Comparison · SEO
Best keyword research tools on a budget
Six tools, honest pricing, and which free tiers are genuinely usable versus which are just a teaser.
- 6 tools compared
- Real prices
- Free-tier honesty check
Best keyword research tools on a budget: which one should you pick?
Six tools, honest pricing, and which free tiers are genuinely usable versus which are just a teaser. Google Keyword Planner is the pick for A genuinely free starting point at Free (Google Ads account required, no spend needed). We compare 6 options — Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs and others — on price and who each one suits. Prices are list prices as of 2026; check the vendor page before buying.
Last updated 3 August 2026
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Google Keyword Planner | A genuinely free starting point | Free (Google Ads account required, no spend needed) |
| Ubersuggest | Solo founders wanting a cheap all-rounder | Free limited searches a day, paid from about $12 a month |
| Ahrefs | Teams serious about SEO as a channel | From about $29 a month (Starter plan) |
| Semrush | Teams wanting keyword research plus broader marketing data | From about $139.95 a month (7-day free trial) |
| AnswerThePublic | Finding question-based long-tail keywords fast | Free limited searches a day, paid from about $5 a month |
| Keywords Everywhere | Founders who want volume data inline while browsing | From about $10 for 100,000 credits (pay-as-you-go) |
Keyword research tools all pull from broadly similar underlying data (Google's own numbers plus clickstream estimates), so the differences that matter on a budget are how much you get for free, how accurate the volume and difficulty estimates are for smaller, less-searched terms, and whether you can actually export data without hitting a paywall.
For an early-stage startup, you rarely need the full suite — you need enough keyword ideas and a rough sense of difficulty to prioritise ten blog posts. Below is what each tool gives you at the price you'd actually pay.
How we judged them
What matters when you're small.
Usable free tier vs a locked demo
Some 'free' tools show you three results and paywall the rest. Check how many keywords and how much data you actually get before paying anything.
Accuracy on long-tail and low-volume terms
Startups usually need to rank for specific, lower-volume terms first. Tools optimised for high-volume head terms can be less reliable here — cross-check estimates across two tools before trusting them.
Export limits
Even paid plans sometimes cap CSV exports per month. If you're doing a big content-planning sprint, check the export cap matches your workload.
Competitor keyword gap analysis
Seeing what competitors rank for that you don't is often more useful early on than raw keyword brainstorming — check whether this feature exists on the affordable tier.
The picks
What each one is actually good at.
Google Keyword Planner
Free (Google Ads account required, no spend needed)Best for: A genuinely free starting point
Real Google data at no cost, but volumes are bucketed into ranges rather than exact numbers unless you're running active ad spend. Good for a first pass, not precise enough alone.
Ubersuggest
Free limited searches a day, paid from about $12 a monthBest for: Solo founders wanting a cheap all-rounder
The cheapest paid option with genuinely useful volume, difficulty and content ideas. Data accuracy is a notch below Ahrefs or Semrush, which is fine for early-stage prioritisation.
Ahrefs
From about $29 a month (Starter plan)Best for: Teams serious about SEO as a channel
The most trusted data in the industry and the Starter plan is genuinely usable, not a stripped demo. Full competitor analysis and larger keyword exports need the pricier Standard tier and up.
Semrush
From about $139.95 a month (7-day free trial)Best for: Teams wanting keyword research plus broader marketing data
Extremely comprehensive, but the entry price is steep for a budget-conscious startup and there's no genuinely usable free tier past the trial. Worth it once SEO plus paid plus competitor tracking all matter together.
AnswerThePublic
Free limited searches a day, paid from about $5 a monthBest for: Finding question-based long-tail keywords fast
Great for a quick brainstorm of the actual questions people ask, less useful for volume and difficulty data. Best used alongside a proper keyword tool, not instead of one.
Keywords Everywhere
From about $10 for 100,000 credits (pay-as-you-go)Best for: Founders who want volume data inline while browsing
A cheap browser extension showing volume and CPC directly in Google search results and on competitor sites. Not a research tool in its own right, but a genuinely useful cheap add-on to any workflow.
Skip
What we'd leave alone.
- 'Free forever' keyword tools that require an email and then paywall every useful number behind a signup for a trial you have to cancel manually.
- Any tool claiming exact search volumes with no range or confidence indicator — real search volume data is always an estimate.
- Paying for the most expensive tier of a big suite (Ahrefs, Semrush) before you've published enough content to need the advanced tracking features.
Questions
Common questions.
Is free keyword data accurate enough to plan content around?
Good enough to prioritise between ten topic ideas. Not precise enough to promise a client an exact ranking outcome — treat all volume numbers as directional.
Do I need Ahrefs or Semrush from day one?
No. Start with Google Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest, and only move to Ahrefs once you're publishing regularly and need to track rankings and backlinks properly.
What's the difference between search volume and keyword difficulty?
Volume is how many searches a term gets monthly; difficulty is an estimate of how hard it is to rank on page one, based on the strength of currently-ranking pages. You want decent volume with achievable difficulty for your site's current authority.
Can I trust a single tool's difficulty score?
Not entirely — each tool calculates difficulty differently. Cross-check a shortlist of target keywords across two tools before committing serious content effort.
Is Keywords Everywhere worth it as an add-on?
Yes if you spend a lot of time manually searching Google and want quick volume context without switching tabs — the pay-as-you-go pricing means it costs very little for occasional use.
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