Exploding Topics vs Glimpse (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Glimpse grades higher than Exploding Topics: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Glimpse grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Exploding Topics
Database of rising topics, products and startups, by search growth
Free plan · from $39/mo
Glimpse
Google Trends add-on with absolute search volume and trend discovery
Free plan
Which one is for you
Pick Exploding Topics if
- Fits if you pick content topics and want ones whose searches are still climbing
- Works for sellers and investors looking for products, markets and startups that are starting to rise
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want forecasts, trending startups or CSV export, which start at $99 a month
- Skip it if you need keyword volumes and difficulty for pages you're writing now
- Not for you if you'd rather not have a Semrush account, as Pro runs through one
- Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say how prices are billed, and a vendor blog says $39 is the yearly rate
- Watch out: TikTok Insights is a separate add-on with no price shown
Pick Glimpse if
- Fits if you already use Google Trends and want search counts instead of an index
- Works for analysts who want trend data in their own dashboards through an API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to know the price before you talk to anyone, as none is published
- Too light for choosing keywords for a page, as it tracks trends rather than difficulty
- Not for you if you browse in Safari or Firefox, as the vendor names Chrome and Edge for the extension
- Watch out: the volumes are Glimpse's own estimates, fitted to Google Trends' relative movements
- Watch out: the free plan's limits aren't published, so you can't tell where it stops
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAExploding TopicsFair | 2.4GPAGlimpseFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEntrepreneur is $39 a month for 100 tracked trends, at the dearer end of this category, and the page doesn't say how it's billed. Forecasts, trending startups and CSV export need Investor at $99. Treendly's Pro is $99 a year. | CNo price is published anywhere we could read. Sign-up is free, and past that the site only offers to book a demo, so the price is only given on a sales call. That leaves nothing to weigh against this category's $17 middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CYou can browse trending topics, startups and websites on the public site with part of each trend's data, no account needed. Every Pro plan has a 7-day trial, and the listing doesn't say whether a card is needed. | CSigning up is free, but Glimpse doesn't publish what the free plan includes, so we can't tell you where its limits are. Paid plans sit above it, unpriced. |
| Features | CA database it puts at 1.1 million+ topics with growth over up to 15 years, tracking with alerts, deep-dive analyses and Meta Trends. It does trend spotting fully, but that's a smaller job than keyword research, and forecasting starts at $99. | CAbsolute search volume on Google Trends going back 20+ years, rising trends by niche, a one-year forecast, channel breakdowns and alerts. It does trend research fully, but that's a smaller job, and the volumes are Glimpse's own estimates. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Pro runs as an app inside Semrush, so signing in and starting a trial go through a Semrush account before you see the full data. | BNo rating on record. Much of it is a browser extension that adds numbers to Google Trends pages, so you install it and keep searching the way you already do. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. There's an API, a Zapier integration with six actions, and routes through n8n and Make. | BWeb plus an extension for Chrome and Edge, with no desktop or phone app. There's an API for interest and volume over time, and a Google Sheets link. |
| Best for | spotting rising topics before they get crowded | real search numbers on top of Google Trends |
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: Exploding Topics and Glimpse. How we grade
Where they differ
In commonFree planWebPublic APIKeyword research
At a glance
| Exploding Topics | Glimpse | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39 per month for 100 tracked trends (billing basis not shown) | Not published |
| Free plan | Trending topics, startups and websites can be browsed on the site without an account, with part of each trend's data; the full data needs Pro. | Signing up is free, according to the homepage and the extension listing; the free plan's limits are not published on any page we could read. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of every Pro plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Semrush Inc. | Glimpse |
| Price read from | explodingtopics.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Exploding Topics
- The pricing page shows monthly figures without saying how they are billed; a vendor blog post says $39 is the annual-billing rate.
- Trend forecasting, trending startups and CSV export start at the $99 Investor plan.
- Pro runs as an app inside Semrush: signing in and starting a trial go through a Semrush account.
- TikTok Insights is a separate add-on, and its price is not shown on the pricing page.
Glimpse
- Glimpse publishes no pricing page, so the cost of its paid plans could not be confirmed.
- Much of it works as a browser extension on top of Google Trends; the vendor names Chrome and Edge.
- Its search volumes are Glimpse's own figures, calibrated to match the relative movements in Google Trends.
Key features
Exploding Topics
- Trends database
- Pro opens a database the vendor puts at 1.1 million+ markets, products and topics, each with search volume and growth over windows of 3 months to 15 years.
- Trend tracking and analyses
- Track 100, 500 or 2,000 trends by plan and get alerts, and run 10 to 500 deep-dive analyses with search metrics and channel-level data.
- Meta Trends
- Groups related topics into larger shifts in areas such as tech, DTC, marketing, SaaS, healthcare, fitness and fashion.
- Trend forecasting
- Investor and Business plans show a machine-learning forecast of where a trend's interest is likely to go over the next year.
- Trending products and startups
- Lists consumer products on the rise on every Pro plan, and fast-growing startups from Investor up. A TikTok Insights add-on tracks products gaining views on TikTok.
- API and automations
- An Exploding Topics API feeds trend data into other tools, with a Zapier integration offering six actions and an n8n workflow route.
Glimpse
- Absolute search volume on Google Trends
- The extension turns Google Trends' 0 to 100 index into daily search counts for any keyword and country, going back more than 20 years.
- Trend discovery
- Browse rising keywords by category and niche on Glimpse's site, with year-over-year and month-over-month growth for each.
- Trajectory and forecasting
- Shows a trend's path with seasonality and noise removed, and a forecast of the next year of searches.
- Channel breakdown
- See where a topic is talked about most across TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and Pinterest.
- Tracking and alerts
- Track keywords and get an alert when one of them climbs or drops in search activity.
- Glimpse API
- Endpoints for interest over time and search volume over time, offered in place of a Google Trends API, which Google has not made public.
Plans
Exploding Topics
Free$0
Browse trending topics, startups and top websites on the public site, plus a set of free SEO tools.
Entrepreneur$39
per month for 100 tracked trends, billing basis not shown
10 trend analyses, the trends database, trending products, Meta Trends and channel breakdowns.
Investor$99
per month for 500 tracked trends, billing basis not shown
100 trend analyses, plus trending startups, trend forecasting and CSV export.
Business$249
per month for 2,000 tracked trends, billing basis not shown
500 trend analyses, everything in Investor, and trend reports.
Glimpse
Pricing could not be confirmed. See meetglimpse.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Exploding Topics or Glimpse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Exploding Topics starts at $39 per month for 100 tracked trends (billing basis not shown), and Glimpse has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Exploding Topics or Glimpse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Exploding Topics and Glimpse have a free plan.
Which platforms do Exploding Topics and Glimpse run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Glimpse 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.