The best free Google Alerts alternatives are Talkwalker Alerts, Google News search feeds and F5Bot, which covers Reddit and Hacker News. RSS readers such as Feeder, Inoreader and Feedly collect alerts from many sources in one place, and Brand24 is a paid option for social listening. You can also keep Google Alerts and add one of these next to it.
What does Google Alerts do well?
Google Alerts is free and watches the web for new pages that match any word or phrase. You choose the sources (news, blogs, web, video, books, discussions or finance), a language, a region, and whether you want only the best results or all of them. New results come by e-mail as they happen, once a day or once a week, or as an RSS feed.
People look further when they want other sources, such as Reddit or social media, keyword filters, or one place to read alerts from several tools.
Google Alerts alternatives at a glance
Prices in US dollars from each company's website, September 27, 2026.
| Tool | Free plan | Paid plans | What it watches | How alerts arrive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talkwalker Alerts | Free | Talkwalker's paid social listening: request a demo | News, blogs, forums, websites and X (Twitter) | E-mail, RSS or Slack |
| Google News search feeds | Free | None | Stories from news sites in Google News | An RSS feed in any RSS reader |
| F5Bot | Personal use, 5 keywords | From $9.99 a month | Posts and comments on Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters | E-mail. RSS feeds and Slack from $49.99 a month |
| Feeder | 200 feeds, no ads | Plus $7.99 a month billed yearly | RSS feeds, Google Alerts, Google News, Reddit, YouTube, newsletters and sites without feeds | Mobile, desktop and sound on every plan. E-mail on Plus |
| Inoreader | 150 feeds and Google News alerts | Pro $7.50 a month billed annually | RSS feeds and Google News. Pro adds monitoring feeds and web feeds | Push notifications on Pro |
| Feedly | 100 feeds in 3 folders | Pro+ $12 a month billed yearly, for AI Feeds and Google News | RSS feeds. AI Feeds on Pro+ track a topic across the web | Read in the app. Feedly has no in-app or e-mail notifications for new articles |
| Brand24 | 14-day free trial | From $199 a month billed annually | Social networks, news, blogs, Reddit, YouTube, podcasts and more | Reports and notifications |
Talkwalker Alerts
Talkwalker Alerts is the closest match to Google Alerts, and it's free. You enter a topic, pick the result types (news, blogs, discussion forums or X), a language and how often you want updates, and choose all results or only the best ones. Alerts come by e-mail, as an RSS feed or in Slack, and AND, OR and NOT help you narrow a search.
Suits: free brand or topic alerts that also cover X.
Google News search feeds
Every Google News search has an RSS feed, such as https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=electric+cars. Follow it in any RSS reader, and new stories that match arrive with your other reading. It covers the news sites in Google News, and it's free.
In Feeder, click Add feed, choose Google News under Web monitoring, type your keywords and pick a language. It works on the free plan.
Suits: tracking a company, a person or a topic in the news.
F5Bot
F5Bot watches Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters for your keywords, in posts and comments, and e-mails you when they appear. The free plan, for personal use, covers 5 keywords with alerts within 2 hours. Silver is $9.99 a month for 20 keywords and alerts within 5 minutes. Gold, at $49.99 a month, adds RSS and JSON feeds and Slack and Discord.
Suits: replying while a Reddit or Hacker News thread is still active. For a free route, you can also follow a Reddit search as an RSS feed.
Feeder
Feeder is an RSS reader, so it doesn't search the web by itself. It collects your alerts in one list instead. Follow Google Alerts and Google News searches as feeds, add Reddit searches and the blogs you trust, and get a notification on your phone or desktop when something new comes in. For a site with no feed, Feeder can build one from the page.
The free plan follows 200 feeds, with mobile and desktop notifications. Plus, at $7.99 a month billed yearly, adds keyword filters, so a feed only shows and alerts you about posts that match. It also adds e-mail alerts and custom feeds for sites without RSS.
Suits: reading alerts from several sources in one list, with filters, instead of in many e-mails.
Inoreader
Inoreader is an RSS reader with Google News alerts on its free plan, which follows 150 feeds. Pro, at $7.50 a month billed annually or $9.99 monthly, adds monitoring feeds that keep track of people, brands, companies and events, plus rules, filters and push notifications.
Suits: power users who want monitoring and rules inside their reader.
Feedly
Feedly is an RSS reader with a free plan for 100 feeds. Its Pro+ plan, $12 a month billed yearly, adds Feedly AI Feeds, which track a topic across the web, and Google News feeds. Feedly's help center says it has no in-app or e-mail notifications for new articles, so you read your alerts in the app.
Suits: letting AI track a topic across many sources.
Brand24
Brand24 is a paid social listening tool. It tracks mentions on social networks, news sites, blogs, Reddit, YouTube and podcasts, with sentiment analysis. Plans start at $199 a month billed annually, or $249 monthly, for 3 keywords with updates every 12 hours. Faster updates cost more, and there is a 14-day free trial.
Suits: marketing teams that need social media coverage and reports.
How do I use Google Alerts in Feeder?
- On Google Alerts, type your search and select Show options.
- Set How often to As-it-happens and Deliver to to RSS feed, then create the alert.
- In your list of alerts, click the RSS icon next to the alert and copy the address of the page that opens.
- In Feeder, click Add feed, choose Google Alerts under Web monitoring, paste the address and click Save.
Add a Google News search for the same words, turn on notifications, and read both in one list. Add Google Alerts to Feeder has screenshots.
How to choose
- Free alerts by e-mail: Talkwalker Alerts, next to Google Alerts.
- Reddit and Hacker News: F5Bot, or free Reddit search feeds in an RSS reader.
- Every alert in one place, with filters and notifications: an RSS reader such as Feeder or Inoreader.
- Social media coverage and reports: Brand24 or another paid listening tool.
- Changes on a web page: see How to get notified when a website changes.
- New research papers: see RSS feeds for research papers.
Common questions
What is the best free alternative to Google Alerts?
Talkwalker Alerts is the closest free match, and it also covers X. For news, a Google News search feed in a free RSS reader works well. For Reddit and Hacker News, F5Bot has a free plan with 5 keywords.
Does Google Alerts still work?
Yes. You can create alerts at google.com/alerts, and Google Alerts feeds that Feeder users follow brought in new results this week.
Can I get Google Alerts as an RSS feed?
Yes. Set How often to As-it-happens, then choose RSS feed under Deliver to. If you can't pick RSS, turn off the delivery time and digest options in your Google Alerts settings first.
What is the difference between Google Alerts and Talkwalker Alerts?
Both are free and send alerts by e-mail or as an RSS feed. Talkwalker Alerts also covers X (Twitter) and can send alerts to Slack.
Try Feeder
Follow your Google Alerts, Google News searches and Reddit searches in one list, and get a notification when something new comes in.
Feeder is an RSS reader for the web, iOS and Android, with extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. The free plan follows up to 200 feeds, updated as often as every 30 minutes, with no ads. Plus is $7.99 a month, billed yearly, for 2,500 feeds, updates as often as every 5 minutes and e-mail summaries.
Get started with Feeder for free