Dorqa vs Exploding Topics
Exploding Topics has the bigger trends database, and since the Entrepreneur tier was retired their entry price is $99. Dorqa covers far fewer topics and shows its working on each one.
Monthly prices, read from the vendor’s own page on 8 August 2026.
You want trends you can act on inside an SEO workflow, with the scoring behind each one visible.
Trend discovery at breadth is the job, and you want the largest possible database.
Exploding Topics is now a Semrush company
It says so under their logo. If you are already paying Semrush, you are buying from the same company twice, and the entry tier has moved: Entrepreneur is gone and the cheapest plan is now Investor at $99 a month.
Read from the vendor’s own site, 8 August 2026.
Where each one actually wins
Every row states what each side actually does. Where they win, it says so.
What their plans cost
Monthly figures, so they compare like for like with Dorqa Pro at $79.
Descriptions are the vendor's own, read from their pricing page.
Where Dorqa is the better choice
Same standard as the section below. These are claims about what Dorqa does that this tool does not, not claims about being better overall.
The scoring weights are printed, not just the score
A Dorqa trend score is a weighted average of five components: developer activity 35%, community 30%, research 20%, market 10%, search 5%. All five are shown with their weights, so you can check the arithmetic and see which one is carrying the number. Every other trend product hands you the score and stops.
Sources that returned nothing are named
Six sources are relevant to a technology topic. When four of them return signals, the page says four of six and names the two that did not, instead of scoring across what it has and calling it complete.
Trends land inside the SEO work
A topic you spot leads straight into keyword data, a content brief and AI visibility tracking on the same project. A standalone trends subscription hands you a list.
Independent, and not a second bill from the same company
Exploding Topics is a Semrush company. If you already pay Semrush, you are buying from one vendor twice.
Where Exploding Topics is the better tool
If any of the following is central to your work, buy theirs. We would rather say so now than take a subscription and have you find out.
The database is far larger
1.1M+ trends per their own page, against a curated set on Dorqa. If breadth of coverage is what you need, this is not close and no amount of framing changes it.
Forecasting and Meta Trends
Forward projection and thematic grouping, both from the entry plan, and both more mature than Dorqa's. Dorqa reports velocity and stage on what has already happened and does not project.
Years of trend history
A database built and curated since well before Dorqa existed, with the depth that comes from that.
Backed by Semrush
Which cuts both ways. It means resources and longevity. It also means that if you already pay Semrush you are buying from one company twice.
Seven separate screens, all reading the same scored topic set. 7 surfaces, named as they appear in the app.
Straight answers
It shows how the score was built. A Dorqa trend score is a weighted average of five components with the weight on each printed alongside it, so you can see whether a number is being carried by developer activity, by research or by search demand. Most trend products give you a score without telling you what it rests on.
No, and it is not close. They have over a million trends. Dorqa scores a much smaller curated set. Dorqa's argument is about what is shown per topic, not how many topics there are.
It is no longer on their pricing page. As of 8 August 2026 the plans shown are Investor at $99 and Business at $249, both monthly.
Database size, trend forecasting, Meta Trends and years of history. If trend discovery at breadth is the job, buy theirs.
Try it on a client you already have.
Free tier, no card. If theirs is the right answer for your work, keep theirs.