AnswerThePublic vs kwrds.ai (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AnswerThePublic and kwrds.ai share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and AnswerThePublic starts cheaper, at $20 a month against $39 a month.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
kwrds.ai
Keyword and People Also Ask research with AI answers and an API
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 kwrds.ai if
- Fits if you write FAQ sections and want the questions Google shows for a keyword
- Works for developers who want keyword and PAA data through an API, sold from $49 a month
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want rank tracking or a site audit, as it only does research
- Tight if you research a lot, since the web plan stops at 1,500 queries a month and more means asking them
- Watch out: the free account shows only the first result, and the API is sold apart from the web plan
- Watch out: the pricing page contradicts itself on whether the web plan includes API access
- Pricey if you just need volumes, at $39 a month on yearly billing, and cancelling is done by email
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAnswerThePublicFair | 2.4GPAkwrds.aiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CUI Full Access is $39 a month on yearly billing, $49 monthly, at the dear end of this category but under its dearest tenth. It's the only web plan: past 1,500 queries a month you have to ask kwrds.ai about higher limits. |
| 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. | CA free account gets the top keyword and question lists and some free SEO tools, but its pricing FAQ says the tools show just the first result. Fine for a look. Paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| 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. | CVolumes with history, CPC, intent and competition in 190+ countries, PAA questions with AI answers, suggestions from Google, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon and more, URL rankings and topic reports. But it's research only: no rank tracking or site audit. |
| 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, but there's nothing to connect or build: you type a keyword or a question and read the results. |
| 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 a JSON API and an MCP server for Claude Desktop and Cursor. The API is sold as separate plans from $49 a month, and the pricing page contradicts itself on whether the web plan includes it. |
| Best for | seeing the questions people ask about a topic | People Also Ask questions with AI answers |
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 kwrds.ai. 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. kwrds.ai starts at $39 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and AnswerThePublic starts $19 a month lower. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than AnswerThePublic for less, and 1 scores higher than kwrds.ai 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.
At a glance
| AnswerThePublic | kwrds.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month, billed monthly ($160 a year billed annually) | $39 per month, billed annually ($49 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 account: top keyword and question lists, free SEO tools and keyword ideas without search volumes; the pricing FAQ says the tools show only the first result. One free API call per endpoint. |
| 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) | KWRDS AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | answerthepublic.com | kwrds.ai |
| 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.
kwrds.ai
- The web plan has one price; going past its 1,500 queries a month means contacting kwrds.ai about higher limits.
- API plans are sold separately from the web plan, and the pricing page contradicts itself on whether the web plan includes API access.
- There is no rank tracking or site audit; it is a research tool only.
- Paid plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee; cancelling is done by email.
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.
kwrds.ai
- Keyword research
- Keyword ideas from Google autosuggest plus AI, with search volume and its history, CPC, intent and a competition index, in 190+ countries and languages.
- People Also Ask questions
- Pull the questions Google shows for a keyword, in real time, and have AI write short FAQ answers or long answers for articles, with sources.
- Many suggestion sources
- The search box takes suggestions from Google, ChatGPT, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon, Reddit, Bing, Perplexity and about a dozen other sites.
- URL rankings and SERP data
- See the keywords a URL ranks for, and the ranking titles and URLs for any keyword.
- Topic research
- Enter a topic and AI builds an Excel report of related keywords, volumes, 12-month trends, CPC, difficulty and questions, in about 10 minutes.
- API and MCP
- A JSON API covers keyword research, PAA, search volume, SERP features, URL rankings and AI content, and can be connected to AI assistants through MCP.
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.
kwrds.ai
Free$0
Browse 1,000+ top keyword lists and top People Also Ask questions, use the free SEO tools, and preview the keyword tool.
UI Full Access$39
per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
All tools in the web app with 1,500 queries a month and 500 AI research answers a month; the card says API access is included.
Starter API Access$49
per month for 600 API calls (20 a day)
Any API endpoint, including search volume, CPC, trends, competition, intent, SERP data and the AI keyword tool.
Full API Access$99
per month for 1,200 API calls (40 a day)
The same endpoints with twice the calls. Higher limits and enterprise terms are quoted by email.
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.
kwrds.ai
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
kwrds.ai's pricing page lists annual billing at 20% less: UI Full Access is $39 a month billed annually instead of $49 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AnswerThePublic or kwrds.ai?
As of Oct 23, 2026, AnswerThePublic is cheaper to start with: $20 a month, against $39 a month for kwrds.ai. AnswerThePublic starts at $20 per month, billed monthly ($160 a year billed annually), and kwrds.ai starts at $39 per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, AnswerThePublic or kwrds.ai?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both AnswerThePublic and kwrds.ai 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.