Exploding Topics sells a curated-database REST add-on. Trends MCP is the on-demand keyword API plus MCP that ET’s own docs say they do not ship.
Exploding Topics has an API. Docs live at https://api.explodingtopics.com/docs/. It is a REST add-on on Exploding Topics Pro Business, sold in 1,000 / 5,000 / 25,000 request packs on the ET API feature page (accessed 26 August 2026). That API reads Exploding Topics’ curated database. The same FAQ says it cannot do custom keyword and geo lookups. Trends MCP is the Exploding Topics API alternative for that missing job: name a keyword, pick a source such as google search, call get_growth or get_trends, and optionally expose the same account as MCP to an agent.
This URL is not a second alternatives listicle. Those posts are Exploding Topics pricing and Exploding Topics alternatives. This page is the API contract.
The feature FAQ (26 August 2026) lists search volume, growth percents, 12-month forecasts, related trends, trending products, trending startups, and meta trends, filterable by category and growth level. Database size on that page is 1.1 million plus. Rate limit is 60 requests per minute. Commercial product integrations need a custom quote.
The same FAQ is explicit about the hole: custom keyword and geo-based data lookups, the kind the in-app Trend Analysis tool does, are not offered through the API. An agent that asks “how is standing desk doing on Google and TikTok” cannot get that answer from ET’s REST pack. It can get a row that Exploding Topics already labeled as a topic in the database, if that row exists.
Zapier, Make, n8n, Slack webhooks, and dashboard embeds are the integration stories on that feature page. MCP is not. Claude and Cursor do not get a native Exploding Topics connector from that SKU.
Keep Exploding Topics when the research motion is “show topics the editorial plus model layer already scored.” That is a discovery browser. The API is a pipe into that browser. It is a weak match for arbitrary keywords.
On-demand means the caller names the keyword. Trends MCP bills one request per get_growth source-plus-keyword pair. Several windows such as 30D and 12M ride in the same call. REST mode is get_growth or get_time_series. MCP tool names are get_growth and get_trends.
get_growth(keyword="standing desk", source="google search, tiktok", percent_growth=["30D", "12M"])
get_top_trends(type="Google Trends", limit=25)
Live boards are a second surface ET’s API does not replace. get_top_trends with type Google Trends returns a ranked snapshot with as_of_ts. Default limit 25, max 200. MCP requires type. REST may omit type to pull more feeds in one HTTP call.
Empty history returns not_found or data_unavailable. That is a miss on a named pair, not a missing catalog row. Low-volume keywords print huge percents on tiny baselines. Quote both index values.
The Google-shaped sibling without the ET query is Google Trends API. Agent-shaped REST plus MCP is trend data API for AI agents.
Exploding Topics Pro cards on explodingtopics.com/pricing the same day: Entrepreneur $39, Investor $99, Business $249, each with a 7-day trial on the live cards. The API is not on Entrepreneur. It is an add-on to Business. Stacked, the cheapest documented API path is $249 plus $1,000, or $1,249 a month for 1,000 calls. Recheck both pages. Semrush-owned blog posts have disagreed with the live cards on annual billing before.
Trends MCP: Free 100 requests per month, no card. Starter $19 / 1,000. Pro $49 / 5,000. Business $199 / 25,000. Annual 20 percent off. MCP and REST share the key. Pricing (accessed 26 August 2026). Connecting is free. Calling is not.
Trends MCP will not return Exploding Topics’ 12-month forecast UI, Meta Trends labels, or the 1.1 million curated rows. Asking it to invent an “exploding” badge is how a model fakes editorial scoring. Fail closed.
A proving pair that fits the free plan: one Google Trends board, one get_growth on google search for a phrase Exploding Topics might already list. Two requests. That is enough to see on-demand versus catalog. Paging every official Google category is not an ET replacement test.
Keep the Exploding Topics API when the warehouse must ingest their topic IDs, product lists, and startup rows, and procurement already approved the Business-plus-pack stack. Trends MCP will not emit those IDs.
Keep the Exploding Topics web app when a human is browsing “what might explode” and never named a keyword. The API is optional for that motion. A Zapier job that dumps their database into Sheets is their story, not this one.
Skip Trends MCP for that turn when the user asked for Exploding Topics’ forecast chart or a Semrush SEO metric. Skip the ET API for that turn when the user named a keyword that is not in their catalog and still needs Google, TikTok, Reddit, or npm on one key.
A team can run both. Exploding Topics for curated discovery. Trends MCP for the keyword the catalog missed. The exclusive case is only “is there an API for a keyword I type.” For that sentence, Trends MCP is the API. Exploding Topics’ API is a database export with a documented keyword hole.
Do not build a mapper that pretends ET topic slugs are Trends MCP sources. google search is a source. exploding topics is not.
FAQ