Tools to Discover Trending Hashtags on Twitter

Hashtags are the organizing force behind Twitter’s chaos. They connect conversations, surface trends, and help brands join discussions that matter. Whether you’re launching a campaign, tracking sentiment, or hopping onto a trend, knowing which hashtags are gaining momentum — and when — is essential.

In this guide, we’ll break down the best tools to discover trending hashtags on Twitter, what to look for, and how to go beyond generic trends to find the ones that actually move the needle for your brand.

Why Hashtag Discovery Matters

Using the right hashtags can help you:

• Boost visibility by joining active conversations

• Increase engagement through relevance

• Position your brand alongside key topics

• Ride real-time cultural moments

• Track competitor activity and campaign traction

But not all hashtags are worth jumping on. The right tools help you separate noise from opportunity.

What Makes a Hashtag “Trend-Worthy”?

Before diving into the tools, know what you're looking for. A good trending hashtag is:

• Active – It’s generating volume now, not last week

• Relevant – It aligns with your audience and brand tone

• Growing – Usage is accelerating, not plateauing

• Organic – It's not artificially inflated by bots or spam

• Clear – It’s easy to understand, use, and interpret in context

Tracking these elements is hard to do manually — which is where hashtag discovery tools come in.

Top Tools to Discover Trending Hashtags on Twitter

1. TrendFynd – Best for Real-Time Niche Hashtag Tracking

What it does:
TrendFynd tracks hashtags in real time across any keyword, topic, or campaign — surfacing which hashtags are growing, what sentiment they carry, and who’s driving them.

Why it’s great:

• Focused on Twitter-first data, not generic social feeds

• Detects new hashtag trends before they peak

• Filters by emotion, topic, or user type

• Alerts you to hashtag spikes in your space

• Visual dashboards for hashtag performance over time

Best for:
Brands, agencies, and marketing teams who want to stay ahead of conversations in fast-moving niches.

2. Twitter Explore & Trends Panel – Best for General Market Buzz

What it does:
Shows location-based trending hashtags and topics directly from Twitter.

Why it’s useful:

• Pulls real-time data from Twitter’s full firehose

• Good for catching mass-market cultural trends

Limitations:

• No context or analytics

• Often not relevant for niche brands or B2B use

Best for:
Monitoring viral or mainstream trends, news events, or national conversation.

3. Hashtagify – Best for Hashtag Popularity & Related Tags

What it does:
Shows hashtag popularity, recent activity, and related hashtags.

Why it’s useful:

• Explores connections between hashtags

• Helpful for building campaigns or finding adjacent topics

Limitations:

• Slower refresh rate

• Less real-time than Twitter-native tools

Best for:
Planning hashtag strategy, not necessarily tracking live trends.

4. RiteTag – Best for Content Planning

What it does:
Suggests hashtags as you write a tweet based on your content.

Why it’s useful:

• Offers performance color codes (green = good now, blue = evergreen)

• Integrates with schedulers like Buffer

Limitations:

• Built for publishing, not listening or tracking

• Less useful for campaign or competitor monitoring

Best for:
Social media managers scheduling content who want to improve reach.

5. Brand24 – Best for Cross-Platform Listening

What it does:
Tracks mentions and hashtags across multiple platforms including Twitter, Instagram, and blogs.

Why it’s useful:

• Unified brand monitoring view

• Alerts for volume spikes tied to hashtags

Limitations:

• Twitter performance is less refined

• More expensive and generalist

Best for:
Brands needing multi-platform hashtag insights, especially for campaign wrap-ups.

How to Choose the Right Tool

Pick based on your priority:

• Real-time brand mentions? → TrendFynd

• Campaign planning? → Hashtagify or RiteTag

• Mainstream buzz tracking? → Twitter Explore

• Cross-platform coverage? → Brand24

• Deep sentiment & influencer insight? → TrendFynd

Most marketers combine tools: use Twitter Explore for general awareness, and a tool like TrendFynd for strategic execution.

How TrendFynd Surfaces Emerging Hashtag Trends

Unlike basic trend panels, TrendFynd focuses on niche signals and emotional context, helping brands detect and act on:

• Branded hashtags gaining momentum

• Competitor tags gaining or losing steam

• New audience-created hashtags tied to your brand

• Influencer-driven hashtag spikes

• Negative sentiment clusters around specific phrases

You also get:

• Real-time alerts when hashtag use increases rapidly

• Sentiment scoring for each tag

• Breakdown of top tweets, user types, and engagement

This lets you act early — not react late.

Use Cases for Hashtag Trend Discovery

• Join real-time conversations aligned with your mission or campaign

• Create viral opportunities by combining trending tags with unique content

• Track campaign lift via branded hashtag growth

• Monitor crisis conversations that emerge around your product or category

• Understand your audience’s language by analyzing organically generated tags

Final Thoughts

Hashtags are more than metadata — they’re cultural markers. The right ones amplify your brand, extend your reach, and align you with the conversations your audience cares about most. But trends move fast, and if you’re guessing, you’re already behind.

Want to catch the next big hashtag before it peaks? Start Free with TrendFynd