An F5Bot alternative that tells you which mentions are buyers
F5Bot is a simple, well-liked keyword alert for Reddit, Hacker News and Lobsters. ThreadToSale goes further for founders who sell: it keeps only the posts where someone needs a product like yours, scores how ready they are to buy, and drafts the reply.
F5Bot sends email (and, on its Gold plan, Slack or Discord) alerts when your keywords appear. It has a free plan, Silver at $12.99/month (20 keywords) and Gold at $49.99/month (200 keywords, AI filtering, feeds).
Keyword alerts tell you a word was used. ThreadToSale reads the post to decide whether the author is asking for a solution, scores it, and gives you a reply that answers it.
F5Bot vs ThreadToSale
| F5Bot | ThreadToSale | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; Silver $12.99/mo; Gold $49.99/mo | Free plan; Pro $49/mo (7-day free trial); Agency $129/mo |
| Where it looks | Reddit, Hacker News, Lobsters | Reddit, YouTube comments, Hacker News, Bluesky, Stack Exchange, Discourse forums, any RSS feed |
| What you get | Every keyword match | Only posts where someone needs what you sell |
| Buying-intent score per post | No (AI filtering on Gold) | Yes, 0–100% |
| Reply drafts | No | Yes, tailored to each post |
| Competitor leads | Only if you add the name as a keyword | Yes: “alternative to X”, “switching from X”, ranked first |
| Results of your replies | No | Visits, signups and sales per reply |
| Alerts | Instant, batched or daily email; Slack/Discord on Gold | Daily digest by email or Slack/Discord (every plan); instant alerts on Pro |
| CRM | No | HubSpot and Pipedrive (Pro) |
F5Bot details are taken from its own website on 29 October 2026. If something has changed, tell us at support@threadtosale.com and we will correct it.
Where F5Bot is the better choice
- Free, simple keyword alerts with almost no setup.
- Lobsters coverage and very fast email alerts.
- Brand monitoring: every mention, not only buyers.
Where ThreadToSale is the better choice
- Less noise: posts are kept only when the author needs something like your product.
- Each lead has a buying-intent score and a reply draft, so you act in minutes.
- More places: YouTube comments, Bluesky, Stack Exchange and Discourse forums, plus competitor leads and results tracking.
Switching from F5Bot
- Copy your F5Bot keywords into a free ThreadToSale workspace.
- Add the subreddits where your buyers ask questions, and switch on Hacker News in Monitoring.
- Keep F5Bot for pure brand mentions if you like; use ThreadToSale for leads.
Frequently asked questions
Is F5Bot free?
F5Bot has a free plan with email keyword alerts. Paid plans add more keywords, filtering, AI filtering, feeds and Slack/Discord.
What is the difference between F5Bot and ThreadToSale?
F5Bot alerts you when a keyword appears. ThreadToSale finds posts where someone is asking for a product like yours, scores their buying intent, and drafts a reply.
Does ThreadToSale monitor Hacker News?
Yes, along with Reddit, YouTube comments, Bluesky, Stack Exchange, Discourse forums and RSS feeds.
Find your first buyers this week
Free plan, no card. Pro is $49/month with a 7-day free trial.
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