# Google Keyword Planner alternatives

Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account, and it was built for advertisers rather than for you. Without spend it shows volume as ranges, it says nothing about how hard a search is to win, and it groups close variants into one line. This page covers the free alternatives that fix each of those, the paid ones worth their subscription, and the method that needs no tool at all.

Updated 2026-09-15 · Source: https://porteur.ai/alternatives/google-keyword-planner-alternatives

## Why people look for an alternative

Nothing is wrong with Keyword Planner. It is an advertising tool doing its job, and the job is not yours.

- Volume arrives as a range rather than a figure unless the account is spending on ads.
- There is no difficulty score, so nothing tells you whether a search is winnable by a site like yours.
- Close variants are grouped, so "invoicing app" and "invoice app" can arrive as one row and you lose the distinction.
- It knows nothing about who currently ranks, which is the part that decides whether to write the page.
- It requires a Google Ads account, which is a detour if you never intend to advertise.

> Every volume anywhere is an estimate, including Google's own. Use figures to rank searches against each other, never as a forecast of your traffic.

## The criteria that decide it

- Exact figures or ranges: can you tell 90 from 900.
- Difficulty: does anything estimate how contested the search is.
- Questions: does it surface the phrasing people actually type.
- Your own data: does it tell you what you already appear for, which no keyword tool can invent.
- Cost: free, free tier, or a subscription you will keep paying.

## The free alternatives, by what they fix

1. **Search Console, for the searches you already appear on** The Performance report lists the queries that showed one of your pages, with impressions, clicks and average position. No keyword tool knows this about your site, and it is the only list where you are already in the race.
2. **Bing Webmaster Tools, for free volumes** Its keyword research is free and gives volumes rather than ranges. Bing is not Google, so the figures describe a smaller market, but the relative order of searches is usually instructive.
3. **Autocomplete and People also ask, for the phrasing** Type your term into Google and read the completions, then read the questions on the results page. That is real demand in people's own words, without a tool between you and it.
4. **Google Trends, for direction** Relative interest over time, which answers whether a term is rising or fading. It gives no absolute volume, and that is fine for the question it answers.
5. **A browser extension, for volumes while you browse** Keywords Everywhere shows volumes on the results page as you search. Useful when research happens while you read rather than in a spreadsheet.

For questions specifically, AnswerThePublic draws autocomplete suggestions as wheels of questions and prepositions, and AlsoAsked maps the People also ask tree several levels deep, both with small free allowances.

## The paid alternatives, by need

- One site, small budget, you want figures and a difficulty score: Mangools, whose KWFinder gives keyword research with a difficulty score and sits in a suite of five small tools.
- You want breadth: Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool for large idea sets beside tracking, audits and competitive research.
- You want the link-led view of a query: Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, whose difficulty is built from the links of the pages that rank.
- You want beginner-friendly and cheap: Ubersuggest, with a free daily allowance and smaller data than the large suites.
- You want the questions mapped: AlsoAsked or AnswerThePublic, which are not volume tools and do not pretend to be.

> Two tools will disagree about the same search. Each models Google Ads data, clickstream panels and its own corrections. Pick one and stay in it, so at least your numbers are consistent with each other.

## Side by side

| Tool | Volume | Difficulty | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Google Keyword Planner | Ranges without ad spend | No | Free with a Google Ads account |
| Google Search Console | Your impressions and clicks, not volume | No | Free |
| Bing Webmaster Tools | Figures, for Bing's market | No | Free |
| Mangools KWFinder | Figures | Yes | Subscription, small-team pricing |
| Semrush | Figures, large idea sets | Yes | Subscription, suite |
| Ahrefs | Figures, link-led difficulty | Yes | Subscription, suite |
| Ubersuggest | Figures, smaller data | Yes | Free allowance, then paid |
| AlsoAsked and AnswerThePublic | No | No | Small free allowance |

## The method that needs no tool

For a product site with fewer than a hundred pages, this is usually enough, and it is better research than a spreadsheet of volumes.

1. **List the jobs, not the keywords** Write the ten things a buyer wants to do with your product, in their words. "Send an invoice from my phone", not "invoicing solutions".
2. **Ask autocomplete to finish them** Type each job into Google and record the completions. You now have the real phrasings, ranked roughly by popularity.
3. **Read the results page for each** What ranks tells you the intent: ten product pages means people are buying, ten guides means people are learning, ten lists means people are choosing.
4. **Check your own report** In Search Console, look for the same phrasings. Anything with impressions and a position between 5 and 15 is a page you can improve rather than write.
5. **Size it once, at the end** Only now open a volume tool, if you have one, to order the shortlist. The decision was already made by intent and by what you can win.

## What each gives up

- Search Console: no volumes, and nothing about queries you have never appeared on.
- Bing Webmaster Tools: figures from a smaller market than Google's.
- Autocomplete and the results page: no numbers at all, only order and intent.
- The small suites: less data than the large ones, which matters more for rivals than for your own planning.
- The large suites: a subscription that renews whether or not you opened it this month.

We make Porteur, which is not a keyword tool: it is a report bought once that reads a site and names the searches around it, who holds them, and which are within reach, so you can skip the spreadsheet stage entirely on a small site.

## The tools compared

### Google Search Console

Reporting the queries your site already appeared on, with impressions, clicks and average position. (search.google.com/search-console)

Good at: The only source of your own search data; Finding searches you nearly rank for; Free with a verified property; 16 months of history; Queries no keyword tool would have suggested.

Choose it when Always, first, before any paid keyword tool. It is the list where you are already in the race.

Not for: Search volumes, difficulty, or any query your site has never appeared on.

### Bing Webmaster Tools

Free webmaster reporting for Bing's index, including keyword research with volumes and a backlink view. (bing.com/webmasters)

Good at: Free keyword volumes rather than ranges; A one-click import from Search Console; Backlinks with a rival comparison; IndexNow for fast submission; Covering the index behind Copilot and part of the others.

Choose it when You want figures without a subscription and without a Google Ads account.

Not for: Google-specific volumes, which are a different and larger market.

### Mangools

A suite of five small tools for beginners and small teams: keyword research with difficulty, results page analysis, rank tracking, backlinks and site profiles. (mangools.com)

Good at: Keyword figures with a difficulty score; A readable interface for people who dislike suites; Rank tracking on a compact list; Question and long-tail ideas; Small-team scale.

Choose it when You want a real figure and a difficulty estimate without buying a large suite.

Not for: Deep competitive research or large-scale crawling.

### Semrush

A broad suite where the Keyword Magic Tool sits beside tracking, audits, backlinks and competitive research. (semrush.com)

Good at: Very large keyword idea sets; Intent and grouping on those ideas; Rival keyword research; Position tracking beside the research; One subscription for many jobs.

Choose it when Keyword research is one of several jobs you do weekly and you want them in one place.

Not for: A founder who needs twenty searches sized once a quarter.

### Porteur

A growth report bought once that reads a site, the searches around it and the rivals on them, with a free check first. (porteur.ai)

Good at: Naming the searches a specific site could win; Showing who holds each search today; Turning research into an ordered list of pages; A free check with no card; Nothing to renew.

Choose it when You want the shortlist decided for your site rather than a spreadsheet of volumes to sort yourself.

Not for: Exploring keyword ideas at volume, tracking positions, or research on sites that are not yours.

**Verdict.** If you left Keyword Planner because the ranges were useless, the free fix is Bing Webmaster Tools for figures and Search Console for the searches you already appear on. If you want a difficulty score without a large subscription, Mangools is the smallest sensible buy; Semrush and Ahrefs are worth it only when research is a weekly job rather than a quarterly one. On a site under a hundred pages, the jobs-then-autocomplete-then-results-page method beats all of them, because it ends in intent rather than in a number.

## Questions

### Why does Keyword Planner show ranges instead of numbers?

It is an advertising tool. Accounts that are not spending on ads see grouped ranges rather than precise figures. Running a small campaign unlocks finer numbers, which is a real cost for a figure you can approximate free elsewhere.

### Is there a truly free keyword research tool?

Yes, several, with trade-offs. Search Console is free and shows your own queries. Bing Webmaster Tools is free and gives volumes for Bing's market. Autocomplete, People also ask and Google Trends cost nothing and answer phrasing and direction rather than volume.

### Why do two tools give different volumes for the same search?

Each models the same underlying demand differently, from Google Ads data, clickstream panels and its own corrections. Treat every figure as an estimate, compare searches inside one tool, and never mix numbers from two tools in one table.

### Do I need volumes at all for a small site?

Rarely. Intent and winnability decide more than demand on a site with few pages: a search with modest volume that your page can actually win beats a large one held by three established sites. Use volume to order a shortlist you built another way.

### Can I do keyword research without a Google account?

You can read the results pages, autocomplete and People also ask without one. Search Console needs a verified property, and Keyword Planner needs a Google Ads account, which is the detour most people are trying to avoid.

## Read next

- [The best keyword research tools, free and paid, by what you need](https://porteur.ai/guides/best-keyword-research-tools): Choose a keyword research tool by what you need: free ways first, beginner picks, full suites, question tools, and a no‑tool method that still works.
- [Keyword research without a paid tool: five free sources that are enough](https://porteur.ai/guides/keyword-research-without-tools): Do keyword research for free with Search Console, Google’s own pages, rivals’ sites and Bing volumes. A simple method, a worked example, clear steps.
- [Keyword search volume: where the number comes from and how far to trust it](https://porteur.ai/guides/keyword-search-volume): What search volume really is, how tools make the number, where it misleads, and how to use it to rank pages against each other, not as a forecast.
- [Keyword research with Google autocomplete: the method and its limits](https://porteur.ai/guides/google-autocomplete-keyword-research): Use Google autocomplete to find real queries, sort by intent, and turn them into pages. Learn the letter-by-letter method, switches, and the limits.
- [Keyword research from Search Console alone](https://porteur.ai/guides/search-console-for-keyword-research): Use Search Console alone to find queries you already earn, gaps with impressions and no page, long questions, and pages that compete. Build a plan.
- [Search volume](https://porteur.ai/glossary/search-volume): Search volume is a provider’s monthly estimate of how often a query is searched, and you use it to compare keywords, not to forecast traffic.
- [Surfer SEO alternatives: content optimisation tools and what they measure](https://porteur.ai/alternatives/surfer-seo-alternatives): Content scoring tools compare your draft with the pages that rank. Here are the alternatives by need, the free method, and the risk of writing to a score.
- [Keyword volume checker](https://porteur.ai/tools/keyword-volume-checker): Paste up to twenty search terms and get the monthly searches for each in one of six markets, sorted, totalled, and ready to copy as CSV. No account, no card.

Skip the spreadsheet for a moment: paste your URL and the free check names the searches around your site, who holds them, and three findings worth your next hour. Free check: https://porteur.ai/