Keyword research tools compared: free and paid, with prices

For a small business, Google's free tools cover most keyword research: Keyword Planner for volumes, Search Console for the searches you already appear in, and Google Trends for seasons. A paid suite such as Ahrefs or Semrush adds competitor data and difficulty scores, from about $129 to $139 a month.

The free Google tools

• Google Keyword Planner: monthly volumes, competition among advertisers and the top-of-page bid for any search. It is free inside a Google Ads account; Google asks for billing details to use it, and accounts that spend little see volume ranges (1K to 10K) instead of exact figures.
• Google Search Console: the searches your site already shows up for, with clicks and position. The best source on your own site, and free.
• Google Trends: how interest in a search rises and falls over time and by region. It shows relative interest, not volumes.

The paid suites

Prices are the vendors' monthly list prices, checked on October 23, 2026.

• Ahrefs: keyword volumes, a difficulty score and the keywords any site ranks for. Starter $29 a month, Lite $129, Standard $249; a free plan covers data on your own site, and its free keyword generator gives ideas without an account.
• Semrush: the same jobs plus advertising research. SEO plan $139 a month ($117.33 billed yearly); the free plan allows 10 reports a day.
• Moz Keyword Explorer: volumes, difficulty and ideas, with a limited number of free searches a month.

The cheap middle

• Keywords Everywhere: a browser extension that shows volumes and bids next to Google's results. Plans are yearly, from $84 a year for 100,000 credits.
• AnswerThePublic: the questions people type around a topic, useful for content ideas.

Which one to start with

Start with Keyword Planner and Search Console: they are free and the data comes from Google. Add a paid suite when you need to see what competitors rank for or to judge difficulty at scale, and pay monthly for one month of research rather than a year if your list is short.

The industry cards of Epica show, per trade, the searches and AI answers behind each buyer need, measured with these sources.