# Exploding Topics review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Database of rising topics, products and startups, by search growth

Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Exploding Topics spots topics, products and startups whose search interest is rising and lists them with search volume, growth and a forecast for the next year. Pro adds the full trends database, tracked trends with alerts, deep-dive trend analyses, Meta Trends that group related topics, and channel breakdowns. It is owned by Semrush, which bought it in 2024.

- **Category:** Keyword Research Tools
- **Made by:** Semrush Inc.
- **Website:** https://explodingtopics.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you want forecasts, trending startups or CSV export, which start at $99 a month.
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026

## Pricing

As of Oct 23, 2026, Exploding Topics has a free plan, and paid plans start at $39 per month for 100 tracked trends (billing basis not shown).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **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.
- **Free trial:** 7-day free trial of every Pro plan.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://explodingtopics.com/pricing on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Exploding Topics before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- Content teams choosing topics before they become crowded
- E-commerce sellers looking for rising product ideas
- Investors and analysts watching emerging markets and startups

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. Exploding Topics is a database of topics, products and startups whose searches are climbing, each with growth and volume, and Pro adds tracking and alerts. It's a different job from finding keywords for a page. Entrepreneur is $39 a month, forecasts and CSV export wait on $99, the pricing page doesn't say how it bills, and Pro runs through a Semrush account, so it's dear next to Treendly.

- **Value for money: C.** Entrepreneur 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.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** You 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.
- **Features: C.** A 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.
- **Ease of use: C.** No 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.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with no desktop or phone app. There's an API, a Zapier integration with six actions, and routes through n8n and Make.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Exploding Topics' own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among keyword research tools

- Exploding Topics's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 12 of the 51 other keyword research tools we grade, and level with 10.
- It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 26 of 51) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $39 a month, against a middle price of $18 for the category: 28 of the 35 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 10 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/keyword-research

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Exploding Topics you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 29 of the 51 other keyword research tools grade higher. It costs $468 a year.

- You could not: Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Zapier, n8n and Make among them, and has an API.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

Zapier, n8n, Make

**Tags:** Keyword research, Public API

## Alternatives

- [Glimpse](https://toolgpa.com/tools/glimpse): Google Trends add-on with absolute search volume and trend discovery. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/exploding-topics-vs-glimpse)
- [Treendly](https://toolgpa.com/tools/treendly): Trend discovery tool for spotting rising topics and keywords early. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/exploding-topics-vs-treendly)
- [Google Trends](https://toolgpa.com/tools/google-trends): Free charts of relative Google search interest by time and place. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/exploding-topics-vs-google-trends)
- [Semrush](https://toolgpa.com/tools/semrush): SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/exploding-topics-vs-semrush)
- [AnswerThePublic](https://toolgpa.com/tools/answerthepublic): Question and search-suggestion research shown as keyword wheels. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/answerthepublic-vs-exploding-topics)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026:

- https://explodingtopics.com/pricing
- https://explodingtopics.com/
- https://www.semrush.com/lp/exploding-topics-pricing/en/
- https://explodingtopics.com/blog/semrush-vs-mangools-vs-et
- https://explodingtopics.com/feature/et-api
- https://explodingtopics.com/feature/integrations
- https://explodingtopics.com/feature/tiktok-add-on
- https://explodingtopics.com/about

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/exploding-topics
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).