To provide a rubber composition for a tire enabling to improve grip performance, blowout-resisting performance and anti-wear performance with good balance; and a pneumatic tire using the same.

This rubber composition for a tire includes an acid and a nitrogen compound and/or at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an organic carboxylic acid metal salt, thiocarboxylate and phosphate, and a compound expressed by formula (I); where in 100 mass% of the compound expressed by formula (I), the content of compound with n=2 is 2 mass% or more, and the content of compound with n=3 is 2 mass% or more. In formula (I), A represents a 1-15C hydrocarbon group; R¹ and R² are the same or different, and are each an alkyl-substituted amino group, or cyclic amino group; n denotes an integer of 1 to 12; x¹ and x² are the same or different, and are each an integer of 1 to 12.