Best F5Bot alternative in 2026
The classic free keyword-alerts bot for Reddit, HN and Lobsters
F5Bot pricing
Free (5 keywords, personal use, ~2h delay) / $9.99 (20 keywords, faster) / $49.99 (200 keywords, Slack+AI filters) / $214.99+ (business).
Visit F5BotCommentSurge pricing
Free tier · Growth $39/mo or $370/yr · Scale $99/mo or $939/yr. Every paid plan includes API + MCP access.
What F5Bot does
F5Bot emails you when your keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters — running since 2017 and remarkably reliable for what it is. Paid tiers add filtering flags, RSS/JSON feeds, AI relevance filtering and Slack/Discord delivery.
Head to head
| Feature | F5Bot | CommentSurge |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free – $214.99/mo | Free – $99/mo |
| What's delivered | Keyword mentions by email | Scored opportunities + drafts + posting |
| Intent scoring | AI filter on $49.99+ | Every opportunity, every plan |
| Reply drafting | No | Yes — in your voice |
| Post tracking | No | Yes — score, removal, SEO rank |
| Coverage | Reddit + HN + Lobsters | Reddit, deeply |
| Slack alerts | $49.99+ | All paid plans |
Choose F5Bot if…
- • You only need brand-mention pings and literally nothing else
- • You also want Hacker News and Lobsters in one alert feed
What they do well:
- + Free tier genuinely works — best $0 alerting on Reddit
- + Simple and dependable; 430k+ alerts a day
- + Covers HN and Lobsters too
Choose CommentSurge if…
- • Keyword alerts were step one — you want the threads scored, drafted and tracked
- • You're on F5Bot's free tier and tired of finding threads hours late
Where F5Bot falls short:
- Alerts only — no intent scoring on free/entry tiers (AI filtering starts at $49.99)
- Free alerts arrive delayed — you find threads after the window closes
- No drafting, posting, CRM, or tracking — the last mile is all on you
- Per-keyword daily caps switch keywords off exactly when threads get hot
FAQ
Is F5Bot enough on its own?
For brand mentions, yes — it's excellent value. For customer acquisition you'll still need scoring, drafting and follow-through, which is the rest of the pipeline we provide.
Do you also email keyword alerts?
Yes — real-time Slack/email alerts on high-intent matches plus daily/weekly digests. The difference: every alert comes pre-scored with a draft attached.
Is F5Bot really free?
The free tier is real but personal-use-only, capped at 5 keywords, with delayed delivery — paid tiers unlock speed and volume.
Pricing and features verified against public pages, October 2026. Vendors change details often — check their site for the latest.
Try the pipeline, not just the monitoring
Free tier: real scans, real scores, real drafts — no card required.
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