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Answer the Public: Free vs Paid

Deciding between Answer the Public’s free and paid plans? This comprehensive comparison breaks down exactly what you get at each tier, the real-world limitations of the free plan, and whether the paid subscription is worth the investment—plus a third option that might work better for your needs.

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Quick Comparison

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Free Plan: What You Actually Get

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Search Limit Reality

What you can do with 1 search/day:

• Research 1 keyword daily
• Export CSV data for that keyword
• View all data sources (Google, YouTube, TikTok, etc.)
• Download visualization images
• Access search volume estimates

What you can’t do:

• Bulk keyword research
• Competitive analysis (multiple competitors)
• Content calendar planning (needs many keywords)
• Trend monitoring (requires regular re-searches)
• Client work (agencies need many searches)
• Product research at scale (e-commerce)

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The Math

Let’s be realistic about what 1 search per day means: Scenario: You want to build a content calendar for Q1 (3 months)

• Ideal keywords to research: 50-100
• Time needed with free plan: 50-100 days
• That’s 1.5-3+ months just to do keyword research

Scenario: Agency managing 5 clients

• Each client needs 10 keywords researched monthly
• Total needed: 50 searches/month
• Time with free plan: 50 days (can’t service clients)

Scenario: E-commerce launching product line

• 20 products, each needs keyword research
• Time with free plan: 20 days minimum
• Product launch delayed by weeks

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What’s Actually Free

The free tier is essentially a demo of Answer the Public. It’s useful for: ✅ Understanding how the tool works ✅ Testing with 1-2 keywords ✅ Evaluating if it’s worth upgrading ✅ Very occasional, casual research It’s not viable for: ❌ Professional SEO work ❌ Content planning at scale ❌ Agency client work ❌ Competitive analysis ❌ Regular use

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Pro Plan: $99/Month ($79/month annual)

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What You Get

Unlimited searches - The main upgrade. Search as many keywords as you want, as often as you want. Additional features:

• Historical comparison data
• Search alerts (notifications when search behavior changes)
• Priority support
• Data exports in CSV
• All visualization tools
• All data sources

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Who It’s For

The Pro plan makes sense if you:

• Need more than 1 search daily (obviously)
• Do regular keyword research
• Manage multiple content properties
• Run a solo SEO/content business
• Want to avoid daily search limits

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The Hidden Costs

$99/month =$1,188/year Or with annual discount: $79/month =$948/year For one user, this might be reasonable. But consider: Team of 3: $297/month or$3,564/year Agency with 5 users: $495/month or$5,940/year Even solo practitioners need to ask: “Will I get $1,200/year of value from unlimited keyword research?”

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What You Still Can’t Do

Even with Pro, you’re limited by manual workflows:

• ❌ No API access (can’t automate)
• ❌ No webhooks (can’t integrate with tools)
• ❌ No bulk processing (search one keyword at a time)
• ❌ No scheduled monitoring (must manually check)
• ❌ Manual data export (copy-paste to spreadsheets)

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Expert Plan: $199/Month ($149/month annual)

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What You Get

Everything in Pro, plus:

• Team features: Multiple user seats
• Brand monitoring: Track brand mentions
• Advanced alerts: More sophisticated notification rules
• Priority support: Faster response times
• Comparison features: Enhanced competitive analysis

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Who It’s For

The Expert plan is designed for:

• Teams and agencies
• Brands monitoring reputation
• Companies doing serious competitive intelligence
• Organizations needing collaboration features

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The Cost Reality

$199/month =$2,388/year Or annual: $149/month =$1,788/year At this price point, you’re competing with comprehensive SEO tools like:

• Ahrefs: $129-999/month (includes backlinks, site audits, rank tracking)
• SEMrush: $139-499/month (all-in-one SEO platform)
• Moz Pro: $99-599/month (complete SEO toolkit)

Answer the Public’s Expert plan gives you question research and brand monitoring. Other tools give you that plus comprehensive SEO capabilities.

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The Third Option: Apify Actor

Here’s what most people don’t realize: Answer the Public doesn’t have proprietary data. It queries publicly accessible autocomplete APIs (Google, Bing, YouTube, etc.) and presents the results. Which means the same data is available programmatically without a subscription.

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How the Apify Actor Works

Our actor:

1. Queries the same autocomplete APIs Answer the Public uses
2. Organizes the data into structured JSON
3. Delivers results without daily limits
4. Enables automation and integration
5. Costs significantly less

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Direct Comparison

Answer the Public Pro: $99/month =$1,188/year Answer the Public Expert: $199/month =$2,388/year Apify Actor: ~$5-20/month =$60-240/year typical usage You save: $900-2,100+ annually

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What You Get with the Actor

✅ Unlimited searches - No daily limits ✅ Bulk processing - Submit 100+ keywords at once ✅ Structured data - Clean JSON for databases/analysis ✅ Automation - Schedule regular runs ✅ Webhooks - Push data to your systems ✅ API access - Integrate with anything ✅ No per-user costs - Entire team can use it ✅ Same data sources - Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Amazon, ChatGPT

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What You Don’t Get

The actor doesn’t include:

• ❌ Pretty visualizations (but you get structured data to make your own)
• ❌ Answer the Public’s UI (you get JSON instead)
• ❌ Their alerting system (but you can build your own with webhooks)

If you’re comfortable with:

• Working with JSON data
• Basic automation tools (n8n, Make, Zapier)
• Spreadsheet imports
• Building your own dashboards

…the actor is a significantly better value.

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Decision Framework

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Choose Free If:

• Testing the tool
• Doing very occasional research
• Don’t need more than 1 search/day
• Exploring keyword research for the first time

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Choose Pro ($99/mo) If:

• Need regular unlimited searches
• Work solo
• Want the official UI and visualizations
• Don’t need automation
• Budget allows ~$1,200/year

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Choose Expert ($199/mo) If:

• Managing a team
• Need brand monitoring
• Require collaboration features
• Have budget for ~$2,400/year
• Want priority support

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Choose Apify Actor If:

• Need unlimited searches
• Want to automate research
• Process keywords in bulk
• Integrate with other tools
• Work with data programmatically
• Want to save $900-2,100/year
• Need team access without per-user fees

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Cost Breakdown Example

Let’s compare 1 year of usage: Freelance SEO Professional

• Answer the Public Pro: $948-1,188/year
• Apify Actor: ~$60-120/year
• Savings: $828-1,068

Agency with 3 Team Members

• Answer the Public Expert: $1,788-2,388/year
• Apify Actor: ~$120-240/year (no per-user fees)
• Savings: $1,548-2,148

Enterprise Team (5 users)

• Answer the Public (5 Pro licenses): $4,740-5,940/year
• Apify Actor: ~$180-300/year
• Savings: $4,440-5,640

The savings compound as team size grows.

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Real User Scenarios

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Scenario 1: Solo Content Creator

Need: Research 100 keywords/month for blog planning Free plan: Impossible (would take 100 days) Pro plan: Doable, $99/month **Apify Actor**: Doable, ~$10/month, can automate Best choice: Apify Actor (saves ~$1,000/year)

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Scenario 2: SEO Agency

Need: 500 keywords/month across 10 clients Free plan: Completely inadequate Expert plan: $199/month, still manual workflows **Apify Actor**: ~$20/month, automated client reports Best choice: Apify Actor (saves ~$2,100/year, adds automation)

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Scenario 3: E-commerce Business

Need: Monitor 50 product keywords monthly Free plan: Not viable Pro plan: Works but manual Apify Actor: Automated scheduled runs, data feeds directly to product team Best choice: Apify Actor (saves money + automation)

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What Most People Do Wrong

Many people:

1. Start with free plan
2. Hit the 1 search/day limit immediately
3. Reluctantly upgrade to Pro ($99/month)
4. Manually export CSVs for months
5. Wish they could automate
6. Realize they’re paying $1,200/year for what amounts to a scraper

Better path:

1. Test with free plan to understand the data
2. Skip paid subscription
3. Use Apify actor for automation from day one
4. Save $900+ annually
5. Build automated workflows
6. Scale without per-user fees

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Is Paid Worth It?

For most users: No. The paid plans are worth it if:

• You specifically want the official UI and visualizations
• You’re not comfortable with APIs or JSON data
• Your company has budget and prefers official tools
• You need their specific alerting/brand monitoring features

But if your goal is:

• Getting keyword research data at scale
• Automating research workflows
• Saving money
• Integrating with other tools

…the Apify actor delivers better value.

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Free Trial Strategy

Want to test before committing?

1. Try the free plan (1 search/day) to understand the data
2. Test the Apify actor (free tier available) with a few keywords
3. Compare: Same data, different format, massive cost savings
4. Decide: Do you need the pretty UI ($99/month) or just the data ($5-20/month)?

Most people realize they just need the data.

Bypass Free Limits—No Subscription Required

Get unlimited Answer the Public data with our Apify actor. Same data sources, structured JSON output, automation built-in. From $5/month.

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Next Steps