Exploding Topics vs Google Trends (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Google Trends grades higher than Exploding Topics: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Exploding Topics grades higher on platforms. Google Trends grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features.
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
Google Trends
Free charts of relative Google search interest by time and place
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 Google Trends if
- Fits if you want to know whether a topic is growing before you write about it
- Works for timing seasonal content, like gift guides or summer gear
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need search volumes, since it only shows a 0 to 100 score
- Not for you if you need an API, as it's an alpha for accepted developers
- Too light for tiny niches, where low-volume terms show as 0 and small ones can spike from added noise
- Watch out: reused data must be credited to Google Trends, and Google asks you not to cite it alongside Ads data
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAExploding TopicsFair | 3.0GPAGoogle TrendsVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | AFree, from Google, with no paid tier: charts, comparisons, regions, related searches, Trending now and CSV export all cost nothing. |
| 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. | AEverything is open to anyone in a browser, with no account and no cap a normal person would reach. Only the API is closed, to an alpha group of applicants. |
| 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. | CCompare up to 8 groups of terms, see interest by region down to cities, related searches and Trending now in 100+ countries. It does trends fully, but gives no volumes, low-volume terms show as 0, and small terms can spike from added noise. |
| 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, but there's nothing to sign up for. Type a term and a chart appears. The 0 to 100 scale takes a minute to get used to. |
| 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. | CWeb only. Charts export to CSV and embed on a web page, and trending searches go out by RSS, but the API is an alpha open only to accepted developers. |
| Best for | spotting rising topics before they get crowded | spotting rising and seasonal searches |
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 Google Trends. How we grade
Price against what you get
Exploding Topics starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Google Trends has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Google Trends starts $39 a month lower. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, 10 score higher than Exploding Topics for less, and none scores higher than Google Trends 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
- Google Trends also covers research.
At a glance
| Exploding Topics | Google Trends | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $39 per month for 100 tracked trends (billing basis not shown) | Free |
| 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. | Explore, Trending now and Year in Search are open to anyone in a browser at no charge, and charts can be downloaded as CSV files. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of every Pro plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Semrush Inc. | |
| Price read from | explodingtopics.com | trends.google.com |
| 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.
Google Trends
- Shows relative interest on a 0 to 100 scale, not search volumes; Google points to Google Ads for monthly volume figures.
- Low-volume terms show as 0, and small terms can show random spikes because Google adds statistical noise for privacy.
- The API is an alpha that only accepted applicants can use; everyone else works through the website.
- Reused data must be credited to Google Trends, and Google asks that it not be cited together with Google Ads data.
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.
Google Trends
- Explore and compare terms
- Chart search interest for a term over a chosen period and compare up to 8 groups of terms, each holding up to 50 terms, across languages and places.
- Interest by region
- See where a term is searched most, from country level down to subregions and cities, and compare two locations or two time periods.
- Related searches and categories
- Find searches related to a term, and narrow results to a category of topics to cut out unrelated meanings.
- Trending now
- Searches rising in 100+ countries and regions over the past 4 hours to 7 days, refreshed about every ten minutes, with a volume bucket and growth figure.
- Export, embed and RSS
- Download charts as CSV, embed many charts on a web page, and export trending searches by clipboard, CSV or RSS feed.
- Trends API alpha
- An alpha API with 5 years of consistently scaled data is open to a limited set of developers who apply to test it.
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.
Google Trends
Free$0
Search interest charts, comparisons, interest by region, related searches, trending searches and CSV export.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Exploding Topics or Google Trends?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Google Trends is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $39 a month for Exploding Topics. Exploding Topics starts at $39 per month for 100 tracked trends (billing basis not shown), and Google Trends is free.
Which has a free plan, Exploding Topics or Google Trends?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Exploding Topics and Google Trends 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.