Syften alternative

Compare AskHound and Syften for finding buying-intent conversations. Syften monitors many more sources; AskHound is free and open source, with MCP from $19/mo versus MCP on Syften PRO.

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Player 1 · type a product, rival or job

Level select:

Syften is a strong, mature keyword-monitoring tool. Plans on syften.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-18): Entry $29.95/mo, Standard $49.95/mo, and PRO at $119.95/mo, the plan that includes MCP and webhooks. X monitoring is a +$40/mo add-on.

Syften vs AskHound

Feature	Syften	AskHound
Sources	Reddit, X (add-on), HN, GitHub, Stack Exchange, Bluesky, Mastodon, forums, podcasts, web…	HN, Stack Exchange, Bluesky, GitHub
MCP for AI agents	PRO plan	Free local MCP; remote MCP free (10 results) or from $19/mo
Open source	No	Yes (MIT CLI + MCP)
Live alerts / email digests	Yes	Watches on paid plans: daily email digest (beta) on Solo, hourly + Slack/webhook on Pro (Stack Exchange + Bluesky)
AI filtering	Yes (Standard+)	Transparent intent hint; your agent's model does the rest
Entry price	$29.95/mo	$0; $19/mo hosted

Honest take

Choose Syften if you need Reddit and X coverage, live alerts and a polished inbox today. Choose AskHound if your agent does the work, you want MCP without a $100+/mo plan, or you prefer open-source tools you can run yourself.

Cartridges

Give it to your agent

Remote MCP

zero install · Stack Exchange + Bluesky, from our server

Free: 10 results per call, 20 calls a day. A key lifts the cap and returns 50 to 100.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "askhound": { "url": "https://askhound.haullabs.dev/api/mcp" }
  }
}

Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http askhound https://askhound.haullabs.dev/api/mcp

Local MCP

all 4 sources · runs on your machine · Node 18+

HN and GitHub are queried with your own access.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "askhound": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "https://askhound.haullabs.dev/askhound-0.1.5.tgz", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

CLI

one file · zero dependencies

npx -y https://askhound.haullabs.dev/askhound-0.1.5.tgz \
  search "otter.ai alternative" --context meeting,transcript

# save a pack, run it daily, new results only
askhound pack save mine --competitor Otter.ai \
  --competitor Fireflies --category "transcript export"
askhound pack run --md today.md

Honest-reply policy (built into every tool response): a human approves every public reply; never auto-post or mass-DM; disclose that you build the product; answer the question first and name alternatives; follow each community's rules. Hacker News, for example, does not allow AI-generated or AI-edited comments, so replies there must be written by you. AskHound finds the conversation. You decide whether you have something useful to say.

Insert coin

Pricing: select your player

Free is for looking around. Paid plans are for not missing anyone: watches re-run your searches on our server and send you only people you haven't seen yet. Hosted searches cover Stack Exchange and Bluesky (the sources whose terms allow server-side use). Hacker News and GitHub run in the free CLI on your machine. No Reddit, no X.

FreeP1 · free play

$0forever

Browser search: 3 a day, last 7 days, top 10
Remote MCP: 10 results per call, 20 calls a day
Open-source CLI + local MCP (MIT): HN, GitHub, Stack Exchange, Bluesky
Local reply-state

Install ▶

Most picked

Solo1 player

$19/ month

$149/ yearsave $79 · 2 months+ free

3 always-on watches
Daily email digest of new askers only (beta)
Search 90 days back, every result
Remote MCP: 50 results per call, no daily cap
Cloud reply-state sync

Start Solo ▶Start Solo yearly ▶

Pro3 players

$49/ month

$390/ yearsave $198 · 2 months+ free

15 watches
Hourly checks (beta, see note)
Slack, Discord or any webhook, plus email
Remote MCP: 100 results per call
3 seats sharing reply-state

Start Pro ▶Start Pro yearly ▶

Agency10 players

$149/ monthmonthly only

Everything in Pro
50 watches (one set per client)
White-label client reports (Markdown/HTML)
10 seats

Start Agency ▶

Beta, plainly: email digests are in beta until our sending domain is verified; until then a new watch is saved and starts emailing the day the sender goes live (Slack, Discord and webhooks on Pro work now). Hourly checks are in beta too: our scheduler runs daily today, hourly is being switched on. Your license key appears right after checkout. Cancel anytime: reply to your Stripe receipt and we cancel it. Full refund within 14 days if it isn't useful to you.