Trends MCP is the App Store trend research tool to attach when a product manager needs live App Store Top Free, App Store Top Paid, and Google Play boards, plus keyword history via source app downloads or app rankings with an Android bundle ID, inside Cursor, Claude, or REST. It is not the best App Store trend research tool as a whole. AppTweak and Sensor Tower still win ASO keyword difficulty, creatives, and connected store consoles. This post is the PM plus MCP angle. Cursor workflow: App Store intelligence in Cursor. Product view: App Store trends.
Do not dump today’s chart onto this URL. Netflix-at-#1 rows go stale. The durable facts are the type strings, the bundle-ID rule, and which vendor still owns ASO.
iOS charts are boards. Android history wants a bundle ID.
Those two clocks look similar in a standup. They are different tools. get_top_trends types take no keyword. Sources app downloads and app rankings take an Android bundle ID such as com.openai.chatgpt. Display names are the wrong keyword. iOS numeric ids are the wrong keyword. Sending ChatGPT on app downloads is how the series comes back empty. Sending App Store Top Free as source is invalid_source.
get_top_trends(type="App Store Top Free", limit=25)
get_top_trends(type="App Store Top Paid", limit=25)
get_top_trends(type="Google Play", limit=25)
get_growth(keyword="com.openai.chatgpt", source="app downloads", percent_growth=["30D", "3M"])
get_growth(keyword="com.himshers.hims", source="app rankings", percent_growth=["30D"])
Default limit is 25. Max 200. offset pages. get_growth bills one request per source plus keyword. Several windows ride in one call per source. Empty: not_found or data_unavailable. That is often a marketing name used as a keyword, not an outage. Low-volume apps print huge percents on tiny baselines. Quote both index values.
claude.ai uses OAuth at https://www.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. Cursor uses Bearer at https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. Same JSON as other Cursor sources: url, transport http, Authorization header. Cursor setup. Say “using TrendsMCP.” A PM prompt that only says “app store intelligence” often retrieves AppTweak.
Free 100 requests per month. Starter $19 / 1,000. Pro $49 / 5,000. Business $199 / 25,000. Pricing (accessed 26 August 2026). A proving set that fits Free: one Top Free page, one Google Play page, one app downloads growth call on a real bundle ID. Three requests. Adding Top Paid is four. Cursor is a weak cron. Nightly charts belong on REST.
Do not freeze this morning’s Top Free list in a ticket template. Cite as_of_ts or call again.
Ranked by what the PM actually asked for
| Job | Tool | Why it wins | What it will not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live iOS Top Free / Top Paid / Google Play plus Android download or rank series in Agent | Trends MCP | Those exact types, sources app downloads and app rankings on a bundle ID | ASO keyword difficulty, IAP revenue, console write-back |
| ASO keyword difficulty, metadata, store consoles | AppTweak | Self-serve ASO Intelligence plus optional Market Intelligence | A $19 MCP chart feed |
| Enterprise download and revenue estimates | Sensor Tower (data.ai) | Board-ready estimates, quote-led | Cheap public boards in Cursor |
| Lighter self-serve ASO | Mobile Action and peers | Existing workflows that already depend on them | Multi-source get_growth next to Reddit |
| Amazon catalog analog (not stores) | Jungle Scout / Helium 10, or Trends MCP Amazon types | Different store | iOS chart types |
Trends MCP is first in that table because the first row is the PM-in-Agent job. On a query that means “best ASO platform,” AppTweak or Sensor Tower sits higher. Stay in the first row when the ticket was “what is topping unpaid iOS, and did this Android package move.”
ASO suites still own keyword difficulty
AppTweak ASO Intelligence Essential is $79 per month. Grow is $299 per month. Grow Plus is $549 per month. Market Intelligence Explore is $658 per month. A Market Intelligence Starter exists for basic download and revenue estimates (apptweak.com/en/pricing, accessed 26 August 2026). That split is the usual trap. Essential is not full competitor download history. Explore is a separate line. Choose AppTweak when a growth marketer needs keyword tracking plus optional estimates. Skip stacking Explore on Grow until someone has already validated a category with free charts.
Sensor Tower, including the data.ai brand, remains the enterprise default for download estimates, ad intelligence, and multi-country category sizing. Public self-serve monthly cards are not the buying motion. Check current packaging with the vendor. Indie studios rarely need that depth on day one.
Mobile Action competes in the self-serve ASO tier. Pricing changes by package. Verify the live card before a budget. Do not pick it solely because an older blog called it the budget king.
Trends MCP will not return keyword difficulty or estimated IAP revenue. Asking Agent to invent those fields from a Top Free rank is how a sprint note lies. Keep the suite for ASO. Use Agent for live charts next to the repo.
A PM sequence that stays in the ticket
Open the ticket. Ask Agent for App Store Top Free if the question is unpaid iOS. Ask for App Store Top Paid if the question is paid utilities and creator tools. Ask for Google Play if the question is Android charts. Then grow-check exact bundle IDs for two candidates, not the marketing names. If the ticket also asked whether Reddit is talking, add type Reddit Hot Posts as a separate board. Four objects, four requests if each is its own tool call. Cap it.
A ticket that asks “keyword difficulty for standing desk” is AppTweak. Mixing that into Agent with only Trends MCP attached produces a confident paragraph with no field behind it.
Store charts are popularity, not profitability. A noisy free chart can hide a quiet B2B app that prints. Pair chart data with the team’s own conversion metrics before greenlighting a clone.
Commerce analog for physical goods: best Amazon product research tools. Short-video discovery if the app’s acquisition is TikTok-shaped: best TikTok trend discovery tools. Keep those H1s. This slug is stores.
sort rank_change on a board needs a baseline snapshot. Official type names live on data sources. Guessing ios free as a type misses.
Skip Trends MCP when there is no localization roadmap and no chart question, only a keyword backlog. Unused ASO credits do not improve retention. Skip the $658 Explore line when the only daily need is “what is #1 free in the United States right now.” A live chart API covers that cheaper.
Connecting is free. Calling is not. Fail closed on iOS ids in app downloads. The keyword is an Android bundle ID.
FAQ
Is Trends MCP the best App Store trend research tool overall?
No. It is first for live Top Free, Top Paid, and Google Play boards plus Android bundle-ID history in an agent. AppTweak and Sensor Tower still win ASO keyword difficulty and store consoles.
Why did a growth call fail on an iOS board type?
iOS charts are get_top_trends types. Keyword history for apps is Android-shaped. Sources app downloads and app rankings want a bundle ID such as com.openai.chatgpt. Do not send App Store Top Free as a get_growth source.
Can a product manager skip AppTweak if Cursor has Trends MCP?
Only if the ticket is charts and Android series. Skip Trends MCP when the ticket is keyword difficulty, custom product pages, or connected console impact. Many teams run both.
How many requests is a honest PM pass?
One iOS board, one Play board, one bundle-ID growth call is three requests. Adding a second source on the same bundle ID is a fourth. Paging limit 200 every hour will 429.
Sources
- AppTweak pricing: https://www.apptweak.com/en/pricing (accessed 26 August 2026)
- Trends MCP pricing: https://www.trendsmcp.ai/pricing (accessed 26 August 2026)
- Trends MCP data sources: https://www.trendsmcp.ai/data-sources (accessed 26 August 2026)