SWOT analysis is one of those tasks that sounds simple but can quickly turn into a time-sucking, manual grind. 

Sure, it’s great for getting a clear picture of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, but gathering all that data? Organizing it into neat little quadrants? That’s where the headaches start.

In this article, we’ll dive into the tools that can help you streamline your SWOT process, from gathering competitor intel to creating a visually stunning SWOT diagram that’ll impress your stakeholders. 

Whether you’re a die-hard Excel fan or you’re ready to try something new, there’s a tool here to help you speed up your workflow and get those insights without the heavy lifting.

Let’s get started.

Tools for data collection and competitor research

Before we jump into the best tools for collecting data and researching competitors, let’s quickly recap the five steps involved in a competitive SWOT analysis:

  1. Identify your target competitor: Who’s worth your time to study? This is where it all starts.
  2. Gather information from the competitor itself: Dig into what your competitor is saying (and not saying) about themselves.
  3. Collate data about how the market sees you and your competitor: Everybody loves to think that their competitors stink, but what are people saying in the real world? 
  4. Analyze and structure this data using the four SWOT quadrants: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Get it all down in one place.
  5. Identify next steps and action points: SWOT analysis alone isn’t enough; now’s the time to turn those insights into actions.

So, how do you gather all the right info for steps one and two? Here’s where some smart tools come into play:

Crayon

If you’re serious about competitive intelligence, Crayon is a game-changer. This platform automatically tracks your competitors’ moves across multiple channels – think product updates, marketing strategies, pricing changes, and even customer reviews. Instead of spending hours manually hunting for insights, you get a live feed of your competitor’s every step.

⭐ Why it’s great: As one respondent pointed out in our 2023 Tools of Choice report, Crayon has “very strong alerting, filtering, and reporting” functions, making it “very easy” to understand new intel as it comes in.

💡Pro tip: Set up alerts to stay on top of any major shifts in your competitors’ strategy, so you can react faster than the rest of your team.

SimilarWeb

Need to know where your competitors are getting their traffic? SimilarWeb has you covered. It lets you track website traffic, audience behavior, and the marketing channels driving results for your competitors. Whether they’re crushing it with organic search or pouring cash into paid ads, SimilarWeb gives you the inside scoop.

⭐ Why it’s great: This tool is perfect for understanding your competitor’s online presence and where they’re investing their resources. Users love it because it helps them get to the “why” behind trends. 

💡Pro tip: Use SimilarWeb to identify traffic dips or spikes – they often signal a big campaign or product launch you’ll want to know about.

SpyFu

When it comes to spying on competitors’ SEO and PPC strategies, SpyFu lives up to its name. This tool helps you uncover the keywords your competitors are targeting – both paid and organic – so you can refine your own keyword strategy to go head-to-head.

⭐ Why it’s great: Users love the support offered by SpyFu, as well as its clean and simple dashboard design, with one G2 reviewer describing it as a “Straight shooter style SEM platform that doesn’t overwhelm with analysis paralysis.”

💡 Pro tip: Use SpyFu to uncover keyword gaps – those juicy opportunities your competitors haven’t spotted yet.

Yep, Google still makes the list. When it comes to gathering competitor intel, sometimes the simplest solution is still the best. Search engines let you track down press releases, blog posts, and any other publicly available info about your competitors.

⭐ Why it’s great: It’s free, fast, and gets you straight to the source of what your competitors are publishing.

💡 Pro tip: Set up Google Alerts for key competitors to keep tabs on any new developments without having to search manually every day.

With these tools in your arsenal, you’ll breeze through the first two steps of your SWOT analysis – no more digging through piles of random data or guessing what your competitors are up to. 

Tools for market perception and sentiment analysis

Now that you’ve gathered a mountain of competitor data, it’s time to figure out how the market sees you – and your competition. 

This is where step three of your SWOT analysis comes in: collecting real-world perceptions, both good and bad, about your company and your competitors. After all, what you think your strengths are may not match up with what customers see.

Luckily, there are some powerful tools out there to help you gauge market sentiment without manually digging through reviews or social media comments (because let’s be honest, no one’s got time for that).

Brandwatch

If you want to get a pulse on what people are saying about your brand and your competitors online, Brandwatch is the tool to beat. This social listening platform tracks conversations across social media, blogs, forums, and even news sites, analyzing customer sentiment in real time.

⭐ Why it’s great: Brandwatch helps you see not only what people are saying, but whether they’re saying it with love or pure frustration. It automatically categorizes mentions as positive, negative, or neutral – making it a lot easier to understand the general vibe around your brand and competitors.

💡 Pro tip: Use Brandwatch to keep tabs on competitor crises. If they’re getting dragged through the mud on X, you might find an opportunity to highlight your strengths in that area while they’re dealing with the backlash.

Meltwater

Another powerful tool, Meltwater provides extensive social listening beyond traditional platforms. Not only does it track mentions across social media, but it also covers podcasts, blogs, online news, and review sites​. Meltwater consolidates social and news monitoring into one platform, so you don’t miss anything that’s affecting your brand’s perception.

⭐ Why it’s great: Meltwater’s combined news and social media tracking lets you build comprehensive, unified reports. This platform is designed to save time, providing sentiment analysis that covers diverse data sources.

💡 Pro tip: Set up Meltwater’s alerts to catch trends and themes in customer feedback as they emerge – keeping you one step ahead of the narrative around your brand and your competitors.

Sometimes, simple is best. Google Trends lets you compare search interest over time for both your brand and your competitors. It’s great for spotting larger trends and understanding how awareness is shifting in your market.

⭐ Why it’s great: Google Trends gives you an at-a-glance snapshot of who’s winning the awareness game. Plus, you can see how interest in certain features or topics is evolving.

💡 Pro tip: Keep an eye on spikes or dips in searches for competitors – these can signal the start of a new marketing campaign or product release you’ll want to monitor.

With these tools, you’ll get a much clearer picture of how both you and your competitors are viewed in the market. Once you’ve gathered that sentiment data, you’ll be ready to dive into step four – analyzing and structuring your SWOT quadrants.

Tools for structuring, visualizing, and analyzing SWOT data

Once you’ve gathered and assessed your competitor and market sentiment data, it’s time for step four: turning all those insights into a structured SWOT analysis. 

This stage is all about making sense of your research and laying it out in a way that reveals strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Below, you’ll find tools that can help you organize data, add visual clarity, and structure your analysis so you can see where you stand and where you should focus your competitive efforts.

Confluence

When it comes to collaborating on SWOT analysis, Confluence is a top pick for competitive intelligence teams. 

Think of it as a collaborative workspace where everyone can update findings , comment on each other's insights, and link to other documents and research. It’s especially handy if your SWOT analysis is part of a larger ongoing strategy project that involves multiple stakeholders.

⭐ Why it’s great: Confluence lets your team add notes, context, and supporting links to each section of the SWOT, ensuring everyone’s on the same page.

💡 Pro tip: Use Confluence templates to structure your SWOT analysis. There are templates specifically designed to help organize competitive research, so you’re not building from scratch every time.

Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets

Next, we’ve got the trusty spreadsheet. Whether you’re a die-hard Excel fan or loyal to Google Sheets, these tools are the classic starting point for structuring data in SWOT’s four quadrants. 

These tools may be simple, but they’re also flexible and powerful. Entering your findings into a spreadsheet helps you visualize categories like pricing information, features, and service details side-by-side, allowing you to spot patterns across strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

⭐ Why it’s great: With easy sorting and filtering and the ability to create pivot tables, Excel and Google Sheets give you a practical way to start analyzing the data with minimal fuss.

💡 Pro tip: Color-code each quadrant for quick reference. It may sound basic, but a splash of color can go a long way in making your SWOT sheet easier to navigate.

Airtable

For those who want a bit more structure than a standard spreadsheet but need more flexibility than Confluence, Airtable sits right in the middle. 

Airtable combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the functionality of a database, making it a fantastic choice for SWOT analysis. You can categorize data, assign team members to specific items, and add tags, all while keeping everything visually organized.

⭐ Why it’s great: With Airtable’s easy-to-use, customizable layouts, you can add layers of information, create custom views, and even switch between grid, Kanban, and calendar formats. It’s versatile and designed to scale with your project.

💡 Pro tip: Use Airtable’s filtering and sorting functions to organize your SWOT data by priority. That way, you can quickly identify the most pressing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats without scrolling through endless rows of data.

Miro

If you’re looking for a more interactive approach, Miro has you covered. Miro is an online whiteboard that makes visual brainstorming easy, with templates specifically for SWOT analysis. It’s especially useful if you’re running a collaborative SWOT session and want to capture everyone’s ideas as they flow.

⭐ Why it’s great: Miro’s real-time collaboration features let your team add notes and comments, and even move items around the board together. It’s perfect for interactive sessions where you’re mapping out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats on the spot.

💡 Pro tip: Try using sticky notes. Your team can drag and drop them into each quadrant while you share ideas. It’s a great way to organize and re-evaluate insights on the fly.

Canva

Once your data is organized, it’s time to make it presentable. Canva is your friend here. Known for its easy-to-use design tools, Canva has customizable SWOT templates that let you add visual appeal to your analysis. It’s great for creating clear, polished visuals that’ll impress your stakeholders.

⭐ Why it’s great: Canva’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for anyone to create professional SWOT diagrams, even if they don’t have a design background.

💡 Pro tip: Experiment with icons, color schemes, and layouts to make each quadrant pop. A well-designed SWOT diagram not only looks good but also makes it easier for others to understand the big picture at a glance.

Each of these tools brings its own strengths to the table. Whether you’re creating a collaborative Confluence workspace, polishing a presentation-ready SWOT with Canva, or hosting a brainstorming session on Miro, these tools will help you organize, visualize, and understand your SWOT data more effectively. 

Once you’ve nailed down your analysis, you’ll be ready for step five – turning all that insight into actionable next steps.

Tools for turning SWOT into actionable plans

You’ve gathered your data and structured it into a neat SWOT analysis, and now you’re staring at a list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The question is: what now? 

SWOT analysis is only as useful as the actions it inspires, so it’s time to take those insights and turn them into concrete steps. Here are some top tools that make it easy to transform your analysis into a plan of action.

Trello

For keeping things straightforward and visual, Trello is a great option. Trello’s board system allows you to create lists and cards for each of your SWOT categories, making it easy to move from analysis to action. You can assign team members to specific tasks, set deadlines, and track the progress of each action item.

⭐ Why it’s great: Trello’s flexibility and visual layout make it simple to turn SWOT insights into trackable tasks. Plus, it’s easy to see the big picture with Trello’s board view, which lets you view all your action steps at a glance.

💡 Pro tip: Create separate columns for high-priority and low-priority actions to keep your team focused on what matters most.

Asana

If you’re managing a more complex set of action points or need additional functionality, Asana offers a robust project management solution. Asana lets you create detailed tasks with subtasks, assign responsibilities, and set due dates, making it ideal for a SWOT plan that spans multiple departments or teams.

⭐ Why it’s great: Asana’s interface is designed to keep everyone on the same page with task dependencies, project timelines, and even a Kanban view for visual organization.

💡 Pro tip: Use Asana’s project templates to organize your SWOT tasks by category, such as “strengths to leverage” or “threats to monitor,” so it’s clear how each action item ties back to the analysis.

These tools don’t just help you list out SWOT actions – they make sure those actions get completed. The right tool can transform your SWOT insights from static analysis into a dynamic, evolving plan that guides your team’s next steps and keeps everyone aligned on key objectives.

With your SWOT analysis turned into actionable tasks, you’re ready to make the most of your competitive insights and drive real impact.

Conclusion

SWOT analysis can feel like a lot, but with the right tools, you can turn it into a streamlined, insightful, and impactful process. 

From gathering data on competitors to tracking real-world sentiment, structuring insights, and finally putting plans into action, each tool we’ve covered can make a huge difference in your workflow – and your results. 

So, go ahead, give some of these tools a try, and take your competitive intelligence game to the next level. After all, strategy isn’t just about knowing your strengths – it’s about using them.