Quick answer: Google Keyword Planner is free. It lives inside Google Ads, so you need a Google Ads account to reach it — but you do not need to run a campaign or spend money. Create the account, skip campaign creation by switching to expert mode, and the planner is available under Tools. The one catch: accounts with no ad spend see search volume as broad ranges (for example 1K–10K) rather than exact numbers. That is a real limitation, and it is the main reason people buy a paid tool.
Getting access without spending
- Go to Google Ads and start creating an account.
- Look for the option to switch to Expert Mode or "create an account without a campaign" — the guided flow pushes you to build a campaign, and this is how you skip it.
- Complete the account setup (business information, billing details may be requested but you are not obliged to run ads).
- Open Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner.
Two features: Discover new keywords (enter a seed term or your website and get suggestions) and Get search volume and forecasts (paste a list you already have).
Reading the data correctly
This is where most people go wrong.
| Column | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Avg. monthly searches | Averaged over 12 months; shown as a wide range on unfunded accounts |
| Competition | Advertiser competition for that keyword — not SEO difficulty |
| Top of page bid (low/high) | What advertisers pay. A useful proxy for commercial intent |
| Three-month / YoY change | Trend direction, more useful than the absolute number |
Competition is not SEO difficulty. A keyword marked "Low" competition may be extremely hard to rank for organically, and vice versa. This single misunderstanding causes more wasted content effort than anything else in keyword research. Use Keyword Planner for demand and commercial intent; use an SEO tool for ranking difficulty.
Bid data is the hidden gem. A high top-of-page bid means advertisers are paying real money for that click, which is strong evidence the traffic converts. A keyword with moderate volume and a high bid is usually worth more than one with high volume and a negligible bid.
Using it well in India
- Set location to India, or to your specific state or city for local businesses. National volume is misleading for a Pune-only service.
- Set the language, and check Hindi and regional-language variants separately — they behave very differently from English terms.
- Search transliterated spellings. Indian users type brand and product names in many spellings, and each is a separate keyword with its own volume.
- Use your competitors' URLs as seeds in "Discover new keywords" — it is the fastest way to find terms you have missed.
- Group by intent, not by volume: informational ("what is"), commercial ("best", "vs", "pricing"), navigational (brand and panel names) and transactional. Commercial and navigational terms convert; informational terms build reach.
Its limitations, honestly
- Volume ranges without ad spend. Workable, but imprecise.
- Grouped keywords. Google often reports close variants under one figure, so individual term volumes are approximations.
- No organic difficulty metric. It cannot tell you whether you can rank.
- No SERP feature data. It will not tell you the results page is dominated by ads or an AI overview.
- Ads bias. It is built for advertisers, so it under-represents informational terms that nobody bids on.
What to add alongside it
- Google Search Console — free, and the only source of your actual impressions, clicks and positions. Start here before any paid tool; the queries you already get impressions for and do not rank well on are your cheapest wins.
- Google Trends — free, for seasonality and relative interest.
- Semrush, Ahrefs — paid, with keyword difficulty, backlink data and competitor analysis.
- Ubersuggest — lower-cost middle ground.
- Keyword Surfer and similar browser extensions — free, showing rough volumes directly in search results.
See our SEO tools in India: free vs paid guide and browse SEO tools.
A practical workflow for a small business
- Export your Search Console queries for the last three months. These are terms you already appear for.
- Find queries with many impressions and few clicks — you are visible but not compelling, or ranking just below the fold. These are the cheapest wins available to you.
- Run those terms through Keyword Planner to see demand and bid data, confirming which are commercially valuable.
- Check ranking difficulty in a paid tool, or by simply looking at who currently ranks.
- Write for the terms that are high intent, achievable and valuable — not the ones with the biggest numbers.
FAQs
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Yes. It is free to use, but it sits inside Google Ads so you need a Google Ads account to access it. You do not need to run a campaign or spend money — switch to expert mode during signup to skip campaign creation. Accounts with no ad spend see search volumes as broad ranges rather than exact numbers.
How do I use Keyword Planner without running ads?
Create a Google Ads account and use the "switch to expert mode" or "create an account without a campaign" option to avoid building a campaign, then open Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner. The tool works fully; the only restriction is that volumes display as ranges until the account has ad spend.
Why does Keyword Planner show ranges instead of exact search volume?
Google shows broad ranges such as 1K–10K to accounts without active ad spend. Running even a small campaign unlocks more precise figures. For most planning purposes ranges are sufficient, since relative demand and commercial intent matter more than the precise number.
Does competition in Keyword Planner mean SEO difficulty?
No, and this is the most common misreading. The competition column reflects how many advertisers are bidding on that keyword, not how hard it is to rank organically. A "Low" competition keyword can be very difficult to rank for. Use a dedicated SEO tool for ranking difficulty.
What is the best free alternative to Keyword Planner?
Google Search Console, and it is not close — it shows your actual impressions, clicks and average position for real queries, which no keyword tool can tell you. Google Trends is useful for seasonality, and browser extensions such as Keyword Surfer give rough volumes in search results. Paid tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs add ranking difficulty and competitor data.
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