Trend radar for developers & founders

Catch what's emerging before it peaks.

Signalcrest scores real momentum across Hacker News, GitHub, Stack Overflow, npm, Hugging Face, Dev.to, Lobsters, Product Hunt, arXiv and crypto governance forums — filtering hype from signal, while search-trend tools are still catching up.

Track a keyword free See the live feed

Sources: Hacker News · GitHub · Stack Overflow · npm · Hugging Face · Dev.to · Lobsters · Product Hunt · arXiv · Crypto gov forums

You're always late.

By the time a trend hits Google Trends or Exploding Topics, you're already behind — the early builders shipped, the good domains are gone, the narrative is set. Search-trend tools show you yesterday's momentum and leave you to guess what's real.

Watch where trends start.

Signalcrest watches developer and builder communities — where trends actually begin — and scores momentum the moment it accelerates. Cross-source corroboration separates a real movement from one loud thread, and every signal comes with a plain-English read.

Rising right now

See the full feed →

Flagged early. Climbing now.

Live receipts from our own feed — when we first flagged each signal, and where it is today.

First flagged 1 day ago

zai-org/GLM-5.3-Flash (text-generation)

Peaking · score 69 · 2 sources

First flagged 41 days ago

@ai-sdk/openai — The [OpenAI provider](https://ai-sdk.dev/providers/ai-sdk-providers/openai) for the [AI SDK](https://ai-sdk.dev/docs) c

Peaking · score 68 · 2 sources

First flagged 3 days ago

24 August, 2026 - Roundup of Active/Upcoming Votes

Heating · score 67

How it works

Read the full methodology →

We watch the leading edge

Ten developer and builder communities, ingested every 30 minutes — where trends actually start.

We score real momentum

Velocity + acceleration + cross-source spread. A topic only ranks when independent communities agree — the anti-hype filter.

You act early

Track niches, get real-time alerts, and read a plain-English 'why it matters' on every signal.

Why Signalcrest

✓

Leading, not lagging

Community signals move before search data. You're early — not reading yesterday's news.

✓

Signal, not noise

One viral post isn't a trend. We require cross-source proof before anything ranks.

✓

Action, not just discovery

Every signal tells you why it matters and where it came from — not just a graph.

✓

Priced for builders

Real-time from $24/mo — not $99+. Founding members get 40% off year one.

For technical teams

The trend API that doesn't cost $1,000/mo

Exploding Topics charges $1,000/month for 1,000 API requests — after you've paid for their $249/month plan. Signalcrest starts at $19/month for 2,000 requests on Relay, or 10,000 requests/month at $99 on Radar: scored signals, lifecycle stages, and cross-source spread, fresh every 30 minutes.

Same key, same quota: Signalcrest speaks MCP, so Claude Code, Cursor, and anything else that does can query the feed without leaving your editor. Free MCP servers hand an agent a raw Hacker News or GitHub Trending list. This one returns scored signals — cross-source spread, lifecycle stage, and the five weighted terms behind every number — so your agent gets a ranking it can defend, not a list it has to interpret.

Get API access

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \
  "https://www.signalcrest.app/api/v1/signals?category=ai"

{ "signals": [{
    "title": "…",
    "signal_score": 87,
    "lifecycle": "Heating",
    "source_spread": 3,
    "summary": "why it matters…"
}]}

…or wire it into your editor

claude mcp add --transport http signalcrest \
  https://www.signalcrest.app/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer sk_..."

Questions

How is this different from Exploding Topics / Glimpse?

They read Google-search trends, which lag. We read leading community signals and score cross-source momentum, so you catch trends earlier — and we tell you why each one matters.

Where does the data come from?

Hacker News, GitHub, Stack Overflow, npm, Hugging Face, Dev.to, Lobsters, Product Hunt, arXiv, and crypto governance forums — ingested every 30 minutes and scored for real momentum.

Is the free plan actually useful?

Yes — the top 5 live signals in full (no delay), one tracked niche, and a weekly digest. Paid plans unlock the whole feed plus more niches, alerts, history, search, export, and API.

Who's it for?

Indie hackers picking their next project, founders watching a market, investors scouting, and content teams who need to be first.

How much does the API cost?

Two ways in: Relay is $19/mo for 2,000 requests, and Radar is $99/mo for 10,000. For comparison, Exploding Topics' API starts at $1,000/mo for 1,000 requests — on top of their $249/mo plan.

Can I use it from Claude Code or Cursor?

Yes. Signalcrest runs a remote MCP server at https://www.signalcrest.app/api/mcp with four tools: list_signals (what's climbing right now), get_topic (one signal's full history), list_entities (the technologies themselves, ranked) and get_entity (one entity with the items behind it). Add it with your API key as a Bearer token and ask what's emerging without leaving your editor. Relay ($19/mo) is the cheapest way in at 2,000 requests/month; Radar includes 10,000. The REST API and MCP share one key and one quota — one tool call is one request.

Be early for once.

Track a niche free, or go real-time from $24/mo. Founding members get 40% off year one with FOUNDER.

Start free See plans