AlsoAsked vs QuestionDB in 2026: single-source live PAA vs multi-source question data with volume
AlsoAsked pulls only from Google's People Also Asked, live, with a visual tree and city-level targeting. QuestionDB pulls from Reddit, Quora, PAA, and People Also Search, and adds search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC on top.
AlsoAsked
QuestionDB- AlsoAsked sources exclusively from Google's live People Also Asked feature. QuestionDB combines Reddit, Quora, PAA, and People Also Search into a single search.
- QuestionDB includes search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC data on paid plans. AlsoAsked provides none of these by design.
- AlsoAsked starts at $12/month with unlimited seats. QuestionDB has a genuine free tier with 5 searches/month and a Solo plan at $9.99/month.
- AlsoAsked offers an API and bulk CSV searches on its $47/month Pro plan. QuestionDB has no API at any tier, including its $69.99/month Enterprise plan.
- AlsoAsked supports city-level targeting in every Google-supported language. QuestionDB does not offer geographic or language targeting beyond what each source platform natively covers.
- QuestionDB includes an AI Outline Generator and AI Content Analysis feature built into the platform. AlsoAsked has no outline or draft-analysis capability.
- AlsoAsked credits roll over within the billing cycle. QuestionDB's search allowance resets each billing period with no stated rollover.
AlsoAsked and QuestionDB are the two most direct competitors in question-based keyword research, and the difference comes down to breadth versus depth. AlsoAsked pulls exclusively from Google's People Also Asked feature, live, which makes it faster to reflect breaking changes in Google's intent model and gives it a genuinely useful visual tree export. QuestionDB casts a wider net across Reddit threads, Quora answers, PAA boxes, and People Also Search results, then layers in search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC data that AlsoAsked does not provide at all. Neither tool replaces a full keyword platform, but they answer the same basic question, "what are people actually asking," in different enough ways that the choice matters.
The tools at a glance
AlsoAsked
Live People Also Asked data with intent clustering, bulk exports, and city-level international targeting for content strategy
AlsoAsked is narrower than QuestionDB by design: it only queries Google's People Also Asked boxes, but it does so live, which means new questions appear within hours of a news event or trend shift. The output is a branching visual tree you can export as a PNG and hand a writer directly, which turns a raw data pull into something usable without further processing.
The city-level international targeting is the standout differentiator. AlsoAsked supports every language Google supports, down to the city level, without an international surcharge, which QuestionDB does not offer at all. For teams researching intent across multiple regional markets in the same language, that granularity is hard to replicate manually.
What AlsoAsked lacks is anything QuestionDB treats as core: no search volume, no keyword difficulty, no CPC, and no outline generation. It stays strictly in the question-discovery lane and expects you to validate and act on the data elsewhere.
| Feature | Basic $12/month | Lite $23/month | Pro $47/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credits per month | 100 | 300 | 1,000 |
| Unlimited users | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk searches | No | No | Yes |
| API access | No | No | Yes |
QuestionDB
Find low-competition keywords by mining questions from Reddit, Quora, SERP PAA, and People Also Search
QuestionDB aggregates questions from four sources in one search: Reddit threads, Quora answers, Google's PAA boxes, and People Also Search results. That combination surfaces audience language that a PAA-only tool misses entirely, particularly the specific phrasing real people use in forum discussions rather than what Google chooses to surface in a question box.
Paid plans add search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC data directly alongside the question results, so you can move from discovery to prioritization inside one tool rather than exporting to a second platform. The AI Outline Generator then takes a chosen question and drafts a structured starting outline, and AI Content Analysis checks existing pages against SERP competitors for coverage gaps.
The tradeoffs are real: there is no API at any plan tier, so everything happens through the browser, and QuestionDB's own materials note that data depth thins out on highly competitive topics compared to a dedicated platform like Ahrefs or Semrush. It is a research companion, not a replacement for a full keyword suite, but the free tier makes it low-risk to test against your own niche before paying.
| Feature | Free Free | Solo $9.99/mo | Business $29.99/mo | Enterprise $69.99/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searches per month | 5 | 100 | 400 | 1,000 |
| Search volume data | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Keyword difficulty | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Outline Generator | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | No | No | No | No |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | AlsoAsked | QuestionDB |
|---|---|---|
| Question data sources | Google People Also Asked only | Reddit, Quora, Google PAA, People Also Search |
| Live/real-time data | Yes (queries PAA live) | Not stated as live/real-time |
| Search volume data | No | Yes (paid plans) |
| Keyword difficulty | No | Yes (paid plans) |
| CPC data | No | Yes (paid plans) |
| Visual question tree | Yes (branching tree, PNG export) | No |
| City-level geographic targeting | Yes (city-level, all Google-supported languages) | No |
| AI outline generation | No | Yes (AI Outline Generator) |
| Content gap analysis | No | Yes (AI Content Analysis) |
| Bulk searches | Yes (Pro plan, CSV upload) | No |
| API access | Yes (Pro plan) | No (not offered at any tier) |
| Free tier or trial | No paid free tier (3 free searches/day unregistered) | Yes (5 searches/month free) |
| Starting price | $12/mo | Free (paid from $9.99/mo) |
Which should you choose?
AlsoAskedQuestionDBAlsoAskedQuestionDBQuestionDBAlsoAskedQuestionDBThis is the closest head-to-head in the question-research category, and the honest read is that source coverage decides it. If your content strategy leans on what Google itself is surfacing, AlsoAsked's live PAA data and visual export are more directly usable. If your strategy leans on what real communities are actually asking, plus a first pass at whether those questions carry commercial volume, QuestionDB's Reddit and Quora sourcing plus built-in volume data does more of the validation work for you in one place.
Bottom line
Choose QuestionDB first if you are starting from zero: the free tier costs nothing to test, the $9.99/month Solo plan is cheap, and getting volume, difficulty, and CPC alongside the questions saves a second tool in the early stages. Choose AlsoAsked if you specifically need the fastest-updating PAA data, city-level international targeting, or an API for automation, none of which QuestionDB offers at any price. Teams doing serious volume of both will likely end up using AlsoAsked for the PAA layer and QuestionDB for the community-sourced layer, since the two data sources genuinely do not overlap.
Frequently asked questions
Is QuestionDB or AlsoAsked better for finding real audience questions from Reddit and Quora?
QuestionDB is the only one of the two that mines Reddit and Quora at all. AlsoAsked sources exclusively from Google's People Also Asked feature, so if community-sourced phrasing from forums is what you need, QuestionDB is the tool built for that, not AlsoAsked.
Does AlsoAsked or QuestionDB include search volume data?
QuestionDB includes search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC data starting on its $9.99/month Solo plan. AlsoAsked does not provide any of these metrics at any tier, since it is built purely around live PAA question data rather than commercial validation.
Which tool has a real free plan, QuestionDB or AlsoAsked?
QuestionDB has a genuine free tier with 5 searches per month, no credit card required to start. AlsoAsked does not have an ongoing free plan; unregistered users get 3 free searches per day, and any real usage requires a paid plan starting at $12/month.
Can I automate QuestionDB or AlsoAsked through an API?
Only AlsoAsked offers an API, available on its $47/month Pro plan alongside bulk CSV searches. QuestionDB does not offer API access at any plan tier, including the $69.99/month Enterprise plan, so any QuestionDB workflow has to run through the browser interface.
Is AlsoAsked worth it if I already use QuestionDB for content research?
Yes, if international or city-level targeting matters to your work, since QuestionDB does not offer geographic granularity beyond what its source platforms provide natively. AlsoAsked's live PAA data and visual export also update faster than QuestionDB's aggregated sources, which matters for content tied to breaking topics.
Does QuestionDB's AI Outline Generator replace the need for a separate content brief tool?
It gets you a starting point, not a finished brief. QuestionDB's own positioning describes the AI Outline Generator as producing a structured starting outline with suggested headings, which most teams treat as a first draft to build on rather than a client-ready deliverable. AlsoAsked has no equivalent outline feature; its output is a visual question tree, not a structured outline.