The Ayrshare alternative for reading public social data
Ayrshare posts to accounts you connect via OAuth; SocialCrawl reads public data from any account across 42 platforms — no OAuth. You can't swap one for the other; most teams run both.
Keep Ayrshare for publishing. Add `npx socialcrawl-mcp` to read public profiles, posts, and competitor accounts you don't own — 42 platforms, one schema, no account connection.
Facts last verified June 15, 2026
Searching 42 platforms in parallel
TikTok·
Instagram·
YouTube·
Facebook·
X·
LinkedIn·
Reddit·
Threads·
Pinterest·
Twitch·
Truth Social·
Snapchat·
Kick·
Bluesky·
Kwai·
Rumble·
Spotify·TikTok Shop·
Amazon Shop·
Google Shopping·
Trustpilot·
TripAdvisor·
Linktree·
Komi·
Pillar·
lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·
Polymarket·
Tavily·
Hacker News·
GitHub·
Perplexity·
Naver·UUtility·
Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·UUtility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·UUtility·Universal SearchTikTok·Instagram·YouTube·Facebook·X·LinkedIn·Reddit·Threads·Pinterest·Twitch·Truth Social·Snapchat·Kick·Bluesky·Kwai·Rumble·Spotify·TikTok Shop·Amazon Shop·Google Shopping·Trustpilot·TripAdvisor·Linktree·Komi·Pillar·lnk.bio·Facebook Ads·Google Ads·LinkedIn Ads·Google Search·Google News·Google Finance·Polymarket·Tavily·Hacker News·GitHub·Perplexity·Naver·UUtility·Universal SearchWhat's the difference between Ayrshare and SocialCrawl?
Ayrshare is a write-side API: it publishes posts and pulls analytics for the accounts you connect via OAuth. SocialCrawl is a read-side data API: it scrapes public data from any profile, post, hashtag, or search across 42 platforms, with no account connection and no OAuth.
Unified schema
One field name across 42 platforms. Write one parser, not 13.
MCP server
`npx socialcrawl-mcp` on the MCP Registry. Works in Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf.
Visual Explorer
Paste any URL, see rich cards and export as code. No API key needed to browse.
How do SocialCrawl and Ayrshare compare, surface by surface?
Sixteen dimensions side by side. Ayrshare's tiers, platform count, and OAuth model were taken from its own pricing and analytics-API pages and verified 2026-06-15 — and the rows where Ayrshare owns the surface (posting, scheduling, owned-account analytics) say so plainly.
| Feature | SocialCrawl | Ayrshare |
|---|---|---|
| Direction of data | ||
| What it does | Reads public data from any account (read-side) | Publishes posts + reads analytics for connected accounts (write-side) |
| Accounts it can read | Any public account — including ones you don't own | Only accounts connected via OAuth |
| Publishing / scheduling | No — read-only by design | Yes — posts, Reels, Stories, scheduling across 13+ networks |
| Auth model | ||
| Authentication | Single x-api-key, no account linking | OAuth + Profile-Key per connected account |
| Competitor / market monitoring | Yes — any public account or hashtag | No — owned/connected accounts only |
| Platforms & endpoints | ||
| Platforms covered | 42 platforms, 264 endpoints (reads) | 13+ networks (posting + owned-account analytics) |
| Schema & data quality | ||
| Unified response schema | One schema across 42 platforms, enforced at the gateway | Owned-account analytics, not normalized public-data reads |
| Computed fields | engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category — pre-calculated | 160+ analytics points per post (connected accounts) |
| Search | ||
| Universal cross-platform search | GET /v1/search/everywhere fans out across 12 platforms in one call | None — no public-data search by design |
| Agent readiness | ||
| MCP server | Shipped (npx socialcrawl-mcp) | Not shipped |
| AI / agent tooling | MCP + Skills bundle + SDK paths | REST API + client libraries (publishing-focused) |
| Pricing & billing | ||
| Free tier | 100 credits, no card | Free plan: 20 posts/mo, single-photo only, Ayrshare branding |
| Entry paid tier | From £14/mo, flat per-endpoint credits | $149/mo Premium (1 profile) |
| Non-technical tooling | ||
| Visual Explorer | Paste a URL, see rich cards, export as code | Dashboard for posting + owned-account analytics |
| Internationalization | ||
| Korean / Naver | Native EN + KO copy, hreflang | English-first, USD-only |
| Relationship | ||
| How they fit together | Reads public data Ayrshare can't reach | Publishes content SocialCrawl can't post |
Direction of data
What it does
Accounts it can read
Publishing / scheduling
Auth model
Authentication
Competitor / market monitoring
Platforms & endpoints
Platforms covered
Schema & data quality
Unified response schema
Computed fields
Search
Universal cross-platform search
Agent readiness
MCP server
AI / agent tooling
Pricing & billing
Free tier
Entry paid tier
Non-technical tooling
Visual Explorer
Internationalization
Korean / Naver
Relationship
How they fit together
Can SocialCrawl read public data from accounts I don't own?
Yes — that's the whole point of the read side. SocialCrawl pulls public profiles, posts, comments, and hashtags from any account on 42 platforms with no OAuth, while Ayrshare reads analytics only for the accounts you connect via OAuth.
- Ayrshare's analytics are scoped to connected accounts you own or manage — a deliberate, correct design for a publishing API.
- SocialCrawl points the other way: any public profile, post, hashtag, or search, no account linking, no permission prompts.
- That's how you monitor competitors, creators, and the wider market — accounts you have no OAuth relationship with.
- Ayrshare can't do this and was never meant to; SocialCrawl can't publish a post and isn't meant to either.
You can finally watch competitor and market accounts you don't own — not just the ones you've connected.
Why read public social data without OAuth at all?
Because OAuth ties you to accounts you control, and most of the interesting data lives on accounts you don't. SocialCrawl authenticates with a single x-api-key and returns public data directly, so there's no permission-scope negotiation per account.
- Ayrshare reviewers note heavy OAuth permission scopes and a multi-user Profile-Key setup for connecting accounts.
- SocialCrawl skips all of that for reads: one key, no OAuth, no Profile-Key, no per-account consent.
- That removes the ceiling on what you can observe — you're not limited to accounts that have granted you access.
- Publishing still belongs in Ayrshare, where the OAuth connection is exactly what you want.
Your read pipeline starts with one API key instead of an OAuth connection per account you want to watch.
Why does one schema across 42 platforms matter for reads?
Because reading 42 platforms shouldn't mean 42 parsers. SocialCrawl normalizes every response at the gateway, so followerCount is the same field on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and computed fields like engagement_rate arrive pre-calculated.
- SocialCrawl enforces one response shape across 42 platforms and 264 endpoints — write one parser, not thirteen.
- Computed fields (engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category) come back ready, so your code reads the number instead of deriving it.
- Ayrshare's analytics are strong for connected accounts, but they're owned-account metrics, not normalized public-data reads across arbitrary profiles.
- Consistent schemas are the difference between a one-day public-data integration and a per-platform parsing sprint.
You integrate public-data reads once and every one of 42 platforms returns the same predictable shape.
How do I monitor competitors and the market in one call?
One call to GET /v1/search/everywhere fans out across 12 social platforms in parallel, then LLM-plans, RRF-fuses, LLM-reranks, and clusters the results into structured posts and creators. It's a cross-platform read engine Ayrshare's connected-account model doesn't attempt.
- Ayrshare's analytics answer 'how did my connected accounts perform'; everywhere answers 'what is the whole market saying'.
- The pipeline returns fused, reranked social results, so you don't merge a dozen platform responses by hand.
- It runs as JSON or SSE at a flat 20 credits — built for competitor tracking, trend detection, and market monitoring.
- The same engine powers the free same-origin web search, so you can see the social SERP before wiring the API.
One call gives you a ranked, cross-platform view of what's happening on accounts you don't own.
the write-side publishing API · Ayrshare's own figure, 2026-06-15
What does Ayrshare do better than SocialCrawl?
Posting, scheduling, and owned-account analytics — and on those, Ayrshare is the tool to keep. It publishes to 13+ networks through one API, handles OAuth account connection, Reels/Stories scheduling, comment and review management, and returns 160+ analytics data points per post for the accounts you connect (Ayrshare's own figures); SocialCrawl does none of that and isn't trying to.
- Ayrshare handles the genuinely hard parts of publishing — OAuth flows, scheduling, platform-specific post types — so you don't build thirteen integrations.
- Its deep owned-account analytics (likes, shares, views, impressions, plus historical trends) are exactly right for measuring content you publish.
- If your product schedules and posts to your users' accounts, Ayrshare is squarely the right tool — pair it with SocialCrawl for the public-data reads it doesn't do.
How much does an Ayrshare alternative cost?
The two are priced for opposite jobs — publishing to your accounts (Ayrshare) and reading public data (SocialCrawl) — so read this as a pairing budget, not a head-to-head. Ayrshare tiers verified 2026-06-15 from its pricing page.
Different jobs, not the same meter
Pair them, don't pick one
Ayrshare prices publishing; SocialCrawl prices public-data reads — verified 2026-06-15
Honest asymmetry: Ayrshare's $149/mo entry buys posting plus owned-account analytics across 13+ networks — there's no read-side equivalent in SocialCrawl, and no posting in SocialCrawl. They meter different work, so most teams budget for both rather than choosing one.
See full pricingWho is SocialCrawl built for?
Teams that need to read public social data from accounts they don't own — competitors, creators, hashtags, and the wider market — as structured objects across 42 platforms, with no OAuth and no account connection.
Add SocialCrawl if:
- You need to monitor accounts you don't ownCompetitors, creators, and market accounts you have no OAuth relationship with — the data Ayrshare's connected-account model can't reach.
- You want public data without OAuthOne x-api-key returns public profiles, posts, comments, and hashtags — no permission scopes, no Profile-Key setup per account.
- You need one schema across 42 platformsfollowerCount and engagement_rate are the same fields everywhere, so you write one parser instead of thirteen.
- You need cross-platform market monitoringOne call to /v1/search/everywhere fans out across 12 platforms, then fuses and reranks the results into posts and creators.
- You're building with AI agents and MCPnpx socialcrawl-mcp plus a Skills bundle drop public social data into Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
Reach for Ayrshare when:
Ayrshare is the right call whenever the job is publishing — and naming those cases plainly beats pretending they don't exist.
- Your product schedules and publishes contentAyrshare posts to your users' connected accounts across 13+ networks through one API — exactly the write-side job SocialCrawl doesn't do.
- You need owned-account analytics160+ data points per post and historical trends for the accounts you connect — the right tool for measuring content you publish.
- You manage posting for clients or many profilesMulti-account Profile-Keys, comment and review management, and messaging are built for agencies and SaaS platforms publishing at scale.
- You need Reels, Stories, and platform-specific postsAyrshare handles the hard publishing edge cases — Reels, Stories, Spotlight, scheduling — so you don't build each integration yourself.
Still evaluating? If Ayrshare already covers your publishing and you only ever need analytics for accounts you own, stay as you are — bookmark this for the day you need to read public data from accounts you don't.
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Looking for the best Ayrshare alternative for social media data?
Every SocialCrawl comparison follows the same honest format — verified pricing, a schema diff, and a straight answer on which team each tool fits.
Read the public data Ayrshare can't reach
100 free credits, no card — enough to read public profiles, posts, and competitor accounts alongside Ayrshare and see the data for yourself.