Key takeaways
- AnswerThePublic starts at $20 a month, or $13.33 on annual billing, and the free tier allows only a few searches a day. It shows questions without reliable search volume.
- The Zutrix Google Suggest tool pulls the same autocomplete questions for free and shows volume, CPC, and competition for each.
- AlsoAsked is the best tool for People Also Ask trees. Keywords Everywhere adds volumes inside Google itself.
- Questions are only half the job. Check which ones have volume and which trigger a People Also Ask box before you write.
AnswerThePublic is famous for its wheel of questions. Type a topic, and it maps the who, what, why, and how people type into Google. It is a nice picture. The problem is what comes next: no reliable search volume, tight free limits, and a subscription for a job that free tools can do. This guide compares eight AnswerThePublic alternatives, with prices checked on September 16, 2026.
We build Zutrix, and our free Google Suggest tool is on the list. It costs nothing, so there is no upsell in recommending it. We also point out where AnswerThePublic is still worth the money. If you want to turn questions into rankings, our guide to People Also Ask SEO covers that step.
What AnswerThePublic does and why people look elsewhere
AnswerThePublic pulls Google and Bing autocomplete suggestions for a seed word and arranges them by question word, preposition, and comparison. Since Neil Patel bought it, it adds search volume and CPC from the Ubersuggest database and a few AI writing features. Starter is $20 a month, Growth is $99, and Business is $199. Annual billing takes about a third off.
The free tier allows a few searches a day and shows the visual only. The volume figures on paid plans come from Ubersuggest, which lags the bigger tools. And the visual, while pretty, is slower to work with than a sortable list. Most people who search for AnswerThePublic alternatives want the list, the volume, and a lower price.
$20
AnswerThePublic Starter per month
$13.33
Starter per month on annual billing
60
Search credits a month on Starter
How we compared the AnswerThePublic competitors
- Source of questions: autocomplete, People Also Ask, forums, or a keyword database.
- Search volume: shown or not, and where it comes from.
- Free limits: how many searches before you pay.
- Export: can you get a CSV without a paid plan?
- Price for one user.
AnswerThePublic alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Price | Questions from | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zutrix Google Suggest | Free questions with volume | Free | Google autocomplete | Yes |
| AlsoAsked | People Also Ask trees | Free tier, from $15 per month | People Also Ask | No |
| Keywords Everywhere | Volumes inside Google | $84 per year | Autocomplete and PAA in browser | Yes |
| Semrush Keyword Magic Tool | Questions from a big database | $139 per month | Database | Yes |
| Ahrefs Keywords Explorer | Questions with click data | $29 per month Starter | Database | Yes |
| QuestionDB | Forum and Reddit questions | Free tier, $15 per month | Reddit and forums | Partial |
| Google Search Console | Questions you already rank for | Free | Your own site | Impressions |
| Google itself | Manual, always current | Free | Autocomplete and PAA | No |
The best AnswerThePublic alternatives, reviewed
1. Zutrix Google Suggest tool (free)
Zutrix Google Suggest
Autocomplete questions with real volume, no account needed
- Price
- Free
- Source
- Google autocomplete, by country
- Shows
- Search volume, CPC, competition for every suggestion
- Next step
- Send keywords to the paid keyword research tool or a rank tracking project
The Google Suggest tool does what AnswerThePublic's core does: it runs your seed word through autocomplete with every question word and letter and collects the results. Then it adds the part AnswerThePublic charges for, search volume and CPC for each one, which makes it a real alternative to AnswerThePublic rather than a toy. It is a list, not a wheel, which makes it faster to sort and export. The free keyword planner does the same for related keywords, and the paid keyword research tool adds difficulty and intent.
Where AnswerThePublic wins: the visual is good for presentations, and it pulls from Bing and YouTube autocomplete as well as Google. If you sell the picture to clients, keep a Starter plan for that.
Zutrix Google Suggest: pros and cons
Pros
- Free, no login
- Volume and CPC for every question
- Country selection
- Sortable list you can export
Cons
- Google only, no Bing or YouTube
- No visual wheel
- Daily lookup cap on the free tool
2. AlsoAsked
AlsoAsked
People Also Ask, mapped as a tree
- Price
- Free tier with a few searches, paid from about $15 a month
- Source
- Live People Also Ask boxes
- Best for
- Planning headings and FAQ sections
AlsoAsked shows the questions Google places in the People Also Ask box and the questions that appear when you expand each one. That tree tells you how Google links topics, which autocomplete cannot. It has no volume data, so pair it with a tool that does. Our People Also Ask SEO guide shows how to use the tree.
AlsoAsked: pros and cons
Pros
- Real People Also Ask data
- Shows how questions branch
- Cheap
Cons
- No search volume
- Free tier is small
- Depends on Google showing PAA for the term
3. Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a browser extension that shows volume, CPC, and competition next to Google results, People Also Ask boxes, and autocomplete suggestions. Plans start at $84 a year for 100,000 credits. It turns Google itself into an AnswerThePublic alternative. You still have to type each seed by hand.
4. Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
Semrush has a Questions filter that pulls every question in its database for a seed word, with volume, difficulty, and intent. It is the deepest question list you can get, and it costs $139 a month for the whole suite. Worth it if you already use Semrush. Not worth buying for questions alone. See Semrush alternatives for cheaper suites.
5. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Ahrefs also has a Questions report, with click estimates and parent topics. The $29 Starter plan makes it the cheapest big database for question research. Credits limit heavy use.
6. QuestionDB
QuestionDB pulls questions from Reddit and forums rather than Google. That surfaces the messy, real questions people ask each other, which autocomplete cleans up. Free tier available, paid from about $15 a month. Good for long tail content ideas.
7. Google Search Console
Search Console lists the queries your site already gets impressions for. Filter for "how", "what", "why", and "can" and you have a list of questions Google already connects to your site. Free, and the best starting point for an existing site.
8. Google itself
Type your topic into Google in an incognito window and read the autocomplete, then the People Also Ask box, then the related searches at the bottom. It takes ten minutes per topic and is always current. Every tool on this list is a faster version of this.
Which AnswerThePublic alternative should you pick?
| Your goal | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Questions with volume, free | Zutrix Google Suggest | Same source, adds the numbers |
| Plan headings and FAQs | AlsoAsked | Real People Also Ask trees |
| Volumes while browsing | Keywords Everywhere | Inside Google itself |
| Deepest list, big budget | Semrush or Ahrefs | Database questions with difficulty |
| Messy real questions | QuestionDB | Reddit and forums |
| Client presentations | Stay on AnswerThePublic | The wheel looks good on a slide |
- +Check volume before writing a whole post around one question.
- +Search the question yourself to see whether Google shows a People Also Ask box.
- +Group questions by intent, then write one page per group.
- xWrite a page for every question. Most belong in one FAQ.
- xTrust volume from a single source. Compare two.
- xPay monthly for a tool you open twice a quarter.
FAQ
Common questions
Written by the Zutrix team
Last reviewed September 16, 2026
Zutrix has built rank tracking and SEO software for more than eight years. Our guides come from the same team that runs the product, and every how-to is checked against what we see in real ranking data across the keywords our customers track. We write them for people who are new to SEO and for agencies who want a clear answer fast.
Search volume and difficulty figures come from live Google results and third-party keyword data.
Sources and further reading