FounderDive vs F5Bot: Free Alerts or Written Replies?
F5Bot emails you, free, when your keywords show up on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters. FounderDive scores the post and writes the reply.
We make FounderDive, so read this as our view. Facts about F5Bot were checked on 31 Oct 2026 against their own pricing page. Prices change; check theirs before you decide.
FounderDive pricing
- Free: one real hunt on your site, every post readable in full, up to 20 replies written. No card.
- Starter: $29.99/mo or $299.99/yr. Press Hunt again up to 3 times a day; 25 replies written per hunt.
- Pro: $79.99/mo or $799.99/yr. Up to 5 hunts a day, 80 replies per hunt, two businesses, and clicks, signups and revenue matched to each reply.
- No trial. The free hunt is the trial.
F5Bot pricing (as of 31 Oct 2026)
- Free: 5 keywords, 20 alerts a day, up to 2 hours' delay
- Silver: USD 12.99/mo (USD 143/yr), for non-commercial use
- Gold: USD 49.99/mo (USD 549/yr), the plan it suggests for business
- Platinum: USD 214.99/mo (USD 2,364/yr). Diamond from USD 500
| Feature | FounderDive | F5Bot |
|---|---|---|
| Where it looks | Nine places: Reddit, X (through Google's index), Hacker News, Indie Hackers, Stack Overflow, Software Recommendations, Super User, DEV and web search | Reddit, Hacker News, Lobsters |
| Keyword alerts | No | Yes, by email |
| Decides if a post is worth answering | Scores each post out of 100. Under 72? Gone | No: every keyword match is sent |
| Writes the reply | Only from facts you gave it. A draft that can't cite one is thrown away | No |
| Safety checks before you reply | Eight checks: group rules, 9 helpful replies per 1 that mentions you, two weeks off per group, karma and account age, same link in two groups, shadowban, never the same post twice, freeze a group if something went wrong | No |
| Posts for you | No. You press send from your own account | No. Alerts only |
| Try it | One real hunt, free, no card | Free plan with no time limit |
| Pricing | Free hunt, then $29.99/mo or $79.99/mo (as of 31 Oct 2026) | Free; paid from USD 12.99/mo (as of 31 Oct 2026) |
F5Bot does one thing and does it for free. Give it up to five keywords and it emails you when they show up on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters, up to 20 alerts a day with up to two hours' delay. Paid plans raise the limits; it suggests Gold for business use. If you have never watched for your keywords before, start here.
An alert still leaves the work with you. You open each email, decide whether the person is asking for what you built, write a reply that doesn't read like an ad, and check the group's rules. FounderDive does that part. It looks in nine places, scores each post out of 100 and throws away anything under 72, then writes the reply only from facts you gave it.
FounderDive also checks every reply eight ways, including group rules, 9 helpful replies per 1 that mentions you, two weeks off per group and a shadowban check. It never posts. It is not an alert tool: it has no keyword or brand alerts, and it costs money after the first free hunt. F5Bot first and FounderDive later, or both together, is a sensible path.
Use FounderDive if
You already get alerts, and finding the posts worth answering and writing the replies now takes too long.
Use F5Bot if
You want free keyword alerts for Reddit and Hacker News and are happy to read and reply to each yourself.
Questions
Should I just use F5Bot?
If you want alerts and will read and reply to each one yourself, yes. Start there; it's free. Move to FounderDive when the reading and writing is what eats your time.
Can I use F5Bot and FounderDive together?
Yes. F5Bot covers keyword and brand alerts, which FounderDive doesn't do. FounderDive finds people asking for what you built and writes the reply.
Which F5Bot plan is meant for a business?
Its tiers page says Silver is for non-commercial use and suggests Gold, USD 49.99 a month, for business (as of 31 Oct 2026).
F5Bot: f5bot.com
Verdict
F5Bot is the best free start: it emails you when your keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News or Lobsters, and the free plan costs nothing. It sends alerts and nothing more. FounderDive is for when reading alerts has become the slow part: it scores each post, keeps 72 or more out of 100, writes the reply from your facts and checks it eight ways.