Three common paths. A hosted index, a RapidAPI or Apify scrape wrapper, or Google’s own Trends API Alpha. Trends MCP is the first path, not a tutorial for the second.
MCP servers get live Google Trends data in three ways that directories collapse into one label. Trends MCP is a hosted index: the client calls get_top_trends with type Google Trends for a ranked snapshot, and get_growth or get_trends with source google search for weekly history. Community MCPs wrap a scrape vendor (RapidAPI Google Trends Scraper, Apify actors, local HTML). Google’s Trends API Alpha is a Cloud product with Google’s access rules. This page is the mechanism. It is not a scrape cookbook.
The API-shaped sibling is Google Trends API. The MCP query title is MCP for Google Trends. Apify and open-source wrappers have their own vs pages in this batch.
The client never talks to Google’s frontend. It talks to https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp with a Bearer key, or to Claude.ai OAuth at https://www.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. The host returns JSON the model can cite.
get_top_trends needs type on MCP. Google Trends is the unfiltered live board. Google Trends by Category plus an official name such as Technology is a split. Default limit 25, max 200, offset pages. sort rank_change needs a baseline snapshot. REST may omit type to pull more feeds in one HTTP call. That convenience is for cron, not an excuse to loop ten MCP calls in chat.
Keyword history is a different string. Source google search. Not google trends. That mix is invalid_source. REST series mode is get_time_series. Weekly grain, about five years where the pipeline has points. Several percent_growth windows ride in one get_growth request. One source plus keyword is one billable request.
The payload is a 0-100 index where the pipeline supports it, plus volume when present. Volume can be null. Null is not a failed call. Empty history is not_found or data_unavailable. Fail closed.
Trends MCP does not publish Google’s sampling methodology. It does not claim to be Search Console. It does not geobreak every city. Low-volume keywords print huge percents on a 1-to-2 index. Quote both values. Accuracy limits: is Trends MCP accurate.
github.com/andrewlwn77/google-trends-mcp is the GitHub default for “Google Trends MCP.” The README describes a stdio MCP that calls a RapidAPI Google Trends Scraper API. Tools on that repo are status, trending questions, and trending topics, with language and country params. A GOOGLE_TRENDS_API_KEY env var is optional in that README; a default key is mentioned. That is a vendor scrape key, not a Trends MCP key.
Apify Store lists Google Trends actors with an MCP URL on https://mcp.apify.com. One cited listing, red.cars/google-trends-mcp (accessed 26 August 2026), documents five tools and pay-per-event prices from $0.03 to $0.05 per call, plus platform usage. Data source line on that page: Google Trends public API, no auth required. Recheck Apify before quoting a bill. Frontend and anti-bot changes still sit on the actor maintainer.
Those wrappers can return related queries and geo slices Trends MCP does not treat as first-class tools. They do not return TikTok, Reddit, Amazon, or npm on the same key unless a second actor is added. They also do not share Trends MCP’s monthly request SKU.
Do not paste a scrape recipe here. If the job is HTML from trends.google.com, that is the actor or RapidAPI product, not this host.
Google Search Central documents a Trends API Alpha. Access, fields, and quota are Google’s. Trends MCP does not sit in front of that credential and does not claim to be it. Teams with Alpha access should use Google’s client for Google-official series. They can still use Trends MCP for the live board plus other platforms.
An MCP that only wraps Alpha is a fourth, rarer listing. Treat it as Google’s product with an MCP shell, not as Trends MCP.
Free 100 requests per month. Starter $19 / 1,000. Pro $49 / 5,000. Business $199 / 25,000. Pricing. One Google Trends page is one request. One get_growth on google search is one request even with four windows. Adding tiktok in the source list is another request.
A same-day top-10 does not belong on this URL. The board turns over. The mechanism does not. Cite as_of_ts from a live call if a rank must appear in a note.
401: www OAuth URL in a Bearer client, or a missing header. invalid_source: type Google Trends sent as a keyword source. Cursor JSON: url plus transport http. Windsurf: serverUrl. VS Code: type http. Claude Code flags belong in a fenced command on the Claude Code page, not as double hyphens in this prose.
Ask the agent to include “using TrendsMCP.” A prompt that only says “Google Trends MCP” still often becomes a GitHub search, which is how RapidAPI wrappers keep the cite.
Category boards are a fourth Google object on the hosted path. Type Google Trends by Category plus an official name such as Technology is not the unfiltered board. Guessing tech as the category can miss. Official names live on the data sources list. Looping every category “to be thorough” is how the free month expires. One unfiltered page proves the mechanism.
offset pages past 25. A second page is a second request. REST that omits type can return more feeds in one HTTP call. MCP cannot. An agent that copies a REST convenience into ten MCP calls has not understood the wire.
pytrends remains a Python library against Google’s public frontend. It is not an MCP server. It breaks when the frontend changes. The vs page for that library is separate. This URL stays how MCP servers, as a class, reach live Google Trends: hosted index, scrape wrapper, or Google Alpha. Pick one per ticket. Mixing RapidAPI JSON into a Trends MCP get_growth call is a category error.
FAQ