Is PostSnag a CrowdTangle alternative?

PostSnag is a practical CrowdTangle alternative for the core problem CrowdTangle used to solve: seeing post-level engagement on public Facebook content you don't own. CrowdTangle is gone, Facebook offers no built-in analytics for profiles or Pages you don't manage, and PostSnag gives you that data for any public profile, Page, or group you can already view.

PostSnag isn't a CrowdTangle successor built by Meta, and it doesn't work the same way under the hood. It's an independent tool built to solve a similar problem from a different angle.

What CrowdTangle was

CrowdTangle was Meta's own monitoring tool for tracking how public content performed across Facebook and Instagram. Journalists, researchers, marketers, and agencies used it to search and rank public posts, build leaderboards of top-performing content, and pull historical data through an official, Meta-approved connection. Meta shut CrowdTangle down and has not replaced it with a general-purpose tool available to marketers and agencies the way CrowdTangle was.

Why people go looking for a CrowdTangle alternative

Since CrowdTangle closed, Facebook has offered no native way to see engagement data for a profile or Page you don't manage yourself. Facebook's own analytics tools only cover Pages and profiles you administer. If you want to know what's actually working on a competitor's Page or a creator's profile, there's no built-in dashboard for that, which is exactly the gap CrowdTangle used to fill.

What PostSnag does instead

PostSnag captures posts as you scroll a profile, Page, or group in your own logged-in Facebook session: post type, reactions, comments, shares, dates, captions, and media, including the real video file behind every reel. That data syncs to your dashboard, where you can sort by engagement, compare profiles side by side, run each profile's own Analytics, save the best posts to Bookmarks or Folders, and export a file as Markdown, CSV, or the real captured media. For a profile you can already view on Facebook, that's the post-level performance picture CrowdTangle used to provide.

How PostSnag is similar to CrowdTangle

• Post-level engagement data, not just page-level totals: reactions, comments, shares, and views on individual posts.
• Works on public content you don't own, the exact gap Facebook's own tools don't cover.
• Exportable data, so you can take what you find and work with it outside the tool.
• A free tier to start with, no card required.

How PostSnag is different from CrowdTangle

• Not a Meta-official data source. CrowdTangle connected through an official Meta-approved API. PostSnag captures posts client-side, through your own logged-in Facebook session, reading what's already loading on your screen as you scroll.
• No deep historical archive. CrowdTangle could search years of past content on demand. PostSnag's coverage of a profile depends on what you've actually scrolled and captured; there's no separate historical database sitting behind it.
• Facebook only, not Facebook and Instagram. CrowdTangle covered both platforms. PostSnag is Facebook-only today. See Does PostSnag work on Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms?.
• A personal pattern engine, not a cross-platform search index. PostSnag's Discovery page studies the creators you track and surfaces the caption and hook patterns pulling reactions in your own library, but it isn't a full-text search across all of Facebook the way CrowdTangle's leaderboards were.
• A published, self-serve pricing model. Free to start, then flat monthly or one-time pricing, instead of the approval process CrowdTangle required for access.

Meta has since introduced a separate, narrower research tool aimed at qualifying academic institutions, but it isn't a general-purpose option for marketers, agencies, or independent creators the way CrowdTangle was.

Common questions

Does PostSnag pull data the same way CrowdTangle did?

No. PostSnag captures posts client-side, from your own logged-in session, as you scroll. CrowdTangle worked through an official, Meta-approved connection.

Can PostSnag show me historical posts CrowdTangle used to show?

Only what's visible when you scroll a profile today. PostSnag doesn't have a separate historical archive to query on demand.

Is PostSnag owned by Meta or connected to CrowdTangle?

No. PostSnag is an independent tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc.

Does PostSnag cover Instagram the way CrowdTangle did?

No. PostSnag is Facebook-only. See Does PostSnag work on Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms?.

Is PostSnag free like CrowdTangle was?

PostSnag has a genuinely free plan with no card required, though it's capped at 3 profile scans total, 30 posts per profile per scan, and group scanning is also limited on Free (unlimited on Pro and Lifetime). CrowdTangle's access was free but required Meta's approval; PostSnag's Free plan is open to anyone. See What do PostSnag's plans include, and what are the limits?.

Related articles

• What is PostSnag?
• How is PostSnag different from other Facebook research tools?
• What can and can't PostSnag capture?
• What do PostSnag's plans include, and what are the limits?

PostSnag is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc.