What’s the best free keyword research tool for 2022?

General
1

I’m trying to improve my SEO and find low-competition keywords, but my budget is zero and all the popular tools either lock features behind paywalls or have super limited free trials. Can you recommend the best genuinely free keyword research tool for 2022, and explain how you use it to find topics and optimize content for Google search?

2

Short answer for 2022 with a zero budget: combine a few free tools. No single tool does all of it for free.

Here is what works best in practice:

  1. Google Keyword Planner
    • Free if you set up a Google Ads account
    • Put in a seed keyword, switch to “Keyword ideas”
    • Sort by “Avg. monthly searches”
    • Use “Top of page bid (low range)” as a rough difficulty proxy
    – Low CPC often means lower competition in organic too
    • Export ideas, clean in a sheet, delete junk

  2. Google Search + Autosuggest + People Also Ask
    • Type your main keyword, note autosuggest phrases
    • Scroll to “People also ask” and “Related searches”
    • These give long-tail queries users type
    • Often these are low competition because they are long and specific
    • Add them to your sheet

  3. Google Trends
    • Check if interest is stable or going down
    • Compare two or three keywords to pick the better one
    • Use “Related queries” for more angles

  4. Ahrefs Free Tools
    • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for your own site
    – See what you already rank for
    – Find terms where you sit on positions 10–30
    • Use the free Keyword Generator
    – 100 keyword ideas for a seed term
    – Shows Keyword Difficulty for some terms
    • You will hit limits, but it is still useful to validate ideas

  5. Ubersuggest free tier
    • Very limited, but ok for a few checks per day
    • Look at estimated SEO difficulty
    • If difficulty < 30 and search volume > 50–100, mark it in your sheet

  6. Keyword Surfer (Chrome extension)
    • See search volume in the Google results page
    • Quick gut check for each idea without logging in anywhere

  7. Manual competition check
    This is where most “free keyword tools” fail, so do it yourself.
    For each keyword in your sheet:
    • Google it in an incognito window
    • Check top 10 results
    – Are they big brands and heavy authority sites
    If yes, skip.
    – Are they small blogs, forums, random content
    Good sign.
    • Check if your content can be more complete or clearer than the top 3 pages

Simple workflow you can repeat:

Step 1:
Seed ideas from your niche in Keyword Planner.

Step 2:
Expand each seed with autosuggest, People Also Ask, Related searches.

Step 3:
Validate with Ahrefs free, Ubersuggest free, Keyword Surfer for volume and a rough difficulty signal.

Step 4:
Manually check the SERP for each promising term.

Step 5:
Prioritize long-tail, intent clear, volume 20–500, weak page one competitors.

If you want one “starting point” tool, use Google Keyword Planner, then layer the others on top. The trick is not one magic tool but stacking 3–4 free ones and doing more manual checks than people who pay.

3

Honestly, the “best single free keyword tool” doesn’t exist, and I actually don’t fully agree with @chasseurdetoiles that Google Keyword Planner should be the main starting point for everyone. It’s great if you’re already comfy with Ads, but for pure content folks it can feel clunky and too ad-focused.

Since you asked for one best tool, the closest thing in 2022 to a genuinely useful “core” free tool for low‑competition keywords in my experience is AnswerThePublic (used smartly), backed up by stuff like Search Console and AliSuggest. Let me explain quick:

1. AnswerThePublic as your main idea engine
Free tier is limited per day, but if you:

  • Hit it at quiet times (limits reset)
  • Use very broad seeds (“fitness”, “crypto”, “dog food”)
  • Export or screenshot everything in one go

You get:

  • Tons of long‑tail question phrases people actually type
  • Variations with prepositions and comparisons
  • A visual map that instantly shows content clusters

Why I like it more than starting with Keyword Planner:

  • It’s user‑intent driven, not ad‑driven
  • It surfaces super long long‑tails that almost never show in other tools
  • For zero budget and content‑first strategy, it’s faster to turn into article ideas

2. Google Search Console for your low‑hanging fruit
Everyone talks about “find new keywords”, but the easiest wins are often already on your site.
In GSC:

  • Go to Performance → Search results
  • Filter by position 8–30
  • Sort by impressions

These are usually:

  • Keywords you ALMOST rank for
  • Often much easier to bump from page 2 to page 1 than to rank for something totally new
    You don’t get KD scores, but you don’t really need them here. You already have relevance.

3. AliSuggest (or similar autocomplete scrapers)
If you’re in ecommerce or anything product-ish:

  • Use AliSuggest (or even Amazon autocomplete manually)
  • Type your main topic
  • Collect the autosuggest phrases

These are incredibly buyer‑intent heavy and often under‑served in content. Very low competition in a lot of niches, especially outside tech/marketing.

4. A slightly different “difficulty” check
Instead of relying on free KD metrics (which are often very noisy on free tiers):

  • Take your best ideas from AnswerThePublic / GSC / AliSuggest
  • Plug each into Google in an incognito window
    Now I disagree slightly with the “skip if big sites” rule. If:
  • Page 1 has 3+ obviously thin, outdated, or off‑topic pages
  • Even if some of them are big brands
    You can still outrank them with a really high quality, focused article. Authority matters, but relevance + quality can absolutely win on many long‑tails.

What I’d personally avoid as a main free “base”:

  • Ubersuggest: it’s fine, but the free tier has become so throttled it’s more of a spot‑checker than a core tool.
  • Any free KD value as your deciding metric: they look precise but are often misleading, especially for super‑long long‑tails.

Quick no‑budget system using mainly free stuff, no heavy overlap with what was already said:

  1. Seed topics into AnswerThePublic
  2. Export long‑tail questions and “vs/with/for” phrases
  3. Cross‑check your site in Search Console for existing impressions near those phrases
  4. For each promising keyword, run a manual Google search and judge the top 10 by:
    • Relevance
    • Content depth
    • Freshness
  5. Prioritize:
    • Clear question/intent
    • At least some volume implied (if it shows up in multiple places, it’s not zero)
    • SERP with weak, thin, or off‑target pages

No magic unicorn tool, but if you force me to name one primary free one for 2022 that’s best for finding low competition ideas specifically, I’d put AnswerThePublic ahead of Keyword Planner for that narrow purpose. Keyword Planner is better if you care about approximate volumes and ad angles, but for pure content and low‑comp long‑tails, ATP + Search Console + brain > most “free” keyword tools.