is ideal for businesses requiring round-the-clock weekday support and those who value having multiple support channels, including direct phone access.

Customer testimonials

Mentionlytics User Reviews

Mentionlytics maintains an impressive aggregate rating of 4.84/5 across 119 total reviews, with 4.9 on G2 (81 reviews) and 4.7 on Capterra (38 reviews). Users consistently praise the platform’s comprehensive tracking capabilities and value proposition.

“Already tried a lot of famous tracker and no one beat Mentionlytics yet. Pay only what you need” shares Francis S., a Data Analyst, highlighting the platform’s competitive edge. However, some users note areas for improvement, as expressed by Digital Consultant Rodrigo R.: “The platform can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning, due to the vast amount of features it has. I wish to have more details in its documentation, with more links to guides and HowTo’s on their blog.”

Sprout Social User Reviews

Sprout Social boasts a substantial user base with 4,411 total reviews and maintains a solid 4.4/5 rating across platforms – scoring 4.4 on both G2 (3,818 reviews) and Capterra (593 reviews). The platform’s extensive feature set and reporting capabilities receive frequent mention in user feedback.

Brand Manager Alyssa L. offers both praise and criticism: “Sprout has everything you could possibly need from a social scheduling and reporting tool… it’s a huge step up from the manual way we were doing prior.” However, she also notes: “Our onboarding was horrendous. It took over 2 months to schedule the meetings, and our rep changed in the middle without notice or much communication.”

The testimonials reveal that Mentionlytics excels in specialized tracking with a streamlined pricing model, though new users may face a learning curve. Meanwhile, Sprout Social offers comprehensive social media management features but struggles with consistent onboarding and customer support experiences.

SproutSocial vs MentionLytics: Final verdict

MentionLytics excels in advanced analytics and comprehensive global coverage, making it ideal for enterprises requiring in-depth market intelligence. Meanwhile, SproutSocial stands out for its intuitive interface and streamlined workflow features, better suited for small to medium businesses seeking efficient social management. However, both tools come with notable limitations – MentionLytics’ steep learning curve can delay implementation, while SproutSocial’s restricted historical data access of 6 months may constrain long-term trend analysis.

Teams requiring deeper historical insights often find themselves constrained by these limitations, particularly when tracking brand evolution or conducting year-over-year comparisons. While both platforms offer valuable features, the trade-off between analytical depth and ease of use may leave some organizations looking for a middle-ground solution that better balances these priorities.

For teams seeking an alternative that combines comprehensive coverage with user-friendly analytics, Mention offers an appealing option worth exploring. With real-time monitoring across over 1 billion sources, 82% sentiment accuracy, and up to 2 years of historical data, it addresses key gaps while maintaining competitive pricing. Interested teams can start a free trial to test these capabilities or schedule a demo to see how Mention’s extensive reporting suite can enhance their social listening strategy.