An F5Bot alternative that also hears X, LinkedIn and YouTube.
F5Bot is a good keyword alert for Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters. Overhear is for when people talk about you somewhere else too, or when your inbox fills with the everyday meaning of your word.
F5Bot vs Overhear
| F5Bot | Overhear | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | Reddit, Hacker News, Lobsters | X, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, Hacker News and web search results |
| How often | Every few minutes | Hourly, every 6 hours, daily or off, per keyword and per source |
| Price | Free, $9.99 or $49.99 a month | Prepaid credits from $10, no subscription; 1,000 free to start |
| Keywords | 20 on Silver, 200 on Gold | No keyword cap; each search costs credits |
| Filtering | Filter flags; AI filtering on Gold | Claude sorts every post (question, complaint, bug, praise, misinformation, competitor) and learns from your Related and Not related clicks |
| Delivery | Email (instant, batched or digest), Slack and Discord webhooks, RSS and API on Gold | Email alerts for posts that need action, a daily digest, signed webhooks and an MCP server |
| Replies | None | Claude drafts a reply with a tracked link; you post it |
F5Bot column from its website, checked October 2026.
What it costs
One keyword on Reddit and Hacker News, every hour: about 1440 credits a month, $2.40 at the $10 pack rate.
Prepaid credits, no subscription, no keyword cap. Credits never expire and a failed search costs nothing.
When to stay on F5Bot
- You only care about Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters. Overhear does not search Lobsters.
- You need an alert within minutes. Overhear's fastest pace is hourly.
- You want alerts posted straight into Slack or Discord.
- You want to pay nothing at all. F5Bot has a free plan; Overhear gives 1,000 credits once, then you top up.
Questions
Is Overhear free like F5Bot?
Not after the start. Every new workspace gets 1,000 credits, then you buy prepaid credits from $10. One Reddit or Hacker News search is one credit.
Can I watch only Reddit and Hacker News?
Yes. Turn the other sources off per keyword under Keywords; a source that is off is not searched and costs nothing.
Does Overhear search Lobsters?
No. It searches X, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, Hacker News and the web.
How does Overhear cut the noise?
It keeps only posts that contain the keyword, then Claude decides whether each one is about you. Marking posts Related or Not related teaches it for that keyword.
See how it works per source: Reddit monitoring and X monitoring.
Other comparisons: Octolens alternative, Syften alternative.