Answer The Public vs Keyword Tool in 2026: Cheap question ideation vs 15-platform autocomplete with an API
One tool bundles an AI writer for $20 a month with no API at all. The other covers 15 autocomplete sources including Amazon and Perplexity, and ships both a REST API and an MCP server, starting at $88 a month.
Answer The Public
Keyword Tool- Keyword Tool pulls autocomplete suggestions from 15 platforms, including Amazon, TikTok, and Perplexity. Answer The Public covers two: Google and Bing.
- Keyword Tool ships both a REST API and an MCP server for AI-assisted workflows. Answer The Public has no API on any plan.
- Answer The Public starts at $20 a month. Keyword Tool's cheapest paid tier is $88 a month ($68 a month billed annually), more than four times Answer The Public's entry price.
- Answer The Public bundles Composeo, an AI content creation suite, on every paid plan. Keyword Tool has no content-drafting feature; it supplies keyword and metrics data for you to act on elsewhere.
- Both tools offer a free tier. Answer The Public gives 3 searches a day; Keyword Tool gives unlimited keyword suggestions but withholds search volume, CPC, and competition data until you upgrade.
- Neither tool offers white-label reporting for agencies delivering branded client research.
- Answer The Public supports research across more than 20 languages; Keyword Tool's breadth is channel-based, spanning search engines, marketplaces, and social platforms, rather than language-based.
Answer The Public and Keyword Tool both generate keyword suggestions from autocomplete data, but they are priced and built for opposite kinds of buyers. Answer The Public pulls from Google and Bing, organises results into questions and comparisons, and bundles Composeo, an AI content suite, on every paid plan starting at $20 a month. Keyword Tool pulls from 15 sources, Google, YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, Perplexity, and more, and ships a REST API plus an MCP server for developers building keyword data into AI-assisted workflows, at a starting paid price of $88 a month. If your job is writing content and you want ideas fast and cheap, Answer The Public is the sharper tool. If your job involves multiple channels or building keyword data into a custom application, Keyword Tool's breadth and API access justify the higher price.
The tools at a glance
Answer The Public
Question-based keyword research tool that surfaces real search queries and content ideas, now bundled with an AI content creation suite
Answer The Public generates a visual map of questions, prepositions, and comparisons from a single seed keyword, pulling from Google and Bing autocomplete. It is narrower in data sources than Keyword Tool, but the output is shaped specifically for content planning: an editor can look at the grouped results and immediately see article angles, rather than a raw list of terms to sort through.
Composeo, bundled on every paid plan since the NP Digital acquisition, extends the tool into drafting: take the questions you surfaced and generate an AI-assisted article without switching platforms, with the article allowance scaling from 3 a month on Starter to 30 on Business. Keyword Tool has no equivalent; it stops at keyword and metrics data.
The gap is programmatic access. There is no API, so nothing here plugs into a custom dashboard or an AI-assisted development workflow the way Keyword Tool's MCP server does. For a solo writer or small content team, that rarely matters. For a developer or an agency wanting to pipe keyword data into another system, it is disqualifying.
| Feature | Starter $20/month | Growth $99/month | Business $199/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search queries per day | 100 | 200 | 300 |
| Monthly prompt suggestions | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 |
| Composeo AI content creation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI articles per month | Up to 3 | Up to 11 | Up to 30 |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | No | No | No |
Keyword Tool
Multi-platform keyword research tool generating long-tail suggestions from autocomplete data across 15 search engines and marketplaces
Keyword Tool's entire premise is channel breadth. Instead of estimating search behaviour from a third-party database, it queries live autocomplete systems directly across 15 platforms: Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay, App Store, Play Store, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Etsy, and Perplexity. For a team researching keywords across both Google and Amazon, or both search and YouTube, that consolidates work Answer The Public cannot touch since it only covers Google and Bing.
The standout for developers is the API and MCP server, available from the Growth plan up, which lets AI assistants and custom applications pull keyword suggestion data directly rather than someone building an autocomplete scraper from scratch. That is a genuinely forward-looking feature for teams building AI-assisted research or content workflows, and it has no equivalent on Answer The Public at any price.
The cost of that breadth is real. The cheapest paid plan is $88 a month ($68 billed annually), and the free tier, while offering unlimited suggestions, withholds volume, CPC, and competition data entirely, making it useful only for initial ideation. There is also no white-label option on any plan, which limits its fit for agencies needing branded client reports.
| Feature | Free Free | Starter $88/month ($68/mo annual) | Growth $188/month ($148/mo annual) | Scale $388/month ($308/mo annual) | Agency $788/month ($628/mo annual) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search volume data | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server access | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk keyword upload | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| White-label reports | No | No | No | No | No |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Answer The Public | Keyword Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms / data sources | Google and Bing | 15 platforms including Google, YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, Perplexity |
| Question-based surfacing | Yes | No (autocomplete suggestions, not grouped as questions) |
| Search volume and CPC data | Yes, all paid plans | No on Free, Yes on all paid plans |
| AI content drafting | Yes (Composeo) | No |
| API access | No | Yes, from Starter |
| MCP server access | No | Yes, from Growth |
| White-label reporting | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes, 3 searches/day | Yes, unlimited suggestions, no volume data |
| Multi-language support | Yes, 20+ languages | No, channel-based breadth instead |
| Starting paid price | $20/mo | $88/mo |
Which should you choose?
Answer The PublicKeyword ToolKeyword ToolAnswer The PublicAnswer The PublicKeyword ToolPrice and platform breadth track together here, and that is the real decision. Keyword Tool costs more than four times Answer The Public's entry price, and that gap buys 13 extra data sources, an API, and an MCP server, none of which a solo content writer needs. Answer The Public's bundled AI drafting is the mirror image: a genuine time-saver for content production that Keyword Tool does not attempt to offer at any price.
Bottom line
Choose Answer The Public if you write content for a living, want question-based ideas fast, and value a bundled AI writer over raw platform coverage. Choose Keyword Tool if you research keywords across multiple channels, especially e-commerce marketplaces or YouTube, or if you are building keyword data into a developer workflow where the API and MCP server pay for the higher price. Neither offers white-label reporting, so agencies needing that will have to look elsewhere regardless of which one they pick.
Frequently asked questions
Is Answer The Public or Keyword Tool better value for a solo content writer?
Answer The Public is the better value for a solo writer because its $20-a-month Starter plan bundles Composeo, an AI content drafting suite, alongside question-based keyword ideation. Keyword Tool's cheapest paid plan costs $88 a month and has no content-drafting feature at all, which makes it a harder sell unless you specifically need its 15-platform coverage or API.
Does Answer The Public have an API like Keyword Tool does?
No, Answer The Public does not offer an API on any plan. Keyword Tool provides both a REST API, available from its Starter plan at $88 a month, and an MCP server from the Growth plan up, which lets AI assistants and custom applications access keyword data directly.
Which tool covers more platforms for keyword research beyond Google?
Keyword Tool covers significantly more ground, pulling autocomplete suggestions from 15 platforms including YouTube, Amazon, Bing, TikTok, Instagram, Etsy, and Perplexity. Answer The Public sources suggestions from two platforms, Google and Bing, and focuses on organising those results into questions and comparisons rather than expanding platform coverage.
Is Keyword Tool's free plan actually usable, or do I need to pay right away?
Keyword Tool's free plan gives unlimited keyword suggestions but withholds search volume, CPC, and competition data entirely, so it is genuinely useful only for initial idea generation before you need a paid upgrade. Answer The Public's free account is similarly limited, capped at 3 searches a day, but both are enough to evaluate whether the tool's discovery style fits your workflow.
Do either Answer The Public or Keyword Tool offer white-label reports for agency clients?
Neither tool offers white-label reporting on any plan. Agencies that need branded, client-facing keyword deliverables will need to reformat exports manually from either tool or look at a different platform that explicitly supports white-label output.
What is the MCP server on Keyword Tool and does Answer The Public have anything similar?
The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server lets AI assistants and developer tools that support MCP access Keyword Tool's keyword suggestion data directly, without building a custom integration. It is available from the Growth plan at $188 a month. Answer The Public has no equivalent capability; its only integration point is manual CSV export.