Answer Socrates vs Keyword.io (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword.io grades higher than Answer Socrates: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Answer Socrates grades higher on features and platforms. Keyword.io grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Answer Socrates
Question and keyword ideas with clustering and AI brand tracking
Keyword.io
Free long-tail keyword finder using autocomplete from a dozen sites
Which one is for you
Pick Answer Socrates if
- Fits if you want question keywords and only need a few searches a day
- Works for writers turning a topic into clusters for pillar pages
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need numbers for free, as the free plan shows no volume or CPC
- Tight if you track lots of AI answers, as each engine query uses a brand tracker credit
- Pricey if you need the API, which starts at $39 a month or $32.50 on yearly billing
- Not for you if a team needs logins, as seats start at Aurelius ($69 a month) with 2
- Watch out: there's no trial, only a 7-day money-back guarantee, and allowances reset each cycle
Pick Keyword.io if
- Fits if you want a list of autocomplete ideas and don't need any numbers next to them
- Works for Amazon or eBay sellers who want the words shoppers type into those search boxes
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need search volume, CPC, difficulty or trends, as it shows none of them
- Tight if you lean on Amazon suggestions, since that source and some others are rate limited
- Not for you if you want to scrape or resell the data, which its terms forbid without written permission
- Watch out: it's web only with no API, and lists leave only as text or through the clipboard
- Watch out: saving lists needs a free account, even though searching doesn't
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAnswer SocratesFair | 2.8GPAKeyword.ioGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLite is $15.83 a month on yearly billing, $19 monthly, which is mid-table for this category. That's 1,200 searches, 60 AI articles and 600 brand tracker credits a year. API and MCP access start at Seneca, $32.50 a month yearly. | AFree outright, with no paid plan at all. Every source, saved lists, text export and the question generator cost $0. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with 3 searches a day, 500 cluster credits a month and 1 CSV download, no card needed. You'll hit those caps, and it shows no volume or CPC at all. Paid plans have a 7-day money-back guarantee, not a trial. | ASearches need no account, and lists need only a free one. The one limit: Amazon and some other sources are rate limited, while Google, YouTube, Bing and Wikipedia aren't. |
| Features | CQuestions and long-tail phrases from Google, Bing, YouTube and AI models, clustering, volume and CPC, trending topics and an LLM brand tracker. There's no difficulty score or competitor lookup on record. | DOne narrow job: autocomplete suggestions from 12 sites, plus 20 question phrasings at a time. There's no search volume, CPC, difficulty or trend data, so you need another tool to choose between the ideas. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: type a seed or two and the questions come back, already grouped into clusters if you want them. | BNo rating on record. There's nothing to set up: type a word, pick a source, get a list. Searching needs no sign-up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus a browser extension, with no desktop or phone app. From Seneca there's a REST API and an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and others. | CWeb only, with no integrations or API. Lists go out as text or to your clipboard. |
| Best for | free question research with clustering on top | free long-tail ideas from a dozen sites |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Answer Socrates and Keyword.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
Answer Socrates starts at $15.83 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Keyword.io has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Answer Socrates scores higher, and starts $15.83 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Answer Socrates for less, and none scores higher than Keyword.io for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Answer Socrates also covers long-form writing and AI search visibility.
- Keyword.io also covers youTube SEO.
At a glance
| Answer Socrates | Keyword.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $15.83 per month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly) | Free |
| Free plan | 3 keyword searches and 1 recursive search a day, 500 cluster credits a month and 1 CSV download a month. No search metrics, brand tracking, projects or API. No card needed. | Everything is free: suggestions from every source, the question idea generator, saved keyword lists and text export. Searches need no account; lists need a free one. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Toast Media FZCO | keyword.io |
| Price read from | answersocrates.com | keyword.io |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Answer Socrates
- The free plan shows no search volume, CPC or competition and has no projects, brand tracking or API.
- API and MCP access start at Seneca, $39 a month; team seats only come with Aurelius (2) and Senate (5).
- Each LLM Brand Tracker credit covers one AI engine query, so a keyword checked in three engines uses three credits.
- Plan allowances reset each billing cycle; paid plans have a 7-day money-back guarantee rather than a trial.
Keyword.io
- It shows no search volume, CPC, difficulty or trend data; the results are autocomplete suggestions only.
- Amazon and some other sources are rate limited, so heavy use stalls on those.
- Its terms forbid automated scraping and reselling the data without written permission.
Key features
Answer Socrates
- Question and long-tail ideas
- Turns one or two seed keywords into hundreds of questions, comparisons and long-tail phrases gathered from Google, Bing, YouTube and AI models, in any country and language.
- Keyword clustering
- Groups a keyword list by meaning and intent into topic clusters, each with its total search volume and average CPC and competition. Uses cluster credits.
- Search volume, CPC and competition
- Paid plans show volume, cost per click and competition for every keyword and sort question keywords by volume. The free plan has no metrics.
- LLM Brand Tracker
- Runs keywords through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek, and scores your brand's mentions and share of voice over time. One credit covers one engine query.
- Trending Topics and AI articles
- Shows topics spiking in any country and language, and paid plans include AI-written SEO articles of up to 2,500 words each.
- MCP server and REST API
- From the Seneca plan, a hosted MCP server lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor pull keywords, trends and clusters into your projects.
Keyword.io
- Autocomplete from many sources
- Suggestions from Google, Amazon, YouTube, Bing, DuckDuckGo, eBay, Wikipedia, Alibaba, Walmart, Fotolia, Fiverr and TikTok, each with its own tool page.
- No signup to search
- Searches run without an account; Google, YouTube, Bing and Wikipedia searches are not limited, while Amazon and some others are rate limited.
- Keyword lists
- Save keywords into lists with a free account, then export them as text or copy them to the clipboard for use in other tools.
- Question idea generator
- Turns a keyword into 20 random question phrasings at a time, for blog post ideas and FAQ sections.
Plans
Answer Socrates
Free$0
3 searches a day, 500 cluster credits a month and 1 CSV download a month, without search volume or CPC data.
Socrates Lite$15.83
per month, billed yearly at $190 ($19 billed monthly)
1,200 searches, 60 AI articles and 600 LLM Brand Tracker credits a year, search metrics, unlimited CSVs and 2 projects. No API.
Seneca$32.50
per month, billed yearly at $390 ($39 billed monthly)
6,000 searches, 300 AI articles and 2,400 brand tracker credits a year, API and MCP access with 6,000 API credits, and 5 projects.
Aurelius$57.50
per month, billed yearly at $690 ($69 billed monthly)
Unlimited searches, 720 AI articles and 6,000 brand tracker credits a year, 30,000 API credits, 10 projects and 2 team seats.
Senate$249.17
per month, billed yearly at $2,990 ($299 billed monthly)
For agencies: 1,800 AI articles and 36,000 brand tracker credits a year, 300,000 API credits, 100 projects and 5 team seats.
Keyword.io
Free$0
All keyword sources, saved lists and export. Amazon and some other sources are rate limited.
Ways to pay less
Answer Socrates
- Annual discount
Save 17% with yearly billing
Answer Socrates's pricing page says yearly plans are billed once at a 17% discount, two months free: Lite is $190 a year against $19 a month.
Keyword.io
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Answer Socrates or Keyword.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Keyword.io is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $15.83 a month for Answer Socrates. Answer Socrates starts at $15.83 per month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly), and Keyword.io is free.
Which has a free plan, Answer Socrates or Keyword.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Answer Socrates and Keyword.io have a free plan.
Which platforms do Answer Socrates and Keyword.io run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Answer Socrates lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.