The present invention provides a rubber composition and a pneumatic tire using the rubber composition. A rubber composition comprises silica in an amount of 10 to 85 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of natural rubber and/or diene synthetic rubbers. A polysulfide silane coupling agent having a specific distribution of sulfur reacts with a trivalent phosphorus compound such that a content of high polysulfide in the polysulfide silane coupling agent is reduced. The rubber composition further comprises 1 to 20% by weight, based on an amount of the silica, of the polysulfide silane coupling agent having a specific distribution of sulfur such that a content of high polysulfide component is small. The pneumatic tire has an excellent low heat buildup property.