F5Bot alternative
F5Bot emails you when your keywords show up on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters, and it has a free tier. ChatterAPI doesn't send alerts yet. It returns Reddit and X data through an API and a hosted MCP server, and you can poll it on a schedule to build your own monitor.
What F5Bot is
- F5Bot says it monitors Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters for your keywords. source
- Its FAQ says F5Bot checks for new content every few minutes and searches submission titles, URLs and comment bodies. source
- As listed on Oct 14, 2026, the Free tier is for personal use only with 5 keywords, and paid tiers are Silver at $9.99 per month, Gold at $49.99 per month, Platinum at $214.99 per month and Diamond starting at $500 per month. source
- RSS and JSON feeds start on Gold, Slack and Discord integrations start on Gold, and API and webhooks are listed on Platinum and Diamond. source
When F5Bot is the better choice
- You want free email alerts for a handful of keywords for personal use.
- You also need Hacker News and Lobsters coverage, which ChatterAPI doesn't offer.
- You want alerts pushed to you without running any code or schedule yourself.
When ChatterAPI fits
- You want to search Reddit and X on demand and get JSON back instead of an email.
- You want an AI agent to search Reddit and X through a hosted MCP server.
- You want subreddit details, user profiles or full comment threads as well as keyword hits.
- You're fine running a small polling job to watch keywords.
Side by side
| Topic | F5Bot | ChatterAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Keyword alerts for Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters (source) | Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools |
| Platforms | Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters (source) | Reddit and X |
| REST API | API and webhooks on Platinum and Diamond tiers (source) | Yes, one key for both platforms |
| MCP server for agents | Not stated publicly | Yes, a hosted MCP server |
| Alerts and monitoring | Yes, email alerts on every tier; Slack and Discord from Gold (source) | Not offered yet. You can poll the search endpoint on a schedule |
| Data export formats | RSS and JSON feeds of your alerts from Gold (source) | JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground |
| Pricing model | Free tier for personal use; paid monthly or yearly tiers from $9.99 per month as listed on Oct 14, 2026 (source) | Credits per call, from a monthly plan or top-ups. Free credits on signup |
| Setup needed | Sign up and add keywords (source) | Sign up and create an API key. No Reddit app needed |
| Who it suits | People who want keyword alerts in their inbox | Developers and teams building with code or AI agents |
- Primary job
- F5Bot
- Keyword alerts for Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools
- Platforms
- F5Bot
- Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X
- REST API
- F5Bot
- API and webhooks on Platinum and Diamond tiers (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, one key for both platforms
- MCP server for agents
- F5Bot
- Not stated publicly
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, a hosted MCP server
- Alerts and monitoring
- F5Bot
- Yes, email alerts on every tier; Slack and Discord from Gold (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Not offered yet. You can poll the search endpoint on a schedule
- Data export formats
- F5Bot
- RSS and JSON feeds of your alerts from Gold (source)
- ChatterAPI
- JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground
- Pricing model
- F5Bot
- Free tier for personal use; paid monthly or yearly tiers from $9.99 per month as listed on Oct 14, 2026 (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Credits per call, from a monthly plan or top-ups. Free credits on signup
- Setup needed
- F5Bot
- Sign up and add keywords (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Sign up and create an API key. No Reddit app needed
- Who it suits
- F5Bot
- People who want keyword alerts in their inbox
- ChatterAPI
- Developers and teams building with code or AI agents
Last checked . Sources: F5Bot homepage, F5Bot tiers, F5Bot FAQ.
Moving from F5Bot
- Copy your F5Bot keyword list.
- Run each keyword through Reddit search with sort set to new.
- Save the IDs you've already seen, then call the search on a schedule and keep only new results.
- Send new results to email, Slack or your agent. The full polling recipe is at /tools/reddit-monitoring.
curl "https://chatterapi.com/v1/reddit/search?q=your+brand&sort=new" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CHATTERAPI_KEY"Questions
Is F5Bot free?
As of Oct 14, 2026, F5Bot lists a Free tier for personal use only, with 5 keywords and 20 daily alerts. Paid tiers add more keywords and features.
Does ChatterAPI send email alerts like F5Bot?
Not yet. You can poll the search endpoint on a schedule and send yourself the new results. The recipe is at /tools/reddit-monitoring.
Does F5Bot have an API?
Its tiers page lists API and webhooks on the Platinum and Diamond tiers.
Does ChatterAPI cover Hacker News?
No. ChatterAPI covers Reddit and X. F5Bot covers Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters.