Keyword Insights vs Topical Map AI (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Keyword Insights if

• Fits if you have thousands of keywords and need to know which ones belong on one page
• Works for content teams that want research, briefs and drafts in the same place

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you mostly want AI articles, as Basic's credits cover about 8 and nothing else
• Tight if you work with others, as Basic has one seat and sharing starts at $99
• Not for you if you hate credits that expire, as unused ones reset every month and all go when you cancel
• Watch out: pay-as-you-go credits only work for clustering and expire 30 days after purchase
• Watch out: the 7-day trial costs $1 and needs a card

Pick Topical Map AI if

• Fits if you're starting a niche site and want a content plan built from one topic
• Works for someone who already pays OpenAI and wants maps without spending credits

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want to try it first, since there's no free plan or trial
• Skip it if you already have a keyword list to cluster, as it can't import one
• Pricey if you need the API, team seats or white-label exports, which start at $179 a month
• Watch out: keywords are AI-made, and many long-tail ones have no reported volume, so the list needs review
• Too light for rank tracking or site audits, which it doesn't do at all

Keyword Insights

• Unused subscription credits reset at the end of each billing period, and all credits are removed when a subscription ends.
• Basic has a single user seat; team sharing starts at Professional.
• Pay-as-you-go credits work only for clustering and expire 30 days after purchase.
• An AI Writing Agent article costs 1,200 credits, so Basic's 10,000 credits cover about 8 such articles and nothing else.

Topical Map AI

• There is no free plan or trial; a full refund is offered within 30 days if fewer than 10 credits were used.
• Keywords are generated by AI and checked against DataForSEO, so many have no volume and the list needs review.
• The REST API, team seats and white-label exports start at Enterprise, $179 a month.
• It does not track rankings, audit sites or import an existing keyword list.

Keyword Insights

Keyword clustering

Groups a keyword list by overlap in Google results to show which pages to create, then relates clusters to each other into wider topics.

Search intent labels

Counts how many of the top 10 results for each keyword are informational, commercial, transactional or other, to suggest the page type.

Keyword Discovery

Pulls keyword ideas in real time from Google Autocomplete, Reddit, Quora and People Also Ask, with volume, difficulty and CPC.

Content briefs

Builds an outline for each cluster with headings, questions to answer and talking points drawn from the pages that rank.

AI Writer Assistant and Agent

Write and grade an article in an editor (200 credits), or have the AI Writer Agent draft a full article for the page type (1,200 credits).

Mentions

Lists Reddit, Quora and YouTube conversations where a brand could join in and be mentioned, as a route into AI answers.

Topical Map AI

Topical maps from one topic

Enter a niche and AI generates hundreds of keywords grouped into topic clusters, with subtopics you can edit before the map is built.

Search data where it exists

Each keyword is looked up in DataForSEO for volume and difficulty; the vendor says most long-tail keywords have no reported volume.

Content briefs

Generate a content brief for any cluster inside the map, at 0.25 credits each.

Exports and white-label PDFs

Export maps as CSV, Google Docs, Excel or PDF depending on plan; Enterprise and Agency can brand PDF reports for clients.

Bring your own OpenAI key

Connect an OpenAI API key to create maps at no credit cost, paying OpenAI directly instead.

20+ languages

Maps can be generated in more than 20 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Arabic, for 25+ countries.

Keyword Insights

• Basic$58

  per month for 10,000 credits, billed monthly

  1 user seat and 5 workspaces. Clustering costs 1 credit per keyword, a brief 100 credits and an AI Writing Agent article 1,200.

• Professional$99

  per month for 20,000 credits, billed monthly

  3 user seats, 10 workspaces and team sharing, with the same credit costs per feature.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom credits, seats and workspaces, priority support and onboarding, for high-volume teams. Sold after a demo.

Topical Map AI

• Basic$56

  per month for 25 credits, billed monthly

  About 25 maps a month (20 on annual billing), all 4 map types, CSV and Google Docs export. 1 credit is one standard map.

• Pro$104

  per month for 46 credits, billed monthly

  46 maps a month, 5 maps generated at once, and CSV, Excel and PDF export.

• Enterprise$179

  per month for 80 credits, billed monthly

  80 maps a month, 10 at once, all export formats, 3 team seats and the REST API at 100 requests a day.

• Agency$374

  per month for 139 credits, billed monthly

  139 maps a month, 20 at once, white-label exports, 5 team seats and the REST API at 200 requests a day.

• 1 Map$39

  one-time, for one map credit that never expires

  Buy maps without a plan or on top of one: 5 maps cost $149 and 20 maps $449.

Keyword Insights

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  Keyword Insights' pricing page offers annual subscriptions at 20% off the monthly price.

Topical Map AI

• Annual discount

  Save 17% with annual billing

  Topical Map AI's pricing lists annual billing at 17% less than monthly; the Basic plan includes 20 maps a month on annual instead of 25.