The best trend APIs in 2026, compared for developers and AI agents

How we compared them

Every fact was read from the vendor’s own site on 23 October 2026: what it covers, whether it has a public API and an MCP server, its published entry price and free tier. We did not test response quality side by side, and we list no ratings, customer counts or benchmarks. Prices change; check the linked page before you buy.

The order follows the job each one does, starting with ours. A raw data API and a trend intelligence API are not substitutes: one gives you posts to analyse, the other gives you the analysis with its evidence.

At a glance

1. TrendsFast

A trends API for AI agents: Global, Niche and Ask queries over a retained index, each trend with its original link, observation time, measured values and coverage.

• Sources: X, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Google Search, Hacker News, on a daily collection schedule.
• API: Yes, REST (V3) with an OpenAPI contract. A Global read is 1 credit, Niche 3 credits, Ask 5 credits; rereading a saved result is free.
• MCP: Yes, authenticated, at https://trendsfast.com/api/mcp/v3.
• Entry price: $10 once for 500 credits; plans from $29 a month for 2,000 credits.
• Free: 100 credits once per verified account, no card.
• Best for: Agents and products that need what is trending in one niche across social and search, with evidence they can show.
• Watch out: A young index: coverage varies by channel and day, video is metadata only, and growth is shown only after two comparable readings.

Checked against trendsfast.com/pricing, trendsfast.com/docs.

2. Virlo

Short-form video intelligence: outlier videos, hooks, creators, trending sounds and Meta ads, with niche research agents.

• Sources: TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and the Meta Ad Library.
• API: Yes, a separate pay-as-you-go developer API with an OpenAPI spec; raw data from $0.01 a call, agent runs $0.50, reads free.
• MCP: Yes, 46 curated tools.
• Entry price: Web app from $49 a month (2,000 credits); Pro $199 (12,000); Enterprise from $499. The developer API is prepaid with no subscription.
• Free: 7-day trial on Starter and Pro; the API gives new accounts starter credits.
• Best for: Teams making short-form video who want depth on hooks, sounds and creators.
• Watch out: Video only; search, forums and text posts are outside its scope.

Checked against virlo.ai/pricing, dev.virlo.ai/pricing, dev.virlo.ai/docs/mcp.

3. SocialCrawl

A raw social and web data API: one key and one response schema across many platforms, plus universal search and spike alerts.

• Sources: It lists 69 platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Pinterest, Facebook, Bluesky, Google Search and Hacker News.
• API: Yes, REST. A standard call is 1 credit; universal search is 20.
• MCP: Yes (npx socialcrawl-mcp); the pricing cards list it on Growth and above.
• Entry price: One-time credit packs, priced in GBP: £15 for 2,500 credits, £49 for 20,000, £299 for 150,000. Credits do not expire.
• Free: 100 credits once, no card.
• Best for: Collecting raw posts and profiles from many platforms through one schema.
• Watch out: It returns data, not ranked or explained trends; relevance, deduplication and judgement are yours to build.

Checked against socialcrawl.dev/pricing, socialcrawl.dev/mcp-server.

4. ScrapeCreators

A pay-as-you-go social media scraping API for profiles, posts, comments, transcripts and ad libraries.

• Sources: 20+ platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, Reddit, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest and several ad libraries.
• API: Yes, REST; one credit is one request for most endpoints.
• MCP: Yes, a hosted MCP server.
• Entry price: $47 for 25,000 credits, one-time; $497 for 500,000. Credits do not expire.
• Free: 100 credits, with bonus credits for some actions.
• Best for: Cheap raw social data at volume.
• Watch out: Raw data only: no trend detection, ranking or niche relevance.

Checked against scrapecreators.com, docs.scrapecreators.com/integrations/mcp.

5. Exploding Topics

A curated database of emerging trends, products and startups, combining machine detection with human curation; owned by Semrush.

• Sources: Described generally as social media, search engines, forums, news, e-commerce and podcasts; individual platforms are not named.
• API: Yes, as an add-on to the Business plan: 1,000 requests a month for $1,000, 5,000 for $2,000, 25,000 for $4,000. Use inside your own product needs custom pricing.
• MCP: None found on its site.
• Entry price: App plans $39, $99 and $249 a month; the API requires the $249 Business plan.
• Free: 7-day trial on app plans.
• Best for: Analysts and investors looking for long-horizon market and product trends.
• Watch out: The API offers no custom keyword or geo lookups, and its cost suits research teams more than agents making many small calls.

Checked against explodingtopics.com/pricing, explodingtopics.com/feature/et-api.

6. Glimpse

Google Trends with absolute search volumes and forecasts, as a browser extension, web app and API.

• Sources: Google search data, with a channel breakdown in the app.
• API: Yes, REST endpoints for search interest and enriched volume; weekly, daily or monthly series.
• MCP: No; its FAQ asks you to email about MCP.
• Entry price: Paid app access from $99 a month (stated on its own guide page); API pricing not published.
• Free: Up to 10 searches a month in the app.
• Best for: Turning Google Trends' relative index into search volume and forecasts.
• Watch out: Search demand only; social posts are not its data.

Checked against meetglimpse.com/google-trends-api/.

7. DataForSEO Google Trends API

An SEO data provider's Google Trends endpoint, billed per task.

• Sources: Google Search, News, Images, Shopping and YouTube search interest.
• API: Yes, REST; up to five keywords per task, standard or live mode.
• MCP: Yes, an open-source MCP server.
• Entry price: $0.0027 per standard task, $0.011 live; pay as you go from a $50 top-up.
• Free: $1 trial credit.
• Best for: Bulk Google Trends and SEO data at low unit cost.
• Watch out: Relative search interest, not social posts and not search volume.

Checked against dataforseo.com/pricing/keywords-data/google-trends.

8. SerpApi Google Trends API

A search-results API with a Google Trends engine among many engines.

• Sources: Google Trends interest over time, by region, related topics and queries; separate Trending Now and autocomplete APIs.
• API: Yes, REST; searches are shared across all engines.
• MCP: Yes.
• Entry price: $25 a month for 1,000 searches; $75 for 5,000; $150 for 15,000.
• Free: 250 searches a month.
• Best for: Search-results data across engines, with Trends as one of them.
• Watch out: Search only; social trends are outside its scope.

Checked against serpapi.com/pricing, serpapi.com/google-trends-api.

9. Google Trends API (official)

Google's own Trends API, consistently scaled so separate requests can be combined, over a rolling five years.

• Sources: Google search interest by region and sub-region.
• API: Alpha only, for accepted testers.
• MCP: None.
• Entry price: Not published.
• Free: Not published.
• Best for: First-party, consistently scaled Google data, if you are accepted.
• Watch out: Not generally available, and search interest only.

Checked against developers.google.com/search/apis/trends.

What this comparison cannot tell you

It compares published scope and price, not data quality on your niche. The quickest way to judge that is to ask each tool the same question about your market. TrendsFast’s own coverage is narrower than the raw data APIs: it collects 7 channels on a schedule rather than calling any platform on demand, and every result says which channels it could not see.

Which one to choose

• Your agent needs to know what is trending in your niche, with proof: TrendsFast. Start with the docs.
• You make short-form video: Virlo.
• You want raw posts and profiles to run your own analysis: SocialCrawl or ScrapeCreators.
• You need Google search interest or volume: DataForSEO or SerpApi for the index, Glimpse for volumes and forecasts.
• You research markets and startups over months: Exploding Topics.