The 8 Best Keyword Research Tools in 2026 (Free and Paid)

Quick quiz

How should you find the right keywords?

Question 1 of 425%

Where are you today?

I am starting and don't know what people searchI have ideas but need numbersI have keywords but no time to write

Choosing among the best keyword research tools means comparing three things: the quality of the data (volumes, difficulty, intent), the amount of work left to you once the list is ready, and the price. This ranking puts the eight tools side by side, with the use case each one fits. Sorank is our product, and we say why it comes first for small teams that want results rather than spreadsheets.

What does a keyword research tool do?

A keyword research tool lists the searches people type around a topic and adds the data needed to choose: estimated monthly volume, keyword difficulty, cost per click, search intent and the pages that currently rank. The good ones also group keywords into topics, so you write one page per intent instead of one page per variant (see our guide to keyword clustering).

In 2026, a fourth job has appeared: finding the questions people ask AI assistants, which are longer and more conversational than Google queries. Few tools cover this yet, and it is one of the criteria below.

How we ranked these tools

We scored each tool on five criteria: data quality and coverage of your market, help with intent and prioritization, the work left once the list is ready, coverage of AI questions (prompts), and value for money for a small team. Prices were checked on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026 and change often.

The 8 best keyword research tools in 2026

1. Sorank: keyword research that ends in published articles

Sorank is SEO and GEO software that runs on autopilot. Its keyword research analyzes your site and your market, then proposes the keywords you can rank for fastest, with volume, difficulty, intent and priority. The difference with every other tool here: the list does not stay in a spreadsheet. Sorank writes and publishes the matching articles (20, 60 or 120 per month depending on the plan), with internal links and sources, and tracks whether ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini mention you. The AI prompt research finds the questions buyers ask assistants, and the query fan-out feature lists the sub-queries behind them.

• Strengths: keywords found automatically, prioritized, then turned into published content; AI prompts covered.
• Limits: less suited to an analyst who wants to explore raw databases by hand.
• Price: from $49 per month on the annual plan ($99 without commitment), 3-day free trial. The free keyword suggestions tool works without an account.

2. Google Keyword Planner: Google's own volume data

Keyword Planner is the research tool built into Google Ads. According to Google Ads Help, it finds keyword ideas related to your business, shows estimated monthly searches and the average cost of showing ads. It is free, but you need a Google Ads account with billing details; without an active campaign, volumes are shown as broad ranges (for example 1K to 10K).

• Strengths: data straight from Google, good for new ideas and local volumes.
• Limits: built for advertisers; no organic difficulty, approximate volumes, close variants grouped together.

3. Google Search Console: the keywords you already have

The Performance report of Search Console lists the queries for which your site appears, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position. It is the most reliable source for your own site and the best place to find quick wins: queries where you sit between positions 8 and 20.

• Strengths: real data, free, shows the queries you are close to winning.
• Limits: only queries where you already appear; nothing on competitors or new topics.

4. Semrush: the most complete suite

Semrush combines a very large keyword database, the Keyword Magic Tool to explore variants, a keyword difficulty score, intent labels, and competitor research to see which keywords bring traffic to another site. It suits marketing teams and agencies that analyze several markets. Our Semrush review goes into detail.

• Strengths: depth of data, competitor analysis, many countries.
• Limits: price, learning curve, and all the writing and publishing remain manual.
• Price: SEO plan from $139 per month; limited free account.

5. Ahrefs: precise difficulty and competitor research

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is known for its keyword difficulty score based on the links of top-ranking pages, its click estimates and its "Parent topic" grouping. Its strength is competitor research: Site Explorer shows the keywords and pages that bring traffic to any domain.

• Strengths: reliable difficulty, clear interface, strong link data.
• Limits: the useful plans are expensive; content production stays on your side.
• Price: Starter from $29 per month, Lite from $129 per month; Ahrefs Free for data on your own site.

6. Moz Keyword Explorer: simple scores

Moz Keyword Explorer gives a volume, a difficulty and an organic click-through estimate for each keyword, with a priority score that helps beginners decide. It offers a small number of free queries each month and is included in Moz Pro.

• Strengths: easy to read, good for learning the logic of keyword selection.
• Limits: smaller database than Semrush or Ahrefs outside English-speaking markets.

7. SE Ranking: the budget all-in-one

SE Ranking includes keyword research, rank tracking, site audit and competitor analysis at a lower price than the large suites, which makes it popular with small agencies.

• Strengths: good value, rank tracking included.
• Limits: smaller keyword database; manual work to turn data into content.
• Price: Core plan from €109 per month.

8. Google Trends: seasonality and rising topics

Google Trends gives no volumes, only relative interest over time and by region. It is the best free way to spot seasonality, compare two terms and catch rising topics before they appear in other tools (see our guide to Google Trends for SEO).

Which keyword research tool should you choose?

Whatever the tool, the method stays the same: start from your offer, look for long-tail keywords and low-competition keywords, check the search volume, group variants with a clustering tool, then publish one page per intent. For video, see the dedicated YouTube keyword tools.

The bottom line

Free Google tools give you the data, the large suites give you the analysis, and Sorank turns keywords into published, ranking articles. For a wider look at SEO software, read our guide to SEO tools, or start with the Sorank plans and their 3-day free trial.