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AnswerThePublic Alternative With Search Volume and CPC

AnswerThePublic shows what people ask. KWScanner shows how many of them ask it, what a click costs and how the demand moves, from $5 with no monthly plan.

Updated October 2026 · By Carla Hinton

KWScanner vs AnswerThePublic: feature comparison

The two tools answer different questions. AnswerThePublic maps the questions around a topic. KWScanner measures keywords. The table shows where each is stronger.

Feature KWScanner AnswerThePublic
Keyword data
Search Volume Yes Not listed on its pricing page
CPC Data Yes Not listed on its pricing page
Competition Yes Not listed
Keyword Trend Yes, monthly, up to 4 years Not listed
Keyword Ideas Yes, related keywords with metrics Yes, questions, prepositions, comparisons
Where volume comes from Google Keyword Planner Search engine autocomplete
Research workflow
Bulk Keyword Lookup Up to 3,000 keywords per batch One topic per search
Lists, Filters & Export Unlimited named lists, filters, CSV and XLSX Collections; topic alerts
Browser Extension Chrome and Firefox: volume, CPC, competition and 4-year trend on Google Not listed
AI Assistants (MCP) Yes, one-click sign-in, pay per lookup Not listed
Free extras in the extension
Authority on Google Results Domain Rating and domain age on every result, free Not listed
On-Page SEO Audit Free one-page SEO audit with PDF report Not listed
Pricing
Starting Price Pay as you go, from $5 $20/month ($160 billed annually)
Subscription No subscription Monthly or annual plan
Free Option 10,000 free credits on signup, no card Not listed on its pricing page
Limits 3,000 keywords per batch; credits never expire 60 credits a month on Starter
Coverage
Countries Worldwide plus 7 countries Many languages and regions
Keyword Difficulty Score Not offered Not listed

Prices and limits were checked against each company's own pricing page in October 2026 and can change, so confirm on each company's own site.

Why look for a AnswerThePublic alternative?

AnswerThePublic is very good at one thing. These are the reasons people look for something beside it or instead of it.

Ideas need numbers

A wheel of 200 questions does not tell you which ten are worth writing about. KWScanner puts search volume, CPC, competition and a monthly trend against every keyword.

Check the whole list at once

Paste up to 3,000 keywords, including a list exported from another tool, and get numbers for all of them in one go.

A monthly allowance

AnswerThePublic's Starter plan is $20 a month for 60 credits. KWScanner's $5 buys 10,000 keyword lookups that never expire.

Paying for writing tools

AnswerThePublic's plans now bundle article writing, scheduling and WordPress publishing. With KWScanner you pay for research and nothing else.

Numbers where you search

KWScanner's Chrome and Firefox extension shows volume, CPC, competition and related keywords on the Google results page.

Let an assistant do the grouping

Connect Claude and ask it to find the questions around a topic, look up their volumes and group them by intent. See Claude for SEO.

KWScanner as a AnswerThePublic alternative: features

One balance of credits covers a dashboard for bulk research, a Chrome and Firefox extension, and a connection for AI assistants.

  • Numbers that match Google Ads. Volume, average CPC, competition and monthly trends are drawn from Google Keyword Planner, so they line up with what advertisers see in their own accounts.
  • Pay as you go. There is no monthly plan and nothing to cancel. Credits start at $5 for 10,000, one credit looks up one keyword, and volume discounts apply automatically.
  • Credits that never expire. Buy them for one project and finish them on the next. If a keyword returns no data, the credit is refunded automatically.
  • Bulk research and lists. Paste up to 3,000 keywords at once, save the results into named lists, then filter, sort and export to CSV or XLSX.
  • Keyword data on Google as you browse. The Chrome and Firefox extension shows volume, CPC, competition and a trend of up to four years on the results page, plus related keywords with volume and CPC.
  • Domain Rating and age on every result. Each Google result gets a Domain Rating and domain age badge, so you can size up who ranks at a glance. Free, with no credits used.
  • A free on-page SEO audit. One click checks any page: title and meta, headings, links and broken links, images, structured data, indexability and Core Web Vitals, with a PDF report. Free, with no credits used.
  • Right-click lookups. Select a phrase on any website, right-click, and see its search volume, CPC and competition in a small card.
  • AI assistants. Connect Claude, Claude Code or Cursor with one click and let the assistant look up real numbers. See the KWScanner MCP server.

Start free with 10,000 credits

AnswerThePublic pricing vs KWScanner pricing

AnswerThePublic's Starter plan is $20 a month, or $160 a year, with 60 credits a month. Its prices vary by region.

In KWScanner, one credit covers researching one keyword. There is no subscription and no annual commitment. Buying in volume lowers the rate per keyword, credits never expire, and new accounts get double credits on their first purchase.

BuyPer creditDiscountYou pay
10,000 – 99,999 credits$0.0005-from $5
100,000 – 299,999 credits$0.0004118% offfrom $41
300,000 – 599,999 credits$0.0003236% offfrom $96
600,000 – 999,999 credits$0.0002648% offfrom $156
1,000,000+ credits$0.000260% offfrom $200

Buy any amount from 10,000 credits up. The volume tier is applied automatically, with no plan to pick.

When AnswerThePublic is the better choice

KWScanner does not replace what AnswerThePublic is best at. Stay with it if you rely on these.

  • Question maps. AnswerThePublic sorts what people type into questions, prepositions and comparisons. KWScanner returns up to 50 related keywords per lookup, as a plain list.
  • Visuals for clients. The search wheel is easy to put in a deck. KWScanner gives you tables and spreadsheets.
  • Alerts on a topic. AnswerThePublic can tell you when the questions around a topic change.
  • Built-in article writing. Its plans include AI drafting and WordPress publishing. KWScanner does not write content.

Many people use both: one tool to find the questions, and KWScanner to find out which of them have enough searches to deserve a page.

Other AnswerThePublic alternatives

If KWScanner is not the right fit, these are the other tools people compare with AnswerThePublic.

ToolWhat it isCost
KWScannerSearch volume, CPC, competition and trends, in bulk, in the browser and in AI assistants.Pay as you go from $5; 10,000 free credits
SemrushA full SEO suite: keywords, backlinks, rank tracking, audits.From $139/month; free plan with 10 reports a day
AhrefsA full SEO suite known for its backlink index.Starter $29/month; Lite $129/month
UbersuggestA lower-priced SEO suite with a one-time lifetime option.$29 to $99/month
Keywords EverywhereA browser extension showing volume and CPC on Google.Annual plans from $84/year; credits expire after a year
Keyword SurferA free Chrome extension showing volume and CPC on Google.Free
KeywordTool.ioLong-tail keyword ideas for Google, YouTube, Amazon and 13 other platforms.From $88/month ($68 billed annually)
Mangools KWFinderA simple keyword tool with difficulty scores.Free plan with 5 lookups a day; paid plans from about $30/month billed annually

Prices and limits were checked against each company's own pricing page in October 2026 and can change, so confirm on each company's own site. For a fuller comparison, see the guide to the best keyword research tools.

Try KWScanner free Create an account, paste a keyword list from a current project and see the numbers for yourself. Every new account gets 10,000 free credits, no card needed. Create a free account

AnswerThePublic alternative FAQ

What is the best AnswerThePublic alternative?
It depends on what you want from it. For keyword ideas with search volume, CPC and competition attached, KWScanner. For long lists of autocomplete suggestions across many platforms, KeywordTool.io. For questions people ask on Google, the People Also Ask boxes on the results page are free.
Is there a free alternative to AnswerThePublic?
KWScanner gives every new account 10,000 free credits with no card. A related-keywords lookup costs 10 credits and returns up to 50 ideas with volume, CPC and competition. KeywordTool.io's free version lists autocomplete ideas without most metrics.
Does KWScanner show questions like AnswerThePublic?
Not as a question map. It returns related keywords with their numbers, and some of those are questions. If you need every who, what, why and how around a topic laid out visually, AnswerThePublic does that better.
How does the pricing compare?
AnswerThePublic's Starter plan is $20 a month, or $160 a year, with 60 credits a month. KWScanner has no monthly fee: credits start at $5 for 10,000, one credit looks up one keyword, and they never expire.
Can I check the volume of questions I found elsewhere?
Yes. Paste up to 3,000 questions or keywords into the KWScanner dashboard and each one comes back with volume, CPC, competition and trend. Very long questions often have too few searches to report, and those lookups are refunded automatically.
Where does KWScanner's keyword data come from?
From Google Keyword Planner, so the figures match what advertisers see inside Google Ads. KWScanner is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.
Do KWScanner credits expire?
No. They stay on your account until you use them.

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