AnswerThePublic vs KeywordTool.io (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AnswerThePublic and KeywordTool.io share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and AnswerThePublic starts cheaper, at $20 a month against $68 a month.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
AnswerThePublic grades higher on value for money. KeywordTool.io grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AnswerThePublic
Question and search-suggestion research shown as keyword wheels
KeywordTool.io
Autocomplete keyword ideas from Google and 16 other search platforms
Which one is for you
Pick AnswerThePublic if
- Fits if you plan blog posts, FAQs or videos around what people ask
- Works for showing a client how people search, as the wheels read at a glance
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you research a lot, since Starter allows 100 searches a month and they don't roll over
- Skip it if you need a difficulty score, as there isn't one on record
- Not for you if you might want your money back, as subscriptions are generally non-refundable
- Watch out: the 7-day trial needs a payment method and covers monthly plans only
- Pricey if more people need access: Starter has 1 user, and 3 users means Growth at $99 a month
Pick KeywordTool.io if
- Fits if you want long-tail ideas from YouTube, Amazon or TikTok and can do without the numbers
- Works for pulling keyword data into Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP server on a paid plan
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you only want search volumes, at $68 a month on yearly billing and $88 monthly
- Skip it if you need a difficulty score to judge which keywords you can win
- Not for you if you want to try the paid data first, as there's no trial, only a 30-day refund
- Watch out: only Google and Bing volumes come from the ad planners; the rest are modeled estimates
- Tight if you run lots of lookups, as Starter allows 50 requests a day across web, API and MCP
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAnswerThePublicFair | 2.4GPAKeywordTool.ioFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $20 a month, or $160 a year, which works out at about $13.33 a month, and until 8 November a year of Starter is $120. That's mid-table for this category, for 100 searches a month and 1 user. | DStarter is $68 a month on yearly billing, $88 monthly, which is in this category's dearest tenth. Every paid plan does include the API, an MCP server and volume for 50,000 keywords a day. There's no trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free account gets 3 searches a day, with volume and CPC on just two branches of each report and exports of 30 keywords. The 7-day trial needs a payment method and only covers monthly plans. | BThe free version needs no account and no card, and gives up to 750+ suggestions a search with no limit on record. One person could live on that for ideas. What you don't get is volume, CPC or competition: those are all paid. |
| Features | CQuestions, comparisons and related terms from Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Amazon, with volume and CPC, AI prompt ideas and alerts. It does question research fully, but that's a smaller job, and the volume is last month's Google data only. | CIdeas from 17 platforms, plus volume, CPC, trend history and bulk lookups on paid plans. But there's no difficulty score or competitor lookup on record, and only Google and Bing volumes come from the ad planners. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but nothing to set up either. Type a word and the wheel appears, and anyone you show it to will get it straight away. | BNo rating on record, and nothing to set up: the free version runs without an account, so you type a word, pick a platform and read the list. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Content Studio publishes to WordPress and Webflow, and paid plans get an API, still in alpha, that draws on the same search allowance. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Every paid plan has a REST API and an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, all drawing on the same daily request pool. |
| Best for | seeing the questions people ask about a topic | long-tail ideas from Google and 16 other platforms |
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: AnswerThePublic and KeywordTool.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
AnswerThePublic starts at $20 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. KeywordTool.io starts at $68 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and AnswerThePublic starts $48 a month lower. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than AnswerThePublic for less, and 1 scores higher than KeywordTool.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
- AnswerThePublic also covers long-form writing.
- KeywordTool.io also covers app store optimization and youTube SEO.
At a glance
| AnswerThePublic | KeywordTool.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month, billed monthly ($160 a year billed annually) | $68 per month, billed annually ($88 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free account: 3 searches a day, volume and CPC on two branches per report, exports of up to 30 keywords and 30 AI prompt responses a month. No Content Studio credits. | Free version, no account needed: up to 750+ autocomplete suggestions per search term. Search volume, cost per click and competition data come with Keyword Tool Pro. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on monthly plans, once per account; a payment method is needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Answer the Public Ltd (NP Digital) | Essential Apps LLC and Key Tools Limited |
| Price read from | answerthepublic.com | keywordtool.io |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AnswerThePublic
- Paid plans are capped at 100 to 300 searches a month, and unused searches and credits do not roll over.
- Subscriptions are generally non-refundable once billing starts, and annual plans have no free trial.
- Search volume reflects Google data from the previous month only.
- Starter allows 1 user, Growth 3 and Business 10, and all users share the plan's monthly limits.
KeywordTool.io
- The free version shows suggestions only; volume, CPC and competition need a paid plan starting at $68 a month billed annually.
- There is no free trial; paid plans instead carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Only Google and Bing volumes come from the ad planners; other platforms' volumes are modeled estimates.
- Paid plans are capped by daily requests, from 50 on Starter to 400 on Agency, shared across the web app, API and MCP.
Key features
AnswerThePublic
- Keyword wheels and search modifiers
- Groups suggestions into questions, prepositions, comparisons, alphabeticals and related terms, as a visual wheel or a list, with Google volume and CPC.
- Searches across platforms
- Reports draw on Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Amazon, plus People Also Ask results and Google Shopping product rankings.
- AI Models report
- Shows prompts people might give ChatGPT and Gemini about a topic, sorted by intent and sentiment, and generates sample AI answers from a monthly allowance.
- Search listening alerts
- Follow a keyword and get a weekly email of new suggestions: 1 alert on Starter, 5 on Growth and 20 on Business.
- Content Studio
- Writes articles from a project's keywords and publishes them to WordPress or Webflow. Each article uses 10 credits and each Deep Search 8.
- API in alpha
- Paid plans can create searches and pull reports through an API that draws on the same monthly search allowance. Not available on the free plan or during a trial.
KeywordTool.io
- Autocomplete keyword ideas
- Adds letters and numbers around a seed term to pull hundreds of long-tail suggestions, across 190+ Google domains and many languages.
- 17 search platforms
- Research Google, YouTube, Bing, Copilot, Perplexity, Amazon, eBay, the App Store, Google Play, Instagram, X, Reddit, Pinterest, Etsy, TikTok and Naver.
- Search volume and cost per click
- Pro plans show volume, CPC and competition. Google and Bing figures come from their keyword planners; the other platforms are estimates.
- Trend history
- Monthly search volume history covers 12 months on Starter, 24 on Growth and up to 48 on Scale and Agency.
- Bulk search volume
- Upload an existing keyword list and get volume, CPC and trend data for it, up to 1,000 keywords per request.
- API and MCP server
- Every paid plan includes a REST API and an MCP server for assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, drawing on the same daily request pool.
Plans
AnswerThePublic
Free$0
3 searches a day with some suggestions and data locked, and small exports.
Starter$20
per month, billed monthly ($160 a year billed annually)
1 user, 100 searches a month, 1,000 AI prompt suggestions, 30 AI responses, 2 projects and 60 Content Studio credits.
Growth$99
per month, billed monthly ($792 a year billed annually)
Up to 3 users, 200 searches a month, 2,000 prompt suggestions, 60 AI responses, 4 projects, 350 credits and report comparisons.
Business$199
per month, billed monthly ($1,592 a year billed annually)
Up to 10 users, 300 searches a month, 3,000 prompt suggestions, 100 AI responses, 8 projects and 800 credits.
CustomCustom
More users, domains or limits than Business, quoted on request.
KeywordTool.io
Free$0
Autocomplete keyword suggestions for any term, up to 750+ per search, without signing up.
Starter$68
per month for 50 requests a day, billed annually ($88 monthly)
Search volume for 50,000 keywords a day, 12 months of trend history, all 17 platforms, web app, API and MCP.
Growth$148
per month for 100 requests a day, billed annually ($188 monthly)
Search volume for 100,000 keywords a day and 24 months of trend history.
Scale$308
per month for 200 requests a day, billed annually ($388 monthly)
Search volume for 200,000 keywords a day and 48 months of trend history, for in-house teams.
Agency$628
per month for 400 requests a day, billed annually ($788 monthly)
Search volume for 400,000 keywords a day and 48 months of trend history.
Enterprise & CustomCustom
Higher daily limits, custom API and MCP usage, procurement paperwork and bank-transfer payment. Quoted after a demo.
Ways to pay less
AnswerThePublic
- Annual discount
Annual billing at eight times the monthly price
AnswerThePublic's campaign terms put the standard annual price at 8 times the monthly price, such as $160 a year for Starter instead of $240 paid monthly.
- Annual discount
6 months free on annual plans until November 8, 2026
From October 13 to November 8, 2026, annual plans cost 6 times the monthly price ($120 a year for Starter) and renew at that price while active.
KeywordTool.io
- Annual discount
Save over 20% with annual billing
Keyword Tool's pricing lists annual billing at over 20% less: Starter is $68 a month billed annually instead of $88 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AnswerThePublic or KeywordTool.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AnswerThePublic is cheaper to start with: $20 a month, against $68 a month for KeywordTool.io. AnswerThePublic starts at $20 per month, billed monthly ($160 a year billed annually), and KeywordTool.io starts at $68 per month, billed annually ($88 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, AnswerThePublic or KeywordTool.io?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both AnswerThePublic and KeywordTool.io have a free plan.
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.