HookTrend vs vidIQ

vidIQ is a large YouTube growth tool, with an Outliers feature and an MCP on every plan. HookTrend does one thing: find the TikTok and YouTube Shorts videos beating their creator's usual views.

Add HookTrend to your AI Start free

Free plan, no card. Works in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.

What it costs to start

HookTrend

Free plan, 50 credits a month, no card

Then $29 or $99 a month

vidIQ

$19/mo

Free plan: 150 AI credits a month

List prices from their public pages, checked November 15, 2026. Sources

The short version

Pick vidIQ if you grow on YouTube and want keywords, titles, an AI coach and thumbnails as well as outliers (vidIQ says 30M+ creators use it).
Pick HookTrend if your work is on TikTok: vidIQ doesn't cover TikTok as a platform, only a free sounds tool.
Both have a free plan and an MCP from the free plan up.

What HookTrend finds

Real videos from the library, each with its views against what its creator normally gets.

A hand-checked selection from HookTrend's library, September to November 2026.

At a glance

Feature	HookTrend	vidIQ
TikTok	Yes: Yes, half of the library	No: No (only a free trending-sounds tool)
YouTube	Partly: Shorts	Yes: Yes, its core (Instagram as a feature too)
Free plan	Yes: Yes: 50 credits a month, no card	Yes: Yes: 150 AI credits a month
Paid plans	$29 and $99 a month	Boost $19/month ($199/year); MAX $49/month ($468/year)
Outliers on the free plan	Every library tool, 25 reads a day	Up to 6 videos per search
How a video is scored	× usual: views ÷ the median of the creator's latest 30 videos	Views, velocity and performance vs the channel's usual baseline (formula not public)
MCP server	Yes: MCP on every plan, the free one too (OAuth or API key)	Yes: Every plan, Free too; most research tools 5 credits per call
Channel tools (SEO, coach, thumbnails)	No: No: HookTrend only finds outliers	Yes: Yes, 30+ tools

TikTok: HookTrend
Yes: Yes, half of the library
vidIQ
No: No (only a free trending-sounds tool)
YouTube: HookTrend
Partly: Shorts
vidIQ
Yes: Yes, its core (Instagram as a feature too)
Free plan: HookTrend
Yes: Yes: 50 credits a month, no card
vidIQ
Yes: Yes: 150 AI credits a month
Paid plans: HookTrend
$29 and $99 a month
vidIQ
Boost $19/month ($199/year); MAX $49/month ($468/year)
Outliers on the free plan: HookTrend
Every library tool, 25 reads a day
vidIQ
Up to 6 videos per search
How a video is scored: HookTrend
× usual: views ÷ the median of the creator's latest 30 videos
vidIQ
Views, velocity and performance vs the channel's usual baseline (formula not public)
MCP server: HookTrend
Yes: MCP on every plan, the free one too (OAuth or API key)
vidIQ
Yes: Every plan, Free too; most research tools 5 credits per call
Channel tools (SEO, coach, thumbnails): HookTrend
No: No: HookTrend only finds outliers
vidIQ
Yes: Yes, 30+ tools

Where each one wins

vidIQ fits if

Your main channel is on YouTube.
You want SEO, titles, thumbnails and a coach in one tool.
You already use it and Outliers is enough.

HookTrend fits if

You publish on TikTok, or TikTok and Shorts.
You only need to know what's breaking out in your niche.
You want an explained metric you can check.

Why people pick HookTrend

TikTok and YouTube Shorts
The library is short-form first: what breaks out on TikTok sits next to what breaks out on Shorts.
One number, explained
× usual = views ÷ the median of their latest 30 videos. The same in the app, the MCP and these pages. Person creators only.
Your AI, from the free plan
Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor answer with HookTrend data for $0, and nothing paid runs without your OK.

A YouTube suite vs one job

vidIQ does many things for a YouTube channel: keywords, titles, an AI coach, thumbnails, short clips. Outliers is one feature among them, and its free plan shows up to 6 videos per search.

HookTrend does one: tell you which videos are breaking out in your niche and how far they beat their creator's usual, on TikTok and Shorts. If you need the other channel tools, vidIQ has them and HookTrend doesn't.

Using both

Many people keep both: vidIQ for the YouTube channel and HookTrend for what's working on TikTok and Shorts. Both connect to the same AI, so you can ask each one what it knows best.

Questions

Does vidIQ work with TikTok?

Not as a research platform on its public pages. It has a free trending TikTok sounds tool. HookTrend covers TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

Do both have a free plan with an MCP?

Yes. vidIQ's MCP is on every plan including Free, and so is HookTrend's.

How does vidIQ compute its outlier score?

Its page says it's based on views, velocity and performance vs the channel's usual baseline. The exact formula isn't public. HookTrend uses views ÷ the median of the creator's latest 30 videos.

Sources

Competitor facts are from their public pages, checked on 2026-11-15. Prices change: check their site before you buy. Spotted a mistake? Write to hello@hooked.so and we'll fix it.

See what's breaking out in your niche

Ask your AI. HookTrend answers with real videos and how far each one beat its creator's usual.