Alternatives
Trend research tools, compared
Every tool here helps you spot what's rising. They differ in what they check, what they cost and what they tell you to do next. We built Next Big, so read this knowing that. We've tried to say plainly where each one is the better choice.
Each tool read on its own pages, on the date its page gives. How we compared.
Which tool for which job
- A large, global catalog of rising trends, products and startups: Exploding Topics
- A free, quick check of any term you already know, in any country: Google Trends
- Search volume on any keyword, in any country, inside Google Trends: Glimpse
- A finished startup idea every morning, with coaching and a community: IdeaBrowser
- The cheapest broad feed of rising searches across many countries: Treendly
- A low-cost US database of rising searches, products, websites and apps: Rising Trends
- Watching Reddit conversations and leads: the Reddit tools on GummySearch's own list (it closed)
- Knowing whether a rise is real, what's behind it and what it opens: Next Big
Side by side
Each competitor's cell links to the source on its page, with the day we read it. Prices change: check theirs before you decide.
| Tool | How a trend is confirmed | Search volume | Forecast | Free plan | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next Big | The Next Big Pulse: Google, Bing, Wikipedia views, news coverage, research papers and more, blended into one line that has to rise for months | Searches a month on every trend page from the Pulse, with cost per click and ranking difficulty (Google Ads estimates, US) | A six-month projection with its range and the odds it's higher, on each trend whose range passed our back-test | Every public trend, market and product page, free; Scout is free at launch | Waitlist now. At launch: Scout free, Founder $29, Unicorn $79, Decacorn $199 a month |
| Exploding Topics | Its algorithm and research team; no source list or weighting published. Semrush describes millions of unstructured data points plus Google search volume[5] | Monthly search volume and growth on each trend[3] | Trend forecasts for the next 12 months, on the Investor and Business plans[2] | Public trend lists with some rows locked, a weekly newsletter and a 7-day trial[2] | As listed on October 13, 2026: Entrepreneur $39, Investor $99, Business $249 a month; the API add-on $1,000 to $4,000 a month[2] |
| Google Trends | Not its approach: one source, Google's own searches. Google says one-off spikes on small terms shouldn't be read as real search activity[2] | None for a term you choose. Trending Now shows volume in buckets, for searches spiking now[3] | None for a term you choose[2] | Free, with no paid plan[1] | Free[1] |
| Glimpse | Not its approach: its data is built on Google Trends and calibrated to it; it publishes no rule for when a rise counts as a trend[6] | Absolute search volume, with growth year over year and month over month[1] | A forecast of the next year for a term, with 95%+ backtested accuracy claimed on its home page (87% on another of its pages)[1] | Up to 10 free searches a month, per its own guides[4] | No pricing page: its /pricing address leads to the home page. As listed on October 19, 2026 in its own guide: plans start at $99 a month. Plan names and yearly prices not listed[3] |
| IdeaBrowser | Ideas start from search volume, growth and competition plus community complaints; no data provider or check is named[3] | Monthly volume and growth on each trend card[4] | Not listed on its own pages[2] | The Idea of the Day, open for 24 hours; trend pages and full reports are for paid members[3] | As listed on October 19, 2026: Pro $1,499 a year, billed yearly, with a full refund in the first 14 days; no monthly plan listed[2] |
| Treendly | A four-step process over Google Trends, Amazon, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok and e-commerce partners; each trend is scored on pace, volatility, seasonality and volume[3] | Estimated monthly search volume for every trend[3] | A forecast on trend pages; its own pages give the horizon as six months, a year and two years[4] | Free forever: unlimited searches, 3 monitored trends, the newsletter and some curated trends[2] | As listed on October 19, 2026: Pro €99 a year or €29 a month, before tax, with a 14-day trial; Enterprise on request[2] |
| Rising Trends | Candidates from Reddit, Google Trends, Hacker News, news sites and newsletters, kept by machine learning and human review; it publishes no method for its growth figures[2] | Monthly US search volume with five years of history; its skincare report on October 19, 2026 used September and August volumes[4] | Not listed on its own pages[2] | No free plan or trial; the newsletter and 57 monthly category reports are free[2] | As listed on October 19, 2026: Pro $19 a month or $97 a year; refunds within 3 days on yearly plans only[2] |
The pages
Exploding Topics alternative
The biggest catalog, now inside Semrush, from $39 a month. Its method and source list aren't published.
Google Trends alternative
Free, global and back to 2004, as relative interest from 0 to 100: no searches a month and no forecast.
Glimpse alternative
A browser extension that adds absolute volume to Google Trends. No pricing page; its own guide says plans start at $99 a month.
IdeaBrowser alternative
A daily idea and a 2,000+ idea library, at $1,499 a year billed yearly. Its pages don't name where its numbers come from.
Treendly alternative
Rising searches in many countries, free to search and Pro from €99 a year, with free chart embeds. Its API is Enterprise only.
Rising Trends alternative
A large US-only database for $97 a year, with no free plan. On October 19 its newest search volumes were a month or two old.
GummySearch alternative
Closed to new users since November 2025; all data is deleted on December 1, 2026. What to export, and where each of its jobs goes now.
How we compared
We read each tool's own pages, its pricing page where it has one, on the date its page gives, and quote only what they say; where they say nothing, the table says so. Prices change, so check theirs before you buy. Spotted a mistake? Write to us and we'll fix it within a day. Names are used to identify each product; no endorsement is implied.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Google Trends?
For reading what's rising, Next Big's public pages are free with no account: searches a month on every trend, each confirmed by the Next Big Pulse. To look up your own terms, Treendly's free plan has unlimited searches and Glimpse gives 10 a month. Each page above has the details and the date we read them.
What is the best Exploding Topics alternative?
It depends on the job. Rising Trends and Treendly cost less; Glimpse sizes any keyword; IdeaBrowser hands you finished ideas. Pick Next Big when you need to know a rise is real and see what's behind it.
Which trend tool shows real search volume?
Exploding Topics, Glimpse, Treendly, Rising Trends and IdeaBrowser all show monthly volume; Google Trends shows relative interest from 0 to 100 only. Next Big shows searches a month on every trend page.
Which trend tools have an API or MCP server?
Exploding Topics sells an API add-on to its Business plan, Glimpse and Treendly offer theirs to enterprise customers, Rising Trends has a small API in beta on Pro, and IdeaBrowser's Pro works over MCP. Google Trends' API is in alpha, by application. Next Big will offer an MCP server and REST API on Unicorn at launch.
Bring the keywords you track
Join the waitlist: we open Next Big to a few people at a time. Send us the keywords you track elsewhere and we'll track them from day one. The first 200 lock Next Big Unicorn at $390 a year.