Free & Accurate Google Keyword Planner Alternative

What is Google Keyword Planner?

Google Keyword Planner (formerly known as Google Keyword Tool) is a free tool that's part of the Google Ads suite. Its primary purpose is to help you find the right keywords for your Google Ads campaigns.

Keyword Planner’s core features have remained largely unchanged since its launch in 2013. However, it was redesigned in early 2018, with a few new features added.

Can Google Keyword Planner be used for SEO?

Google Keyword Planner (GKP) is a powerful tool widely used by both PPC specialists and SEOs. It offers valuable data that many other tools can’t match.

Although it's primarily a PPC tool, it's often used for SEO purposes—mainly because it's free and provides high-quality keyword suggestions directly from Google.

As of today, Google Keyword Planner provides the following data:

• Monthly search volumes or ranges
• Historical search volumes from up to 2014
• Mobile search volumes
• Keyword ideas based on your main seed keyword
• Competition in Google Ads
• Suggested bids
• Ad impression share
• Forecasts for impressions and clicks based on your bids
• Forecasts for locations and devices
• Organic average position and impression share

That said, much of the data listed above is not particularly useful for SEO, as it pertains specifically to paid advertising.

Additionally, there are two major limitations to using Google Keyword Planner for SEO:

1. Google Keyword Planner is not made for SEO

Google Keyword Planner wasn’t designed as a keyword research tool for SEO. Its primary purpose is to assist with paid search campaigns in Google Ads.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use it for SEO purposes—but you won’t get as many insights or features as you would from a tool specifically focused on search engine optimization.

For instance, the “Competition” column in the Google Keyword Planner keyword list refers to PPC competition, not organic search competition (often known as Keyword Difficulty).

Not only is the “Competition” data irrelevant for SEO, but you also miss out on the SEO difficulty estimates that dedicated keyword research tools provide.

2. Google Keyword Planner is not 100% free

Google Keyword Planner doesn’t show all available data unless you have active campaigns—and that means spending money.

What does this mean in practice?

Since 2016, exact keyword search volumes have only been available to users who spend a certain amount on Google Ads.

No one knows the exact threshold, but generally, you’ll gain access to precise data if you spend at least $100 per month.

Without sufficient spending, you’ll only see broad search volume ranges, such as:

• 0
• 1–100
• 100–1K
• 1K–10K
• 10K–100K
• 100K–1M
• 1M+

In other words, if you want to use Google Keyword Planner to view search volumes, it will be useless unless you have active campaigns.

What is the best Google Keyword Planner alternative?

There are some free keyword research tools that are arguably better than Google Keyword Planner—if not in terms of data, then at least in terms of user experience and ease of use.

Professional keyword research tools, on the other hand, offer far more data and features specifically tailored to SEO needs.

Keyword research is about much more than just finding new keyword ideas. You need access to accurate data, the ability to evaluate keyword difficulty, and tools to analyze competitors and the actual SERP.

Let’s take a look at KWFinder features - one of the best Keyword Planner alternatives.

a) Exact search volumes

With KWFinder, you get exact search volume data for any keyword. Since 2016, Google Keyword Planner has stopped showing precise data to users who don’t spend enough on ads.

So, why spend extra money just to unlock exact search volumes—when you could get that plus the powerful features of one of the most popular keyword research tools on the market?

Try it out by running your first keyword search. Here’s what you’ll get:

• Exact search volumes — even for close variant keywords
• Historical search data and Google Trends charts
• Average CPC and PPC competition level
• The most accurate keyword difficulty score available
• Google SERP analysis with key SEO metrics
• Unlimited keyword suggestions (based on your subscription plan)

b) Accurate keyword difficulty and SEO metrics

One of the most important metrics is keyword difficulty. It estimates how hard it is to rank on the first page of Google (the first SERP) for a given keyword.

The higher the value, the more competitive the keyword, and the harder it is to outrank existing results.

Don’t be misled by the “Competition” score in Google Keyword Planner. Many people mistakenly believe it's an SEO competition score, but that's not the case. The competition level in GKP refers to Google Ads competition. It does not indicate how difficult it is to rank organically for a keyword.

When it comes to valuable SEO metrics such as KD (keyword difficulty), you’ll find them on the right side of the KWFinder interface.

Historical search volumes and search trend data going back to 2014 can help you identify seasonal keywords—allowing you to plan and publish content at the right time.

Another powerful feature is SERP analysis, which helps you determine whether you’ve chosen the right keyword. You’ll be able to assess the authority and popularity of the URLs ranking on the first SERP—your direct competitors.

c) Local SERP data for more than 50k locations

Doing local SEO with KWFinder is incredibly easy.

You can choose from over 50,000 locations worldwide, including countries, states, counties, departments, regions, DMA regions, and cities.

Types of locations available in KWFinder:

• Cities (e.g., London, Perth, Boston, Paris)
• Regions / DMA regions (e.g., Bratislava Region, Los Angeles DMA)
• Counties / Departments (e.g., North Yorkshire County, Paris Île-de-France Department)
• States (e.g., New South Wales, Kansas, British Columbia)
• Countries (e.g., USA, Germany, Australia)

What’s more, KWFinder always displays the SERP for the selected location.

As mentioned earlier, SERP analysis is a crucial part of keyword research—and it’s one of the many features you won’t find in Google Keyword Planner.

d) Import up to 840,000 keywords daily!

Do you have your own list of keywords to analyze? You can easily import it into KWFinder. Each import counts as one request.

Depending on your plan, you can import up to 700 keywords up to 1,200 times a day, which totals 840,000 keywords per day!

You can import your keywords by typing them in, uploading a file, or simply dragging and dropping a file into the import area.

e) Competitor-based keyword research

This is something Google Keyword Planner can’t do at all. Digging through tons of related keyword ideas can be time-consuming.

So, how about stealing the top-performing keywords from your competitors by analyzing their domain or exact URL instead?

This feature is designed to do the heavy lifting for you. You’ll get a list of keywords that your competitor ranks for on the first page of Google (the 1st SERP).

In other words, you'll instantly see the keywords driving the most organic traffic to their website.

How cool is that? All the features and metrics mentioned above—including SERP analysis—are at your disposal.

With the combination of keyword-based and competitor-based keyword research in KWFinder, you have everything you need to optimize your website and attract more organic traffic.

f) Many other useful features

In addition to the features mentioned above, using KWFinder gives you access to:

• Creating an unlimited number of keyword lists
• Exporting results to a CSV file
• Filters to exclude keywords you're not interested in
• Google Suggest integration with the Autocomplete and Questions features