Google Trends, in many cases, falls short. So what's a good alternative?
We've thoroughly tested and compared each potential Google Trends alternative to find out. Below, we explore the top options ranked by their ability to complement or replace Google Trends.
Comparison chart
Glimpse
Glimpse - Google Trends Supercharged is a Chrome extension that enhances Google Trends for richer insights and superior trend discovery. It has over 140,000 users, is rated 4.9 stars, and is used by companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, IKEA, Chanel, and The New York Times.
Comparison to Google Trends
Interest over time: Since it's built directly on top of Google Trends, Glimpse exactly matches the data.
Does it provide absolute search volume?
Yes, Glimpse provides real-time absolute search volume data for any keyword over 20+ years.
Does it aid trend discovery?
Yes, Glimpse has functionality to spot emerging trends in any category (that aren’t just long-tails).
Additional features
Growth rate: Instant insight into how much a trend has grown or declined.
Seasonality: Dedicated panel to visualize seasonal patterns and understand what drives them.
Forecast: Predict the next 12 months’ search demand with 87% accuracy.
Long-tails: View what people also search alongside any term.
Channel: View which social platforms a topic is most discussed on.
Topic map: Visually explore related keywords.
Tracking & alerts: Monitor keywords and get alerted when one takes off in popularity.
Pros
Accurate: Glimpse is built directly on top of Google Trends and will always match Google’s data.
Real-time: Updates minute-by-minute.
Historical: Data goes all the way back to 2004.
Easy to use: The UI is simple and similar to the Google Trends layout, therefore taking little time to learn or train.
Cons
Limited browser support: Glimpse is only available on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi.
Trends, not “trending”: Glimpse won't help us much in detecting fleeting, "trending" news or celebrity events. Rather, it's built to identify and pull insights on emerging, sustainable trends.
No site or technical analysis: Doesn't allow us to input our website and get customized recommendations on how to improve performance.
Price
Free plan provides up to 10 free searches per month, with additional access starting at $49/mo.
Who should use Glimpse?
Glimpse is ideal for someone familiar with Google Trends but wants real-time absolute search volume, new trend discovery, and other key insights.
Get started with Glimpse for free.
Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool provides long-tail keyword suggestions based on Google’s autocomplete.
Comparison to Google Trends
Interest over time: Keyword Tool partially matches Google Trends, showing a growth in interest in January but missing the September spike.
Does it provide absolute search volume?
Yes, Keyword Tool provides absolute search volume on a monthly basis.
Does it aid trend discovery?
No, Keyword Tool only provides long-tail recommendations, therefore limiting true trend discovery.
Additional features
Long-tail data: Provides long-tail keyword suggestions based on Google’s autocomplete
CPC and competition: Average CPC and 0-100 competition difficulty ranking.
Pros:
Extensive long-tails: Lengthy list of long-tail keywords to aid ideation.
Multi-engine: Provides keyword data from Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, and other search platforms.
Basic growth metrics: Offers comparison of last month's searches to that month in the previous year.
Cons:
Not real-time: Data is updated on a monthly basis.
Includes unrelated keywords: Since the long-tail list includes results that simply start with our seed phrase, it will consistently return unrelated topics (e.g. “ketoconazole” for “keto”).
Untrustworthy data: Given that it missed the massive spike in September, we should be skeptical of the tool's accuracy.
Price
Limited results for free, paid plan starts at $89/mo.
Who should use Keyword Tool?
Ideal for someone primarily interested in cross-platform, long-tail ideation without the need for accurate, real-time search volumes or trend discovery.
Semrush (Keyword Overview)
Semrush is a comprehensive SEO toolkit that provides keyword research functionality via its “Keyword Overview” tool.
Comparison to Google Trends
Interest over time: Semrush doesn’t match Google Trends: it didn’t catch the January/September spikes and shows a surge mid-year that didn’t happen.
Does it provide absolute search volume?
Yes, Semrush provides absolute search volume for any given month since 2012, though not in one graph.
Does it aid trend discovery?
No, Semrush provides extensive long-tail results, but doesn’t recommend semantically-related trends, limiting true trend discovery.
Additional features
Difficulty ranking: How difficult it would be for a website to rank organically in the Google top 10.
Intent categorization: Understand the intent behind searches.
CPC: Average price advertisers pay for a user’s click on an ad triggered by the chosen keyword.
Long-tails: Variations of the seed keyword or keyword phrase in any order.
SERP analysis: Top 100 Google results that appear for the keyword.
Pros:
Accurate monthly volumes: Provides generally accurate search volumes for the past month on most keywords, including long-tails.
Extensive long-tail results: “Keyword Magic” tool to find an abundance of long-tail variations.
Geographic: Local and global keyword data with high degree of precision, useful for local SEO purposes.
Cons:
Not real-time: Search volumes are updated infrequently. For example, this third-party case study shows how SEMRush showed zero search volume for ChatGPT for more than six weeks after it went viral.
Poor trend discovery: Only provides long-tail data, limiting true trend discovery.
No growth metrics: Difficult to tell how a topic has grown over time, especially with an inaccurate trend graph.
Inaccurate trend graph: As seen with the comparison to Google Trends, Semrush shows inaccurate search interest over time.
Price
Starts at $140/mo.
Who should use Semrush’s Keyword Overview?
Ideal for someone that wants a larger SEO toolkit with extensive long-tail data, geographic precision, and competitor analysis features, though not the interest over time nor real-time functionality of Google Trends.
Ahrefs (Keyword Explorer)
Ahrefs is an SEO tool that provides keyword research functionality via its “Keyword Explorer.”
Comparison to Google Trends
Interest over time: Ahrefs generally matches Google Trends, catching both the January and September spikes, though the latter shows as much greater.
Does it provide absolute search volume?
Yes, Ahrefs provides absolute search volume on a monthly basis as far back as 2015.
Does it aid trend discovery?
Somewhat. Ahrefs provides a “Related terms” feature that shows topics related to our seed phrase. However, growth rates are only available on the Advanced plan ($449/mo).
Additional features
Difficulty ranking: How difficult it would be for a website to rank organically in the Google top 10.
Traffic potential: Amount of organic traffic that the #1 ranking page for a target keyword gets from all the keywords it ranks for.
CPC: Average price advertisers pay for a user’s click on an ad triggered by the target keyword.
Long-tails: Variations of the seed keyword or keyword phrase in any order.
SERP analysis + position history: The top Google results that appear for the keyword and their rankings over time.
Pros
Historical: Data extends as far back as 2015.
Accurate: Generally well-known for having accurate search volume data, confirmed by its mirroring of Google Trends’ trajectory.
Multi-engine: Covers multiple search engines including Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Bing.
Cons
Not real-time: Search volumes are updated on a monthly basis.
Limited trend discovery: Difficult to discover emerging trends, especially on lower plans.
No growth metrics: Cannot easily determine how much a keyword has grown in volume besides eyeballing from the graph.
Price
Limited results for free, paid plan starts at $29/mo.
Who should use Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer?
Ideal for someone with a larger budget who wants extensive keyword research functionality without a need for real-time insights or trend discovery.
Pinterest Trends
Pinterest Trends is like Google Trends but for Pinterest.
Comparison to Google Trends
Interest over time: While Pinterest Trends is not Google search data, the trajectory generally matches Google Trends.
Does it provide absolute search volume?
No, Pinterest Trends does not provide absolute search volume, but rather a “search interest” ranking like Google Trends.
Does it aid trend discovery?
Somewhat. Pinterest Trends does recommend keywords that have grown in search interest. However, many are seasonal, “trending” topics that will be irrelevant shortly, as opposed to sustainable trends.
Additional features
Filter results: Filter by trend type, date, category, keywords, age, and gender.
Search trends: View results for a keyword of your choosing as long as it has already been added.
Compare: Compare keywords’ interest over time.
Popular pins: View the most popular pieces of content for a given keyword.
Pros:
Accurate: Since it’s straight from Pinterest, we can be confident the data is accurate.
Demographic insights: View breakdowns in search interest by age and gender.
Semi-real-time: Search interest is updated on a weekly basis.
Cons:
Pinterest only: Much smaller database than Google, best for visual (beauty, home, fashion, etc.) and female-dominant industries (70% female user base).
No absolute volume: Normalized search interest like Google Trends.
Not fully customizable: Limited to pre-curated keywords, as opposed to fully customizable queries on Google Trends.
Historical limitations: Only provides data up to the past 2 years.
Price
Free.
Who should use Pinterest Trends?
Ideal for someone in a visual industry who needs “trending” topics in particular industries for shorter-term purposes.
Conclusion
And that's it! Hopefully this list helped you clarify which Google Trends alternative is the best fit for you.
If none of them resonated, or if you still want to use Google Trends in addition to other tools, then read our Ultimate Guide to Google Trends to ensure you're getting the most out of this powerful tool.
Excluded tools
Lastly, here's the list of tools that were excluded from this list and the primary reason:
Google Analytics: Built for site and traffic analysis, not keyword research.
Google Keyword Planner: Highly limited unless you spend money on Google Ads.
Moz’s Keyword Explorer: No trajectory over time
Answer the Public: Built for long-tail ideation, doesn’t provide searches over time/growth metrics.
Mention: Provides social media data, not search.
BuzzSumo: Provides social media data, not search.
Trendfeed: Content/news trends, not search.
Keywords Everywhere: Provides site and social media data, not search-driven keyword research.
Exploding Topics: Provides curated trends rather than being an interactive tool.
Treendly: Provides curated trends rather than being an interactive tool.
Trendhunter: Provides curated reports rather than being an interactive tool.