10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools That Will Dominate in 2025

SUMMARY: You could write the most amazing blog post in the world… but what if no one finds it? That’s where keyword research, the SEO superhero comes in. In this guide, we rounded up the top 10 keyword research tools, from classics like Google Keyword Planner to clever AI-powered tools like Keyword Insights. Whether you’re a blogger, business owner, or content marketer, these tools will help you get seen by the right people at the right time. From question-sourcing wizards like AnswerThePublic to traffic-chasing beasts like Semrush, we’ve got your back. Ready to turn clicks into customers? Let’s dive in!

Hey reader!

Spending hours on research, writing, and pulling off what feels like a brilliant blog post might not be enough.
If the right people don’t find your content at the right time, all that effort? It falls flat.

This is where keyword research steps in as your secret sauce.

Keyword research is a powerful strategy that connects your content to the exact audience looking for it. It’s how you get seen, how you drive targeted traffic, and how you generate real leads.

In fact, according to Intergrowth, 61% of B2B marketers say organic traffic generates more leads than any other marketing channel.

You seem serious about ranking higher, attracting the right audience, and turning your content into a lead-generating machine, you’ll definitely need the right tools.

Here’s our handpicked list of the top 10 FREE keyword research tools to help you optimize your content and get seen by people. But first:
Do we exactly know keyword research, and why is it so crucial in digital marketing today?

What is Keyword Research?

In layman’s terms, keyword research is a strategy of finding keywords related to your industry that people are searching for online. The idea is to generate content around those keywords and capture leads or drive conversions.

Keyword Research Tools

You do keyword research with the help of specific tools, mostly paid, offering a free version but with restrictions. For example, you may seek keyword research for blog posts, YouTube videos, etc.

Why Do You Need Keyword Research?

It’s simple. You need keyword research for your business because:

1. It’ll help you understand what people are searching for related to your industry or niche.
2. It’ll help you increase your organic traffic and increase your rank on search engine page results.
3. It’ll boost your content creation efforts.
4. Ultimately, it’ll help you generate leads and conversions.
5. It’ll help your business to form a base of loyal customers online.

Basic Terminologies in Keyword Research

• CPC stands for Cost Per Click. It tells you how much an advertiser will pay when someone clicks on ads.
• SD stands for SEO Difficulty. It helps you to understand how hard it is to rank a particular keyword in SERP.
• PD for Paid Difficulty. It refers to how difficult it is to rank a keyword via PPC marketing.
• SERP stands for Search Engine Results in Page, which analyses top-ranking pages for a proper keyword.
• DA stands for Domain Authority. It is a metric set by Moz. You can use it to predict a website’s ability to rank on SERPs on a scale of 100. Some tools call it Domain Score, Domain Rank, or Website Score.
• Seed Keyword is a short-tail keyword. Unlike long-tail keywords, it’s usually one to two words long and has high search volume and competition.

List Of Top 10 Keyword Research Tools

1. Google Keyword Planner

If you’re looking for a solid, no-nonsense keyword tool that’s both free and reliable, Google Keyword Planner should be your first stop. Whether you’re just getting started or already knee-deep in SEO, this tool has something for everyone.

With it, you can explore keyword ideas, check out average monthly searches, and competition levels, and even get insights into cost per click (CPC)—all straight from Google’s own data. That’s about as close to the source as it gets.

Now, here’s the catch: to unlock more precise keyword data, you’ll need to run a Google Ads campaign. But if you’re just testing the waters, you can still use it without spending a penny.

 if you’re a beginner learning the ropes, or a startup trying to keep costs down while doing solid research — this one’s a keeper.

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2. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a goldmine for keywords. Even with its free version, it offers a wealth of insights to kickstart your keyword research. User-friendly and loaded with features, now includes an AI blog writer and SEO opportunities feature. By entering a keyword or term, it displays your search volume, cost per click, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and basically everything you need to gauge how strong your keyword really is. 

Ubersuggest also shows you keywords and content ideas and lists the top websites for that particular keyword. The free version is limited to 3 searches per day. 

Further, it’s one of the cheapest SEO tools in the industry – $12/month or $120 for a lifetime subscription. You also get a 7-day free trial. 

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3. Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz needs no introduction when it comes to anything SEO-related. Moz’s keyword research tool allows you to dive deep into monthly search volumes, organic difficulty, organic click-through rate (CTR), and similar keywords for your particular keyword.

Moz’s Priority Score is a standalone feature, a way of telling you whether a keyword is worth chasing. It factors in volume, difficulty, and CTR potential to help you focus on high-impact terms.

The Search Engine Results Page shows the top blogs on any particular keyword. The free version provides up to 10 queries per month. However, you can buy Moz Pro if you need more.

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4. Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

A whopping 7,000,000 marketers have already used Semrush. And it’s no surprise they’ve been crowned Best SEO Software Suite by the UK, US, and European Search Awards multiple times over.

Yes, it’s on the pricier side, but for many marketers, it’s worth every cent. If you’re not ready to invest just yet, Semrush offers a free plan (10 searches per day) and a 7-day trial, so you can explore before you commit.

Apart from keyword volume, CPC, SEO difficulty, and paid difficulty, you get options for sorting and organizing. You can apply filters and find long-tail keywords from around 120 geographical databases.

One of its features, the Keyword Gap, makes Semrush different from other keyword research tools. With its help, you can compare against your rival to know who ranks higher in your niche. You can add up to 5 domains for comparison. 

Recently, Semrush has also integrated AI content recommendations and on-page SEO audits driven by machine learning, giving you smarter suggestions based on actual ranking data.

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5. Keyword Sheeter

Keyword Sheeter pulls 1,000 ‘auto-complete suggestions’ from Google within a minute. 

 It has now stepped up its game with a few smart AI-powered features: 

1. Keyword Difficulty Scoring, an AI-driven metric that helps users gauge how competitive a keyword is making it easier to prioritize high-opportunity terms. 

2. Estimated search volumes and CPC (cost-per-click) data, giving users a better sense of a keyword’s value and potential ROI. 

3. SERP Analysis, which pulls data from the top 100 search engine results for any keyword, helping users understand the competitive landscape before jumping into content creation.

It looks so bare and offers a ‘tantrum-free experience. The cherry on top is that you can export the whole list of keywords for free. 

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6. Keyword Surfer

Keyword Surfer is a free Google Chrome extension from Surfer SEO. 

Its flawless design makes it one of the most convenient keyword research tools. Once you download and enable the extension, you’ll see several metrics such as search volume, CPC, monthly traffic, and keyword ideas the next time you search for something on Google. 

One of its unique features, which we like, is its “Free AI Article Outline Generator.” If you’ve got no clue about how your article might look with keywords you’re researching, use the “Generate Article Outline” button, which appears on the right side in SERPs. Rank Tracker, This new add-on allows you to monitor your keyword rankings over time, offering insights into where you’re gaining or losing ground compared to competitors.

Let artificial intelligence give you a head start!

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7. Ahrefs Keyword Generator

Ahrefs is a renowned industry name with a database of over 8 billion queries.

The free version gives you 100 keyword ideas with exact phrase matches and questions for your seed keyword. The first ten results show KD, recently updated status, and search volume.

You can also use filters to find easy keywords to rank for. You can also find keyword ideas and results from Bing, YouTube, and Amazon.

Ahrefs continues to evolve with AI integration:

1. AI Keyword Clustering: Groups related keywords into topical clusters to simplify content planning and boost topical authority.

2. Search Intent Classification: Automatically identifies whether a keyword is informational, transactional, or navigational.

3. SERP Movement Tracking: Monitors ranking changes and flags rising/falling pages to help you stay competitive.

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8. Keyword Tool

Many industry experts and digital marketers recommend Keyword Tool. It uses the autocomplete feature of Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay, Play Store, Instagram, and Twitter.

This small and intuitive tool offers a clean UI but doesn’t show search volume, CPC, or competition. Further, you can find keywords within search results or export all (or selected) keywords.

9. Keyword Insights

Keyword Insights is built for marketers and content teams who want to plan smarter and create content that actually ranks. It starts by helping you discover hundreds of keyword ideas—and then does something most tools don’t: it organizes them for you.

Instead of staring at a messy keyword list, Keyword Insights groups similar terms into clear, easy-to-understand topics. That means less guesswork and more clarity on what to write next.

Here’s what makes Keyword Insights stand out:

1. Smart Keyword Grouping – It automatically organizes related keywords into content topics, saving you hours of manual work.
2. Search Intent Detection – Understand whether people are looking for information, trying to buy, or comparing products—so you can shape your content accordingly.
3. Ready-to-Use Content Briefs – For each topic, you get a detailed content outline with suggested subheadings, key questions to answer, and internal links to include.
4. Live SERP Analysis – It shows you what kind of content is already ranking for a keyword, helping you figure out how to compete and win.

10. AnswerThePublic

Answer The Public is a unique keyword research tool that taps into real-time Google search data to show you what people are actually asking online. 

It’s especially useful for uncovering long-tail keywords and creating content that directly answers user intent. Whether you’re writing blog posts, FAQs, or planning a content strategy, 

AnswerThePublic helps you discover the exact phrases your audience is using. It’s intuitive, fast, and perfect for marketers, bloggers, and content creators.

Key features:

• Uncovers questions and phrases people search on Google
• Visual maps for organizing keyword data
• Great for brainstorming content ideas and SEO targeting
• Helps you understand audience intent quickly and clearly

Frequently Asked Questions: Keyword Research Tools

In The End: Which is The Best FREE Keyword Tool?

In our opinion, Keyword Surfer is the best free keyword tool of all. It’s not technical, offers a clean UI, and shows results from various locations.

Nonetheless, there’s nothing such as best. It’s all subjective. So we’d suggest you try these free keyword research tools and find out for yourself. 

Further, you can deepen your research with other keyword research tools like Soovle, KW finder, GrowthBar, Longtail Pro, and Serpstat.

And if you’re already using any of the above keyword research tools — which one do you recommend? Or have we forgotten to include any tools?