Keyword Tool vs Google Keyword Planner: Which Is Better for Startups?
Every startup that wants customers from search starts with the same question: what do people actually type? Two of the most popular tools for answering it are Keyword Tool (keywordtool.io) and Google Keyword Planner. They look similar, but they are built for different jobs: one mines autocomplete for long-tail ideas across many platforms, the other gives you Google's own advertising data. We checked both on their official pages in October 2026, including Keyword Tool's new pricing.
Quick answer: start with Google Keyword Planner, which is free once your Google Ads account has billing details, for search volume ranges, bid estimates and forecasts. Add Keyword Tool when you need hundreds of long-tail ideas or keywords for YouTube, Amazon, TikTok and other platforms. Its free version gives ideas only; volumes and CPC start at $68 a month on annual billing.
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Keyword Tool vs Keyword Planner at a Glance
Sources: keywordtool.io and Google Ads Help, checked 26 October 2026.
What Is Keyword Tool?
Keyword Tool builds keyword lists from autocomplete: it adds letters and numbers before and after your search term and collects what Google (or YouTube, Amazon, Bing and others) suggests. That makes it very good at long-tail phrases, the specific searches early-stage startups can actually rank for. It now covers 17 platforms, including Google, YouTube, Bing, Copilot, Perplexity, Amazon, eBay, the App Store, Google Play, Instagram, X, Reddit, Pinterest, Etsy, TikTok and Naver.
- Free version: up to 750+ keyword ideas per search, without an account. Search volume appears only for some keywords; CPC, competition and trends are hidden.
- Paid plans (2026 pricing): Starter $88 a month ($68 billed annually), Growth $188 ($148), Scale $388 ($308) and Agency $788 ($628). They differ in daily requests and history (12 to 48 months). There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Where the numbers come from: Google and Bing volumes come from Google's and Bing's own keyword planners; volumes for the other platforms are estimates based on clickstream data.
- For technical teams: every paid plan includes the API and an MCP server, so you can pull keyword data into your own tools or AI assistants.
Best for: content ideas, long-tail keywords, and startups whose customers search on YouTube, Amazon, Etsy or TikTok rather than only Google.
What Is Google Keyword Planner?
Google Keyword Planner is Google's free keyword research tool inside Google Ads. It is built for advertisers, but it is just as useful for SEO because the data comes from Google itself. To use it you need a Google Ads account with billing details entered; you can skip creating a campaign while setting up the account, and if your account opens in Smart Mode you switch it to Expert Mode.
- Discover new keywords from words or from a website URL (Google suggests terms related to that site).
- Get search volume and forecasts for a list you paste or upload: average monthly searches, and forecast clicks, impressions, cost and conversions.
- Filters and breakdowns by location (down to city), language, network, device and date range.
- Top-of-page bid ranges (roughly the 20th and 80th percentile of what advertisers paid in the last 30 days) and competition, which measures how many advertisers bid on a keyword. It is ad competition, not SEO difficulty.
The catch: accounts with little or no ad spend usually see volumes as wide ranges such as 1K–10K. Google confirmed in 2016 that lower-spending accounts get limited data, but it has never published a spend threshold. Volumes are also averaged over 12 months, shown for exact matches, and combine a keyword with its close variants ("car" and "cars" count as one).
Best for: checking which ideas have real demand on Google, estimating ad costs, and planning a first Google Ads test. Our step-by-step guide shows how to use Google Keyword Planner.
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Which One Should a Startup Use?
- You have no budget: Keyword Planner for volumes and bids, plus Keyword Tool's free version for long-tail ideas. Together they cost nothing.
- You write a lot of content: Keyword Tool's autocomplete lists give you article topics faster; check the best ones in Keyword Planner.
- You sell on Amazon, Etsy or YouTube: Keyword Tool, because Keyword Planner only covers Google Search.
- You plan to run Google Ads: Keyword Planner, for forecasts and bid ranges. Running even a small campaign also tends to unlock more precise volume data.
- You build tools or automations: Keyword Tool's API and MCP access, included in every paid plan.
Comparing more SEO tools? See Moz vs Long Tail Pro, our Wincher review and our list of free Semrush alternatives.
How to Do Keyword Research for a Startup in 5 Steps
- Collect your customers' words. Write down how people describe the problem in interviews, reviews and forums. These phrases are your seed keywords.
- Expand them with autocomplete. Run each seed through Keyword Tool or Google's own suggestions to get long-tail variations; see our guide to finding long-tail keywords.
- Check demand and cost. Paste the best ideas into Keyword Planner to see volume ranges, bids and competition.
- Pick terms you can win. Specific, lower-competition phrases that match what you sell beat broad head terms. Look at who ranks today; our guide to checking competitor keywords shows how.
- Measure and refine. After publishing, use Google Search Console to see which queries bring impressions and clicks, then improve those pages.
Keyword research is also a cheap way to test an idea: if nobody searches for the problem you solve, that is a signal to validate your startup idea before you build.
Free Keyword Research Tools Worth Adding
- Google Search Console: the queries, clicks and positions of your own site, now including impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- Google Trends: relative interest over time on a 0–100 scale, useful for seasonality (not absolute volumes).
- Bing Webmaster Tools: free keyword research with trending and related queries.
- Ahrefs Free Keyword Generator: 100+ ideas for Google, Bing, YouTube and Amazon.
- Semrush free account: 10 reports a day across its main tools.
- AnswerThePublic: question-style keywords; 3 free searches a day with a free account.
For more options, see our roundup of free keyword planner tools.
Turn Keywords Into Articles With AI
Keyword research only pays off when you publish. If writing is the bottleneck, the F/MS AI SEO Tool turns a keyword into a full article that is written to rank on Google and to be cited by AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, with human editors checking the result.
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FAQ: Keyword Tool vs Keyword Planner
What is the main difference between Keyword Tool and Google Keyword Planner?
Keyword Tool collects long-tail ideas from autocomplete on 17 platforms; Google Keyword Planner gives Google Ads data such as search volume ranges, bid estimates and forecasts for Google Search only.
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Yes. It is free, but you need a Google Ads account with billing details entered. You can skip creating a campaign while setting up the account.
Why does Keyword Planner show ranges like 1K–10K?
Accounts with little or no ad spend usually see volume ranges instead of exact numbers. Google has confirmed that lower-spending accounts get limited data but has not published a threshold.
How much does Keyword Tool cost?
In 2026 its plans start at $88 a month, or $68 a month billed annually (Starter), up to $788 a month for Agency. There is no free trial but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What does the free version of Keyword Tool show?
Up to 750+ keyword ideas per search without an account, with search volume for only some keywords. CPC, competition and full volumes need a paid plan.
Where can I submit a guest post about my startup?
You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Get a quality backlink.
Which keyword tool is better for a startup on a tight budget?
Google Keyword Planner, because it is free. Combine it with Keyword Tool's free version for long-tail ideas.
Does Keyword Tool use Google data?
Its keyword ideas come from Google Autocomplete, and its Google search volumes come from Google Keyword Planner and the Google Ads API. Volumes for other platforms are clickstream estimates.
What does competition mean in Keyword Planner?
It shows how many advertisers bid on a keyword compared with all keywords on Google. It measures ad competition, not how hard it is to rank organically.
Can I use AI to write SEO articles from my keywords?
Yes. The F/MS AI SEO Tool writes articles from your keywords that are built to rank on Google and in AI assistants, with human editors reviewing them.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
