Dig vs Lefty: Which Is Better? (2026 Comparison)

Content Discovery & Brand Monitoring

Dig and Lefty approach content discovery from opposite ends of the spectrum. Dig is a video-first intelligence tool designed for social listening. It uses a proprietary LLM stack to detect brand mentions in audio, captions, and even visual elements across TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Its standout feature is its 93% accuracy in finding untagged content—videos where your brand appears but isn't explicitly mentioned in the text. This makes it a powerful Dig alternative for those moving away from keyword-based listening.

Lefty, conversely, is built around a database of over 1 million indexed influencers. While it has improved its data quality by purging 5 million low-quality profiles, its discovery is more focused on identifying talent for partnerships rather than monitoring the broader social conversation. It lacks the deep visual AI that Dig uses to surface emerging narratives. For brands that prioritize finding creators over monitoring brand safety, Lefty is often compared to Archive vs Lefty for its campaign-centric focus.

Video Tracking and Intelligence

In terms of raw intelligence, Dig is the clear winner for Fortune 500 brands. It offers narrative clustering, which allows teams to see how specific themes (like sustainability or brand sentiment) are evolving across thousands of video clips. It even includes deepfake and disinformation detection—features that are non-existent in Lefty. If you are comparing ShortsIntel vs Dig, you'll notice Dig's strength lies in this high-level enterprise reputation management.

Lefty excels in performance analytics. It is widely recognized for its robust Earned Media Value (EMV) calculations and Instagram Story tracking (a feature Dig lacks). Lefty provides plain-language campaign analysis that helps luxury brands understand the ROI of their influencer spend. However, Lefty’s reporting is often based on estimates rather than actual reach and impressions, which can be a drawback compared to platforms like Brandwatch vs Lefty.

Creator Management & Rights

Lefty is a true CRM for influencer marketing. It includes workflows for managing campaigns, responsive search functionality, and dedicated account managers for higher tiers. However, it lacks robust automated rights management, a gap often filled by Collabstr vs Dig users looking for simpler transactional workflows.

Dig offers almost no creator management features. It does not provide a creator CRM, outreach tools, or rights management. It is designed to be a listening and analysis layer that sits on top of your existing marketing stack, rather than a tool to execute campaigns. For teams needing to move from analysis to action, the lack of an API in Dig's current offering makes this transition difficult.