A Study of 1,000 “Alternatives” Keywords [2026 Update]

• Reddit is the #3 most visible website across the SERPs, with 499 occurrences out of the 9,610 search engine results we examined – 5.19% of the total results.
• A staggering 74.10% of the keywords don’t display an AI Overview feature.
• An impressive 81.80% of the keywords don’t display a Discussions and Forums feature.
• 75.50% of the keywords have a Related Questions (AKA People Also Ask) section in the search results.
• 6 of the top 20 most visible websites are software review websites like G2, Capterra, and GetApp.
• Quora is also in the top 20 most visible websites (#16), with 79 occurrences, which account for 0.82% of the total results.
• ClickUp is the only SaaS company with high visibility among the search results, with 63 occurrences, which account for 0.66% of the total results.
• Average Search Volume of 128.8 means that these are not high-volume keywords.
• Average Keyword Difficulty of 17.1 suggests that there is not much competition for these keywords.
• Average CPC of $14.70 implies that there is high commercial intent behind the keywords.

• For the study, we compiled a list of 1,000 alternative keywords that weren’t based on publicly available lists or any criteria (e.g., revenue, team size, etc.).
• We define ‘alternatives keywords’ as any keyword (in its plural form) that follows the pattern ‘{company name} alternatives.’
• The main tools we used were a search engine results scraping API, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Google Collab for managing data extraction and certain calculations.
• Our data is available in a Google Sheet that served as the main worksheet for conducting the study and performing certain calculations.
• We didn’t focus on the content of the ranking websites mainly due to crawling limitations (e.g., blocked through robots.txt) that could affect the quality of our data.
• Even though the data is accurate as of publishing this study, there may be discrepancies since Google search results are dynamic and personalized.
• We focused on the top 10 search results in English for searches performed in the US and tried to perform fresh searches and not rely on cached data.
• Certain brand names used in the study may have changed or be obsolete due to rebranding, an acquisition, or other reasons. For example, ‘ConvertKit’ was recently rebranded to ‘Kit.’
• Even though we manually double-checked a few results for accuracy, we can’t guarantee there are no discrepancies due to various reasons (e.g., false choice of API endpoints).

We analyzed 9,610 search results belonging to these 1,000 “alternatives” keywords.

Here are the top 20 websites most commonly found in the SERPs.

Review and comparison platforms

It comes as no surprise that review and comparison platforms such as G2, Capterra, and similar dominate the search results for “alternatives” keywords.

Here are the top review websites and their share of the search results.

1. G2 (8.78%)
2. Capterra (6.36%)
3. TrustRadius (4.75%)
4. Software Advice (3.28%)
5. GetApp (2.14%)
6. Software Reviews (0.57%)

Our prediction is that peer feedback will become even more important in software and other product selection in the future.

This is further highlighted in our next finding.

Community and discussion platforms

Two years ago, in the previous iteration of this study, Reddit was nowhere to be found.

Today, Reddit is the third most visible domain in the search results for “alternatives” keywords with a whopping 5.19% share, right underneath G2 and Capterra.

Other community-driven platforms found in the top 20 results are:

• Slashdot (3.15%)
• Quora (0.82%)

Clearly, users are increasingly more interested in authentic, real-world experiences and discussions about products and their comparisons.

Tech and industry insight websites

Industry analysis, market trends, and competitive insight websites also have a big presence in the top 20 websites across all search results.

They include the following (with their share percentages):

• Gartner (4.96%)
• CB Insights (3.41%)
• Tracxn (1.33%)
• Craft.co (0.67%)

One (1) SaaS platform

Let’s be real – rare is a SaaS tool that doesn’t incorporate “[product] alternative” pages into their content strategy.

It might sound discouraging when we say that the list of top 20 websites for these keywords includes only one SaaS platform – ClickUp, coming in at number 18 with 0.66% shares of search results.

Does that mean SaaS companies should stop creating this type of content altogether?

No.

Despite the near-non-existent presence of SaaS platforms in our list, “alternatives” pages still have a place in a SaaS content strategy.

Here’s why:

• By openly comparing your product with competitors, you demonstrate transparency and build trust with potential customers – but only if your content doesn’t come off as generic or overly salesy.
• Alternatives pages can be tailored to address specific use cases and scenarios that resonate with different segments of your target audience. This doubtlessly captures a smaller portion of traffic, but what it does capture is high-intent, high-quality traffic.
• Even if they don’t rank at all, “alternatives” pages can still serve as valuable resources for your sales and customer service teams. They can be quick reference guides during sales pitches and customer interactions, helping to close deals and provide support.

But does that mean it’s time to start investing in other types of content that will reach and retain a larger audience?

Absolutely.

Exploring content options like video, podcasts, original content, newsletters, and more can foster deeper connections with your audience and address their needs more effectively.

We would be remiss if we didn’t look at the most common search metrics for our 1,000 “alternatives” keywords.

Here’s what we found:

The average search volume being lower than 150 searches per month is consistent with the fact that these are not high-volume keywords.

They are used only by users who know their problem and potential solutions well and are specifically looking for the right products – very high-intent keywords.

At 17.1, the average KD is relatively low. Understandably, not many websites target these keywords and it can be easier to rank for them.

Finally, a CPC of $14.70 is quite high, implying that there is high commercial intent behind the keywords.

This makes sense, since, in this stage, users are interested in switching to or adopting a new SaaS product. This intent makes the keywords valuable for advertisers, hence the higher CPC.

Since May 2024 and the launch of AI Overviews in the United States, many have been quick to declare that “SEO is dead” and that Google SERPs will be forever changed.

Our research proves otherwise.

Out of the 1,000 “alternatives” keywords, only about a quarter (25.90%) include AI-generated overviews in their search results.

74.10% of keywords have the same non-AI search results as they always had.

What does this mean?

It means that, while AI is slowly creeping into SERPs, it is still far from a dominant feature for this specific type of keyword.

SEO is still very much alive, and it will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.

In 2022, Google introduced the Discussions and Forums SERP feature which once again favors community-driven content.

Out of our 1,000 “alternatives” keywords, here’s how often this section showed up in the search results:

• 18.20% with Discussions and Forums
• 81.80% without Discussions and Forums

Less than a fifth of the search results included the section.

However, when we consider this together with Reddit’s overwhelming presence in the SERPs, we go back to our previously-mentioned broader trend – that users increasingly seek advice and insights from real people who have first-hand experience with the products they are considering.

Content-wise, the People Also Ask SERP feature is a goldmine for being featured in the SERPs even if your page isn’t ranking by itself.

Our research uncovered that 75.50% of “alternatives” keyword SERPs include the People Also Ask section, while 24.50% do not.

To understand why this is important, let’s quickly explain the main mechanism behind this section.

Contrary to popular belief, People Also Ask isn’t just a list of frequently searched questions.

Instead, here’s how it works:

1. Google’s crawl bot scans web pages for relevant questions and answers that could help users with their queries.
2. The algorithm selects suitable questions and pairs them with concise answers extracted from the pages it crawls.
3. Each question-answer pair includes a link to the source page, providing an opportunity for visibility even if the page does not rank in the top 10 search results.

If your content is clear and concise enough – and formatted right – it could be featured in the People Also Ask section and the SERPs.

As mentioned above, all of this data points to several key conclusions:

• Peer feedback has a critical role in the decision-making process when choosing SaaS products.
• There is a mounting preference for authentic, nuanced user-generated discussions. This preference will likely only grow in the future.
• AI Overviews have yet to make a significant impact on SERPs.

We’re looking forward to performing a similar study once again in the future and seeing how the results change with time (and shifting user behaviors).

Thank you for reading!