Google Trends vs Yandex Wordstat (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat share a 3.0 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on whether you care more about ease of use, where Google Trends grades higher, or platforms, where Yandex Wordstat does.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Google Trends
Free charts of relative Google search interest by time and place
Free
Yandex Wordstat
Free search query statistics for the Yandex search engine
Free
Which one is for you
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
Pick Yandex Wordstat if
- Fits if your site or ads are aimed at searchers in Russia and nearby countries
- Works for checking demand on Yandex before you buy Yandex Direct ads
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your readers search on Google, as it counts Yandex searches only
- Not for you if you'd rather not make a Yandex account, as you must be signed in to use it
- Watch out: a CAPTCHA may appear if you query often or are outside the CIS
- Tight if you want daily figures, which cover only the last 60 days; weekly and monthly views reach back to January 2018, five years at a time
- Too light for judging how hard a keyword is to rank for, as there's no difficulty score on record
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAGoogle TrendsVery good | 3.0GPAYandex WordstatVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, from Google, with no paid tier: charts, comparisons, regions, related searches, Trending now and CSV export all cost nothing. | AFree, from Yandex itself, with no paid plan: Dynamics, Regions, Top queries, device filters, CSV export and an API all cost $0. What it asks for is a Yandex account. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AEverything is free with a Yandex account, and there's no cap on record a normal person would reach. The API has daily and per-second quotas on each token, and querying too often can bring up a CAPTCHA. |
| Features | 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. | CVolume by month, week or day back to January 2018, regions and cities, top and similar queries, and operators that fix word forms and order. It does Yandex demand fully, but it's Yandex only, daily figures cover just 60 days, and there's no difficulty score or CPC on record. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo rating on record. You type a phrase and get a chart, but you sign in with a Yandex account first, a CAPTCHA may appear outside the CIS, and exact counts mean learning operators like !, + and square brackets. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. The same data comes out as JSON through the Wordstat API, with quotas tied to each OAuth token. |
| Best for | spotting rising and seasonal searches | search demand on Yandex |
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: Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat. How we grade
Price against what you get
Google Trends has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Yandex Wordstat has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other keyword research tools on the chart, none scores higher than Google Trends for less, and none scores higher than Yandex Wordstat 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.
In commonFree planWebKeyword research
At a glance
| Google Trends | Yandex Wordstat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | 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 with a Yandex account: query counts by month, week or day, breakdowns by region and device, top related queries and CSV downloads. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Yandex LLC | |
| Price read from | trends.google.com | wordstat.yandex.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Yandex Wordstat
- Counts only searches made on Yandex, so it says nothing about Google or other engines.
- You must be signed in with a Yandex account to use it.
- Yandex's FAQ says a CAPTCHA may appear if you query too often or are outside the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- Daily figures cover only the last 60 days; weekly and monthly views reach back to January 2018, five years at a time.
Key features
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.
Yandex Wordstat
- Dynamics
- Charts the number of searches containing a phrase and its share of all Yandex searches, by month, week or day, back to January 2018.
- Regions
- Splits the last 30 days of searches by region or city, with each place's share of queries and an interest index against the national average.
- Top queries
- Lists last month's most frequent searches that contain the phrase, plus queries Yandex treats as similar to it.
- Search operators
- Operators such as -, !, +, quotes, square brackets and grouping fix word forms, word order or word count, or exclude words from the count.
- Device filters and CSV export
- Every report can be narrowed to desktops, smartphones or tablets, and each one downloads as a CSV file.
- Wordstat API
- Wordstat data can also be pulled as JSON through an API, with daily and per-second request quotas tied to each OAuth token.
Plans
Google Trends
Free$0
Search interest charts, comparisons, interest by region, related searches, trending searches and CSV export.
Yandex Wordstat
Free$0
The Dynamics, Regions and Top queries reports, filters by region and device, search operators and CSV export.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Google Trends or Yandex Wordstat?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Google Trends or Yandex Wordstat?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat 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.