A CrowdTangle API alternative is what a lot of internal dashboards needed on August 14, 2024, the day Meta's page says CrowdTangle stopped being available. Scripts that pulled public posts into a spreadsheet or a Slack bot simply stopped returning data. If you maintain one of those pipelines, this comparison looks at the three programmatic options that exist now, what each returns, and who is allowed to call it.
The short answer
For most developers who need a working feed today, AyeWatch is the practical replacement: a REST API and signed webhooks on every paid plan, from $9 a month, with no application process. It does not return Facebook data or engagement counts. If you need Meta's own data and you work in academic or nonprofit research, apply for the Meta Content Library API instead.
What changed for developers
CrowdTangle gave approved partners programmatic access to public Meta content. That access did not move to a general-purpose API. Meta now offers Meta Content Library and the Content Library API, aimed at researchers, with applications reviewed by an independent body. That leaves product teams, newsrooms and agencies choosing between narrower or more expensive paths.
The three options compared
| AyeWatch | Meta Content Library API | NewsWhip API | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can get a key | Anyone on a paid plan | Approved academic and nonprofit researchers | Customers, after a demo |
| Price | From $9 a month | No fees for access or computation | Not published |
| Facebook data | No | Yes, public Pages, groups, events and qualifying profiles | Ask the vendor |
| Searches and hashtags | Business, creator and qualifying personal accounts | Ask the vendor | |
| Other sources | News, web pages, X, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok | Threads in the web tool only, not the API | Web and social with engagement data |
| Push delivery | HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks | Not described | Not described on the home page |
| Engagement metrics | No | Content and reach data | Yes, a core feature |
AyeWatch: alerts as an API
AyeWatch's developer features are built around monitors rather than raw post queries. You create a topic with a plain-English description, and AyeWatch decides which new items match by meaning. When something matches, it can call your webhook with an AI-written summary and the source links. The REST API covers creating, listing, updating and deleting topics, so you can manage monitors from code.
What that means in practice:
- Your bot does not need to poll and filter. The filtering happens before the webhook fires.
- Webhooks are signed with HMAC-SHA256, so you can verify each payload before trusting it.
- Different topics can go to different channels: one to a webhook, one to Slack, one to Discord, one to email.
- An MCP server is listed for developers, so an AI assistant can work with your monitors.
Auto mode adjusts the interval per topic based on how busy it is, and paid plans start at $9 a month.
The trade-off is clear. If your old CrowdTangle script computed interaction totals per Facebook page, AyeWatch cannot feed that report. It answers "what new thing happened that matches my rule", not "how many people reacted".
Meta Content Library API: the data, with conditions
This is the closest thing to CrowdTangle's data. Meta says there are no fees for access or computation in its Secure Research Environment. Coverage includes public Facebook posts from Pages, groups and events, Instagram business and creator accounts, and personal accounts that are verified or have at least 100 followers.
The constraints are about eligibility and environment. You need an academic or research nonprofit affiliation, you apply through Meta Research Tools Manager, and the Secure Data Access Center reviews the application. Threads data is in the web tool, not the API. If you are building a product, this is not an option.
NewsWhip API: engagement data, sales-led
NewsWhip combines real-time web and social feeds with public engagement data and says it holds more than seven years of history. It has an API and predictive features. Pricing is not public; you start with a demo. It is a reasonable choice if engagement prediction is the product requirement and the budget allows a sales cycle.
Migration checklist
- List what each old script consumed: posts, counts, or alerts.
- Anything that consumed alerts or new posts on a topic can move to AyeWatch webhooks.
- Anything that consumed Facebook engagement counts needs Meta Content Library (if eligible) or an enterprise vendor.
- Rewrite your keyword filters as one-sentence monitor descriptions; remove client-side filtering you no longer need.
- Verify webhook signatures before processing.
You can test the monitor logic on the AyeWatch free preview before wiring up webhooks on a paid plan.