Guide
How to get alerted when someone posts on Reddit
Updated 31 August 2026
The short answer
It depends which someone. Being told when a particular account posts is a setting inside Reddit. Being told when anyone posts using a word you care about is not, because Reddit has no keyword alert. That case needs a monitoring tool pointed at the subreddits you choose.
Redwatcher does the second one. It is a Reddit monitoring tool that scores every keyword match for relevance before it alerts you: it reads posts and comments in the subreddits you name and sends what clears your bar to email, Slack, Telegram or a webhook.
The two questions people mean
| What you want | Where it is done |
|---|---|
| A specific account posts | Reddit — follow that account |
| Anyone posts using a word you chose | A monitoring tool |
The first is a Reddit setting. The second is the one people search for, because Reddit has no setting for it.
Being alerted about a particular account
Reddit's notifications are built around your account: replies to what you wrote, and accounts you follow. If the person you care about is one account, following it is enough.
What it cannot do is filter on what a post says. That is the part a monitoring tool adds.
Being alerted when anyone mentions something
This is keyword monitoring, and it takes three things.
The words. Your brand and its spellings, your competitors, and the phrases people use for the problem you solve.
The places. The subreddits you want watched. You name them yourself instead of searching all of Reddit, and that is what keeps the volume down to something readable.
The bar. A word that comes up often will also come up in threads that have nothing to do with you. Redwatcher scores every match from 0 to 100 for relevance in context, with the reasons attached, and sends only what clears the score you set. Everything below it is kept and counted in the app.
Changing what you are alerted about
None of these three choices is permanent. Terms are added and removed at any time, a subreddit that turns out to be quiet comes off the list, and the score can be moved up or down as often as you like. The usual pattern in the first weeks is to start at a bar of 70, find it slightly too high or too low once real threads have come through, and adjust once.
Changes apply to what arrives next. Matches already found stay in the app with the score they were given, so moving the bar does not rewrite your history.
Where the alert can arrive
Email, Slack, Telegram or a signed webhook, all four on every plan. Slack and Telegram install in one click, and each channel has a test button that sends a real message.
Every tracked subreddit is checked around the clock, multiple times every hour, on every plan. Median freshness is about 15 minutes.
RedwatcherReddit monitoring, every match scored
RedwatcherStart free Seven days, no card. From $29 a month after. What an alert contains
Choosing where the alert lands
An alert only helps if somebody sees it, so pick the destination by who is going to answer.
Slack suits a team, because the thread is visible to everyone and somebody claims it. Slack is also easy to mute, so give the alerts a channel of their own instead of putting them in a busy one.
Telegram suits one person who wants it on a phone. You will notice it immediately, and you will also scroll past it, so it fits a founder watching a small number of high-value terms.
Email suits a daily read. If the answer can wait until tomorrow, email keeps the interruptions out of your day.
A webhook suits a team that already has a system. The payload carries the thread, the score and the reasons, which is enough to open a ticket, write a row, or route by score without a second lookup.
All four are on every plan, so pick on working habits. Budget does not come into it.
Why an alert might not arrive
The score did not clear your bar. The match is in the app, counted, with the reason on it. This is the most common answer and it is usually correct behaviour.
The subreddit is not on your list. A thread in a community you have not named is not read at all, however well it matches.
The term did not match. A brand written a way you have not added as a spelling will not match. This is what the spellings under each name are for, and they cost nothing against the allowance.
The channel is not connected. Every channel has a test button. If the test message arrives, the delivery is working and the cause is one of the three above.
Being alerted about Reddit posts: questions people ask
How to get alerted when someone posts on Reddit?
Follow the account if it is one particular person. If you want to know whenever anyone posts about a particular thing, that is what a monitoring tool is for: name the subreddits and the terms, and it tells you when they meet.
Is there a Reddit alert app available?
Apps exist for following subreddits and accounts. For keyword alerts, Redwatcher runs in the browser and delivers to email, Slack, Telegram or a webhook, so the alert arrives where you already work and not in one more app to check.
Do you get an alert when someone follows you on Reddit?
That is a Reddit account notification and is controlled in your Reddit settings. It has nothing to do with monitoring, which watches communities for words and never looks at your account at all.
Can I be alerted about a specific user's posts?
Follow the account inside Reddit and its posts appear in your notifications. A monitoring tool covers the opposite case, where you do not know who will post, only what they will be writing about.
How fast does the alert arrive?
Every tracked subreddit is checked around the clock, multiple times every hour, on every plan, and median freshness is about 15 minutes.
Reddit is a trademark of Reddit, Inc. Redwatcher is not affiliated with or endorsed by Reddit, Inc.