An honest, side-by-side comparison of Google Trends and Exploding Topics — features, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses.
Google Trends is unbeatable for free, quick research on search interest over time. Exploding Topics adds value by surfacing emerging trends before they go mainstream, saving you the manual research. However, both tools share a critical limitation: they only track search trends, not social media trends. If you're a creator or brand that needs to know what's trending on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram — where trends often start before reaching Google — neither tool covers that.
| Feature | Google Trends | Exploding Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Search Trend Data | ||
| Emerging Trend Discovery | Manual | |
| Historical Trend Data | Since 2004 | Limited |
| Trend Alerts & Notifications | ||
| Geographic Breakdowns | ||
| Curated Trend Database | ||
| TikTok Trend Tracking | ||
| YouTube Shorts Tracking | ||
| Social Video Analytics | ||
| Creator / Influencer Data | ||
| Content Creation Tools | ||
| Real-time Viral Detection | ||
| API Access | Business plan | |
| Free Tier | Limited |
Free
Quick, free research on whether a topic is trending up or down in Google Search.
From $39/mo
Marketers and entrepreneurs scanning for emerging business opportunities and trending topics.
If neither option checks every box, Virlo is worth a look. Here's what sets it apart:
From $49/mo. No long-term contracts.
They serve different purposes. Google Trends is free and great for validating whether a topic is growing. Exploding Topics proactively surfaces emerging trends you might not know to search for. Many marketers use both.
No. Google Trends only tracks Google Search interest. TikTok trends often go viral days or weeks before they show up in Google Search data, so you'd need a social-native tool to catch them early.
Not directly. Exploding Topics primarily tracks search and web data. It may surface topics that are trending on social media, but it doesn't track TikTok videos, hashtags, sounds, or creator analytics.
For TikTok-specific trends, you need a social-native tool like Virlo that tracks videos, hashtags, sounds, and niches directly on TikTok. Google Trends and Exploding Topics show search trends, which lag behind social trends.
Yes — this is a powerful combo. Virlo catches trends early on social platforms, and Google Trends helps you validate whether those trends are crossing over to mainstream search interest.
Multi-platform trend tracking, AI content tools, and creator analytics. Set up in 30 seconds.
Try Virlo freeFrom $49/mo. Cancel anytime.