# Google Trends review (2026): is it any good? > Free charts of relative Google search interest by time and place Checked Oct 23, 2026 ยท graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA. Google Trends shows how interest in a search term or topic has changed over time and where it is searched most, from a sample of real Google searches. Results are scaled from 0 to 100 rather than given as search counts, and terms can be compared side by side. A Trending now page lists searches that are rising in more than 100 countries and regions. - **Category:** Keyword Research Tools - **Made by:** Google - **Website:** https://trends.google.com/trends - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you need search volumes, since it only shows a 0 to 100 score. - **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026 ## Pricing As of Oct 23, 2026, Google Trends is free to use. - **Pricing model:** 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 trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Search interest charts, comparisons, interest by region, related searches, trending searches and CSV export. | Read from https://trends.google.com/trends on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Google Trends before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Checking whether interest in a topic is rising, falling or seasonal - Comparing the relative popularity of several terms or places - Journalists and researchers looking at what people search for ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 3.0 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. Google Trends shows whether interest in a search is rising, falling or seasonal, and where it's searched most, from a sample of real Google searches, free and with no account. But it gives a 0 to 100 score, not search counts, low-volume terms show as 0, small terms can spike from added noise, and the API is open only to accepted testers. Look elsewhere if you need volumes. - **Value for money: A.** Free, from Google, with no paid tier: charts, comparisons, regions, related searches, Trending now and CSV export all cost nothing. - **Free plan and trial: A.** Everything 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: C.** Compare 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: B.** No 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: C.** Web 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. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Google's 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 - Google Trends's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 48 of the 51 other keyword research tools we grade, and level with 3. - It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 45 of 51) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0). - Google Trends has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/keyword-research ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Google Trends is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 48 of the 51 other keyword research tools we grade. - You could not: Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. - You could not: A library of papers and sources to search. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Keyword research, Research ## Alternatives - [Exploding Topics](https://toolgpa.com/tools/exploding-topics): Database of rising topics, products and startups, by search growth. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/exploding-topics-vs-google-trends) - [Glimpse](https://toolgpa.com/tools/glimpse): Google Trends add-on with absolute search volume and trend discovery. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/glimpse-vs-google-trends) - [Treendly](https://toolgpa.com/tools/treendly): Trend discovery tool for spotting rising topics and keywords early. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/google-trends-vs-treendly) - [Pinterest Trends](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pinterest-trends): Free view of what people search and save on Pinterest, by region. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/google-trends-vs-pinterest-trends) - [Google Keyword Planner](https://toolgpa.com/tools/google-keyword-planner): Free keyword ideas, search volumes and bid estimates inside Google Ads. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/google-keyword-planner-vs-google-trends) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026: - https://trends.google.com/trends - https://support.google.com/trends/answer/6248105?hl=en - https://support.google.com/trends/answer/4365533?hl=en - https://support.google.com/trends/answer/3076011?hl=en - https://support.google.com/trends/answer/4359550?hl=en - https://support.google.com/trends/answer/4365538?hl=en - https://developers.google.com/search/apis/trends Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/google-trends Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).